joyful girl

seven years ago, i had one of the most relaxing, beautiful thanksgivings ever, albeit nontraditional.  usually my favorite part of thanksgiving is being with family, but then i was living in india and got to jump waves in the arabian sea with my friend amy rose at a sweet little resort on the edge of mumbai.  we ate seafood and curry and the young man in charge of atmosphere played  a lot of paul simon and pink floyd.  i was nearing the end of six intense, incredible months in mumbai – a city that claimed its own small piece of what i call home.  it was there that i watched footage of the world trade center burning from halfway around the world, and now i’m on the other side of the globe watching the mumbai burn, and it feels eerily similar.  the biggest difference is that i had never seen the world trade center in person, but as i watch CNN tonight, i see the steps of the oberoi hotel where i ate dessert once or twice, and the burning building that is the taj hotel, where i sought air conditioning on humid, touristy kind of days, after taking the train to victoria terminus (a train station that was also targeted). i see the streets that i walked on, and i think of my girls who are still in the city, and i am speechless and i pray.