News of OBL

As Monday morning got underway here, we saw the news that President Obama would be making an announcement at 10:30pm EST.  What?! On a Sunday night? That's late. That's odd.  We had just watched the video from the White House Correspondents' Dinner the night before. Obama was so funny (Seth Meyers too!). But this was something serious. Something big.

Jonah headed out the door and I settled into my last personal day of the school year. Liam and I walked Asa to school, checked to see if any of the kindergarten chicks hatched over the weekend (none in Asa's class but two in the next room!), and then made our way back home.

My day went along as scheduled. First, a medical appointment at 10:00am (no worries, all is well). It was really hot already and the taxi did not have A/C.  On the way, I saw the news on my phone.  Osama bin Laden was dead.  I emailed Jonah.  I emailed my sister.

The appointment finished ahead of schedule and I decided to make a stop at Khan Market. A colleague (also using her last personal day) met me for lunch. We read Facebook status updates over ham and arugula sandwiches.

Afterward, we set out to buy fabric at Nehru Place. It was a long car ride and it was even hotter outside.  The taxi driver had to stop to get gas. At the station, we had to get out of the car and wait, standing along a fence (just one of many inexplicable moments in India). This was the point when we wondered if being out and about on this particular day was a good idea.     

Nehru Place is a sprawling plaza with two stories of shops on all sides.  There were a lot of fabric stores and we had the names of two, given to us by friends who know where to buy everything. We had to ask for help - a couple of times - to find the places we were looking for. The first was closed, but the other was open for business and we gave them a decent amount of it.

I got home in time to scoop up both kids from school and head over to the pool.  It wasn't until early evening that I was able to take in the media extravaganza.

The town where Osama was taken down is 448 miles from New Delhi.  We are on heightened alert.  There are extra guards posted outside the school gates. Any remaining school field trips have been canceled.  But we do feel safe and we will go about business as usual over the weeks ahead.

Thank you for checking in on us.