"Back on good ole' Washington soil... :)"

Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998
From: Angie
Subject: Back on good ole' Washington soil...  :)
To: "Friends & Family"


Howdy all...

Sorry it's been so long since my last message.  I didn't get time in
Bangalore to get to a place where I could send a message until the
25th.  The connection there was worse than in Jaipur, and I was unable
to send anything other than an "I'm fine & coming home as scheduled"
message to my parents.

Homesickness all but disappeared when I reached Bangalore.  I didn't
get to see Asma as much as I'd have liked, unfortunately.  The project
manager is unhappy with her family, and feels they've been
uncooperative.  I think there's likely some truth to that.  He wanted
me to quit sponsorship of her, and switch to another child.  I, of
course, refused until I talked to her...  Her older brothers are
working in jobs for which they were trained by the project, so the
family is doing much better financially.  After some discussion, Asma
told me that she'd like me to sponsor another child.  We will still be
corresponding, of course.

So, I'll soon begin sponsoring a new child named Husna.   She'll be 7
on December 30, and is in II Standard (2nd grade).  She's adorable, of
course.  Her family has 4 children, of which she is the youngest. 
Salma is 17 and in "2nd PUC", the equivalent of 12th grade.  Rafia is
15 and completed X Standard (10th grade), which is a common stopping
point for those not intending to go to college.  She is currently not
in school due to financial problems.  Therefore, in June I'll send the
school fees so that she can start "1st PUC".  Moin, Husna's brother,
is 13 and in VII Standard.  All of the children study in "English
Medium" which means that most of the lessons are taught in English. 
This is generally viewed as a more difficult and better education, and
I think that this indicates that the parents take education seriously.

On the 24th I visited Jan's sponsored child in a village 3 hours from
Bangalore.  (Sorry I wasn't able to let you know the date, Jan. 
Things were a bit up in the air until the last minute.)  Jan is a
sponsor that I met through my web site.  You can read about her
sponsorship at http://www.isomedia.com/homes/awin/CCF/Jan.html

My visit to Sudhakara's project was very nice.  I'll tell more later,
but for now I'll say that the project was very good, and the family
very nice.  They really liked the gifts she sent.  Jan should also be
proud that I believe they have the nicest house in the village.  (As
you can read in the above listed web page, Jan sent money to build a
house when their house was destroyed.)  I learned that the house was
destroyed by rains and winds, etc. because it was a poorly built
house.  The new house is sturdy, nice-sized, and made with really good
materials.  It will last a long time.  I was thrilled.  

I *did* actually see Maya after I got back to Delhi from Bangalore.  I
arrived in the evening of Thursday the 26th (Thanksgiving) and my
friend at the hotel told me that he'd take me out to look for her the
next evening at 6:00.  (I was scheduled to leave for the airport at
8:00.)  On Friday morning I went to Sangeeta's (Mom's sponsored child)
school and her house for a short visit and to say goodbye.  As I was
returning in the auto rickshaw, I saw a child begging that looked an
awful lot like Maya.  I went to the hotel to drop off my things, and
ask them to remind me how to say, "What is your name?" in Hindi.  I
then went out and found the child and asked her name.  She said,
"Maya", then paused a second, her eyes got big, and then she grinned
and gave me a big hug.

I was a bit stunned.  I'd never really allowed myself to believe that
I'd find her, even after seeing her father.  It seems that Maya had
been in a village with family (doing all the cooking, I guess) and
they brought her back into town to see me.  We spent most of the day
trying to get her into a school, or something, but unfortunately, I
was unsuccessful yet again.  All day I kept praying, "Please Lord,
don't let this be a lesson that you can't help everyone."  But, that
may be just what it was...  :(  I do have hope though, that I can try
to work something out from here.  I should be able to make contact
with her through my friend at the hotel.

My buddy Malini went out with Maya and I so that I could buy a few
things for Maya and her little brother Sunni.  We bought shoes, an
outfit, and a sweater for each.  

For the record, Maya is just as cute, just as clever, and just as
manipulative (begging for a living teaches this skill, of course) as
ever...  I adore her.  Once again, the family wanted me to take her
home, and she wholeheartedly agreed.  If only things were that simple...

I left that evening.  The trip home wouldn't have been bad if it
hadn't been for the hellish 11 hour stopover in Bangkok, and if I
hadn't gotten food poisoning on the flight from Delhi to Bangkok!!! 
Can you believe, 4 weeks in Asia, and not a single health problem
(other than an hour or so of feeling a bit ill on my second day in
Bangkok at the beginning of the trip), and then I get sick on the way
home...  At least one other person was sick enough on the plane that
the flight attendants asked for a doctor near the end of the flight...
 I didn't feel that badly, and didn't connect my malaise to that of
the other person until later.  While checking in for my next flight, I
mentioned to the person that I wasn't feeling well, and  that there
must have been a problem with the food.  They wanted to take me to the
doctor, and I agreed after being promised that I'd be sure to catch
the flight.  It's a bit amusing to me that I was asked twice if I had
money to pay the doctor.  My response was no, of course...  It was
their responsibility.  The doctor gave me antibiotics, pain
medication, and electrolytes to help replenish my body fluids.  After
thinking about it, I was really glad they suggested going to the
doctor.  (My doctor gave me medication for this very circumstance
before I left, but it was tucked away in my checked luggage...  Who'd
think they'd need it on the plane???)

I'm still feeling rotten, but it could be a lot worse.  I felt much
worse when I got sick during my last trip to India.  It wasn't fun to
be ill on the long flight, but my seat neighbors were pleasant
company, and that was nice.  

So, now I'm at Mom & Dad's until tomorrow morning.  I had considered
going home today, but I just couldn't face joining the holiday
traffic.  Kara (my cat) is doing really well, even though she is often
annoyed by my parents' younger dog, Daisy.  She was thrilled to see me
last night, and was following me everywhere this morning.  Since then,
though, she's been punishing me by cuddling up to my mom and turning
her back to me...  I can't wait until she deems me worthy of loving
again...  :)

Stomach's hurting, so I'll end here...

Hugs to all...

Angie