Day 13 in India: It was another travel day for me, but not so long as it’s going to be for many in our group. I’ll get back to that in a second. This morning we said goodbye to our amazing South India leader, Prithvi, and all flew back together to Delhi. It was about a two and a half hour flight. To give you perspective, India is about one third the land size of the United States (see photo). We could see and worse yet, smell/taste/ react to the air pollution as we got closer. In fact, I don’t think I’ve shared this, but one of the gals in our group on her flight into Delhi the first time (2 weeks ago) had to be rerouted because the pollution was so bad the plane couldn’t see to land. So ya, it’s bad.
In Delhi, we were picked up by the biggest bus we’ve had so far (they must have heard that all but two of us had to purchase additional luggage bags for items we’ve acquired like books from presenters, clothing, and souvenirs). We were all brought back to the first hotel where it all started months ago, ok it was really only two weeks ago but we’ve done so much in that time that it seems much longer. The leaders who sponsored the trip (CAORC and AIIS) scheduled a Skype meeting/debriefing session for all of us which also included some presentations on the virtual museum of images and sounds (vmis.in) which has some amazing open resources. Then we had a round table reflection and reporting session on how we incorporate what we’ve learned about India and urban sustainability into our campuses communities and any additional collaborations we may already have started. There’s a lot of exciting ripples that are already being planned. Guess that’s a sign of a successful fellowship program. The leaders were very encouraging, complimentary, and excited as well with how it went and where were taking it.
We didn’t have tons of time because about 2/3 of the group then had to get back on the bus and head back to the airport as they continued their individual journeys home. A third of us are continuing on here for a little longer with an extension itinerary. This time includes going to the Taj Mahal and back tomorrow (which includes 8 hours or so of driving time).
It’s been a great group. Lots of passionate, knowledgeable, energetic, creative, scholarly, caring, and driven individuals. I’m blessed to have gotten to know each and every one of them. We were basically with each other all day every day, and the group didn’t ever have personality clashes or issues that caused disharmony with each other. That part is pretty amazing too. I have no doubt that our group will remain in touch with each other for years to come.
Because it as mainly a travel day, there aren’t a lot of photos to share. But stay tuned. I’m guessing I might take one or two at the Taj tomorrow. 🙂
PS when we drove in this morning we saw some of the development that is occurring at the Bangalore airport. It is said that this airport is going to become larger than London Heathrow.
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