The internet is a challenge here - so slow that it makes one almost breathless. There is a one-volume encyclopedia sitting next to the keyboard and I usually pick it up and read random entries to make the time go by faster. I have learned a lot of fairly useless stuff - but interesting. I now know the derivation of "beyond the pale" for example. But the biggest problem is email. Yesterday it took 31 minutes to download my email, open a letter from my friend and neighbor, Robin, and answer her. Then I discovered it never actually got sent. Success in sending out replies seems to be very hit or miss. To say it is frustrating it to put it mildly. Our tech person in this year's group said I also have the slowest possible account - yahoo - but, regardless, if you haven't heard from me it doesn't mean that I didn't try! The best way is to get a message to me is to respond to this blog - you just click where it says COMMENTS beneath a posting. I can download those easily - but please email if you prefer - I just don't know if you will receive answers back. Apparently it is easier if I go into town - but then you have to account for power outages - happened the last time I was there. So, if I am to "Go to India and Let India Guide You" well, it seems as if India does not want me to engage in two-way conversations!
For those who want to send me email, don't send it to my usual address. I get too much spam on it. Given the slowness of everything here I would never be able to open it. I am using the address from my volunteer work: my first name, last initial, underscore, then msqlp@sbcglobal.net. Apparently in my initial email I spelled sbcglobal.net wrong. DUH!
All is well here - it is a lazy Sunday. If there were just a fire I would read in front of it all day - that kind of day. One good thing, although it doesn't seem warmer it must be - my underwear is almost dry in just 2 days!!!
By the way, when I was able to download my blog I realized that some entries had not been posted and some were out of order. I added 3 that were missing and I think they are in order now. I just wish I could download photos more successfully. I have some great ones to share with you.
Much love to all
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15 comments:
Hi DP -- I'm so sorry the hear that downloading email is such a challenge. It must be hard to be putting so much out to us all, and only getting little snippet comments back. I had planned to send you fun cards and things but now I realize that just isn't a good idea.
I'm not big on putting comments out to the world (probably a result of the danger of sending anything to Mom, right?), so perhpas your India is meant to teach me too!
Thanks so much for the blog -- Colin & I alert each other as soon as we see another entry. "Oh boy! More news from India!!" Glad to hear it's going so well -- no surprise really, but it's great to hear you're enjoying it all so much.
Thanks again! Love to you!
Marwy
Donna, your posts are fabulous; you make a great international correspondent. Thanks for the heads-up on the email problem. You might want to consider getting a gmail account- they're free and possibly much better than yahoo. I've come to rely on mine- and you can get other addresses on it so you can channel email as you wish by supplying different addresses. Of course, then you have to remember to check the email...
Again, thanks for the diligence in staying in touch with us!
Love, your cuz, Bonnie
Can't wait for the next entry, it's like being there. Thanks Donna.
Love, Bill
donna, what an amazing adventure! i will follow your exploits with great interest. re:underwear--wrap in the rei towel and wring/twist to remove most of the water. a river trick! can't wait to hear more. hugs, bj shannon (placerville)
We love following your adventures and check often for your next installment. Way to go, Donna!
Donna,
This is FABULOUS!!! You're amazing.... I've sent the link to friends. Friends, of course, but one, who, like me, would never consider stretching themselves in this way. You're going to love your house when you return. A week's camping trip, or a stay in a lousy motel in Podunk, always does that for me. Imagine: 10 weeks of wet underwear, no hair dryer, curry.........
The neighborhood is sunny this afternoon. It was wet this morning. Ohmygosh, I just realized you're missing Superbowl - imagine you're devastated. :-)
Love,
Robin
Hi Donna,
Let me know if you want me to post MSQLP info on the blog. Otherwise I will continue to send weekly emails. I love your blog! It is wonderful as you are.
love,
Kim
Thank you so much for sharing your incredible experience. Between reading your blog and the novel I'm reading, I feel like I'm there. Thank you. I'll get Jay to catch up on your adventures. Try to stay warm. Love, gina
Oh, Donna - the whole experience is just so much more rich when told from your perspective. I love how your personality and sense of humor have blended with your new Indian neighbors. They are as lucky to have you in their midst as I am the rest of the year!
I'm hooking Jillian up with your blog, as she's been getting a little cabin fever with Cody lately and I'm sure she will enjoy your stories as much as I have been. We're all going to Oregon at the end of this week for a week of exploring, skiing, and family fun, so that will be her last hurrah before going back to work. By the way, since I know you'd ask... Cody is exquisite, starting to smile and working hard at holding his head up. I can hardly wait to come over during Grammy-time (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and share him, plus hear more of your tales of India.
You know, I think there is underwear made out of quick-dry fabric. I suppose it's too late for someone to try and get it to you, eh?
Thanks SO much for writing this all down.
Hugs from Shelley
just read a news story about broken undersea cables that handle internet traffic to and from India. if your downloads were slow before ...
No one could have this experience quite like you-or write about it in such a page-turner way. Bravo!
Reading your comments takes me right back there, across a 47 year span to when I first arrived in India. Everything sounds the same. Aren't dhobis wonderful! And the tea-I still remember the wonderful taste and smell of waking up to Indian tea.
Love to you and all your little lambs-I know they love you, M
This seems like the best way to see India, and really immerse yourself in their culture. I'm jealous! This is the first time I've seen your blog, so I'm sure I'm going to enjoy going back and catching up...
Hi Donna,
Sounds like you are becoming acculturated as well as being stretched...I have some quick-dry underwear, for hiking. It's a similar kind of fabric to the towel.
It will be interesting to see if your students begin to stretch their behavior...or if they simply respond positively to your clear, firm, but non-authoritarian classroom norms. They're probably not used to that. Glad to hear you have so far escaped any dreaded bugs.
Love,
David
Sounds like you're having a real "quail" adventure! Thanks for the email... I hadn't found your blog and was wondering how you were. I sent the address to April Carillo (remember? CHS Math). She and her husband Gabe are in Kenya at a mission orphanage for a couple of years... you seem to have some of the same living conditions.
Did you read "Eat, Pray, Love" before you left? The Pray section deals with her stay on an ashram in India and her comments on trying to meditate in the meditation room parallel yours hysterically! She finally finds success at the top of a tower on one of the roofs...
I didn't get the pictures last night on my Mac but they came through fine here at school! You look really cute in the new clothes! I've actually seen that sweater look here in the US...
Keep smiling and enjoy it all,
Kathryn
Dearest DOnna, Thanks so much for your blog, it is a lovely experience to share your discoveries and observations. I am reliving my teacher experiences, "latitude,flatitude" through you, too! There is no need to answer me, just keep sharing, in your rich,loving way. I shall now sit in my garden and toast you with a cup of chai, but NOT in a tin cup! Pink profusion in my plum tree and shy iris and daffodils making their first appearances. Book Group misses you, but we are following you on a map. I personally would rather eat curry! Love to your knees, and the rest of you. I LOVE the punjabi dress! Warm hugs, Lowell
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