Getting Closer

All right so the trip is getting closer! I'm in Staunton right now visiting people before I leave in just a couple of weeks. Today I am updating with more about the trip, my progress and updated contact information.
I wanted to give some quick information about the trip because I have realized that many of you don't know much about where I'm going. I'll start with the obvious: I am going to India for the fall semester. I am leaving for London on Sept. 3 where I will have an orientation and then leave for India on the 7th. I will be back in the States on Dec. 22. During that time I will be living in Bodh Gaya, India. I am going through the Buddhist Studies in India program at Antioch . I will be living in a Buddhist monastery there and I will be taking classes on Buddhist History, Meditation, and Hindi. At the end of these courses we have a period of independent study where we go out and learn on our own and come back with some form of project. Bodh Gaya in the northern region and a famous pilgrimage town, its claim to fame is the Bodhi tree that Buddha became enlightened under. While I am there I will be getting used to cold water showers, Asian style toilets, purifying any water that comes in contact with my mouth, hand writing essays and frequent times without power. All of which will be so worth it for this experience.
I am pretty much prepared to go, I got my shots. It's always scary going into a travel appointment because basically they sit you down and tell you all the things you could die of where you are going. Always a great place to learn new facts though like did you know you can get Herpes from a monkey bite. Fascinating. Only four shots before I could get out of there and lots of pills and only one bad reaction. Not a bad trip really. I'm getting really excited about going and I'm sure there will be way more exciting things to write about then my adventures in packing a bag with everything I need that weights only 40lbs.
The most important reason I'm updating is to give you the low down on how to contact me. Which you can do in three ways:
Blog: This blog is made so that you can just check at your leisure and I can update at mine. I'll have detailed updates about once a week. Internet is sketchy at best so I can't make any promises but this blog will be my first priority once I get on the computer. Also I will be checking comments and I will ever so grateful to see your smiling posts of support.
Email: I do have an email address specifically for this trip. I'm doing that to avoid spam and emails and updates that I really don't have to worry about until I get back. My email address is robynindia@gmail.com. As I said internet is touch and go and I will not be spending more then an hour a week online. My first priority will be updating this blog. My second will be to check email. What I'm getting at is though I will look forward to your emails I will not be prompt in responding so don't be surprised if it takes at least a couple of weeks for me to respond if I get a chance to respond at all.
Mail: Snail mail is slow but effective. As far as private correspondence goes it is the best way to reach me. It takes about a week to get here and I about a week to get my response back to the States. If you want to talk to me one on one this is the best way. Again I might not have time for emails but I can write letters anytime. If you email me at the aforementioned email address I can get you the address.
As you have probably seen from the description above contact with me while I'm in Bodh Gaya will be limited and slow. I am going to try to do my best to keep everyone updated while I am gone. Until then I will be anxiously awaiting my departure date and clearing up my last duties here in America.