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,

INDIA UPDATE
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 0th grade camping trip.
i am considering myself extremely luc= ky though for a couple of reasons: <NUMBER>) my stomach actually held out for <NUMBER> w= eeks in india, <NUMBER>) it only lasted about <NUMBER> hours and started at the latter = half of the camping trip, and <NUMBER>) supposedly it should only hit once (we wi= ll see; we all know how much i enjoy being the exception to every rule).= =<NUMBER> the camp was at a beautiful spot called Poondi.
the school owns several hu= ndred acres of land surrounding a lake about a <NUMBER> hr drive and then a <NUMBER> 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 <NUMBER> 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 <NUMBER> 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 <NUMBER> 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 0th grade student who became ill the first day o= f class, Jan. <NUMBER>, died this weekend.
he was transported to madurai for care= on jan. <NUMBER> 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. <NUMBER> 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.=<NUMBER> 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 <NUMBER>-<NUMBER> in the girls 0th and 0th grade dorm for math and english.
its unbeli= evable how stupid you can feel trying to do 0th 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 0th and 0th 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 <NUMBER> 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 0th and 00th 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 <NUMBER> R= s/mo.
(approx.
<CUR><NUMBER>) and am now making <NUMBER> Rs/mo.
(approx.
<CUR><NUMBER>).
priya as= sures me that she doesn't spend more than <NUMBER> Rs/mo.
so obvioulsy expens= ives are of little concern.
so this is an invitation to all of my fellow e= x-<COMPANY> 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.=<NUMBER> this weekend i am helping to finalize plans and registration for the Terry= Fox 00K 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 <NUMBER> countries and India is the = 0th 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.=<NUMBER> 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, <NUMBER> ft up in the mountains, a <NUMBER> 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.=<NUMBER> love you and miss you,
expected make recovery left learn difference wear id badges ntended asking sick mountain remember sequences intramurals began canadian woman work main entrances accessible luc ky couple spending everyday 0th