From Kolkata (Calcutta), India to Flagstaff, AZ, US

I received a very pleasant surprise in the mail today!

I received a letter from Asmoni, the 7-year old little girl from India that I am sponsoring through Children International!!

Her letter was handwritten in pencil, written in Indian (Bengali?)- it has erase marks and delicately-formed symbols that represent her language. I couldn't begin to translate it myself, as it doesn't use the typical symbols that many languages use for letters.

Thankfully it has been translated into English!!

"Dear Ms. Epperson

I welcome you to the sponsorship programme. I go to school chatting and enjoying time with my friends. I hope you all are well . We are all fine. I study in grade 3 and I like to read Bengali books. I love my brother. I love to eat meat. I like to dance when I listen to songs. I love red colour. My mother tells me stories. I am very happy to know that you are my new sponsor friend. I thank you for it. I send you my love and regards.

Yours lovingly

Asmoni Khatun"

These two surveys were on the back-side of her letter:

I also received a (separate) heartfelt letter from the director of the local agency where Asmoni receives her benefit from. There are 24,000 children alone in the Sahay agency. Wow.

It absolutely amazes me how a piece of paper can carry with it so many happy dreams- and through such a distance! It tickles me "pink" to know that this very same piece of paper has been physically placed in her hands - and now is in mine. From Kolkata to Flagstaff. Amazing.

I know the human race has been exchanging written correspondance for centuries... I will say, though, this has been one of the most impacting letters I've ever received. It's hit me, or is starting to, that my monthly donations are truly REACHING someone. Someone who loves to dance and read. Someone who loves red. Someone who will now have access to better education, medicine, and a friend in America.

Most people would say how lucky she is -- Really, though, how lucky I am!

Holidays & "Holland"

Good night 2009... Good morning 2010!

Hopefully this year will see me become more diligent about posting! Ha! (don'tholdyourbreath!)

Christmas was good- Mainly enjoyed time spent with family & friends. We had some family stay with us for mini-vacations and we also hosted a cookie-decorating gathering. It was messy- and delightfully fun!

I spent precious time holding baby twins that are just a few weeks old. I got to play with an expensive, fancy camera as I tried my hand at taking holiday-card photos for my cousin & her family. I loooooved the feel of the heavy camera in my hand! I enjoyed seeing 3 films in theaters ("Invictus," "New Moon," and "It's Complicated.") I certainly enjoyed the greasy, butter-and-seasoning flavored popcorn even more than the films themselves! I enjoyed staying awake until 2 and then sleeping until 10...11:30... even 2! I enjoyed retiring my alarm clock for the past two weeks.

I enjoyed having a cup of coffee and conversation with a good friend as he returned from Peace Corps in China. My parents and I enjoyed a road-trip through Southern Arizona, through non-spectacular towns of Hayden, Winkleman, and Superior on our way to visit relatives in Oro Valley. My aunt & uncle just moved down there- it's a neat area. Enjoyed the amazing, freshly-made-still hot- tortillas from the best tortilla maker in the world! My relatives' new home is against the Catalina Mountains, which actually were very beautiful! It was a short-notice trip (we decided to go & left within 2 hours of deciding) but it was very enjoyable. I'm looking forwards to exploring the area further on future visits!! (Also visiting Mrs. Dawn, hopefully!) I enjoyed "ringing in the new year" with family & a family friend. Enjoyed time in the woods with a cousin & his girlfriend. Enjoyed reading beautiful holiday letters and cards from dear friends (and wondering why we can't get mail like that year-round?) There was a lot of Enjoyment to be had. So much to be thankful for- and I am. My life is pretty ordinary to me, but am lucky to know that it is so rich compared to some...

I didn't enjoy having to spend $100 on a new power-cord for my laptop, as my old one called it quits. I didn't enjoy becoming restless and truthfully, bored, as I laid around the house. Sure, I read delicious novels & watched entertaining films. But I missed the stimulation and conversation that working with 12-yr olds brings to my daily life. Needless to say, I was a very happy teacher this morning (after adjusting to the alarm waking me at 5am, of course)- happy to be back in my "teacher" shoes once again.

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While reading my daily blog rounds, I found story posted by Cayman's mama that I -yes- enjoyed. It's about perspective in relation to special needs children. I plan to type this out in a nice font or something, and put it up somewhere in my classroom. Probably on my happy-thoughts wall. :) (What? You don't have a happy-thoughts wall? I suggest that you get one!)

Welcome to Holland

by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for awhile and you catch your breath, you look around... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills... and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts!


But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, very lovely things... about Holland.

Final thought (for today) from Lindsey:
I'm thankful that I GET to go to Holland every day. I'm thankful that I LIVE in Holland withinin my own everyday living. I'm thankful that I have a wonderful group "tour-mates" which are my family & friends. I'm grateful that I get to show my students how to find the beautiful things that are in Holland. -- Thank you, Holland!

I'm optimistic for 2010, even if I'm not positive how to pronounce it!
Is it "two thousand and ten," "two thousand ten," or "twenty-ten"???!