In Jorpur, India, four hours outside of Kolkata, it is customary to bless visitors, and Maria was blessed by the villagers and sent me this photo, she is so at home there. It’s hard to believe she headed off in that blizzard just a week ago in her little toilet bowl of a car and spent three days getting to Kolkata.

It feels as if she has been in India for 1,000 days, not six or seven. For me the first week was marked by life’s many twists and turns – snowstorms, computer crashes. I hope things will settle down and return to normal Monday, and that I can make use of Cassandra and get to work on my book.

But the big news by far is the excitement of Maria’s trip. It has such a good feeling about it, and it will open up a lot of doors. It has already changed her, more to come. I think the donkeys and I will bless her when she returns.