Sweat running down my back - and loving it!

It's July 4, 2012. We went to Ravinia tonight and listened to an amazing concert by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It was really hot. I mean, REALLY hot. As sweat ran down my back tonight, I thought about being in India last year in July. In India, it was also REALLY hot. Then, I wasn't sitting in assigned seats in a pavilion wearing a linen dress listening to an orchestra being conducted by a very talented conductor (Steven Reineke) as he was accompanied by an amazing vocalist (Ashley Brown). Last year in India, sweat ran down my back while I played soccer with the boys at the boys' home. Or while I made crafts with the 6 year olds. Or while I walked to lunch in the afternoon. It was different. My memories are not of being uncomfortable, but about being comforted by the activities I was doing. My memories of India could have been about the heat, or different smells, or noises, or of so many things which were not reminders of the comforts of home. Instead, they are of smiles of children wanting their picture taken. They are of handing out glue to children as they call out "gum! gum!" (their word for glue.) They are of the smiles of women we saw each day. They are of the relationships we began. They are of the stories they shared. They are of the hug and the kiss on the cheek at the airport as we prepared to depart and at that moment knowing that I would not not return. As the sweat ran down my back this evening at the concert at Ravinia, I was reminded that I am returning to India this September. And I cannot wait.