Gina writes:

We've been here in India now for almost a year, but before we reach that milestone, we've come up on another one...blog post number 100!

When we decided to start a blog, we thought it would be mostly be a good way to keep family and friends informed about our adventure. 100 posts in and we've discovered that the blog offers so much more than that.

• Being forced to write once or twice a week has created a written account of our thoughts and feelings that would be far less complete if we'd just kept a private journal.
  
• Taking the time to transfer reactions from our mind to "paper" helps us to order our thoughts and end up with a more thorough evaluation of our experiences. I think our writing skills have improved, too!
  
• We try to give a positive, but honest view of our time. Trying to find the positive aspects of our negative experiences has helped us weather some tough times.
  
• Participating in day-to-day activities and cultural experiences takes on an extra dimension when we know we're planning to blog about them. We're challenged to see things with fresh eyes and answer the question, "What would be interesting if this was my first/only experience in India?"
  
• Friends, family, and strangers who haven't had the opportunity to travel or study other cultures have expressed appreciation at the chance to learn about another culture and think about everyday things in new ways.

In our first 99 entries, we tried to balance stories of our experience with cultural observations. We tried to focus on a specific topic in each entry rather than just list our activities for the week. For some of our entries, we were inspired and excited to publish. For others, the act of writing was less enjoyable. We do have our favorites.

Corey's favorite 5 posts (that he wrote) are:

• Koraput Kristmas (our first Christmas in Koraput)
  
• Namaskar (trying to learn Oriya)
  
• Indian Wedding (our first Indian wedding)
  
• Corey and Gina's Big Adventure (out and about in Koraput)
  
• Booze (musings on alcohol (or lack thereof) in Koraput)

My favorite 5 posts (that I wrote) are:

• Rockstars of Sorada (a vacation to visit our friend's small town)
  
• Visit to Bandhiaguda (a visit to the field)
  
• Six Months Down, Eighteen to Go (personal reflection after 6 months in India)
  
• Being a Woman in India (thoughts about being a woman in India)
  
• I Quit (a summary of the inquisition meeting regarding my resignation)

And I'll give a special shout-out to the post that my sister-in-law wrote when she visited, just because I think it's so beautifully written.

So we'd like the thank you, our readers, for taking the time to read about our adventures, for giving us an extra reason to write the blog (even when it feels like a chore), and for sharing our stories with your friends and family.

What about you? What were your favorite posts? In the future, are their particular topics that you want to hear more (or less) about? Last, if you're a regular reader whom we've never met, introduce yourself! We'd love to hear from you.

Here's to another 100 posts!