98 degrees at 11pm in Delhi or the scents of the monsoon season

I’m back in the middle Himalayas of India, with my good friend Keith and a new group of fabulous students. As some of you know, I accepted a one-year position as Visiting Assistant Professor of Geography at Middlebury College in Vermont, just before leaving Delhi for the hills. Now that it’s certain that Sage and I will be there together for the year I am over the moon. I get to teach two of my favorite courses the first semester and to create two exciting courses for the second semester. I may even develop a short course for January about comic books and street art! Over the past few weeks, I have begun to reflect back on this time we spent traveling the world. I am filled with memories and stories and am delighted to have 13 curious and interested students to share these stories and photos with. After so many months of travel there are tons of photos I haven’t even had a chance to look back at. This time in India with Sage off in Norway is shaping up to be a time of reflection, of planning and of diligent work towards the next job application cycle and the start of my new job – in addition to the work I’m doing here. I’m enjoying getting to see what it’s like to follow Sage’s adventures through our blog. Last night the rains came. I woke up to the first true rains of the monsoon season. I put my head out the window to breathe in the scents of downpour on parched earth. This morning it is clear that the land will need many more of these downpours to get back to a healthy state. When we arrived with the students, we were warned to take special care in the amount of water we use; the springs and rivers are at their lowest in years. There are now estimates that the monsoon rains will be 30% below average, but today it keeps coming. A few weeks back we experienced pre-monsoon heat in Delhi. I can honestly say that for the first time in my life 98 degrees felt pleasant (after a day of 110+). When we arrived in the hills we stepped out of the cars to the most soothing temperature, a refreshing breeze and smoky, but very pleasant air. Before our arrival forest fires had been raging in the surrounding areas, and residents went out to fight the spread of the fires. We could still see the forests smoldering as we arrived. My memories of monsoon season in Gujarat – in the city of Ahmedabad – are of asking then pleading fifteen different rickshaw drivers to take me back to my host family’s house before one finally agreed; of slipping in the calf deep waters and looking up to find a crowd of young men giggling and watching; of the most delicious frozen mango treat I could ever imagine served in a little clay pot; and of the dirtiest water I have ever seen flooding the streets in every direction. I am delighted to be back at Sonapani with Deepa, Ashish, Vanya, Aru, another group of top notch students and Keith and Chicu. It feels so right to have started this year in India and to be ending it here as well. My students' first band photo. Only our lone male student is missing (he's taking the picture).