Seth Goes West, I Leave East, and All Three Depart South

Seth left late Thursday night for San Francisco. He will be in San Francisco 7 days, but gone for 10. Wow, India is far away! Sunday marked the 6 month anniversary of his arrival to India. Translation—your time is up! He flew to San Francisco to renew his visa, making it possible for him to stay the remainder of the school year, and because he is currently a resident of Washington State, the Travisa Outsourcing in San Francisco is his jurisdiction. You might recall, this is the same institution Domenic and I obtained (or almost didn’t) our India visas in July. Six months of India-Livin’ is all it took to know what to do. Seth had an appointment first thing Monday morning. In he walked, armed with a plethora of paperwork and documents. Fifteen minutes later and some words of admiration, “Wow, you are thorough!” Seth was given the nod of approval to come back the next day for his new visa. Phew.

When Seth arrives home, we will have about 10 days together before it’s my turn to depart. I will be attending the Spring Educator’s Conference in Bangkok. This is a professional development opportunity available through the school. The application process involves a brief proposal and cost analysis. Upon approval, individuals are awarded the cost of registration, round-trip tickets, hotel accommodations, and per diem. Not a bad deal, right? In return, those of us attending will “pay” the school back by sharing what we have learned. This can be done by offering a class during one of our professional development days throughout the year. I feel very lucky to be attending. The conference is only 3 ½ days so the remaining week will be spent in Phuket. My childhood friends, Kristin and Adrienne, are flying over for a vacation of their own. Once the week is over, I will say my good-byes, fly back to India, unpack and repack. Seth, Domenic and I are departing the following day to Sri Lanka for the remainder of spring break.

The next flight we take will be in June when we return to Washington for our summer visit.