Day 6 & 7

Monday March 6th Day 6

This morning I successfully called the US Bank to get a new Credit Card. I had to go down the hill to Woodstock School where I met one of the people I met last year and at the summer Reunion in Oregon. I was trying to find someone who spoke fluent English and explain my problems to. I used a phone in the office and called and had US Bank mail a card to Woodstock. I knew there would be someone there to receive the card and they could then contact me. When I pick up the card I have to call the US to get the PIN number. I expect it to take at least a week. I then called Chase Bank to get a PIN number to use on their credit card. When the nice lady asked me for my card number I discovered that I had left the card up at the top of the hill. It takes 40 minutes to get down the hill and another 60 minutes to climb back up the hill. I will try to place an international call at the Office of the Landour Language School which is located a half a mile away on the flat.

On my trip up the hill aI stopped at the Landour Community Hospital Pharmacy to find out about the availability of my insulin. I had to meet with the doctor (it cost 180 rupees ($4) and I only had to wait 5 minutes) to discover they do not carry this kind of insulin and will have to order it and are not sure it is available up here. I am to contact them again Thursday morning to find out. I will head down into the bazar tomorrow morning to the largest Pharmacy there and see if it is available. They may have to order it in from Delhi. That will be must faster than the hospital pharmacy. I will head further into the bazar and try to convert my dollars into rupees at the bank. Their system was down on Saturday so I hope for better luck.

Last night I discovered that the power unit for this computer was dead. I borrowed one from an Italian student at the Language School and got my trusty machine powered up. When I went to Woodstock I asked then man there what it would take to get one of the power packs. He had an extra one and loaned it to me for my whole time here.

Tuesday Mar 9 Day 7

I have successfully made my walk down to the Bazar to get money. I now have money for the basics like Water, Wood for heat, pay my share of the groceries, no extra funds for but the basics. When I called about a PIN number for my Chase Credit card, I actually reached a human. It will take 7 to 10 business days to send the PIN by mail to Maple Valley and then TerrY (actually Annie) will have to mail it on. I think it takes close to a week to get mail from Washington to the mountains of India. I sure hope it is faster. So it looks like my money will have to last around 3 weeks and if not, I will have to borrow from someone. The best source will be Woodstock. My third task was finding out about my Insulin. It is readily available and costs about $11 for the vial. In the US the over-the-counter price is $108. I will have to order it about 3 days before I buy it. SOO my day has been a great success. It is a relief after all the problems I have faced.

My trip to the Bazar and Woodstock covered about 8 miles. by the time I got home for lunch I was totally exhausted but lunch was soon served and I have revived. I did stop and eat an orange on the way back up. That gave me the energy to complete the climb but I walked like an old man, stopping frequently.

Yesterday I tried to post my daily blog information but the connection failed. I will try to post both days today. If you read this, I was again successful, for today.

This morning my room was actually 52 degrees (that rates as a heat wave in this house). This afternoon it is back down to 50 degrees.