a few updates...

Hey there, friends.  It's been a while.  I suppose we're due for an update.  Here's what's going on.
We leave for India in just over a month!  Our apartment has been successfully subleased, my scooter has been sold, and we are trying to eat our way through our freezer and noodle cabinet.  Also, we have all been vaccinated for polio, hep. A and B, tetanus, typhoid, and a few other things.  That was quite a cocktail-- we all felt a bit wonky for a few days, but at least we hopefully can now avoid some of the major plagues.

The plan is to leave the day after Christmas.  But not for India.
For Paris!
For 5 days!
Then, we fly to Finland for a four hour layover, and then it's on to Delhi.
From Delhi, we take the train to Chandigarh.  Then, hopefully, by then, hopefully hopefully hopefully, the program will have our housing worked out, and we will taxi [or something] to our new home.

One of the best things that has happened, just in the last few days, is that we have gotten in touch with the wife of one of the professors here.  She has gone on the study trip with her husband, their children, and the class a few times before (but is not going this year).  Just emailing back and forth with her a few times has really helped give us more of a sense of what it really is going to be like in Chandigarh with a toddler.  Diapers, she says, are available in the city (although, a bit pricey for India standards), and she gave us a whole list of good places to shop and fun outings to go on.  Also other random stuff-- like info about indoor heating, and she recommended that we definitely bring some sort of bed for Violet.  Her mother-in-law in India has a car seat we can use, as well as a high chair-- these things are golden!  Yes, we could live for 10 weeks holding Violet on our lap at every meal, but having a highchair represents more than just a place for her to eat--- it means that I can put her in it and wash dishes, read a book, type an email, paint a picture, anything at all non-baby related for at least 10 minutes while she's munching.

We've learned a bit about the weather:  It's going to be cold and foggy when we first arrive (seeming very cold due to little or no indoor central heating), but it's supposed to start warming up by February.  By March it should be quite lovely!  With that in mind, we are only just barely starting to think of what kind of clothing to pack.  I think we're probably going to plan on packing winter-type clothing, and then look forward to buying more warm-weather stuff as needed (oh my goodness --  how adorable is Violet going to be in her Indian attire!?!!  sorry, just had to throw that in!)

There is still a lot to process.... but I think things are slowly slowly slowly coming together.