In the land of the elephants

My sister is in India this week. At least I assume she's in India, since as far as I know on Friday she boarded a plane to Germany and then on to the exotic-sounding city of Bangalore. I was hoping to hear from her by now via email or blog post, but I don't know if computers actually work in 130-degree heat. It would be a bummer if they don't since she was flying approximately 382 hours around the planet in order to meet with a bunch of computer programmers.

I have been trying to describe to Enrico the sensation I have with Moxie being so far away. Not just on the other side of the globe, in goodness knows what time zone, but a place that I have no frame of reference for. She's not merely out of touch, she's beyond visualization, which I find unsettling. When she goes to Italy, I can picture her there in my mind's eye, because I've been to Italy. I can't visualize her in Bangalore because I've never been anywhere like Bangalore.

I asked my Mom if she knew what I meant, and in fact it occurred to me that perhaps my family felt this way when I was in Argentina. Mom said that she'd been thinking exactly that, how strange it is when her children travel to places so far away, and so far outside her personal experience. "I don't really worry about you," she said, "because you're both experienced travellers. It's more weird than worrying."

So, the best I can manage is to picture Moxie in a Bollywood musical number, with bells on her pasty white ankles and chiffon covering her blond head. I know, it's ridiculous, but it'll just have to do for now.