Small World

I've only really known anything about Dehra Dun for less than a year. Once we established that PSI and Latika Roy seemed to be a good fit for us, I began spending time with Google Earth and Wikipedia, trying to get to know this medium-sized state capital. As time went on though, and word got out a little bit, I learned that I have a lot more connections to this place than I thought. Of course, my friend Ben has been there. He grew up in India, and is quite the world traveler, and I'm not too surprised. Through our Perspectives class, and our organization's relationships, we found more and more people who know Dehra Dun and its surroundings (especially Mussoorie). We were able to have dinner with a couple who lived nearby for most of 27 years. Near the end of last year, I learned that a group from my friend Andy's church has visited a school in Dehra Dun a few times. Then, just a couple of weeks ago, I learned that a close childhood friend (who I lost touch with for a few years after high school) actually spent several months at the People's Science Institute during college, almost 10 years ago! It was great to talk to her about her experience there - both the good times and the hard times...

I've been repeatedly amazed at how connected I am to this place already; our web of relationships truly spans the globe, and I wonder if we'd be able to find a place that we aren't somehow already connected to. My brother had a similar experience this summer, soon after he learned he would be going to Siberia for work - it seemed like such a novel place to be working, but we learned our friend Tim went to the same regional city to play volleyball only a few years ago. Small world, indeed.

And speaking of being connected - I'm super stoked that Andy has made plans to join us for several weeks in March! It's gonna be a great time...