Enron Mail

From:lisag@kis.ernet.in
To:
Subject:INDIA UPDATE
Cc:
Bcc:
Date:Tue, 22 Jan 2002 21:36:29 -0800 (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.