We finally got our weekend away and it was just about everything I had hoped for. Mr. Unexpected and I drove up to Peterborough on Friday and spent the weekend eating, exploring, getting frisky in the in-room Jacuzzi and ignoring our cell phones.

Viamede Resort is the perfect place for a romantic getaway. Two hours away from the city and right on the lake, we felt like we were in a different world a place that was slower, calmer and more natural than the urban jungle we spend most of our lives in.

We were really disappointed to find out that the spa was closed while we were there but pleasantly surprised when we returned to our room on Saturday afternoon, after a long hike through the woods, to find two massage oil bars wrapped in pretty blue foil sitting beside the Jacuzzi. It was a sexier version of the classic chocolates on the pillows. That evening after a beautiful meal and a couple of glasses of red wine we took full advantage of the massage bars and created our own version of the spa; it was slightly more naked and definitely more fun than what would have been allowed by the Viamede spa staff.

The whole weekend felt like a movie; the private room with a stunning view of the lake, two people in love and food that could convince anyone to break their diet for a weekend.

One of my favourite parts of the weekend, aside from the food, was the drive up and the drive back. I liked having a couple of hours to just talk and be silly. We talked about summer road trips we wanted to take: Montreal, New York and, of course, back to Viamede. Yes, we’ve already planned our return. With the pool, jet skis and the incredible lake in mind we’re set on going back; Mr. Unexpected hasn’t ever been to a cottage and I’d love to rent one for the two of us so he can get the full cottage experience at a resort that we already know we love.

On the way home I Googled Reid’s Dairy, a Kingston girl staple, and found a small ice cream shop in Pickering that serves Reid’s Dairy milkshakes. We stopped for the triple thick milkshakes that were such a wonderful part of my childhood – I loved being able to share that with him.

I wanted this weekend to be the weekend when I said that complicated four-letter word, but it wasn’t. We were in a happy place and as much as I wanted to say it the scenery and the romance put a kind of pressure on it that wouldn’t feel natural to us. In all likelihood the first time I say “I love you” will probably be on the couch while marathoning something ridiculous on Netflix. It won’t be planned, it will fall out of my mouth entirely by accident.

India’s women are magicians. They dot the countryside labouring in the fields, walking with heavy loads balanced on their heads, their colourful saris making them visible from miles away. Yet, within Indian society, they are invisible and often voiceless. How can women be so visible, yet invisible? There are two Indias if you are a woman. This is the perspective of someone just returning from close to a month in India, travelling in Delhi, Agra, Ahmedabad, Goa and Mumbai. This is the experience of someone who worked with a non-government organization dedicated solely to advancing India’s women. Given current global news coverage of violence against women in India, it seems like a good time to share a woman’s experience in the remarkable place called India.

Indian authorities have been struggling to combat gender-related crime for years. Violence against women is not new in India. Gang rape stories are not new in Delhi or other Indian cities. But this past December, male and female Indians hit the street to protest the heinous, cowardly and brutal crime of gang rape and murder against Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old professional woman making her way home with a friend after a movie. The protests continue in streets that this woman observer had walked alone never sensing any risk of personal danger. What’s changed? India is being transformed; part medieval and part modern. The clash has social consequences.

Women are agents of significant change in India. Women’s work is no longer just the tedious work of factories, agriculture and domestic chores. Women entrepreneurship is having a huge impact by tackling some major social inequities, including illiteracy, systemic injustice and poverty, by providing an infrastructure of empowerment to uncounted women who toil in India’s informal sector. It’s part of the transformation magic. It is amazing to witness it.

There are many organizations working to improve the lives of India‘s women; one in particular, SEWA, the Self-Employed Women’s Association, is celebrating 40 years of success.

Understanding what SEWA is doing sheds light on why such extreme violence aimed at a female health care professional can ignite such outrage. There is a growing critical mass of enterprising women in India; their fathers and brothers and spouses are experiencing the power of their empowerment, and thanks to social media the world becomes a witness to the crime in real time. There is no escaping the hideous reality. No one can be bribed to say it didn’t happen.