Sorry I haven’t posted anything lately.  My husband and I took a little jaunt to Jamaica for eight days.  Loved the sun.  Loved the sea.  Loved the sand.  Loved the snorkeling. (Did not love coming back to the cold and the 10 inches of snow we received tonight . . .)

The food was really interesting: calaloo and codfish (what in the world is calaloo??), chicken and pumpkin soup, braised liver, fish tea, fried bammy (pray tell what is bammy?), cornmeal porridge, pickled mackerel, and boiled yams. Their steamed garden vegetables were fabulous (carrots, beans, squash, zucchini), great omelets, wonderful fresh squeezed orange juice, and a delicious custard that they served with every meal.

One meal Craig asked for a Coke and I asked for a Dr. Pepper. When they came, Craig had the normal soda pop. Me? I had what looked like tomato juice with lots of pepper. Thinking it was like V-8 juice I took a sip. The Dr. Pepper turned out to be a Bloody Mary . . .

My students challenged me to get my hair braided in corn rows while in Jamaica.  I was hesitant.  They took up a collection to help pay for it.  My boss donated to the cause.  Co-workers donated to it.  A professor donated to it.

What was I to do?  I couldn’t let them down. I had my hair braided.

Did I feel funny going to church with my hair braided?  Did I feel funny riding the public transportation to work with my unusual hairdo?  Did I feel funny on campus today at work?  Yes, yes, and yes.  How much longer will I keep it this way?  I’m not sure.  It sure is easy to fix in the morning.  Just floof my bangs and I’m done with my hair!

I took a book along to read for those hours waiting in the airport and for lounging in the sun: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by E. Lockhart.  I must say that I absolutely LOVED that book!  (It was one that Stephanie Ford recommended in the video I posted last time.)

I made sure I shook all of the sand out from between the pages.  We mustn’t tell the librarian at the university that I took the book with me to Jamaica now must we??

If you have a granddaughter that is in her early teens and especially a sophomore in high school, I think this is a book that you ought to give her.  It tells of the usual angst of ‘do I look pretty’ to ‘will I be accepted by friends at school’ to . . . well . . . to the main theme of the book.  (I shan’t give it away because I don’t want to spoil the plot!)

As I’m trying to get caught up with laundry, the 250 e-mail messages from work, and from the lack of sleep (because of the beads in my hair feel like I’m sleeping on boulders), I hope to get back to making regular posts.

I’m the Digi-Gram, right?  The Digital Grandmother.  The ‘ONE’ who knows technology, uses technology everyday at work, at home, and at play.  I know what I’m doing, right?  Right . . .

Well, I’ve tried something new, something I’ve never done before.  And that is to record a video chat.  (I’m experienced in video chat just not the recording of it.)  For the most part, things went well.  There are a couple of times that my computer screen was pixelated but it only lasts a couple of seconds.  Hopefully it’s not too bad.  (And, hopefully I’ll figure out what went wrong so it won’t happen again.)

I’ve compressed the movie down from a 7.44 gigabyte movie to a 39.5 megabyte movie.  I hope it is not too big for you to download to watch.  Please — feel free to give me feedback about your ability to watch the movie (e.g. if it took forever to load).  You can send your comments to digigram@grandmaideas.com.

I invited Stephanie Ford, an expert in children’s literature, to share with us a list of books that are good for grandmothers to have in their personal library to read to grandchildren when they come for a visit — or to give as gifts to their grandchildren.  Here is Stephanie ’s list that you can print off for your use. She also mentioned an online children’s literature book club that you can check out.

Now.  For the video.

Happy reading!
Digi-Gram

There are books and then there are BOOKS. I just finished one of those BOOKS — a book that really made me stop and think. And think hard. And for my shallow intellect, that was an amazing feat.

The book was Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza. It is her story of surviving the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. In a bathroom that was 3 feet wide by 4 feet long. With 7 other women. For 91 days. It’s a story of how she was strengthened and supported by her faith in God. And in the end, that faith allowed her to personally visit the man who killed her mother and brother and to forgive him.

How strong would my faith be? Would I succumb to the darkness of fear and despair that Immaculee struggled to overcome? Could I maintain hope — and sanity? And could I do the ultimate — overcome feelings of hatred and a desire to kill those who were the killers of the my family and friends and find forgiveness in my heart?

I would highly recommend this book. But. Be forewarned. What the Hutus did to the Tutsis was horrific. The writing is such that you can see those details in your mind’s eye — yet the details are not explained in grim and gruesome living color as a movie show would display. While this may sound odd, the horror is tactfully and artistically written about.

60 minutes did a story about Immaculee. To get an small idea of what the genocide was like and to see her tell part of her story, go to http://www.immaculee.com. I highly recommend that you view this.

What chills my soul to the very core is this question: Why did the world, and especially the United States , do nothing to come to the aid and rescue of the Tutsis? While we may not have hefted a machete to mutilate and kill the Tutsis of Rwanda, we are no less guilty because of our lack of action.

May the Tutsis find forgiveness in their souls for us.

Destination: British India. Must start by escaping during a sub-zero blizzard from a Siberian gulag 450 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Travel arrangements include six companions from the gulag, little food, and only the clothes on your back. Trek 4,000 miles over the frozen Siberian tundra during the winter time, through Mongolia, then the Gobi Desert in July, over the Himalayan mountains, Tibet, and finally ending in India. Survival depends on going weeks on end without toiletries or baths or much water; on dining (when lucky) on small game, fish, and snakes; on the kindness of strangers with whom you cannot communicate due to different languages.

Cost: nothing — except your desire for freedom and your endurance to gain it.

If this were an ad on Travelocity, would you jump at the opportunity to participate in this travel excursion? No?

Then, the second best thing would be to read The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom by Slavomir Rawicz. This is the true account of a young Polish officer captured in 1939 by the Russians. He was cruelly tortured in an attempt to get him to admit he was a spy. When he refused to admit it (because he really wasn’t a spy!), he was sent to the Siberian gulag from which he escaped.

Would I have the strength to endure the torture that he did? Would I thirst for freedom so desperately that I would be willing to escape from a prison into a wild ferocious Siberian winter? Would I have the discipline to get up day after day after day despite hunger and eternal tiredness to walk thousands of miles? What would I willingly endure to gain my freedom?

The Long Walk is an incredible book. I highly recommend that you read it — and count your many blessings for the freedoms that you enjoy.

Becoming a well-read,
Digi-Gram