These lyrics (“In These
Halls – the Graduation Song”) capture one of the highlights of this week – we had
our annual graduation yesterday. For about four hours over 125 of our
graduates, their families and friends, and representatives of 11 embassies had
a raucous, joyous celebration of which the formal ceremony was probably the
least important part. It is interesting to see how different the students and
their families from different countries celebrate. It is close race between
Indian and Korean families for which is more reserved. On the other end our
African and Afghani students vie for the most boisterous. For all the joy and
pride are obvious. I kinda experienced what it was like to be a celebrity with paparazzi
camera flashes everywhere. Of course, the pictures weren’t for me – it was
about the graduates. Having said that, I am sure I was asked well over a
hundred times if I would be in a picture.
Usually when that happened, it would be first a shot with the graduate,
then with his or her father, then mother, then if they could get someone to
shoot it, the whole family. Despite all of the pictures that were taken, I don’t
have any to show. :-( Sorry about that.
The balance of the day
was spent in the meeting in which we formally presented all the analysis we
have been doing and the proposed plans that flow from that work. This capped
off a busy month and a crazy week. We had at least three pre-meetings with the
Modi’s to review and change what we were presenting to the Joint Venture (JV) partners.
We were making changes right up to a few minutes prior to the meeting. For the
past week, I think the least amount of time I worked was 14 hours and I had a
couple of twenty hour days. Overall, based on the outcome, I guess it was all
worth it. The meeting went well and there was consensus reached on most of what
we presented.
Today (Sunday) will be a
brief breather before we have a couple more intense days with the JV partners
from the US working on implementation plans and timelines. I haven’t seen much
of Rae this week, or really since she got back to India, so I have been glad to
have today just to relax and be with her. You haven’t heard from her in the
blog for while – here she is.
I’m back. I didn’t write for a few weeks because I didn’t
think you needed to hear me sound tired and frustrated about things that were
going on with the house and various projects that I was working on. I left the US with some things accomplished and
a few things still to be resolved, always fun to deal with from half way around
the globe. Some of these things are
being moved forward with the help of our kids and some friends, so thanks to
them.
I was gone from 12-17-14
to 2-5-15, yes that’s about 7 weeks. I
was scheduled to return about 10 days earlier but when we found out that right
after I got back Phil would be leaving for Dubai, we decided I should extend
and continue to work on more projects.
Part of the plan was for me to actually have my final week to spend with
family and friends and relax a bit.
Well, that didn’t so much happen and I found myself working on things
right up until the night before I left.
There now, wasn’t that whinny enough?
It really was wonderful
to be back and spend time with my kids, grand kids, and dear friends. Those grandkids are growing and changing so
much and it’s always hard to leave them and know I’ll be missing those
changes. I’m always grateful for the
time I get to spend with them all.
Ever since I’ve been
back, Phil has been SO busy that I feel I haven’t seen much of him. I feel bad that he is stretched so thin [Phil – stretched FAT would be more accurate]. There doesn’t seem to be much I can do about
it other than not whine and grumble and make him feel guilty about it. Wish there was a way to balance things out a
bit.
There was a project that
was supposed to happen at our house here while we were in the US, but in true
Indian fashion that didn’t happen, Surprise!
If the manager of this place is speaking there are a couple of things
you can be certain of. First, it’s a
lie, and will never happen when he says, and second while he’s talking, air is
being wasted. You might gather from this
comment that things never happen when they say it will and that’s the one thing
you can be sure of.
Phil mentioned in an
earlier blog that our friends, the Slocombes had finished their mission here
and returned to Canada. It was sad to
come back and know they are gone. I miss
them already. Jean used to give piano
lessons to a couple of young women and a group lesson to some adults. She asked me if I thought I could carry on
with the 2 young women. I’m going to
try, so this should be interesting. I’m
sure I’ll be sharing more about that in the future. Wish me luck, or better yet, wish those 2
girls good luck.
It’s good to be back and
see the people that I've come to love.
That’s what balances some of the other things that can be
irritating.
Here’s to a good week for
us all!
Namaste
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