48 hours to go....

It's difficult to believe that its been nearly 2 months since Dana and I both left New York City. Driving across the Whitestone at 1AM after a marathon packing session seems so distant as to be impossible - I can only imagine how impossible the porch of my house in Connecticut will seem by the time I've touched down at Indira Gandhi International Airport and been whisked into the somehow-functioning chaos of New Delhi.

A cursory review of the next year for those not familiar with our plans, (and because wishfully imposing structure on the impossible-to-know is the only relief from anxiety I'll have until my actual medication kicks in on Saturday):

I'm going to India as part of a Fulbright research grant. I'll be based in New Delhi for 9 months analyzing the stakeholder management processed used to build a massive (~6,000 km) highway project termed the Golden Quadrilateral because it connects India's 4 largest cities: Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai. I'll be working closely with a professor in urban planning from the Delhi School of Planning & Architecture and will hopefully be able to delve into a wide range of topics from intermodal investment equity (rail vs. roads) to environmental concerns to emiment domain processes. The GQ project, which is 99% complete, is the first modernization of India's road system since Independence, and is just the first part of a massive push over the next decade to modernize all of India's infrastructure, from water & sewer systems, to electricity generation, to airports. I'm hoping to use India's experience with the GQ as a predictor of their ability to complete this broad modernization scheme.

Dana is accompanying me, and will be working with a number of NGOs based in New Delhi, including a relatively young organization devoted to HIV/AIDs outreach and legal reform, and (hopefully) an international human rights organization as well.

On Saturday (8.15), I'll fly from Newark to Delhi (with Dana joining me two weeks later). The first few days will be filled with orientation programming and home-making. After that, the research begins, coupled with frantic LSAT prep for the first month.

In May, my research will wind down, and Dana and I are hoping to do a bit of regional exploring. So far, we know we want to end with a trip on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, from Beijing, through Mongolia, to Moscow, and before that we've talked about visiting: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, East Timor, Thailand and Indonesia. We shall see.

So, that's what to expect over the next few months. Posting regularity remains unknown at this point, but I'm hoping to write at least a few times a week, as this is as much a chronicle for my own sake as yours.

See you all in a year.