Asha's Blog
Where on Earth is Asha?
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Return schedule |
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Stephen Shipman |
10:10 3/19/2007 |
I spoke with Asha yesterday, and we confirmed that Sunday April 15th is the date. |
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New Years Eve update |
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Stephen Shipman |
11:33 12/31/2006 |
I spoke with Asha this morning (we talk every Sunday morning); she's doing well. She's continuing to interview subjects and gather data. Asha is also continuing to help her cousin Anju at her cafe -- slinging tea is a fine way to meet more people! Asha has been having some problems getting to her gmail account reliably. The cyber cafe she usually frequents is undergoing renovations, so there have been difficulties there. The recent Pacific earthquake and resulting under-sea fiber cable breaks are also contributing to poor Internet performance in India as traffic crowds westward-facing links, trying to get around the broken eastward links. She's getting timeouts and disconnects, so don't be surprised if Asha's emails are spotty and brief. Asha is planning on attending a New Years Eve party tonight with Anju and her friends. We'll be giving her a call after midnight tonight to celebrate the new year. |
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More photos |
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Stephen Shipman |
10:44 12/9/2006 |
Asha-the-shutterbug sent me three batches of photos overnight. She's limited to 10MB per email, so I'm going to be working on something more efficient for her to transfer the several hundred megs of photos she's probably taken by now. :-)
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Photos! |
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Stephen Shipman |
23:29 12/6/2006 |
I had dinner with Asha's mom and dad tonight. Kamla had photos from India!
Asha is digging into her research -- from a recent email it sounds like she's staking out a cyber cafe and starting to meet young people of the right age for her study. |
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Mom's home... |
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Stephen Shipman |
21:56 12/4/2006 |
Sheenu and I met Kamla at the airport this evening. Aside from an hour delay getting out of Chicago on the last leg of her journey, the trip was fine. Asha is settling in at her cousin Sudhi's; soon there may be pictures! |
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Return trip |
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Stephen Shipman |
21:33 12/3/2006 |
At this time, Kamla should be three hours in to her return Journey. She'll be touching down at Bradley tomorrow at 7:00 PM. Sheenu and I will be meeting her. Asha writes that after their wedding duties this week: We went to see PT and Vasanthi's farm. It is on the northwestern outskirts of Bangalore and the last km is a bumpy road of broken pavement but the scenery is beautiful. Their farm is so nice - they have a small 2-room house with an outside patio and so many flowers, trees, vegetable and spice plants. ... It is such a nice relaxing place - particularly in comparison with the metropolitan area. |
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Bangalore ho! |
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Stephen Shipman |
12:38 11/25/2006 |
Asha called me this morning just after 11:00 (9:30 PM IST) from Bangalore. She and Kamla have arrived! |
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Thanksgiving |
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Stephen Shipman |
11:41 11/23/2006 |
I spoke with Asha this morning (early evening their time). Everyone was back at their hotel. Their trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal was great -- Asha said that the best part of the Taj is the outside (and the view from outside). Inside is a cramped, crowded, and dark replica of the mausoleum that lies beneath the building. Asha said that she has lots of pictures; she'll send them along once she gets to Bangalore and has access to broadband and a place to plug in her laptop. Delhi traffic sounds like a wild reinterpretation of Manhattan traffic. Only there are no proper sidewalks, so pedestrians mix with cars, trucks, scooter rickshaws, bullock carts, and every other wheeled contrivance that's on the road. Oh, and no streetlights or lighted signs on buildings. They're finding that their mobility is curtailed by needing to be back at the hotel before dark due to the problems of navigating after sundown. Also, the amount of time they can spend out doing things is reduced by the need to bushwhack through an hour or more of traffic to get wherever they'd like to go. The lack of sidewalks means that they can't go out for a walk, which Asha was lamenting. Transportation headaches aside, everyone is well and having a good time. Asha sends happy Thanksgiving wishes to everyone! |
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Sunday news |
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Stephen Shipman |
18:13 11/19/2006 |
I spoke with Asha this noon. The entire troop has changed hotels -- they are all now in the same hotel. They went to India Gate and the National Musem today. |
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Call |
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Stephen Shipman |
19:14 11/18/2006 |
I got a call from Asha today at noon; she and her mom, and Rosie and Tugoo are having a grand time bombing around Delhi -- Tugoo is driving and Kamla is navigating. Tuesday the foursome is heading to Agra on a bus trip to the Taj Mahal  ...She promises pictures when she gets back. |
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Arrived! |
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Stephen Shipman |
6:07 11/15/2006 |
Asha and her mom are safely in Delhi. They will be meeting up with Asha's uncle Gian today. |
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Update |
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Stephen Shipman |
17:30 11/13/2006 |
After an inital delay, Kamla and Asha are at Dulles (~17:00) with nearly an hour to spare to catch their flight to Frankfurt. |
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Itinerary |
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Stephen Shipman |
14:46 11/13/2006 |
Asha and Kamla will be staying in Delhi for three weeks. They'll meet up with her mom's brother Ray, who is coming from Calgary, and spend time with family in Delhi. After that, Asha and Kamla will travel to Bangalore. Kamla will return in ~3 weeks. Asha will then be starting her research, with a tentative return set for April 15th. |
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D-Day |
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Stephen Shipman |
14:05 11/13/2006 |
Sheenu and I have just returned from dropping Asha and Kamla at the airport. Their flight leaves in an hour; the first leg is to Dulles, then on to Frankfurt, and Delhi. They should be touching down at 3:45 PM EST Tuesday or, 01:14 IST Wednesday morning in Delhi. |
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