Trip to India, Jan 28 (Local)
Sunday, January 27th, 2008The following is the post I tried to do last time but couldn’t get on line with my computer. I just tried copying it from my thumb drive but Jayamani’s computer has no driver for it, although the port is there. So I bit the bullet and am retyping it manually. There is some overlap between this post and the last one. Sorry.
We arrived in Amsterdam at about 7:30 on Wednesday morning, local time. This was to be a 5 hour layover, but we didn’t mind. We had just wrapped up a 10 hour flight and had another one to look forward to before our arrival in Jangaon. So, we used the time to walk around some, get a snack, etc. Sharon peeked in on the small free art museum that was there.
I dragged out the laptop and tried to use the free wi-fi but for some reason was unable to logon. I had wanted to get this report posted in a more timely manner.
So, as it turns out we are at the orphange in Jangaon and enjoying some wondeful Indian hospitality as this is being written. The food here is wonderful and one need only sit in one place for a few moments before a tray of tea magically appears. This happened to me again just about 2 minutes ago as I set up my computer and began typing this write-up. K.M. and Jayamani are very gracious hosts.
It was a real joy to see the children here again. When we arrived they gave Sharon and I the same welcome I receive last year; singing, dancing, garlands around our necks and flower petal showers. This was done by just the younger children this time, since the others were still in school for another hour, or so.
I thought they might be up to something when we pulled up to the orphange. The driver honked his horn for somebody to open up and pretty soon one little girl started to open the gate. Right away someone else closed it and shooed her away. There followed the rustling sound of a couple dozen little feet and some muted voices. Then the gate was re-opened and we were allowed in for the welcoming. Little children can do such endearing things.
Later, when the older ones arrived from school we were greeted by them and they chatted excitedly and some wanted to make sure I remembered them from last year. Then they wanted to know how well I was feeling and how my sister, Mary was doing. All the kids here have been praying for Mary and me since they found out about our health problems when I was here last year. I have been told they pray for both of us every day.
The repair work on the building here has been struggling. Roger and Jan got here at the beginning of the year to get things going and the hired painters started painting just today. This is no fault of Roger and Jan’s. It just seems to be a part of the Indian frame of mind to consider things at great length before beginning. I have peeked in on the painters a couple times today (I must do something. After all, they think I’m the overseer). I must say, I think it is looking good so far. Maybe I won’t even have to tell them to do anything. No that they would understand me anyway.
The water damage to the building has required the expertise of an engineer, a specialist in building reclamation. On Sunday he will be here to inject grout, or mortar or something into the walls to fill a bunch of serious cracks from the inside out. Then he will coat the walls with a special paint. This will keep the monsoons from wreaking their havoc on them. Windows and screens are also in the works. When completed the rains should be effectively kept on the outside of the building where they belong. With all that accomplished it will then make sense to finish the floors with tile that are now just rough, dirty concrete.
We are enjoying fairly mild weather for this time of year in India. I don’t think it’s even been out of the 80s and it’s not overly humid, although if you were to ask Roger it needs to be about 15 to 20 degrees cooler.
The four of us took a pedicab into town today to do some errands. I needed to do some banking, basically get a bunch of rupees, and also come up with an adapter that would let me plug each of my various appliance chargers into the particular style of electrical outlat they have in India. This last was found rather quickly and only cost 10 rupees, about 25 cents. More rupees, however, would have to wait for another day as it turns out the bankers were on strike.
It was very interesting and enlightening to go downtown and discover I had never really seen much of Jangaon when I was here last year. What I was able to see today convinced me that there were, indeed, about 70,000 people living here. The town has a bustling central commercial area.
Surprisingly, when I cranked up my laptop to compose this post I was informed there was a very strong wi-fi signal from who-knows-where (who knew?). However, although I was able to connect to it I was not able to logon and use it. I really am hoping I can figure out how to use that service. Good internet access here is elusive, the computers at the local internet cafe are fairly slow and it’s decidedly inconvenient to go there to use them. Besides I NEED to just use my own computer.
I wish I was just a little more computer savvy. Wi-fi in Jangaon, India would be the cat’s meow, and also would make including photos with these posts a practical reality. I guess it’s a peer-to-peer or computer-to-compurer connection, whatever all that means. Is that good, or bad? I don’t know. If someone can advise me please post me a comment about it. Until then I will be working on becoming a familiar face at the Jangaon Internet Cafe. Later I will be making some attempts to post photos even if I’m stuck using someone else’s computer, and a dial-up connection. We can hope.
Stay tuned for more.
Mike M.
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