Is that motor oil?

So much of our transition to India has gone extremely well. Our flights were good, we got all of our luggage, we had great friends who showed us around town, we found a place to live very quickly... it couldn't have been better.

So I guess it was only fair that we had something go wrong - terribly, stickily wrong.

On Neil's birthday in the afternoon, we were getting ready to lay down for a nap when Courtney noticed a strange dark liquid by the side of one of our suitcases. In our brilliant packing, we had one suitcase that we had packed with stuff that we wouldn't need until we moved into our permanent place. Decorations, books, pictures, etc. So, once we saw it come off the baggage claim, we didn't even bother to look in it.

Then, Courtney said, "What is that?" We were both perplexed at first and then the horrible truth started to come into focus. One of the items we packed away was a jar of molasses which is unavailable in India, but useful for all sorts of things. It was the one thing too that we did not put into a plastic bag, thinking it would be safe. It was not. There was molasses everywhere and on everything in the suitcase. All of the few items we had decided to take with us to remind us of home had this dark sugary syrup all over them. Sad and gross.

Gratefully, we were able to wash off most of the items in the bathroom as the molasses comes off pretty easily. But there were some casualties including some decorative pictures, Courtney's business class notebook, and some books that will probably always have that nasty brown look to them. We tried to save the suitcase itself, but it too was beyond saving, and will enter the world of the Indian recycling program known as "throwing it away".

So, a sad story, but we've come through it. And after many showers, we can laugh about it, at least a little bit.