Bye Bye Happy Valley!!!

So we are off to India tomorrow evening. We are flying on Northwest to Amsterdam (8 hours) for a 3 hour layover, then on to Mumbai, India (9 hours). We arrive at 10:00 pm local time (about noon in NY/MA). We’ll be staying with Apoorva’s parents for the first week so we can get our apartment together and he can start his first week of work. His parents have already got the basics for us (couch, table, bed), but I get to do the fun stuff and decorate the place. Yay!

For the past week or so we have been getting ready. We have had to make some tough decisions when it comes to our stuff. We had three choices: pack, store (we have a storage unit here in MA), or get rid of it. We are very limited in the stuff we can take to India. We each get two bags 50lbs bags. While that sounds like a lot, things add up really quickly.

I’ve basically got my clothes, toiletries, shoes, and some books. I also read somewhere that when you move to another country, it can sometimes help if you bring a few things (blankets, decorations, etc) that remind you of home, so I have a few of those

My parents and grandparents came up this weekend to say goodbye. We walked around Northampton, went up to Mount Sugarloaf to take in the view, and then spent the night eating BBQ and bowling in Springfield. This morning we to IHop for breakfast (I had the banana walnut pancakes, yummy). Then we all (well, all us women) balled our eyes out in the parking lot while saying goodbye. I’m so happy they all came up to say goodbye.

The rest of the day Apoorva and I made sure we had everything we needed in our bags, cleaned out our apartment and then said goodbye to Northampton & Amherst. We’re staying in the Holiday Inn in Springfield for the night so we get a good nights sleep before we get on the plane.

Here’s my favorite picture of the weekend. We took my parents & grandparents to a local all natural food restaurant, Paul & Elizabeth’s. Good food and even better company. I will miss them both!! :-)