10/5/00 11:59:12 a.m., [email protected] writes:

Guess Who? It's Michael and Tamara from New Delhi. We've been here for about 9 hours and still can't believe it. We both go Upper Class to London and then Premium Economy to Delhi. It's the strangest feeling to be here. It will let Michael tell you his thoughts.

hey, wai. i feel like i am crazy or in my own movie about foreign travel. you could smoke at the immigration desk and at baggage claim. baggage claim is a very loose term here. basically some bags come on the conveyor and others are just piled on the ground. to even get close to the belt you have to step on other peoples stuff. sort of like a very large version of twister. put your right foot on red hand baggage. etc. any way we haven't been into town proper, just out of the air terminal and into the hotel which is sooo nice and when we napped we forgot where we were. anyway tomorrow we are off to see the local sights. so far my ass is holding up. we'll see though. anyway love to all and send our hellos all around.

It's Tamara now. I will e-mail more as the days go on. It's crazy to be here and I'm going to have to get used to being here.

Love Tamara.

10/5/00 03:23 p.m., [email protected] writes:

linnet,

what's up. tam and i are at the cyber cafe at our hotel. i just checked my email and received a message from puerto rico regarding school. this is so bizarre that i can register for classes from the sub-continent of india.

anyway we just had dinner, kinda like bay leaf only in india. tam's sis is sooo cute and tam and her mom are having mom and daughter arguments about safety. india is cool so far. actually its damn hot but the hotel is nice. so far my ass is holding up, but we haven't yet been into delhi proper.

well we will try to keep in contact as often as possible. send my love to jeremy and mom and dad and ej and the dog.

see you.

love miguel and tam.

10/9/00 4:59:45 AM, [email protected]  writes:

wai, 

[TEXT OMITTED] i think i am adjusting to my new environment. the food is very good and i have only had minimal bathroom excitement. today some beggars came up to the window of the car we had for our use to go to town. have people serve us water and coffee is strange and i always feel like i am in a restaurant. to be quite honest even though i have been here for almost five days, i don't think i have quite realized that i am in fact in india. i can't explain the notion. now we are at one of tam's aunts house about to have dinner. i will send more email and postcard love soon. how's the new job? they play the bono video every five seconds on this french music channel here.  see you soon 

love me

10/9/00 6:20:17 AM, [email protected] writes:

Hello, hello,

Now starts our official e-mail relationship. I'm sitting in my aunt's house with Michael sleeping on the bed. The boy is finally understanding the concept of relaxation. It's strange to be around the family, but good in its own way. I will send you a more detailed e-mail in a few days. Rest assured we are doing well. I can't believe I missed the West Wing. I'm glad the show is doing well. Wai Shan, I don't think I have the appropriate words to say what it feels to be here. I tried calling Oli before I left, but missed her. I will send her an official letter soon. I can't believe I haven't talked to you in about 5 days. I really don't think we've gone that long without some sort of communications. Please say hi to the gang. I don't have the time right now to e-mail everyone. I will e-mail again in the next couple of days. How's Kit Katie doing? a 

Love,

Dot head

10/9/00 08:39 a.m., [email protected] writes:

hey, glad to see that this email thing works. yes, we are in india. now we are in the south, in a city called madras. we have been staying with tamara's family who have been absolutely wonderful to us and have made my transition to this new environment much easier. i have to be honest though, it is a bit of a culture shock. there are many stark differences here that i was immediately aware of, and yet there are many similarities to puerto rico in terms of the homes, the layout, the floor tiles, the smell of the air and the palm trees. today tam and i had the driver take us to town to purchase slippers for me. in the middle of th road we ran into a funeral procession that was going on in the street. a whole crowd of people were walking, one man setting off firecrackers with lots of smoke and some were carrying the dead body on a strecker made of sticks, with flowers and adornments. very interesting. apparently they were off to cremate the body. the food is also quite different in the south. in nyc most of the restaurants are north indian, but in the south the food is totally new to me. i have not have horrilbe bathroom experiences, but i have had my moments. i was practically terrified to get off the plane but i think i am doing okay. mommy sent me an email, and i told her i would call her only if she asks me to do so in writing. if not i am not calling cause she said not too. i will call you soon, we tam and i figure out how to get her calling card to work. see you guys in a few weeks. i miss everyone there too. say hi to jeremy and denise.  

love michael 

ps. i am the only white person in this entire town. talk about role reversal. definitely and educational and eye opening experience. tam has a cousin rishad who is six who reminds me exactly of gabrielle. very cute. 

talk soon. bye love me.

10/12/00 2:40:18 AM, [email protected] writes:

I'm sitting at this internet place and have a bunch of e-mail. this is the life i swear. I'm so relaxed. I truly feel like a queen. Yes, I want to know all the TV factoids. I'm having a bit of a withdrawal. I don't know what's happening with the stars, though I think that will work out once I get my computer worked out. I heard you didn't go hiking. I know everything darling, even when I'm thousands of miles away. My indian accent is kicking it here. You should ask Michael about it. It's pretty funny. Well,what's life like here. I wake up, have coffee, have breakfast, have a shower, get dropped off at my other aunt's house for lunch, relax after lunch, do a bit of shopping and then it's dinner. Hard life, huh!!! Honestly, I can take this only for a few more days. Not much longer!! I need to occupy my days with something. I haven't called up the jobs yet. I'm giving myself a few days to just get in gear. Please get Foo to send me the pictures. I want to see them. Grassy ass!!! Would you believe they get Buffy here? I'm going to try really hard not to get into it. They get MTV and this really cool French music channel. I won't want for music videos. They get a few American shows, which are about a season behind. I'm really going to try and fill my time with something other than TV. Yeah right!!! Well, I'm going to be off. I will e-mail in the next couple of days. I think it's going to be a couple of day between each e-mail, until I get the laptop hooked up, which will be after the northern trip with Michael. Continue to e-mail. Isn't it funny, Foo sent me the listing of shows from the voice. I can't escape!!!

10/12/00 3:00:24 PM, [email protected] writes:

wai,

hey, it's about 3:15pm and tam and i found this internet cafe and have been checking up on the nyc posse. just read about the elise/heather incident.  fucking crazy. they love those yankees. it's post season right? how are they doing.  am i really here. i am keeping a journal and am writing daily. i found a globe in tam's aunts house and trace the distance from america. unfuckingbelievable. we are around the globe. i feel like i am in a movie still but i don't want it to end.  yesterday we went to tam's house of youth. she was emotional as was her mom. it was crazy to see the place where she played as a girl. very special and i took some photos. i keep forgetting that for me this is a vacation. for tam this is a family reunion. i feel privileged to be a part of it.  we also took in a hindi movie last nite without subtitles. very dramatic and every film here is a musical. very hilarious. anyway, please stay well and i will see you all in a few weeks.  

love miguel.

10/12/00 8:42:33 PM, [email protected] writes:

jen and john,

hey, "namaste" is hindi for "hello". anyway sorry i didn't get to see you guys, but that's alright, i really don't remember seeing anyone, the nite was such a blur. i couldn't believe i was leaving and have been in india for a week now and am only just getting used to the idea. once i got over the initial culture shock here, i am really enjoying everything about it. sort of. i keep getting the shits but that happens everywhere i go. anyway, the landscape looks a lot like puerto rico except instead of stray dogs, there are cows everywhere. the food is good but kicking my ass with spice. it is hot and crowded and i am being treated really nicely and warmly by tam's fam. its' like being in titi's house. when i return, we will swap aussie for indi . tell john there are a lot of scents here but none that i think he would care to wear. how does ode to cow dung gray ya. anyway please forward to linnet's site and tell her i want her to sent me an email and list all of your email adresses, even john lynams and tio in pr. also tell her to call heather for me at 718-956-1603 and give her my email adress. wai told me about the photo spread in the daily news with heather and elise and yankee stadium of something. crazy. anyway hope you and john and your family are all well. sorry to hear about your grandmother. please be well. enjoy married life. see you soon.

love miguel.

10/12/00 05:38 AM [email protected] writes:

linnet,
namaste, that's hindi for hello. please tell julie cause i said that to her aswell but didn't give the meaning. i heard that nyc is cold. it's very hot here in chennai, india. things are going well. at nite sometimes the power goes out like in puerto rico. tam has an aunt that reminds me of titi hilda, sooo nice and welcomming. she told me that i am a part of the
family. did you say hi to jeremy and denise for me.

listen, tam and i are thinking of extending our vacation. how does singapore sound. what we might do is tack it on to the end of our vacation and i will come home to nyc a week later. since i will end up missing thanksgiving, i will stay in nyc until xmas. not sure though, will have to check out prices. either way i am changing my return flight home. i was
initially supposed to come home on the 20th of nov. to newark but i'd rather return to jfk. denise said she would have picked me up if i came to that airport later in the evening. its a monday. if i don't go to singapore and i come into jfk, can you ask if she can pick me up. if not maybe ej.

please let me know, this is important. i don't want to land all alone. boo hoo. [TEXT OMITTED...]

anyway i hope that you and jeremy are doing well. please send my love to mom and dad and nonie and ej and the dog. i miss you all. please tell them that i am safe and happy. do not worry too much. will see you in a few weeks. love lots. miguel
xxooxxoo

10/12/00 05:29 AM [email protected] writes:

julie,

hey, what's up? things are fabulous here. i can't believe that i am actually in an internet cafe in the middle of chennai, india. the mix of high tech, net stuff, vs. poverty, public urination, and cows about town is amusing. i suffered initial culture shock upon arrival, but i must pat myself on the back for my efforts. the food is good, sometimes too spicy and it kicks my ass literally, however it is tasty nonetheless. tam's fam is soooo nice to me, that i feel as if i always lived here and they were my family.

anyway i miss all you guys as well but will see you soon. the weather is hot and i am always drinking water. i have even had a kkm. talk to you soon.

love miguel.

ps. don't need to hear about weekend plans, no fair.

10/12/00 05:41 AM [email protected] writes:

[TEXT OMITTED...] I would say the beautiful south was one of the best shows. David Gray is up there as well. I'm still in my David Gray phase. I just love him. Glad to hear life goes on even without me. I 'm sure I would have hated a hiking trip!! You know me and the outdoors. I still can't believe I'm here. It's actually a little crazy. Michael is adjusting quite well. His stomach on the other hand is not. I've taken the past few days to just get used to life here. Actually, not so much life, but more getting used to be here and around the family. It will be a very different experience once my mom, sister and michael leave me. THough, this week has flown by and i'm sure the months will just pass by quickly. I'm glad you got to talk to Oli. I tried calling here before i left. I'm going to have to send her India mail. Please keep the information coming in.

Thanks, Tamara

10/12/00 5:35:34 AM [email protected] writes:

mommy,

hey, glad to see you added me. heard from titi angie. it was funny. namaste means hello in hindi. i won't call you but will send emails whenever we can get to internet cafe's. i am fine, i miss you all lots. will see you soon.

love michael.

10/13/00 6:46 AM [email protected] writes:

[To Denise; re: Tamara bought Denise a Just Enough French book for travel for her Paris Trip]

You so crazy!! I'm glad to hear you're using my gift for good. You're such a good person. All is well here. Actually, Michael's ass isn't doing to well. I'll let him tell you all the gory details. I'm sleeping more than I ever have because my body has to get used to the time change and travel. Those flights really do knock you out. Enjoy your Paris planning, and keep me posted.

October 13, 2000 7:07 AM [email protected] writes:

jules, 

hey, glad to hear that you are trying to broaden your horizons. go fit. anyway, the food is very tasty, but my virgin taste buds are having some difficulty with "karam" which is the tamil word for chili (spicy). all in all i am enjoying the cuisine, but my ass betrays me. but alas even in good ole usa i have similar dilemnas. yes i think it is very cool that i am in an a/c internet cafe yet just outside a bustling chennai street awaits. we have to leave all footwear just outside the cafe and i find it hilarious to chat barefoot. tomorrow we are going to a place called pondicherry which is an old city/state once settled by the french with many french accents even today. well i'm off, will chat soon. enjoy the hike and say hello to all. don't be too jealous, brazil sounded fab. 

love miguel. 

ps. i had a kkm just this morn. i even left my jeans rolled up and have adopted this sort of chelsea/castaway effect. very sexy... 

10/13/00 7:30 AM, [email protected] writes:

ping,

hey, namaste is the hindi word for hello. things are going good here, but the food is kicking my ass. literally. the chaffeur is just outside this internet cafe and waits until we are done. it is cool. every morning a nepalese male brings us coffee in bed and then when we have breakfast, another female cleans our room. also they do our laundry and generally take fine care of us. it is strange to have everyone wait on us, like being in a fancy restaurant all the time. i'm not sure if you would like it here. i am adjusting to the many many differences, but not without some culture shock bumps. the disparity between rich and poor exceeds even my own imaginings. just before we came to this cafe i went to a five star hotel next door, the equivalent of the waldorf. this hotel is absolutely breathtaking. fancy, smancy. just outside two seconds away a family of five washes their laundry on the road in a dirty pile of street water and there are cows everywhere you look. autorickshaws crowd the streets as do barefoot children walking back from school. there are absolutely no rules when it comes to driving. every person for themselves. somehow though i dont feel worried in the midst of this chaos. once you let go of western idealogies and conceptions re society you come to understand that this system has a function. whether or not one thinks that it works for all in this society is debatable, however as an outsider who comes from a position of the "have's", it isn't my place to question. all in all i can't believe that i am here. tam's family have been absolutely fantastic re including me in their life. i have been embraced by her uncles and aunts who told me i am a part of the family. the landscape here reminds me a lot of puerto rico and i feel that i am settling in. next week begins our northern journey. good to hear that you all are fine. hope fong settles well. say hello to melissa and zakiah and your family. we will call when we get to a hotel in mumbai (bombay). i don't want to impose on her uncle and they don't have calling cards.

take care, love miguel

10/13/00 7:32AM, [email protected] writes:

denise,

hey, good to hear from you. please tell ann and company that i am fine. i will explain why i have made this trip when i get back. no i am not going to have any type of tan; i am wearing sunscreen with spf 10,000 cuz i am white and worried. things are going well here. tams fam is totally cool. they have really made every effort to make me feel welcome and part of the family and i truly appreciate it. i thought of you a few days ago. while driving from town back home we hit traffic. the chaffeur pointed at a street funeral procession. about fifty men were walking in the center of the road. ten men were carrying a strecher type thingy which was carrying the body all out in the open air. the body was adorned with floweres and beads and i was able to catch a quick glance. another man was lighting loud firecrackers and smoke bombs throughout. very intereseting. i bet the body wasn't embombed. they were actually off to cremate it. hope that work is going well. we miss you guys and am sooo jealous of paris. are you getting excited. thanks soo much for the airport assistance. as soon as tam and i figure out if we are going to singapore or not, i will email you with my new flt arrival info. thank you soo much. anyway please take care and i will see you in a few.

love miguel

ps. but why? toot ta do? madon. and the ass kicker is... brooklyn rocks.

10/14/00 10:40:07 AM [email protected] wrote:

john,

hey, what's up. tam and i are in an internet cafe in chennai, india. "namaste" is hindi for hello. they don't speak hindi mostly in the south, usually tamil, but i don't know that word. anyway i can't believe that i am in india. the food is fabulous, but kicking my ass. the spices are very different and i am adjusting. yesterday i would have killed for a big mac with fries but alas i am really soaking in the culture. i feel that i live here now. we have servants in the house that bring coffee to us in bed when we wake, serve us breakfast, make up our room, clean our laundry and bring us water on silver trays upon request. it is hilarious and i have mixed emotions. i want to enjoy the hospitality but feel guilty all the same. the only word to describe the experience here is chaos. there are in fact no real rules of the road. every car, autorickshaw, bicyclist and pedestrian for themselves. worse than the l.i.e. on a bad day. i must go now to the tailor with tam, but will email soon. i miss you and will see you end of november. tam and i are toying with the idea of tacking on singapore at the end of this vacation. what do you think? anyway, love you lots

miguel

ps. diane would lose her mind if she came here.

10/18/00 7:29:15 A.M., [email protected], writes:

Julie,

I've left Julie. I know it's hard to believe, but I'm here. I can't believe it sometimes. I thank you for keeping my shows in order. I really do miss watching my shows, but I didn't come to India to watch TV. I suppose Oli would be proud!! I heard about hiking. I'm glad you guys decided to do that when I left. I'm not really the hiking person! Things here are surreal. Michael and I leave for our tour on Sunday, so I'm sure that's going to be interesting. Being with family is very different from going all over the country. At least I can speak the language here. Give my love to all. Will keep in touch while I'm on the road. Don't worry, I'll take many, many photos

10/18/00 11:15:32 PM, [email protected] writes:

wai,

hey, i am currently on my own in the city of bangalore without tam. i went to visit a friend from work and turns out her b friend got sick, she went to the doc with him and i came here for nothing. bad luck, but an interesting experience to travel independently. actually i deserve a medal from the pope for patience trying to purchase a return ticket to chennai at the bangalore train station. i briefly considered that it might be simpler to walk the four hour train ride than deal with the chaos of the ticket counter. the train stations remind me of old wwII movies and not in a good way. the actual train is quite comfy.  saw the mets win the pennant but didn't know that the yanks had clinched their world series seat. will try to catch some of this on espn cable over here. i can actually watch the night games live here during the day.  i will need a walking katie pic for my fridge. wait. i don't live anywhere anymore. how strange. heard all about the harrowing exp on the mount. are you all nuts. hope that all of your parts are still working fine. gotta go, but i miss you all terribly and need these emails as if they were vitamins. will see you at thanksgiving.  

love michael. 

ps. you never truly appreciate your family and friends until you are very far away. i am truly a lucky person and miss everyone more than you can imagine. 

pps. having daily kkms here. they are a necessity.

10/19/00 12:22:01 AM, [email protected] writes:

mommy,

hey, glad to hear that you finished the cross stitch. i hope you and daddy are doing fine. say hello to daddy and ej and the dog. i miss you all. i received some emails from the university in puerto rico and have been doing all my admissions and registration business via email. this is hysterical.  i am in the middle of asia and i am contacting the carribean to take care of the spring semester classes. how cool. it really is the 21st century.  sorry that my emails are sparse. i can only get to a net cafe rarely and we have a limited amount of time at the terminals. i will see you all soon.   

love you lots. michael. 

ps. tams family says hello.

10/19/00 12:38:35 AM, [email protected] writes

linnet, 

hey, i haven't had much chance to get to the internet cafe's so i may not be able to respond to all the emails quickly. i already sent one about the airport. to recap i would totally appreciate it if you and jeremy and ej could pick me up at jfk instead of newark. i will have tara change my flight to land in the evening of the monday prior to thanksgiving. anyway, that's for all the site work. i'm sure it's good. it takes forever to download here so i haven't yet seen it.  re: credit card, just send in the minimum balance only silly. i will take  care of the rest when i get back. talk about mkd. i am the official king of it here. but since i have that in nyc, its not realy interfering in my daily itinerary. the travel tp that denise gave me has been a help. will have to describe the squat toilets here. got my first chance to use one and i was on a train to boot. can't get much better than that. are you sick, how come you stayed at home. is it that time of the month? or are you playing work hooky. things are good, i will chat soon. please say hi to the man, tell him to use his words and i miss you all lots. 

love michael 

ps. it's quite bizarre to watch the world series in asia. not much coverage. and they don't seem to really care.

10/19/00 12:45:52 AM [email protected] writes:  

hola mami,  

yo puedo entender mas de tu carta a mi. yo creo que? como la comida con la familia de jeremy. como su papa de jeremy? no puedo esperar a ir a puerto rico y yo escribo a la universidad via email. te quiero mucho y yo voy decir hola a tamara y su familia. mi espanol es muy mal, pero yo necesito aprender. 

adios,

miguel.

10/19/00  1:02 AM, [email protected] writes:

linnet,  

hey, its soo good to get emails from all of you guys. right now i am alone in a different city. ( i have a friend from work who is here and i came by myself. i am going back to tam's house tonight, but wanted to check the mail. i understand that it's very emotional. i do feel very far away and this is such a good way to stay in touch. i had the chance to catch the mets vs. st louis game. please tell jeremy congratulations. the yankees are gonna kick there ass though so tell him to get ready. subway series here we come. things are still good. this sunday we are heading up north to mumbai (bombay) to begin the travel section of this journey. i decided against singapore because i don't want to stay away too long and i may run out of money.  i got an email from titi angie and tio in pr. soo funny.  i miss all you guys a lot and i will see you soon.  also, i got an email from denise saying that she could pick me up but i am changing my mind. i don't mean to drive you all crazy. i think i should go directly to mommies house first to recuperate, but i still want to land in jfk. could ej pick me up if i get a late enough flight on that monday nite before thanksgiving. please check up for me and thanks soo much. i haven't as yet checked the email site, but i think it sounds great. i hope you and jeremy are doing great. say hi for me and i will see you in about a month. damn this is a really long trip! love you lots, 

miguel 

October 19, 2000 1:29AM, [email protected], writes: 

denise, 

as i sit here in the indian city of bangalore in an internet cafe, you have managed to make everyone here look at me. your email was hysterical and you know how shy i am and was soo embarrassed to be the center of attention. even in india anyway yes you would be black. i of course am putting on sunsrceen like nobody's business. yes i hope to get those hats. i would have put the veil on too, so what was gay larry's prob. what's the deal with ann and prunes. if you need to go, just come here. i promise you that you won't have any problems here. things are going good. this really is a long trip and tam is starting to get on my nerves. we need alone time daily. actually we are having a blast. please say hi to ann and tell her i don't need prunes. so tell me, how tacky was the wedding dress? would you wear it. hope that nyc is doing okay. caught the last inning of the mets winning the penant. subway series is a reality? will try to catch it on indian cable. anyhow gotta go. will chat soon. 

adios, miguel

10/19/00 8:48 [email protected] writes:

jenn, 

yeah, we are still doing fine. haven't ridden and elephant yet, but i almost got stampeded by a small herd of billy goats. there are animals all over the place. you are riding around in the car, there is some traffic, you hope its not some accident with hurt people and then you see a cow just chilling in the middle of the road. a cow thats all. everyone here just drives around them. and when those cows move, so do you. anyway i will see you soon. i miss you and extend my hellos all around. 

adios love, miguel

10/19/00 8:48 [email protected] writes:

jenn and julie and ping, 

general message actually to all who went climbing. are you all crazy, you have to be carefull. i hope that your bums, ankles and everything else that hurts is better now. tam and i are doing fine and will take your bad experience under advisement. i mean i know that it was probably beautiful, but we will heed your caution. kudos to pete for the boots. i could go for a slice of that cheese cake right about now. anyway, this goes to all, miss and love you lots. 

take care. miguel

10/20/00 4:48:27 AM, [email protected] writes:

My darling Wai Shaninger,

Oh how i'm missing you!! Okay enough of that. Don't even talk to me about eating. I've been eating like I'm a starving child here. I need to slow the pace down a bit. I can't believe you guys went hiking and got hurt. I'm so glad I didn't go. Can you imagine what would have happened to me. You do remember the glasses from last year. Michael just walked into this internet place. He went to get a haircut. Yes, he's vain even in India. Speaking of haircuts, please apologize to Hachi. I didn't go see him before I left. WE leave for the North on Sunday. I will keep in touch every week, so you know we're okay.  Don't worry. If you are worrying, you can call my mother b/c she's having a bit of a fit about us going all over the place. It's been nice having this family time here. I've been bonding with my cousins. I haven't really done much by way of finding something to do, but I will get my ass working on that when I get back. It was really nice just relaxing here and not thinking about anything. I can't believe New York is the home for the World Series. I know I'm not a fan of baseball, but I'm sure the city is just so alive. I had a bit of homesickness the other day. It was brief but quite intense. Please say hi to the gang.  

Love,

TAmara

10/20/00 7:27:54 AM [email protected] writes:

mami,

en este carta, yo creo que yo entiendo mucho. mas de la carta proxima. (?) hoy, tamara y yo fuimos a alguna tiendas porque yo quiero comprar un poco cosas de aqui. yo compri una regalo para ti, y titi. no se comprar para papi y mi hermano, pero yo voy a ver otra tiendas. yo hable con la familia de tamara y yo doy sus carinas a ellos. (?)  entonces, yo estoy bien. la comida es muy rico pero calor y yo quiero comer arroz con pollo a veces. este domingo, tam y yo vamos a bombay y comenzamos nuestras viaje a norte de india. que magnifica! yo deseo todo en la familia estan bien, y yo voy a ver todo en noviembre. no puedo esperar para su comida de thankgiving. yo no se si tu entendes mi carta. no es perfecto.  

adios, y dice hola a toda la gente. hola papi, y ej y kc.  con mucho amor, tu hijo, miguel

10/20/00 7:40:44 AM, [email protected] writes:  

mommy,

am having a blast and am getting used to the food although every now and then i would kill for a boring old plate of pasta or a big mac. was able to catch the final mets vs. st louis on espn cable here. they get  everything and i was sooo excited. i am upset becaue i wont be in nyc to see the event or enjoy the thrill of the energy of the city. you are right, it is a win win situation. did you see heather and elyse in the newspaper. heather must be shitting her pants. she loves the yankees but a defeat by the mets is unthinkable. except for jeremy of course who i congratulated.  it was so nice to see the game but made me a little homesick. watching crazy puerto ricans at the mets game on tv, made me miss nyc. will be back soon enough. i gave tam's fam you and tio and titi angies blessings and tara says hello. she says that next week when she comes home without tamara, she and you will be in the same boat except i am coming home a lot sooner than tamara. she and her mother have three days till we go up north and tara has already become emotional and she keeps giving us the same safety speeches everyday. i suppose we can't understand cause we don't have kids, but i think tamara and i are becoming more sensitive to the issue. as i wrote to waishan, after getting all the emails from you and linnet, and tio and titi and my friends, you really realize how lucky you are to have so many people miss you and wish you well. it really is very special and makes the moments when we feel homesick easier.  i took a trip to another city yesterday and was able to see lots of the indian countryside, which was magnificent. saw more than i can even describe and have realized that i will never truly be able to paint an accurate picture of what is here. i have only my own interpretation. as i told tamara, its like describing the flavour of something by telling you about each spice. you can't do that. you have to take the flavour as a whole. it really is very moving and i feel lucky to have been able to share tamara's homecoming so personally with her family. they really have been making me feel like one of their own...anyway i love the spanish emails and i think i understand most of them, and i know that my response is on a first grade level but i appreciate the practice keep it up.  anyway i miss you lots. i hope you and daddy are good. say hi to ej. and the dog. 

love you lots and lots. 

michael 

ps i know her name is kc, lol

10/20/00 8:20am, [email protected] writes:

Ping,

anyway, can't believe your ankle. you guys really are crazy. did it never occur to you all that you were taking on a wild endeavor.  i mean from the various descriptions, you all bit off a little more than you could chew.  crazy kids.  how is fong liking the apt. are you all playing nicely. i haven't missed my bed yet, but i suppose that when i return to nyc, it will be weird that i wont be in my own room. bizarre.  am getting very excited for puerto rico though. tamara's family is showing me such great hospitality, but they are also reminding me of my family in ponce and i am eager to have a go at it. i have been conducting all of my registration and admission to the university in pr via email from here in india and its all very 21st century exciting. remember i am not used to this medium.  who is the letter from goldwater. open it and if it sounds important, please provide whatever details seem needed.  the atm card i don't need. i cleaned out the account, but left fifty bucks in it. i will get the card when i get back.  the check thingy, open that too. i may need to have it deposited by linnet into my account. if it is from goldwater, let me know the amount and i will contact linnet re: deposit in the richmond savings account. [TEXT OMITTED]  did you get your ankle xrayed. how do you know there are no broken bones. about the calendar. save some space for pics from india. i think a pic of tam on elephant in nepal will fit nicely into november. i want to add pics too.... tam is sad cause she and  her mom will have to say goodbye on sunday as we fly off to bombay. i still can't believe i'm here. yesterday i got back from a trip to bangalore all by myself. i went to see a coworker who couldn;t meet up when i got there and i thought i was going to be killed in the train station. trying to buy a ticket to get back the following day was a small nightmare and as i told wai, i briefly considered hitching the four hours back to chennai or skipping or whatever. it was a mess. i was the only white person in the station and everyone was staring at me or so i thought. actually a few people came up to me, asking for money, asking me to buy things. i get swarmed here. tam's fam laughs, anytime we go out, we are all surrounded because of my skin. we went to a resort town over the weekend and i was followed all over the beach and at a monument, no less than five venders all followed me and tam and her cousin to our car. it felt like the oscars and they were the paparazi. not fun at all. very scary. must get used to this, cause in the north we wont have paid drivers to save us. oh well. in general though this is really an experience of a lifetime. the ride back in the train was six hours and i watched the indian countryside flash by with all its ugliness and beauty mixed up all together. met a friendly family who waited the first three hours before we all started talking. good to know that my brand of humor works here. had the end of our car in stitches. everyone near us was listening and you know how shy i can be. it was a blast. we exchanged email addresses.  anyway thanks for taking care of the mail and giving linnet the bills. hold onto the atm card and let me know about the other stuff. say hi to your mom and fam and melissa. will see you in a month or so.  

love michael.  

ps. i still cant believe i am in asia. this is soooo cool. 

10/20/00 08:56 AM, [email protected] writes:

Linnet:

The Web site looks great. It's so weird to think that you're posting all our stuff up, though I like all the attention. I can't believe it has been two weeks. I think Michael is getting used to things though we will be leaving in a few days for the North. I'm going to have to get used to being on 8,000 planes. Please think of me. Say hey to Jeremy and wish him luck for the Mets.  

Love, 

Tamara

October 20, 2000 8:56 AM, [email protected] writes: 

jules,

got a big laugh with the dot thing, though i had to have tam read it silently as not to offend my cyber neighbors. anyway doing well, can't chat long, we have to get back to her uncle's and its dark now and we are going by auto rickshaw, god save us. anyway i forgot to say happy b day to jeremy, please forward my most heartfelt happy and many returns. you should have gone to the movie, saw it b4 i left and i shit my tightie whities. any who, ta ta. hope your all healed and say hi to steven for me.  

adios, miguel ps. ass is not ass raw as it could be so i have some saving graces here. lol 

10/23/00 5:24 AM, [email protected], writes:  

ping, 

well glad that you did get the ankle xrayed. did anyone really know that this was going to be insane?  today is my first official day in Bombay or as it has been changed back to the original "Mumbai". it's actually a very modern city, which translates into taller buildings, and less cows. so far i've only seen one as opposed to one every five seconds everywhere else. we have moo moo with us and she is enjoying the treatment that she is getting. as you know in hindu culture she is sacred and we practically get tossed aside as people clamour to get a better site of her. she is considering leaving the us permanently and relocating here. she's going to tour with us and make her descision after nepal.  anyway, we were met at the bombay airport by our travel group and taxid over to another of tams' relatives house. this relative is super duper duluxe, moving on the east side filthy stinking rich. we were driven to this swanky part of bombay and up an elevator to enter into about the nicest apt. i have ever seen. the furnishings, the details, the view. all spectacular. i was afraid to take a leak. her auntie was very nice and her two sons, both gorgeous, one actually used to be a model for a store in town. the dinner was fab and i unfortunately was nursing a cold. not a greenwich, gonna yell at denise cold, but more than a sniffle. in chennai everyone is literally sick in tams fam except for her and her mom and i caught a cold from someone. my head was stuffed and the airplane pressure screwed up my left ear and i had a searing pain as we were descending into bombay. all through dinner i could see the people talking but could barely follow the convo.  today i am a lot better. the cold is on its way out. took an actifed.  anyway, enough about all this crap. what is up with the world series.  this hotel doesn't have espn and i think that they've already played a game or two. please send score and any highlights please. i am dying to know. [TEXT OMITTED]  glad to hear zakiah is okay. and our stuff. say hi to all. next stop a place called arungabad. ? don't  know. we leave by plane tomorrow.  today we had the aunt' driver pick us up and take us to this gateway to india tourist sight. kinda like the arch du triump in paris only built by the brits. yes their tea is good. very sweet. need insulin. will chat soon.  adios. 

love miguel. 

ps. re ballot. nothing i can do now.  

pps. re papparazi. still feel famous and scared but having the drivers from her fam and from the tour agency is helpful. 

10/23/00 5:34:49 AM, [email protected] writes:

mami,

hola, como esta. hoy tamara y yo estamos en la ciudad de bombay, india. este ciudad es en el oeste de la pais, y hace mucho calor. regalos en este pais son muy barato, porque el dinero de los estados unidos puede comprar mas de nueva york.  anoche, nosotros fuimos a la casa de titi de tamara y la comida fue buen.   ellos tienen un grande apartamento y muchas cosas cara y bonita. hoy, la tia de tamara le damos su coche y nosotros fuimos a la jugares de interes. que magnifica. bombay es una ciudad como nueva york. grande, y hay mucha gente, pero menos vacas en la calle. loco! 

te quiero mucho, y dices hola a todo la gente. 

ps. yo no olvido la postal a erma. pronto.

10/23/00 05:37 AM, [email protected] writes

Hey Linnet,

Thanks for the letter to the captain. I will really need it in the next few weeks. We are going on every mode of transportation except for horses and cows. It's all a little crazy, but I'm really excited about it. It was nice being with family for two weeks, but I'm ready for the hectic pace of the journey. We have started the whole thing. I'm sending this e-mail from Mumbai -- formerly known as Bombay -- which is on the West coast of India. It's thought of as the New York for India. The film industry, stock exchance, business community all reside here. It has a very cosmopolitan feel to it. I have an aunt who lives here. This is the last city for family bonding. We leave tomorrow for Aurangabad. We're going to try and send e-mail from every city we visit. I'm hoping every city has a cyber cafe. I got really homesick the other day when I heard about the subway series. I have no love for baseball, but I can only imagine the energy in the city. It's also my favorite time of year in NEw York. Oh well, it's not like I'm not having a good time here. Though it's really hot as hell. I think that I so Satan walking down the street today. He was wearing a sari and had a dot. Please say hi to Judy, Eddie, E.J. and K.C. 

10/23/00 5:48:27 AM, [email protected] writes:

mom,

hey, didn't i tell you that one of my gifts from my job along with the leather bag was a journal. i have written in it every day since getting here. actually i started it the last night i was in my apt in brooklyn.  i've already finished it in the past two weeks and had to buy another in chennai, where tam's fam lives for the rest of my trip. i find everything so fascinating and get lost in words as i document my trip. i will never be able to remember everything and i keep rereading things, that i have already forgotten the order in which they happened.  i too am green with jealousy about not being in nyc during this subway series. i will try to watch it early in the morning here on cable in the larger hotels. i also miss autumn in nyc. the weather here is like puerto rico in august. hot, lots of mesquitos and dragonflies and sticky. we drink water constantly and my stomach seems to be adjusting to the difference in everything.  i am going to send the postcards from the taj mahal since that will be the most recognizable monument for everyone in the us. i won't forget erma. i heard that nonie looks every day for a card, please say that i said a special hello to her with lots of hugs and kisses.  you can't imagine how awed i am here. the mixture of beauty with poverty is insane and i remind tam everyday that i am grateful to her for the opportunity. i told both sets of relatives that you and tio and titi angie have all sent secial blessings from nyc, puerto rico and florida. i have 
already been invited to tamaras cousins wedding. don't know when, she's still single and doesn't even date yet. but nonetheless, when saying goodbye to her aunt in chennai, she said she expects to see me at the wedding. how lovely.  currently i am in bombay. we got here yesterday and this place is much more like nyc. it s modern with tall buidings and the center of all indian movie making. they have termed it "bollywood"... funny. anyway, tomorrow we fly to another city called aurungabad and then back to dehli on thursady. coincidentally that's the same day that tams mom arrives on her way home and we are all staying at the same hotel. pure luck.  well take care and i miss you lots. please tell daddy that he can email too. 

love and kisses.  michael

ps. i have decided against singapore. i don't want to spend more money and i'd rather enjoy myself completely here and in nepal. maybe next time i am in asia...

10/23/00 05:54:50 AM, [email protected] writes:

{Jenn,}

I'm glad to hear your ass is doing well. I still can't believe you guys pulled a stunt like that. Hiking for the cell phone crowd -- I don't think that's in any Lonely Planet guidebook!! I hope you thought of me as you listened to The Beautiful South. I'm sure they were really good. We have officially started the tour of the North. We're going to be on the go for the next 28 days. I don't think we have more than two days in any one city. It's a bit crazy, but I think Michael and I are looking forward to the chaotic pace. Please say hi to all. 

Love, 

Tamara

P.s.  Any word about Oli.

10/23/00 06:16 AM, [email protected] writes:

victor, 

hey, greetings from india. "Namaste" is hindi for hello. i am currently in bombay now called mumbai. i spent the past two weeks in madras (now called chennai) with tamara's family. they have all shown me great hospitality and i am eternally gratefull. i only just realized today that tamara had your address. i was going to ask my sister to call you when tam gave it to me. there has been so much email over the atlantic between the usa and asia, that linnet has set up a web page with all of our emails. please email her at [email protected] and ask her to put you on the list. read all of the emails already written as they will give you an update on my first two weeks here. from now on all others i send to you, linnet is asking that you forward to her to be included on the site. how are you doing? i miss you and would imagine that you would really have enjoyed the things i am seeing. i can't even put into words the sights thus far. bombay is very cosmopolitan as opposed to the southeast where i began my vacation. tomorrow we are off to another city. we only stay in a place for two nites max each time from now on until i come back to the state. i don't get to nepal until the middle of november and i will be in london the weekend prior to american thanksgiving. please say hi to patsilly (? spelling) and alex and ted and orlando. i was really truly touched by your gifts and your words in the cards and because i was sooo nervous before i left, i'm sure i didn't express to you enough how much it meant. i can't wait to see you after thanksgiving and send hugs and kisses to all. remember to contact linnet about the website and being included. her # at work is (212) 728-5959. 

adios from bombay, 

love miguel. 

ps. their are cows everywhere here...

10/23/00 6:20 AM, [email protected] writes: 

I'm sorry about not being a good e-mail buddy. I promise to be a better one.  Please forgive me. First things first, WHO THE HELL THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO GO HIKING WITHOUT A MAP OR FLASHLIGHT. Oh holy crunchy one, you should have been team leader on this one. I'm glad no one was seriously hurt. Quite honestly, I'm really happy I didn't go on this outing. I'm sure the pictures will be beautiful!!  How's the leg now. I'm glad the medical hearing is coming up. If you need any help, don't hesitate to call my dad. He might be able to help, though I'm not sure how. It might help to run some stuff by him.  We are now in Mumbai -- which is the first city in our grand tour of North India. I have one aunt here. This is the final city for family bonding.  From tomorrow, we're on our own. That's an exciting thought. It's so funny to see Michael walking around.  Oftentimess -- actually most of the time he's the only white guy. I'm sure that's something that he has to get used.  I'm also in an interesting place because I look like one of them, but then they see me with a white guy. I'm sure that makes for an interesting topic of conversation. It's a strange to look like everyone around you. I didn't realize how used to I got being the minority in a situation in America. I'm sure you'll have the same feeling if you go to Hong Kong or China. You look like everyone else in the room or street. you're not the odd one out. It takes a little getting used to. On the flipside, though I might look like one of them, I'm sure people see me with Michael and make natural assumptions that I'm a tourist. It's all very interesting. Being in Madras was basically about family bonding. I just got used to being around family.  I needed to do that considering I will be going back there without my mother as my guide. I have to say I really enjoyed being around them. I forgot how much I missed having a family structure in NYC. The closest relative I had was my aunt in Palo Alto. I'm really excited about starting this tour of the North, though not really knowing the language is going to be interesting. At least in Madras, I was able to use basic Tamil and get the people to understand me and see me as someone they couldn't try and swindle. It's going to be much harder in the North to pull that on off.  I have to say my Tamil was pretty good. You just ask Michael about that. I was quite proud of my language skills. I can't say I'm fluent, but I was able to get by quite well. HOw is life with FOng? How's Melissa doing? Say hi to her. Tell her she hasn't got out of making me sweet potato pie.  FedEx has services to India and thanksgiving is just around the corner so she better get to work. We're going to try and e-mail people from every city we visit. Hopefully, each city will have a cyber center of some sort.  You'd be amazed at the amount of dotcom ads around the city. It surely rivals NYC. Please give my love to all.  

Love, Curry in a Hurry

10/23/00 06:24:42 AM, [email protected] writes:

jen,

hey, would have gottent the lychee definitely myself. glad to see that you are all managing to entertain yourselves in my absence. did you get the email about wanting to include photos of india in the calendar. if not i want in. will have the film by early dec. so hope you can wait. we are in bombay now and leave for aurungabad manana. this city has less cows and more tall bldgs. still very cool. had lunch on a ocean drive hotel ala south beach this morning and am being taken out to dinner by tam's other aunt. they live in a posh apt in a ritzycratic hood. very awesome. their two sons are very attractive and a bit too tall for you but what the hell. anyway, heard that the yanks won the first too. can someone call heather for me at [TEXT OMITTED] and give her my email address and pass it on to elise for me. thanks a bunch. anyway, will chat soon 

love miguel 

ps. kkm is no an official way of life for me. i have been converted. 

10/23/00 06:43 AM, [email protected] writes:

lisa, 

hey, what's up? don't know if you have been looking at the india web page that linnet has set up but if not please refer to it to get all the hightlights from the first two weeks of our expereinces so far. i am cc'ig her as well, so linnet please include her and victor and jimmy when they get in touch with you thanks. anyway lisa i can't believe that i am currently sitting in a cyber cafe in bombay, india beside tam amonst her fellow brown people. we are having a blast and so is my ass. the food was sooo spicy in her hometown and i have had quite the bathroom moments. i think that i am adjusting to the food though. her fam has been wonderfull to me. i've already been invited to her  cousin's wedding. cool. she doesn't even have a bfriend though.. oh well. please thank your man again for me for the use of the bag. it has proeven most usefull. the only prob is that the smaller bag's main two zippers are both broken. before i left i noticed that only one was working so i decided to take it. now both are and its useless. i've attached it to the mother ship and am using another backpack that wai gave to tam. she has her own. anyway i wanted to pass a scenario your way. i don't know what your plans are for thanksgiving, but i am scheduled to return to nyc from london on the mon prior to thanksiving thur.s . i am to land in newark but have since decided to pay the fifty bucks extra to change it to land in jfk. i have been thinking though that if you are planning on coming to nyc for thanks in bklyn, that i could have my tix changed to land in logan in boston on that monday nite and drive down with you. i won't be stayng in nyc for long before i',m off to puerto rico and we could spend some time before i go.  of course this all depends on what you are doing and even if you were coming to nyc, you would have to put up with me for a couple of nites. let me know though, cause i think it could be cool if it is with you. if its not that's alright, i'll just land in jfk on that monday anyway. let me know either way soon so i can ask tara to change the tix.  i hope that you and mark are good. i miss you guys and am having a blast here. i can't believe that i have been here for over two weeks and my vacation is just starting. will send more info later. say hi to mark and your family. 

wishing you well in boston, 

love michael.  

ps. am soooo upset about the subway series. can't believe i am missing the sporting event of a century in nyc. at least i have a good excuse....

10/23/00 6:05:53 AM [email protected] writes:

wai,

we landed safely in bombay, however i developed a head cold that literally everyone in tam's family had and the pressure as we descended nearly made my left ear bleed. i am better today. cool to hear about all the brushes with greatness. did i mention that i ran into tim robbins the week before i left nyc. he was smoking and walking west on washington sq north st. towards bway. very non exciting. no one looked at him. he is quite tall. bombay reminds me of ny. sort of. it is quite modern which you immediately notice in the airport. good ole "bollywood". i was excited to see the famous mosque in the bay that was in a crucial scene of that hindi film "fiza" that i saw with tam's fam. okay so its not a supermodel sighting, but i'm in india. i'm still trying to remember how to pronouce that miss universe chick from here who is now a popular movie star.  anyway this place has taller buildings and less cows. my only comment is that for such a large city, as ping would say, you would have thought theyd have gotten over my whiteness. no such luck. i draw beggars and peddlers like flies to a turd in central park.  tomorrow we fly again. tam has been good with the flying. she says small prayers and crosses herself during take off and after landing. i am thinking about suggesting she convert to hinduism as it is polytheistic and i figure there are simply more gods to help her in the skies. lol  

be well and i remain jealous of the city during this subway series mania. i will try to catch it on espn love michael 

ps if you could do me a favor and contact my friend jimmy at work at [TEXT OMITTED] and give him my email address. thanks. i think that's the right work #. thanks a billion. ta ta

10/23/00 10:47:14 PM, [email protected] writes:

This is the longest I haven't seen you -- other than college. It's all a little weird. I think it's going to be even stranger when I say bye to Michael b/c then I'll have no connection to NYC in India. I suppose that's the challenge of it. I"m checking e-mail today again from Bombay, b/c we're waiting for a car to come pick us to go to the airport. We get on another flight today. Please say hi to the gang.  I'm sorry I assumed you didn't go hiking. I don't know why I thought that.  So you didn't get hurt. How did you manage that one? 

Love to all, Tamara

10/24/00 2:20:48 AM, [email protected]  writes:

aunt linnet monster,

like the ring of that. things are going good. am in bombay with tam for past two nites. will be going to another place called aurungabad this afternoon. bombay is very urban and not as pretty as other places here. very much like ny. with cows. and cow dung. and everyone is brown. other than that, just the same.i've checked out the site and was sort of confused but realized the yanks won the first games. did you hear that mark, lisa's bfriend gets to go to game 4 at shea. and he hates ny teams. lisa's pissed.  i have decided to change my plans yet again. i'm defiantly not going to singapore, but since i'm changing my ticket anyway, i was thinking about flying to boston on the 20th and driving down with lisa when she comes home for thanksgiving. what do ya think. i figure i won't get to see her when i move and it will be nice to spend some time with her and mark. i have to see from tam's mom is that's even possible. might not be.  oh and could someone there do me a big favor. can you tape the next few games. i have only been able to catch a three sec glimpse of a bat snapping. this hotel in bombay doesn't have espn. augh. anyway that would be cool. i won't call you monster though. tell jeremy i'm really sorry that the mets really suck. who let the mets out? really who did? anyway i don't think india is for you and jeremy after all so i suggest alternate honeymoon plans. how about the congo. just kidding. i miss you lots and will see you all soon.  

love michael

say hi to the underdog for me.

hey monster aunt, 

was only able to catch the third game up to the 7th inning.  last i knew the mets had the bases loaded at one point and then screwed it up.  did they win it?  oh well.  the indian room service guy looked at me like i had six heads, i was yelling at the tv. 

anyway, hope you are good.  thanks for taping the games.  [TEXT OMITTED]  

anyway, we left bombay and went to a place called aurangabad and saw these amazing hindu, jain, and buddist temples carved out of one giant rock and they are like a couple of hundred years old. actually they are from the fifth century and it was way cool.  got the papparzi treatment again, but i am learning to deal with it better.  now i tell people that i am from canada and that i don't need their nice carved elephant cause i have one at home.  it's sort of working. 

anyway, talk to you later. 

love and kisses 

michael 

10/25/00 1:37:54 PM [email protected] writes:

mommy, 

just got into new delhi again on route to jaipor, and checked messages.  i was thinking of calling you guys now, cuz it's one pm for you now ( its late evening here, but daddy is at work.)  i will try to call either on friday or saturday from one of the bigger hotels, but if for some reason i don't, please do not worry, its just because we are on a tight, i mean tight tour now.  literally we only have two nites to a city the maximum and we are constantly flying.  this week so far i've been to bombay, aurangabad, back to bombay, now new delhi, and tomorrow off again.  the planes end this week.   for the next few weeks, we travel by train and road. please wish titi hilda a happy from india.  and say hello to titi sonia and the neighbors and aunt nettie and nonie and everyone.  i miss you all and realize everyday how i would never have been able to come here without all your support.  thank you so much.  

i miss you guys and have managed to catch some of the world series.  saw up to the 7th inning of the third game but last i knew it was tied.  don't know what happened.  what i saw was exciting and the indian room service guy thought i was insane.  i was yelling at the tv. 

anyway, we are reunited with tam's mom and sis for just this one nite.  she is coming home tomorrow.  i've asked her to check on me landing in boston and she'll let me know.  the sooner i know when and where i'm coming home i let you all know.   can't think anymore, am sooo tired.  we went to these amazing caves that were cut into hindu, jain and buddist (all religions) temples that are over fifteen centuries old, soo amazing.  very cool.  still feel like a famous person, we are surrounded.  people keep coming up to me and asking to take a photo with me.  just because of my skin.  after a while you realize they are harmless.  this section of the trip is very well organized.  a travel agent meets us at all airports, drops us off at hotels, checks us in at hotels and gets our boarding passes.  all  we do is wake up.  all our guides are arranged and we are NEVER alone.  it's as safe as it can be.  anyway, will chat soon.  give the love love you and hugs and kisses. 

michael

wai,

was able to catch up to the 7th inning of the third game on cable today.  it was shown here midday so it wasn't live but i didn't know the score or outcome and it was very exciting.  i think i scared the room service guy, when the bases were loaded.  i almost threw the remote and all the batteries went everywhere.  he left my naan and paneer on the table and ran from the room.  i didn't care.  soo the mets ended up winning.  i agree that the yanks will pull it off.  

anyway i asked tara about my tix and she's not sure it can be done about boston, so maybe i will land in jfk.  your right i will be home soon.  it's crazy, we've been to mumbai, aurangabad, back to mumbai and now i am in new delhi again.  we leave early manana to jaipor.  four planes in five days.  tamara is shitting her pants. anyway have a good time in boston and say hello to everyone, see you soon, 

miguel  

10/28/00 3:17:38 AM, [email protected] writes:

Thanks for this update.  We saw a bit of this game and then saw a news report the next day about how the Yankees had won.  Go Yankee!  The planes are okay.  We can rest for the next few days because we're going to be moving by car.  The next plane is next week.  I'm happy about that.  We went on a pretty small plane two days ago, but it wasn't as small as the plane I flew in Canada.  Remember that.  We're both doing well.  We're in a city called Jodhpur.  It's in a stated called Rajasthan.  I've officially lost track of days.  I'm not sure what day it is today.  We've stayed in about four different hotels so far.  It's all about room service!! Go room service!  We had a bit of an experience yesterday on the train here.  The train suddenly stopped about two hours into the journey and we had no idea why.  Turns out the engine failed and we were waiting for a new engine to come.  How very developing country!!  I'll let Michael explain the other interesting thing that happened today.  Suffice it to say that Michael and I stick out like a sore thumb here.  They don't know what to make of me.  I look Indian, but then I'm with this white guy.  People keep coming up to me and saying, "You look a little Indian."  That's always good to know.  I sometimes forget I'm Indian!!!  We're off again tomorrow to a place called Udaipur.  We go by car, so that should make for a really good picture-taking experience.  Please say hello to everyone.  I will try and e-mail again in the next few days. 

Love, 

Curry in a Hurry 

10/28/00 6:24:18 AM, [email protected] writes:

There is absolutely no need to thank me.  I'm glad Michael was able to come with me.  This has been such wonderful experience.  The first two weeks, for me, were all about bonding with family.  I haven't seen them in 9 years, and truly felt like I'd missed a great deal.  I'm very lucky to have such a family and am looking forward to spending more time with them. 

Please give my love to Eddie, E.J., Linnet and K.C.

10/28/00 07:30 AM [email protected] writes:

Hey there,

Greetings from Jodhpur.  It's a city pretty close to the desert in Western India.  We're pretty close to Pakistan.  I will let michael tell you all about this city.  Wait a minute, did you say movie!! I'll be here for the next few months, so you should come here and make the India beaches movie. How exciting? I can't believe you're getting married five months.  The time is going to just fly by.  I know that doesn't help.  I can't believe I'm going to miss it, but I will think of you on March 24.  I don't doubt that you're going to have a Web site all ready for your wedding.  We met this British people on the train yesterday and coincidentally ran into them at the place we were having lunch today.  It was one of those great travel stories.  We made them very jealous when we told them that we had a Web page devoted to our travels.  They started thinking about people back in England who could do the same for them.  See we're making strangers jealous of us! We're off again tomorrow for another city.  I've lost track of days.  I'm not too sure what day it is today.  I just go by where we are.  I suppose I'm lucky. Please give Jeremy a pat on the shoulder and tell him the Mets will do it some day. 

Until the next e-mail,

Curry in a Hurry

10/28/00 8:05:46 AM [email protected] writes:

mommy, 

me too.  it was nice to talk to you and daddy the other nite.  i felt like i was in ny.  when i called the first time i could hear the yankee game in the background.  how crazy. i just got another mail from titi angie and wrote her back a long one.  it is so funny to be able to communicate this. way. today we are in a place called jodhpur.  that's where i called from.  its called the blue city, cause all the houses are painted an indigo color. very pretty.  the last city was the pink city of jaipor, same thing only rose colored.  today we toured a beautiful mountain palace and fort.  we walked for a while in the streets and I drew a crowd of  little children begging for money.  like nyc only more persistent.  basic plan, just duck into a store and wait for them to leave.  tamara practiced using her hindi by yelling at them... all kinds of people keeping staring at us and most wave and say hello.. one kid said, "hello, chocolate." as in hi, give me chocolate.  bizare. 

anyway, tomorrow we head out by car to a palace in the middle of the lake . supposed to be absolutely magnificent.  and then on friday we go to the taj mahal.  can't wait. 

well. take care and i love and miss you lots.  say hi to daddy and ej and kc and nonie. 

ps, it was so good to hear daddy's bklyn accent on the phone.  i was hysterical.

pps.  stomach is surprisingly still holding up.  keep your fingers crossed...lol 

10/28/00 08:58 AM [email protected] writes:

hola titi angie,

yes it is very hot and we have taken rolls and rolls of film.  at first it felt weird to take pictures of the local people, but i can't resist. all the beautiful colors of the sari's that the women wear and all the interesting locations and sights.  my favorite is the main market place/bazaar area where everyone haggles over food, clothes, jewelry, etc.  it's insane at times and very crowed and little kids are coming up to me and saying hello. the poverty is sad and a fact of life here and its strange to see so many kids all over the streets barefoot and sticking out their hands.  its different than nyc.  tamara and i are now in a city in india called jodhpur.  we left bombay and went to aurangabad, and then jaipor.  we stayed at a hotel that is a converted palace in jaipor that jackie kennedy and queen eliz stayed at in the sixties.  it was magnificent.  and we got to ride an elephant up a very steep and scary hill up this fort.  it was beautiful.  no, i am going to nyc first and then to puerto rico.  i am planning on going to nepal, the small country north of india and  bordering china for a week after india.  in nepal are the himalayas and mount everest, the highest mountain in the world.  after that i will return to america, stopping over in london, england briefly to see some friends and basically sleep as i will be majorly jet lagged.  i still can't believe that i am here.  i hope that you are all well  in florida.  give my love to everyone. tamara says hello. 

love michael. 

ps. next week we go to the taj mahal.  can't wait....

10/28/00 09:23 AM  [email protected] writes:

linnet, 

my colors are blush and bashful, your colors are pink and pink, the whole reception looks like it was hosed down in pepto bismol my colors are blush and bashful, i have picked out two shades of pink, one is much deeeeeper than the other. how precious is this wedding gonna get, i ask you... 

how's that.  you think i would come half way round the world and forget my movie trivia.?  please.  i thought you thought more highly of me than that. lol anyway i can't believe your wedding is soo close.  [TEXT OMITTED] anyway, thanks for the world series.  i found out in jaipor that the yankees won.  the tapes will be a little anticlimatic, but i want to see.  when i called home i could hear the game on tv, very cool.  so tam and i rode an elephant up that steep hill to this fort.  remember the real world from hawaii.  they went up the same hill.  it was soooo steep and tam was soiling herself in fear.  i was laughing hysterically until our driver decided that the elephant in front of us was going too slow and he sped our big guy up.  let me tell you i said a small prayer there.  it was unbelievable though and the view spectacular. today we are in jodhpur and went about town.  i felt like the pied piper.  a crowd of begging children, referred to here as urchins, followed me and surrounded us.  it was overwhelming and we did our best not to lose our tempers.  tam yelled at them in broken hindi, (she only speaks tamil) and they only temporarily left us.  on shaved headed little girl kept trying to pull out my arm hair and then giggling at me.  i would try to shoo her away and she would sneak up on me again.  let me tell you, anyone who decides to come here, the first thing you need is patience.  after a while we were able to lose them by ducking into a few shops.  tam got her share as well with people coming up to her and saying she looks a little bit indian.  i keep responding that she is a whole lotta indian.  we never know who is friend or foe.  sometimes shops employ these street men to approach westerners to lure them into their stores hoping we will spend some rupees and they get a commission.  again somewhat hassling, but all part of the experience.  we decided that we'd had enough local color and hoped into an auto rickshaw. it's basically a small bubble thing, that is open with a yellow metal roof and looks like an asian rickshaw only motorized.  of course our driver "pretended" to get lost in hopes of taking us for a ride.  little did he know that he had two newyorkers in his car.  we only paid what we wanted to his dismay, and after protesting, we asked him if he would like to get the police.  knowing that he is wrong, he drove away.  all in all, this portion of the tour is exhausting.  we are never in a city more than two nites, and last week we flew from bombay to aurangabad, saw these cave temples, flew back to bombay, stopped over, then up to delhi and next day early flight to jaipor.  we trained it to jodhpor and tomorrow we drive to udaipor and stop en route to look at this temple.  all very cool anyway.  you will be married soon.  i can't believe it.  say hi to your fiance and tell him i am sorry the mets suck and couldn't do any better. my sympathies. lol 

love and miss you terribly, 

tu hermano, 

miguel

ps.  did i tell you that moo moo is with us and having a blast.  you know that cows are sacred here and he is being treated like a king.  very cool. we go into restaurants and they try to turn us away..  no reservation.. then we convince moo moo to ask and we get the best table.  it's good to be the cow.... 

11/2/00 5:01:36 AM, [email protected] writes:

I love e-mail.  I know I should be living life here, but there's a certain peace of mind knowing I can be connected even here.  AFter I put the phone down, I remembered that you were away.  I will try again.  I just had this urge to talk to you.  See, I'm missing you too!! 

Please ask Ping to e-mail you my message to her.  It speaks to some of the stuff we've been doing here.  You could also read it on Linnet's web site.   Have I mentioned how crazy that is!!!  

We go see the Taj Mahal tomorrow.  How funny is that?  I think Moo is looking forward to that trip.  Moo Moo is fast becoming our trip mascot.  

How are the TV shows doing?  Please give me a really, really quick update.  Nothing fancy, just a sense of what's happening.  What movies have you seen? 

Until the next time, Tamara

11/02/00 07:43 AM coppaboy@hotmail writes: 

linnetmonster,

hey, at least you get all that overtime pay.  i think the green accent sounds pretty.  i haven't seen the web site yet.  we haven't been able to check the mail in a week, we have been on the go.  just to make sure that you have got it right we went from: 

new dehli to chennai, chennai to mumbai, mumbai to aurangabad, aurangabad back to mumbai, mumbai to dehli, dehli to jaipur, jaipur to jodhpur, jodhpur to udaipur, udaipur to deogarh, deogarh back to jaipur.  that's where we are now.  manana we go jaipur to agra to see the taj mahal. 

we are having a great time.  i almost got beat up yesterday at the train station by this old lady.  tam and i and our guide were waiting at a train station to go feed these monkeys near by and this little kid was hanging around her legs.  he was playfully hiding from me and when i responded by craning my head to catch his face, he began to wail and the woman started yelling at me in hindi at the top of her lungs.   picture it, very local train station, everyone was already staring at me.  now in case anyone might have missed me, she started in.  i thought for a moment that the platform was going to lynch me. the monkeys were soooo cool.  as the train pulls into this other station, hundreds of them jump all over the tracks and onto the windows, which are open.  we fed them through the windows some bread but our guide asked me to go on the tracks with him so i did. tam was scared and stayed on the train. i hopped off and about fifteen monkeys nearly my height were all over me. i nearly shit myself, i was afraid that they might inadvertently scratch me. i dropped my bread, but it was amazing.  i also saw a bunch of camels on their way to a festival.  we were at a token booth and they were going in the opp. direction.  we paid 20rupees to get by.  i don't know how much they charge a camel! anyway i miss you too, and i will see you soon. next week we fly to nepal.  can't wait.  give my love 

love miguel 

ps i sent postcards.  i hope they make it. 

11/02/00 08:07 AM [email protected] writes:

hey, heather! 

congrats on the yanks, glad you could go.  i was sooo upset that not only am i out of the usa during the elections, but that i miss the sub series in like a million years.  have you checked on the website that linnet has created.  i am cc her and she will give you the info.  there are lots of mails about our trip and you need to catch up.  please say hello to elyse and annie and people.  tam says that when your bro comes here that he should call her if he goes to the south.  shell be here for almost a year. i can't believe that i am here.  we have seen dehli, chennai (madras), mumbai (bombay), aurangabad, jaipur, jodhpur, udaipur, deogarh and tomoorrow we are off to agra to visit the taj mahal.  next week we go to nepal. can't wait. i miss you  and haven't worked out in longer than you.  i have grown hideous and fat and have basically let myself go.  must get into shape in puerto rico.  of all the people i know, i keep wondering who would like it here.  who could tolerate the smells, the chaos, the insanity and see the beauty here.  it's hard, but i know that you would definitely be one of those people.  i can't put into words what this trip has been like.  remember right before i left i was wondering about money and you said that memories have no price tag.  you were soooo right.  i got away cheap with everything i've seen.  i have had a lifetime of experiences just in the past four weeks.  i've been  keeping a journal and write daily.  it  really has been insane here.  i am the only white person for miles and people wave at me, come up to me, ask to take photos with me, beg and panhandle (mostly kids), and it is almost like being famous.  when we get out of cars at tourist sites, people literally run up to us thrusting little carved elephants and asking us to get into their autorickshaw.  at first it was sooo overwhelming and i wanted to hide under my bed in my hotel room.  i have to say that i too have been acting like a champ.  i've had to toughen up a bit and brave the streets. its the only way to get local color.  some days are harder than others.  one day a bunch of kids kept following us for blocks, begging and one little girl kept on pinching me.  we tried hiding out in stores, but they'd wait.  eventually tam got soo mad that she actually found the right word in hindi to yell at them.  she speaks only tamil. they speak that in the south only.  in the north she has to rely on basic hindi she learned in school a hundred years ago.  it is really amazing.  some days i miss nyc, and all of you guys a lot.  i heard about your photos from wai shan. everyone saw.  say hi to elyse. just last nite i was saying that when i get back we are hanging out in the bronx and having fajita nite.  can't wait. 

miss you more than you know,

love michael.

ps.  there are cows everywhere here.  they cause traffic jams, shit all over the place and are a mess.  its cool.  i also saw monkeys, camels, rode an elephant and saw three herds of hundreds of sheep or goats.  i' m not sure. such a city boy....

11/2/00 8:07:17 AM [email protected] writes: 

Hi Judy, 

Greetings from the crazy tour of India.  We've been on the go the past few days, but it's been really great.  WE see the Taj Mahal tomorrow.  I'm really excited about that. 

Life in India is going to be very different especially since my mother has left now.  But that's part of the fun!! 

Love, Tamara

November 02, 2000 8:31 AM [email protected] writes:

I have a great idea.  Why don't you all fly to Orcha, a small city in India, and meet Michael and I for dinner.  That's where we'll be on Saturday! How the hell are ya' Julie Lui?  How's Tocca?  Are you having a good autumn? India is doing well.  Michael and I are taking good care of the country. If you haven't heard already, Michael is a regular superstar here.  He get followed around and pinched.  It's all a little funny! 

Give my love to all.  

love, tamara

11/02/00 09:23:43 EST [email protected] writes: 

jenn,

hey, can't chat long, this crappy net place keeps losing their server. thanks for the calendar space and calling heath.  got an email from her. thanks a lot.  will see you soon.  let me tell you, since the posh relatives home, we have been staying in one rizycratic palace after another. have photos of all. having a safe time.  

enjoying the north love miguel 

ps i saw a camel at a toll booth today and didn't wonder why, just how much it would cost.  i have been here way tooo long.  my brain is crazy.  i think that i am beginning to see that this all makes sense somehow. 

pps.  kkm's live forever. 

02 Nov 2000 09:53:56 EST [email protected] writes:

jenn,

we are both on the internet at the same time.  i just sent you that message and i just got your response.  we did in fact ride an elephant last week. tam almost soiled herself.  it was up a steep hill.  anyway we are being kicked out of the net cafe now. it's nearly 8:30 pm here.  hope your well. will chat next week.  possibly from nepal. 

love michael 

ps.  tam says hello. 

11/8/00 12:17:43 AM, [email protected] writes:

Michael and I... Wait a minute.  Dammit.  I just checked CNN.com and found out that Bush won.  See you in Paris.  I'm so upset.  That really sucks the big one.  It's so strange to be in Nepal and hearing this news.  That's a really strange thing. Michael and I are in Nepal.  We just got here.  We arrived late last night and woke up early to watch election coverage.  It was so depressing.  I think I got an ulcer watching it.  India was great but I think we both got a little tired of having one-day stays in places.  We're going to be in Nepal for about 10 days.  Then it's back to Delhi for two nights and then reality sets in for me.  I'm really trying to manage the fact that once I say bye to Michael, life really does begin.  The vacation was bound to end. Not that I'm not really excited, but I'm a bit nervous. 

Please do give me short update of the shows.  I wish I had someone tape friends, but I can't be such a TV hog!  I do want to know what's happening on all the other shows.  I can't believe BUsh won.  Man that sucks.  Sorry, I don't mean to fill this e-mail with Bushes and thorns! 

Please say hi to the gang.  I will e-mail soon.  Here's the strangest thing.   We were just walking down this tiny street and heard "Sunday, Bloody SUnday" playing really loud.  Of course, I thought of you. 

Love, 

Tamara 

11/8/00 2:53:17 AM [email protected] writes:

mommy,

hey, we are in kathmandu,nepal.  we arrived late last nite.  our flight was an hour delayed and it was a small propeller plane and tammy was sh**ing herself.  anyway we met this british girl on the flight and tammy doesn't want me to have anymore brits as friends so i tried to ignore her. lol anyway on friday we saw the taj mahal.  it was spectacular.  and very, very, crowded.  the lines to get in were massive and it became a huge crowd outside the main door and when they let us in everyone was pushing and i fell inside.  a guard caught me before i cracked my head on the marble and tamara got kicked in the head by a baby that was being passed overhead.  the taj was amazing.  after we saw the inside i sat just in front of it.  as i sat there writing in my journal, this indian family very slyly started positioning their kids all around me.  when i looked up a camera was in my face.  i smiled and allowed the pic.  it was hysterical.  another couple, teenagers asked me directly if i would pose with the girlfriend.  after the pic, they told me to say hi to bill's girlfriend monica.  ha ha. anyway, we've been watching the elections early morning here, late evening for you.  right now you are sleeping.  as it stands now, gore needed florida to win.  we don't think he will, but there's always hope.  we know clinton got the senate seat.  good for her.  well, i will see you soon.  hope you are well.  don't let the wedding stress you out too much.  say hi to daddy and ej and kc 

love michael 

titi angie, 

hello from kathmandu, nepal.  tamara and i arrived late last night.  we flew over the mountains that separate nepal and india and only had enough time to have dinner.  we have ventured out to see the city of kathmandu, and marvel at its many differences to india. last friday we saw the taj mahal.  it was absolutely stunning  yesterday we had an early boat ride along the river ganges in varanasi, india.  this is a holy city for hindu's and they have a ritual bath in the sacred river, very similar to a baptism.  it's purpose is to purify their sins, before moving on to their equivalent of heaven.  it was very different though in that most people do this when they are adults and some come every year.  also this is a place where many of the dead are cremated and we saw some funeral pyres and some corpses in the river.  very strange, and a wonderful lesson in how different religions practice their faith.  this entire experience here has been about learning about the hindu's, jain, buddhist's and muslims as well as christians, in india. hope that you and everyone are well.  thank you for sending the blessing, i forwarded it to tamara. 

be well, love michael 

11/08/00 03:20 AM [email protected] writes:

linnet,

hey, we are in kathmandu, nepal.  got here late last nite on a small plane that gave tam some soiled undies.  we've only just been out for a bit, had lunch and decided to check mail before exploring this city. 

we saw the taj mahal last friday. it was cool and beautiful, but sooooo crowded and i got pushed and fell inside the monument.  nice huh? yesterday was our last day in india before nepal and we started the day with a sunrise boatride on this river ganges that is sacred to hindus .  basically thousands of people come everyday and strip down for a bath in the river.  similar to the east river.  they purify themselves of their sins and hopefully break the cycle of reincarnation and finally go to heaven.  it is also the site where people are cremated and we saw two funeral pyres and one corpse floating past our little row boat.  after we got out, we were anointed by this high priest with incense markings on our foreheads and then walked these narrow and impossible streets, avoiding cow dung along the way.   we were also caught in a massive traffic jam in which we stopped dead in our tracks.  cars on either side and a herd of water buffalo came trampling in between us and starting eating bananas off this vender's cart who had earlier crashed into us trying to get by.  insane. anyway, we heard that dubya is our next pres.  how disappointing.  we watched some coverage but got sick over it.  oh well. the american people will learn the hard way.  hope your well. say hi to all.  tell them no more stupid emails about non parels.  have limited time and slow comps. and it wastes my time. 

love, michael 

Wed, 08 Nov 2000 03:31:57 EST [email protected] writes:

jen 

hey, so dubya's our new president.  how depressing.  now i really don't want to come back to america.  got a photo of moo moo at the taj mahal. priceless.  tam is talking about starting a photo album just of moo moo's adventures'.  we want you to take moo moo to paris.  a photo of moo moo at the eiffel tower.  and when i come back for linnet's wedding i can bring moo moo back to the carribean.  doing well. we are currently in kathmandu, nepal.  just got here last nite and haven't seen much but our hotel and a small lunch place.  after email will explore. chat soon. see you in a few... 

michael 

11/09/00 06:10 AM [email protected] writes:

Hello all, 

I apologize for the form letter, but I thought it would be the best way to communicate.  We're now in Nepal.  It's actually pretty quiet and relaxing. We haven't yet gone on the safari, but I can't wait!  Being in Kathmandu --namely the tourist area -- reminds me of being in a Grateful Dead concert. Keep in mind I've never been to a Grateful Dead concert, so I'm just taking a guess.  There are many "dirty" people around wearing tie-dye and other nice stuff.  Michael keeps being asked if he wants pot.  I don't think the scruffy facial hair helps him.  I just get looked at but no pot.  Damn!  We woke up early last morning to watch the election coverage.  Our hotel gets CNN so watching TV took the better part of our first morning in Kathmandu. It's a bit surreal to watch election coverage in Nepal.   You'd be amazed at how many people have asked us about the election.  It's safe to say that from an informal poll Michael and I conducted, the people of Nepal want Gore.  I'm just glad Hillary won.  At least some good has come out of the elections.  We had a free day yesterday, so we just walked around an area of Kathmandu called Thamel.  It's filled with stores and white people.  It's amazing how many trekking places there are. Michael and I came close to summiting Everest, but I had to back out because I don't think I can have a bath on the journey there.  I'm not stupid.  Goodbye for now. 

Love, 

Tamara 

11/9/00 6:15:31 AM [email protected] writes:

hello, 

so you will appreciate this.  tam and i are doing our sightseeing in kathmandu today and we went to this tibetan refugee camp.  the nepal government takes good care of them-they have free medical and housing and are expected to live in this commune and they do handicrafts like carpet weaving, looming, wood carving and metal work.  we toured the workshops and you would have loved to see these men and women working these enormous looms and making the most beautiful carpets, all by hand.  they had the same pattern thingy that you have for the cross stick and the colado.  when we went to the shop area, after purchasing two carpets, one of the nepali women in the sales area approaches me and asks me if i voted.  i told her that unfortunately i didn't get my absentee ballot in time and well i couldn't do it.  she suddenly hits me on the arm playfully but with full meaning and says that if i had voted maybe gore would have won and how nice and important it is to live in a country that is democratic.  she said that she thinks bush is bad for international politics and under republican rule it could be similar to chinese communism.  the two countries border and have always differed politically.  this nation is peaceful.  i found it hysterical and bewildering how much the world is really focused on america and how even the average person in these developing nations, india included, know more about our system of government than most americans.  it is very sad that more americans don't care about the freedoms and rights that we have when people living in shacks and on the streets around the world would kill for these opportunities.  she was a very charming woman and representative of the straightforward and warm community of people that i have encountered in nepal. anyway i am still working on the exact date of arrival.  all i know is that by nov 20th i will be in the US.  boston or nyc, not sure yet.  will keep you posted. glad to hear that you are keeping busy and the phone, video comp thing sounds cool. 

say hello to all.  give my love 

michael 

ps tomorrow we are off to a mountain lodge for our safari.  can't wait.  i have taken so many rolls of film already, i won't be able to afford to have it developed....lol 

Tue, 14 Nov 2000 05:18:46 EST, [email protected] wrote:

Hey Foo,

Michael and I figured out that you could pass as a Nepalese.  I think you should come here for a visit.  You really could be one of them.  Though we didn't do the everest thing, Michael and I had a rather exciting few days.  I'm going to send a global e-mail about this, so stay tuned.  Moo is doing well, though I think she/he is getting tired of the food.  The election coverage is crazy.  We haven't had TV for the past four days, so we don't know what's been happening.  I think it's all crazy.  I"m just going to stay out of the country as long as possible. 

Love, 

Tamara 

11/14/00 07:09 AM, [email protected] writes:

this is for everyone....

let's talk safari.  let's talk animals in the wild.  let's talk tamara and michael, two extremely urban new-yorkers staying in the actual jungle in the royal national chitwan park in nepal.  

okay, so everyone that we've spoken to in nepal in kathmandu and in pokhara have all either been to safari or were going to safari.  tam and i had this on our itinerary but never really requested it or knew much about anything in nepal.  everyone here is all abuzz about when they were going to the national parks, and did they get to see tigers, which is apparently the ultimate or something.  tam and i were so naive about the whole thing.  our itinerary simply said that we were scheduled for a two day elephant safari.  this was way back in nyc. at the time we didn't really ask any questions.  in my mind i figured we went somewhere, like a zoo maybe and got to see elephants.  

okay stop laughing.

so of course we come to india and through conversations with all the tour guides we learn that we are actually on the elephants and go looking at other animals.  anyone one of you would have made the same mistake.  so fine, we rode an elephant up a steep hill in jaipor, remember and we did okay.  no sweat.  we were totally prepared for a two day event.  sure. 

so we get to this lodge, before the safari lodge and we get to chatting with some other tourists.  they all went on safari and didn't see the famed tiger and were pretty bitter about the whole thing.  they tell us it will be fun.  whatever.  we didn't even remember the name of the hotel we were staying at.  they all sort of looked away, embarrassed at our indifference.  so we head out to the national park.  roads.  this is a relative term in nepal.  see they consider anything that can squeeze a car, bus, cow, boy on bicycle, woman carrying pots on her head, etc. all at the same time, on a patch of earth of varying consistencies, and widths a road.  try dirt paths.  try potholes the size of the hole in dubya's head.  try winding narrow high , high mountain roads where you practically need binoculars to see the people down in the valley and at one point  i thought that oxygen masks were going to drop from the ceiling.  okay i'm exaggerating a little.  the roads were bad and bumpy.   add full bladders and a driver that only speaks nepalese and keeps mistaking "pee. i've got to pee." with "pay, you can pay in dollars or credit card." it was a struggle. 

so eventually after getting a little lost we find the entrance to the royal chitwan national park.  i swear we practically drove through people's backyards' or something.  maybe even ran over a chicken or two.  we leave the car, and i run into the bushes to answer nature's call.  we board a boat.  across this river. deep into the jungle.  not a forest or a an area with a bunch of trees or something.  no this is a jungle.  a national preservation area that is reputed to have wild animals that until very recently, was a major hunting ground for tigers.  and we are smack dab in the middle of it.  

we are met at the other end by a bunch of park rangers and some jeeps.  think Jurassic park, without the special effects.  we load up and in the distance we see the land on the other side.  the land free of wild animals.  the land that is not the jungle.  ok we get over it.  it was actually really pretty.  very green and just what you would imagine from movies like out of africa or something.  we are met by the manager who sends our bags to these rooms that aren't really rooms, they are more like screened in bamboo huts, with electricity that stops at eleven in the evening and hot water only between 5-9 in morn and 5-9 in eve.  and damp.  everything.  our beds, the sheets, the towels. the people.  everyone and everything was damp.  and very soon after getting there anything that we had was now damp as well.  our cookies.  poor hobnobs.  our paperbacks.  cigarettes.  it was just one casualty after another.  we put our stuff down and are fed and told that our elephant safari would begin in an hour and a half and that we would have dinner later, with a preceding slide show.  it was like adult foreign people camp.  picture tam and i. just like haley mills in the parent trap.  

after a quick nap and wash up (what was the point. everything was dirt and grime anyway) we assemble with the other tourists and proceed to the elephant platform area.  tam and i were already at a loss.  the instructions re: safari in the books said to wear very plain clothing.  i had my pumas and a plain shirt.  tam on the other hand had on the brightest shirt she owned.  everything else was dirty or at home.  okay one down already.  we walk hoping that this doesn't mean the animals are going to eat her and me in the process.  we also forgot our bug spray.  how could we do this?  very easily.  we assure each other that even though its the jungle and all, a few mosquitoes will be annoying, but nothing that we can't handle.  

somehow we end up at the front of the line and are the two first to board one of the seven elephants that were all lined up and waiting for us.  up these wooden stairs to this little platform.  think water park and line for slides.  the elephant jockey is barefoot and holds a cane in one hand and a metal rod with a menacing hook in the other.  he giggyups dumbo and backs him up so we can step into this seat that resembles a playpen without netting.  sort of straddling the wooden rail, we hold on.  in my mind i am making noises like a big truck makes when they back up and am laughing.   people look at me strangely and step away slowly.  

once on the animal we take a better look at the other tourists.  they are all much older than us, they have safari camouflage hats, fisherman jackets, and  binoculars.  we were lucky to have the water that the manager told us to take.  we clearly looked silly in jeans and sneakers next to all these very serious outdoors people.  whatever.  

we proceed into the forest after laughing at one man who fell into the seat.   we know it was mean so we only laughed to ourselves.  the elephants begin to walk through the trees and towards this open area with very tall grass, taller than the elephants and we are just about getting the hang of the motion when our first minor mayhem begins.  the elephant in front of ours begins to make weird wild noises which sends our dumbo into hysterics and before we knew what was happening, the one in front turns around amidst strange yelps from the drivers of the two beasts and she lets out buckets of urine all over the floor.  it looked like a gross version of flashdance.  she then adds this with crap the size of bowling balls that made the grossest thud when they hit the dirt.  our elephant returns the sentiment and all in back to normal and into the jungle we go.  it was cool.  seven elephants with one driver and four riders all moving through the grass.  we had to be absolutely silent.  weren't allowed to talk and basically could only use hand gestures to point out the cool stuff to see.  we saw monkeys flinging themselves all around and spotted some falcons and other cool birds.  soon into the tall grass we spotted a rhino and her baby and very slowly we all surrounded her as she grazed.  she only tolerated a few pics before moving her and her young away from us.  we trotted along until we were all fairly spread out and our driver and another began communicating very swiftly and they both began stategically positioning our elephants.  the noises that dumbo was making indicated a tiger in the vicinity and they even spotted some tracks.  feeling somewhat more excited we waited silently as we play a game of cat and mouse.  we were not successful though and found only more rhinos.  we then moved on to  taller grass which kept slapping us in the face.  lots of bugs, i mean lots were all over the place and between spitting out foliage debris and swatting my body and tam's we were getting fed up with it all.  

and then something bit me.  i wasn't sure what but i felt a sharp pain on my  upper neck.  at first i thought it was a mosquitoes and just swatted it away.  but the pain persisted and quickly turned into fire.  it was like having a really bad sun burn.  i began now to slowly curse myself for not having bug spray and started to take my pulse, not knowing if if was poisonous.  tam said that my entire neck swelled up and formed hives and it itch like holy hell and i never wanted off the elephant more.  it became mind over matter not to panic and at this point i couldn't give two sh**s about finding tigers.  trying not to worry to much and feeling somewhat more in control that my pulse was normal(i really didn't know what i was doing) we eventually called it quits and headed back.  i was in pain and showed my neck to the manage who told me not to worry.  either it was poison ivy from the tall grass or a caterpillar bite.  don't worry. of course. we had our slide show and everyone oohed and ahhed over the tigers.  i was in no mood.  only hungry.  went to sleep right after dinner at 9pm and actually had a good nights rest.  they put hot water bottles in our beds and we curled around them happily.  at 5:30am they gave us our wake up call and tea and coffee.  the rooms didn't have any keys or locks and they simply knocked on the door and i sleepily asked for two teas lite and sweet.  we woke up and found out that the 5-9 hot water shower was really a 5-9 tepid water shower and froze our butts off. 

my neck was less swollen and felt less itchy after i put benadyl on it and we got to breakfast late.  we received our itinerary the night before and knew that we had another elephant safari, followed by a jeep safari, followed by a rowboat safari, with a nature walk and elephant lecture at the elephant briefing area (their words not mine) so we set off.  on the elephant yesterday tam and i shared it with the only other young couple, this nice Australian couple, but today tam and i ended up with our own elephant. this produced nothing, just more rhinos.  long gone were hopes of seeing cool animals.  i just hoped to see a crocodile or something.  i really just didn't want to get bit my another bug.  it turns out that i was in fact bit by a caterpillar, because i found the little bastard on my shirt just before getting dressed this morning.  gross. 

no luck with the elephants and we got off and loaded into the jeeps.  we coincidently ended up with the aussie couple and laughed about our uneventful safari.  the ride was in the back of an open air jeep.  the driver was in the main closed cabin but the back was more like a pick up truck with a metal frame to hold onto.  tam sat behind the driver which is passenger side in the us.  (they drive on the left here like in the uk) and i sat across from her with the couple behind us.  the ride was also uneventful as we drove fast on this dirt road and we just relaxed and took in the pretty sights.  in my mind i was thinking what a waste.  if we weren't going to see animals all quiet on an elephant i'm sure that the loud hum of the jeep wouldn't scare everything else off. 

just when i began checking the time to see how much longer we had the driver starting shouting and slammed his foot on the brakes while simultaneously pointing out the window with his right hand.  not understanding him i looked ahead on the right side of the road as the car skidded and was stunned. sitting like a stone with only his head visible from the tall grass was an adult male, wild tiger.  only the most dangerous animal in the jungle and predator of people and animals alike.  as i fixed my gaze on the animal, he held mine and the car just passed him by about ten feet when we finally stopped and now he was behing us, and looking straight at us. 

its funny, he looked like tony the tiger.  his face was more ominous though.  he stood very still.  we didn't really have time to register fear.  the other jeeps had gone ahead of us and we were the last.  if there had been one behind us they would have rammed into us or at least sent the tiger running.  but it was just us four and driver in an open air jeep and a tiger.  we were soooo excited and the driver was mumbling about how rare this was and how dangerous the animal was.  the tiger slowly reclined back into the reeds and wasn't visible anymore, cleverly camouflaged by its stripes.  before we knew what was happening, the driver slowly backed the jeep up until we were adjacent to the area where we had seen the tiger and we looked anxiously for it.  by this point the car was about two feet from the reeds and the tiger inside.  i couldn't find it but the aussie couple started whispering that he was right their, staring at us and even tamara said that she saw him.  i was so excited and frantically scanned the area to see him.  like one of though 3d pictures in the mall.  i couldn't see him.  

but from the sound of tam's voice i knew that she did.  the aussie girl kept pointing to the spot and her boyfriend snapped a few photos.  feeling frustrated, i stood up, and the driver starting telling me to sit, that it was dangerous and as i tried to switch places with the aussie girl, all of a sudden there was a load rustling of the grass and the driver revved the jeep, ready to sprint if the animal should attack.  i  froze for a second and only truly then knew how scary and dangerous it was and then the tiger was gone.  i scared it away.  i sat back and the driver tried to collect himself as we all starting talking excitedly at once. the driver pulled away and indicated with gestures that his heart was pounding and told us that this was his first ever tiger spotting.  he was beside himself with joy as we were.  when we caught up with the other jeep by the river we bragged of our find.   at day's end, it turned out that us four were the only ones that day and day before to see any tigers.  feeling very proud, and somewhat isolated (the other tourists ostracized us and talked behind our backs.  turns out they were all bitter , being all nature people with their safari gear and binoculars.)  we returned to our damp rooms, feeling very happy and didn't mind the fact that electricity completely gave out and we were in the dark.  we didn't care.  we saw the tiger....

11/15/00 5:49:15 AM, [email protected] writes:

By now all of you have read Michael's version of the safari.  It's all true, but I feel the need to add a few points to the overall story.  To truly understand my frame of mind.  We left the CITY of Kathmandu and went to a mountain lodge.  We had to drive up this bumpy road -- you got a sense of the roads from Michael -- which was pretty bad.  We finally get up to the mountains and it was a beautiful place.  We have a great view and were just in time for lunch.  Then Rachel, our cruise director, came and told us all about the lodge.  She said we could go for hikes or bike rides or sightseeing. She also mentioned that there was a limited amount of hot water.  Hmm!!  I'm not a fan of that.  Michael decided to go on a hike, while I chose to sleep.  The next day, I was the eager beaver.  We decide to go on this seven-hour hike.  I don't know what the fuck I was thinking.  At least I had the right shoes and not my Nine West sandals.  (Wai Shan understands that reference.).  I was keeping pace with Michael and Jalak, our tour guide.  We went downhill and I was right there with my walking stick.  I think I forgot to mention the walking stick.  I was probably the only person who took a walking stick, but I didn't care.  I wasn't going to fall down.  We get downhill and had to cross this river.  This meant taking off my shoes.  Let me mention now that Prestos aren't the best shoes to wear for hiking.  I think my Prestos hate me now.  Crossing the river was just fine.  THe worst part was having to climb up 1,000 feet to the lodge.  I  thought I was going to shoot myself.  Michael, of course, sprinted up the hill and would call down to me,"you doing okay" or something even sweeter like, "so, you're done with this mountain, aren't you."  I had cows and kids racing past me.  I finally got up the damn thing.  I'd say that was a proud moment.  All in all, I'm glad I went on the damn hike, but I know I'm a city girl through and through. 

We leave for the jungle the next day.  I'm not liking this jungle thing.  We get to the jungle and our lodge is literally in the jungle.  Now, Anu, our cruise director, tells us that hot water is limited and that there is only electricity for a few hours in the morning and evening.  The electricity goes out at around 11 p.m.  I don't like that either.  Michael yelled at me because i wanted to dry my hair in the jungle.  You see why i'm a city girl.  

On our first day of safari, we're sitting on the elephant getting ready for the safari and Michael's sunglasses fall off the elephant.  It was quite a scene because everyone around us gasped.  Another sweet elephant picked up the glasses and handed them to Michael.  That evening everyone at dinner was talking about the boy who dropped his glasses. 

I'm going to fast forward to the tiger sighting.  We saw the tiger.  It was right there.  I didn't know what to do except to sit still.  Of course, Michael gets up and is ready to jump out of the jeep to take pictures.  Actually, Michael got up and the driver had to keep telling him to sit down because this was a male tiger and they're pretty aggressive creatures.  At this point Michael didn't even spot the tiger.  I can safely say that even though Michael couldn't see the tiger, the tiger was looking right at Michael.  It was a bit crazy because the tiger was looking straight at Michael.  The tiger eventually went away after Michael made a noise when he went to get the camera. 

We went back to the lodge and then had to brag.  We told everyone we saw the tiger.  We finally got back to Kathmandu yesterday, and I just loved being back.  I can take the jungle and mountains for a few days and then I need smog, hustle and bustle. 

That's my story.

11/17/00 09:04 AM [email protected] writes:

Let me set the scene for you.  It's our last night on this trip.  Michael leaves for London tomorrow, and I'm off to Madras.  Michael is in our room going mad.  He has to pack ALL the things he bought in bags that will probably fit toothpick and an orange.  When I left the room -- which I thought was a good idea -- he was coming up with packing strategy.  This meant sitting on a stool in the room and rubbing his head!  I don't know what I'm going to find when I get back to the room.  I feel bad, because I left Moo Moo in there to deal with things. 

Seriously, I can't believe this trip is over.  I looked at the JermyLint page and saw the first e-mail we ever sent.  That seems so long ago.  This trip has no words.  I'm sure you're all going to get the stories from Michael.  There are so many stories to tell.  In the ones where I look bad, please remember that I wasn't that bad!  I understand about wanting to dry my hair in the jungle. 

I go back to Madras tomorrow and face reality.  This means life with the family and nothing familiar.  I'm pretty excited and pretty scared.  We'll see how things go! 

I'm going back to the room now.  Wish me luck! 

Love, 

Tamara 

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