Message-ID: <13465031.1075861132677.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 21:36:29 -0800 (PST) From: lisag@kis.ernet.in Subject: INDIA UPDATE Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-From: "Lisa Gillette" @ENRON X-To: Cathy.Stevens@EXULT.net, piney@mymailstation.com, vburtonb@pdo.co.santa-clara.ca.us, jennaburton2001@yahoo.com, aaronson@best.com, mgille@coair.com, burtont@nushtel.com, ehillegeist@hotmail.com, Scott, Susan M. , katyhester@hotmail.com, kaseywalker@kis.ernet.in X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Susan_Scott_Mar2002\Scott, Susan M.\Inbox X-Origin: Scott-S X-FileName: sscott5 (Non-Privileged).pst hello all, havent been as good about sending mass email updates as i had originally i= ntended, so here we go... well, you have all been asking if i have been sick and i can finally answe= r yes. it happened this weekend, and of all places and times while i was c= haperoning a 9th grade camping trip. i am considering myself extremely luc= ky though for a couple of reasons: 1) my stomach actually held out for 3 w= eeks in india, 2) it only lasted about 36 hours and started at the latter = half of the camping trip, and 3) supposedly it should only hit once (we wi= ll see; we all know how much i enjoy being the exception to every rule).= =20 the camp was at a beautiful spot called Poondi. the school owns several hu= ndred acres of land surrounding a lake about a 2 hr drive and then a 30 mi= nute hike from campus. KIS is in the process of building bathrooms and sho= wers, a sand volleyball court, and a deck going out onto the water. so it = was actually great to be there "roughing it" with the 13 students before a= ll the distractions are in place. we spent the days repelling and doing ar= chery and i was actually leading some of these activities. SCARY?? so asid= e from the 3 rats in the girls hole in the ground bathroom and the extrem= ely bumpy bus ride it was rather enjoyable. the kids got a kick out of the= herd of bison (and so did i) on the road on our way back to school. they = were absolutely enormous and the bus driver had to turn off the engine whi= le we sat patiently and waited 20 minutes for them to finish doing whateve= r it was they were doing so we could proceed on. priya and i were scheduled to chaperone a school dance that evening but gi= ven my stomach problems i opted out and it ended up being canceled anyway = for a memorial service. a 5th grade student who became ill the first day o= f class, Jan. 8, died this weekend. he was transported to madurai for care= on jan. 9 and had been in extremely bad condition ever since. indian dr.s= have no idea the cause and had called on other dr. around the world to he= lp identify the cause but still nothing has been determined. the first th= ought was that he contracted something at school but that was quickly rule= d out given the short time frame he was actually here. the students werent= allowed to arrive before jan. 7 and given his unique case and that no oth= er students have had any of symptoms it was ruled an impossibility. even m= ore tragic, the parents of another student had gone to visit Asad in the h= ospital shortly after he was admitted and on their way home were involved = in a car accident. the father died immediately and the mother has been in = a coma. she is expected to make a full recovery, but nonetheless, extreme= ly traumatic events for young children at the start of the semester.=20 lets move on to a brighter topic.... i am still enjoying myself. i started= study hall last night. i will be doing study hall every tuesday night fro= m 7-9 in the girls 7th and 8th grade dorm for math and english. its unbeli= evable how stupid you can feel trying to do 8th grade math. i was reading = the textbook to remind myself what the rules were for arithmetic and geome= tric sequences. intramurals began this week. mondays and thursdays i am do= ing 7th and 8th grade boys vball intramurals. so my evenings are pretty bu= sy and my days are getting busier. i just took on the kindergarten PE cla= ss. i start next week. there are 6 of them and when i asked what they are = doing currently the elementary school coordinator told me that yesterday t= hey were marching left, right, left to learn the difference between their = right and left. he suggested that next i teach them to skip, hop, gallop, = etc. how cute is that? i am really looking forward to it especially after = spending everyday 9th and 10th period with the juniors and seniors. some m= ore good news...I found out monday that all volunteers were given a pay in= crease effective immediately for the month of january. i was making 700 R= s/mo. (approx. $14) and am now making 2,000 Rs/mo. (approx. $40). priya as= sures me that she doesn't spend more than 4,000 Rs/mo. so obvioulsy expens= ives are of little concern. so this is an invitation to all of my fellow e= x-enron employees still job-hunting with no attachments or responsibilitie= s (Bryan, Niclas) to come for an extended visit? dont worry its not a one= time invitation. you will be asked again.=20 this weekend i am helping to finalize plans and registration for the Terry= Fox 10K Cancer fundraiser on sunday. Terry Fox was a canadian man who los= t a leg to cancer and started this fundraiser before he died in the early = nineties. The fundraiser now takes place in 54 countries and India is the = 8th largest contributing country. A canadian woman that i work very closel= y with here brought the fundraiser to Kodai last year and it was a huge su= ccess. before all of that i am chaperoning the middle school's weekend ac= tivity saturday night, Night Frisbee.=20 It should be a pretty tame weekend (not that weekends here arent) given th= e recent events in Calcutta. the state of Tamil Nadu and the rest of India= have put American Institutions on high alert. So this morning at an all-s= chool assembly the principal met with staff and students to inform us of t= he security measures that are in place for the remainder of the week and t= hrough the weekend and possibly ongoing. All school campus have been shut = down and locked up with only the main entrances accessible and guarded by = indian commandoes. the students all laughed at the word "commandoes" inst= ead of "police" or "armed guards" but that was the word used. students and= staff effective by end of school today are required to wear ID badges, no= visitors other than family members of student and staff are allowed on ca= mpus, and students who live in dorms off campus will be transported to and= from dorm by bus. I LIVE ON CAMPUS!! I still feel very safe here given th= e inaccessibility of Kodaikanal. we are extremely far south of everything = that continues to happen in the north, 7,000 ft up in the mountains, a 3 h= r. ride up the mountain, and remember indians aren't the people committing= these acts. i havent said any of this to worry anyone. actually my inten= t was quite the opposite. i am anticipating emails from a lot of you quest= ioning the schools response to the incident in calcutta and wanted to assu= re all of you that security measures are in place.=20 love you and miss you, Lisa I know i forgot many people. my distribution lists are set up on my hotmai= l account. Ashley, please forward on to Jahnke. Leigh Ann, to Tracy and th= e rest of the girls.