Received 5/4/01

Hi Jim. I thought that is was about time I wrote this for your site. I really enjoyed reading Pat's. I'll bring a picture by on Monday.

I've never been able to truly explain to anyone what India was like; I can still barely comprehend it myself. There are times when I think of our time in India and I am brought to tears, there are times when I laugh, and there are times when I am just dumbfounded and lost in thought. Yet every night I return to this amazing county, it has recently come to the point where I am having trouble distinguishing my dreams of India from the actual encounters due to my nightly excursions.

Nothing I could possibly say can ever compare to the feeling when the plane touches down in India after about 20 hours of travel and you realize you are half way across the world, the feeling of fright when you see a very muscular monkey appear on the sidewalk next to you while walking around a market, the thrill of your first glimpse at the Taj Mahal, or the feeling of sheer joy once you arrive safely back to America where you can eat Applejacks and cold milk. If you are considering this trip TAKE IT. I doubt you will ever again have the opportunity to go to India with a man like Jim, who has lived there and speaks the language. Its something that I have never regretted and never will, and don't worry the toilets aren't that bad (but the trains might be).

Sincerely

Tara Richmond

Beside the Ganges (so blue, so cold....)

With Tony (and monkey stick) in the the noon sun

With me and Asha, our hostess the first night there (the tan legs belong to Tyson)