Ramble On

Since April, I have been e-mailing back and forth with a student who has a particularly passionate way of writing e-mails.  One of these e-mails was featured in an earlier post , but I feel the need to pursue this character sketch.  The first thing I noticed about her was the subject lines of her e-mails, which read like this: ( I'll change her name and call her Lola.) Kuwaiti Lola Urgent/Kuwaiti Lola Urgent/Lola Lola/ HELP! LOLA Lola Lola/hi Lola/hi again She starting e-mailing me in April, five months before her scheduled arrival in the US.  As you'll see, she's not one that likes uncertainty, and a forward-thinker.  She's been in English courses since the fall and is hoping to start her studies at a university next academic year.  We have been working together on finding admission for her.  I suspect she encounters difficulty because of her English.  It's certainly not for want of earnestness.  I love how she starts out identif...

Hi Friends.   I come before you humbly on the other side of my Florida vacation. I have to confess that I did not get to meet Darryl.  I did meet his father, Captain Steve, and about seven other Floridians out hunting wild turkeys.  But I'll get to that. Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start...). I landed in Miami and immediately discovered it is OK to wear sunglasses indoors here.  COOL! Corey Hart would have a field day (and perhaps find inspiration for another hit single?).  I drove to Davie, FL to visit my long-lost cousin and her family.  I hadn't seen her in, we think, almost 20 years.  Her three sweet children and genial husband provided laughs and delicious Florida food a-plenty.  What a fun visit.  I then headed to Jupiter to see my beautiful Sam, former small-groupie from Williamsburg.  We walked around her quiet neighborhood catching up for hours.  I stayed with her family that night and then ...