We are in fact, part of the same world, but will it feel that way? How will it look? What flora will present an entirely new color to our eyes? What animal will move in a way we've never seen an animal move? What butterflies will we meet? What manmade structures will offer new lines and angles for our brains? What ringing and stinging, wafting and whispering sounds and smells will there be? Will there be new textures to touch? Entirely new spices to taste? And what about them, the people of Ranikhet? How are their daily lives, their dreams and fears, their worldviews different than ours? How are they the same? Do they care about US politics? What do the Indian election results mean to them?
But first: DELHI. Twenty million people moving in many directions. Walking the streets in the 100-degree heat. The perfect place to check in with each of our senses! And will we wish for a monsoon rain? What does a monsoon rain feel like, look like, sound like?? And what did you say, Mr. Nelson? A scavenger hunt in Rishikesh? A thirteen-story temple and thee Ganges River?? And if that weren't enough, a safari in the national park named after the hunter then preservationist who shot the man-eating Champawat Tiger of turn-of-the-(19th)-century lore?
In approximately twelve hours, we will begin moving a mere eight degrees south from our current thirty-seven degrees north of the equator, yet nearly 160 degrees to the east. From 37N, 122W to 29N, 79E. Nearly halfway around the world - or across? Soon, we will surely find out if the world is spherical or flat! And oh, how will we discover so much more than that!
Soon somehow that abstract "there" will become our very real here, our home. Soon, "them" might even begin to feel like "us", but how will it happen? And whether you are a parent or sibling at home or a student on the trip - what will you sense? What emotions will you feel? What completely novel ideas will you have, spurred by this extraordinary experience? What will you learn about yourself, humanity and this one big world through all of this? How will you metamorphosize, Butterflies?
Only one way to find out.
