just sitting here procastinating on some grading. imagine that. at the moment i’m being serenaded by an aged cuban gentleman with maracas. actually it’s the buena vista social club cd i’ve invested in. it’s quite good so far. makes me want to put on heels and go flamenco dancing.

speaking of international matters, i wanted to share with you guys my plans for next summer. some of you already know, so bear with me. i’m planning a sri lankan and indian excursion with my friend jim. i get practically giddy just thinking about it. unfortunately, most often people just look at me like i’m crazy when i mention it. i know, i know. isn’t it third world, smelly, and near afghanistan? yes, yes, and yes. what’s a little montezuma’s revenge or warfare during a holiday? i’m keeping my fingers crossed that those issues will not effect our plans.

so the other weird look i get is when they (whoever i tell) find out tony isn’t going, some guy jim is. tony went to thailand this april. without me. he looks at india with as much enthusiasm as a colon blow. basically i really wanted to go and to not go because tony didn’t want to, seemed ridiculous. and as much as i would like to embrace the female loner-nomad, i am woman, hear me roar personae, unfortunately reality does not permit me to do such a thing. the thing i hate is that i feel like i have to explain all this to people, when really i shouldn’t have to. it makes me a little defensive, i know. but i think the cool thing is that jim is just as excited about it as i am. and he’s brought a different perspective to the whole trip. because of that i’ll see a bunch of cities and temples and whatnot, i might not have even attempted otherwise.

so why sri lanka and india? well, we have friends in sri lanka working to get a school started. the chance to visit them and the school and travel around sri lanka with “locals” is a rare opportunity. i’m so excited to just go and meet the people and hear their stories and see all that i can see there. and the hill country is supposed to be breathtaking.

india has always for me been like a really great “someday” dream. i really never thought i’d be able to go or get the opportunity. tony’s been so great about the whole thing, and supportive, which makes it all the better. i guess i’ve always have been fascinated with the culture in some way and it being so different than western society (an understatement, i know). if you asked my mother she’ll blame it on my hippie mentality; she swears i was born in the wrong era.

my goal is simple: i want to have a life-altering, paradigm changing, memoir-inspiring traveling experience. i want to see and do everything; i want to do yoga with a wrinkled little yogi and see the taj bathed in pinky morning light. i want to see washer women beating the life out of dirty laundry in the river, listen to merchants hawk their wares in an outdoor market. i want to go to a bollywood movie; i want to see what the nightclub scene is like. i want to get a nosering and wear a sari.

am i wanting too much? i hope not. so all this next june. it can’t come soon enough. it will be my big hoorah before settling down and becoming a baby machine. maybe machine is too strong a word. i’ll be more like a rope and pulley get-up. something more low-tech, like a pez dispenser. ohh, bad analogy.

jeez. i’ll deal with that later.

in the meantime i’ll patiently wait for my india travel information packet, finish my lonely planet guide, and watch cnn.

in other news: a friendly reminder that the tonester’s birthday is tomorrow, so send him an email! it’s the big 2-8. he’s old.

have a good rest of the week, later.