2010 Year in Review

The sun sets on another year!!

This is a bit overdue, but here’s a brief synopsis of a few highlights from 2010:

The year actually began for me much the way 2011 has-- in training. Last year at this time I was in San Antonio, TX completing my stateside flight instructor training. It was a 5-month course that was quite challenging, although the flying was fun. In addition to the training I was taking grad classes, which meant that I didn’t have much free time. However, I was fortunate enough to have some good friends in TX who were a real blessing to me. What little free time I had was spent playing golf, enjoying delicious steaks (and other food), and engaging in lively conversation with good company. After finishing up in TX, I went back to Philly to pack my bags for India with a stop in Indianapolis to watch the NCAA National Championship basketball game – Duke v. Butler. Apart from the outcome (Duke won), it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

I also managed to take in a Cardinals-Reds Opening Day baseball game in Cincinnati, which was pretty cool too!

Cards v. Reds Opening Day - April 5, 2010

Since my training in TX finished at the end of March and my training in India was scheduled to begin in May, I didn’t expect to have much time to say my goodbye to friends and get ready for the move overseas. However, as a result of some lengthy delays, I didn’t end up leaving for India until August. That allowed me to take a couple extra grad classes and prepare for this exciting new chapter of life. Oh, and those extensive delays meant that I got to have about 10 “going-away” parties. Of course being the party animal that I took full advantage! The best party was the “Cowboys and Indians” party, which my family was able to attend. It ended up being quite a clash of cultures with Native American/Cowboy (western) attire mixed with South Asian kurtas and sarees! Another fun one was my last karaoke night at Yakitori Boy, which was a total blast.

My last few months in Philly were a real blessing as I had the opportunity to spend time cultivating deeper relationships with my friends. Of course this made leaving much more difficult, but I thank God for His provision in bringing so many wonderful people into my life. However, my last week in Philly may have been the most exciting and most memorable of the entire 7 years I spent there! I was living temporarily with some friends in South Philly since most of my material possessions had already packed up. I was basically living out of a suitcase, but amazingly enough that did not prevent someone from breaking into the house and stealing what few personal effects I still had! I was actually the only person home at the time the brigand broke into the third floor bedroom utilizing the nearby construction. Unfortunately, that was where I happened to be keeping my stuff. Without describing it in too much detail, the story ended with me chasing him down with a golf club in my hand! In retrospect, it probably wasn’t the brightest idea, but it certainly makes for a good story! That experience made it a bit easier to say goodbye to the city I had grown to love!

My first stop leaving Philly was DC, where I was able to spend some time with my sister and a dear friend before trekking out west. I was fortunate enough to have friends and family spread across the country which made the drive to Colorado quite pleasant. After DC, I stopped in Cincinnati to visit a good friend from college before visiting relatives in northern Illinois. Then I spent a week in St Louis with extended family and managed to take in a Cards game at their new ballpark (it wasn’t heaven, but it was close!). 

Baseball's Promised Land

The last stop was in Kansas to see more family before I eventually made my way to Colorado. The time in CO was spent with my parents, my other sister, and her (now) husband. After a few failed attempts to get my golf game in shape, I was on the airplane to India via Hawaii. Hawaii was a nice little mini-vacation before boarding the plane for Delhi (with short layovers in Tokyo and Singapore).

Touching down in Delhi, the Gora (white guy) began the South Asia adventure and a foray into the blogosphere. If you’ve read any of my blogs, you know that India has been quite an exciting experience thsu far. As I look back on 2010, it was a year of many firsts for me:

First solo flight (in 9+ years!),
First trip to India (Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Hampi, and Goa)
First Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebration in India,
First bicycle and auto (car) rickshaw rides,
First training flight in India,
First Indian wedding crashed by the Gora,
First car accident in India,
First snake encounter (possibly poisonous),

First stomach/intestinal virus in India (and hopefully my last!)

The list could go on and on, but I’ve limited the list to the Gora’s most memorable experiences of 2010 in India. For those of you wondering what topped the list overall, it was definitely my sister’s wedding, although getting to spend some quality time with my grandfather before the Lord called him home is also up there. 2010 was a year that I will not soon forget as there were so many unique experiences shared with so many dear friends. I thank God for His grace and provision which was so abundantly poured out in 2010. May this New Year bring an even better taste of His goodness!