fight or flight

Hannah and I have decided to leave Woodstock. After thinking about it a lot over the winter break and trying to find reason to be hopeful about our volunteer situations, it became clear upon return to the school that not enough was going to change. Very disappointing that we won't see our students return next week, but we're leaving for the most part on good terms with the school. It's hard to find anything thoughtful to write about our decision, because I'm pretty beat from wrestling with it all week.

In a month or two Hannah will know more about her grad school options for the fall, which will make it easier to figure out where we'll be living for the summer and next year. While we wait on that, we're heading to Calcutta for a month, to volunteer at one of the missions run by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. Hannah spent time there three years ago, and they're used to accommodating short-term volunteers. So, the idea is to do the simple work they give us, live modestly, and learn what we can from the place and it's people. Then we'll fly home in mid-March, before (I hope) the heat in Calcutta gets insane.

For now we're trying to stay present in the place we are, which is a pretty good time in life, despite some stuff at the school. Last night we huddled near the wood stove with our friends at their home atop Mount Hermon, then danced up our own warmth in their empty dining room, and for a few moments I managed to slip my worrying, planning, scenario-building mind and let my body celebrate the present moment. The kind of thing I wanted to do in the mountains, I just didn't expect I'd do it to the tune of Goan trance music.

I'll no longer have my Woodstock email address, so please keep in touch via jhiskes@gmail.com