thoughts.

eye check-ups this week

Thangaraj. 8th grade

Vijay Kumar. 8th Grade.

beautiful Sindhu. she's my writer in 12th grade.

basketball game this week. girls against boys. draw your own conclusions.

to my dear aquaintances:

I am writing today with not much to say. I feel full—but empty at the same time. Melissa has gone. I talked to her on the phone this morning. what a strange phenomenon, to be in the exact same place I was satnding with her, 2 days ago, while talking to her on the phone, half a world away. I miss her tremendously. but being with the kids—who offer their adoration in exchange for a strawberry-shaped eraser—makes it easy to forget my own troubles.

I’ve been thinking about writing lately. teaching writing 8 times a week, reading as much as I possibly can afford, and writing even more, my thoughts are turned to the old pen-to-paper business. reading Jacob 4:2, “but whatsoever things we write upon save it be upon plates must perish and vanish away; but we can write a few words on plates, which will give to our children, and also our beloved brethren, a small degree of knowledge concerning us, or concerning their fathers—now in this thing we do rejoice; and we labor diligently to engrave these words upon plates, hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts.” (this is from Jacob, a prophet in the Book of Mormon, who labored diligently to write the things of Christ).

I read these words and think how we learn ourselves and then teach our children about the great invention of paper. how ingenious it was. indeed it was, but I have not thought much about its permanence. paper doesn’t last forever. but these words were originally written on a surface that does.

it means so much to me to be able to write in a journal every day. nothing can replace my pen-to-paper habits. I am constantly returning to a scene in the movie Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2. (random movie, and actually a disappointment to me compared to the first) A scene in that movie where Bridget is studying archeology. her professor tells her about the ancient people they were uncovering—they tried to leave themselves on every surface they could find she said. I’ve thought about that a lot, wondering which surfaces I will leave myself on?

are the surfaces I write on long-lasting? I love writing on paper. it won’t last forever, but it’s a need I must fulfill. what about, I think, the cyber world? perhaps the digital interfaces are longer-lasting. publishing things here seems quite permanent, barring your blog doesn’t get erased. the internet is a blessing to me. (what are your thoughts technology-gurus?) also, I have a friend who told me once he feels the record of his life is in the people he meets, knows, loves. I thought that was a beautiful thought. leaving yourself in people rather than in a notebook or a web site.

I had the neatest day yesterday. Saturdays are half-days of school for the kids, so in the afternoon, I went into the school music room to play the violin--just for fun. Miss Ruth is the music teacher there and she is about 60 years old. I wish I could send you a picture of her, or even better copy and paste our entire conversation here. She is a picture of India to me. She is wearing a tight, gray-haired bun, and according to Kavitha and Prathiba (my 9th grade drama queens) she wears her saris in an old-fashioned way. She is missing some teeth, but her smile is enchanting as the brown skin around her eyes wrinkles. She has had a story of a life--married to a man who was abusive to her 3 children, had 2 wives besides her, all due to his alcoholism. Her life has not been a life of tragedy, but one of miracles. She has so much faith and she talked to me for 2 hours about her belief in God.

wish I had more time. wish I could post every picture I've taken. I love you all. may God bless you.