Letter to My Loving Mom

Hi!
I'm doing fine! The internet has been down lately and I have been busy with arranging plans for my migration to Meghalaya in the North-East to enter into a training institution in the mountains of the North-East near the Himalaya. They provide opportunities for agriculture work and carpentry and a Bible seminary is there to assist in my studies. It is in the country and the altitude is very high I have been told(so high that a few friends I have made from there had acute altitude sickness on the trains on the way down). Presently I am searching for someone that is returning(many family members recently arrived here from the NE to drop off their sons or daughters for college here at Spicer in Pune) to the Northeast especially Shillong. If you look on a map I will be in between Shillong(capital of Meghalaya) and Jowai. The institution is sequestered from the nearest town by about a 30 minute drive I understand. I am quite excited about this wonderful opportunity. I have not informed anyone about this recent change because it has been something that I have been looking into for a couple of weeks and I have been uncertain up till a few days ago concerning whether or not I would go. It is quite the journey across India to Kolkata where I must procure a necessary permit of entrance before I can pass from West Bengal state to Assam state(North-East). I have intended to blog more but time(and the availability of current) hasn't allowed me to do so. There are many facts regarding Maghalaya that would comfort you concerning my safety and well-being such as that English is a major language in the region it has therefore been heavily influenced by the West and is more liberal(free, as opposed to imposing and strict as my friends from the North put it). It is also predominately Christian(Baptist). I have been told that just my presence on the campus will be a blessing to many and that my enthusiasm for practical education(including work, labor to cultivate the physical and mental well-being as well as to assist others and to be a blessing to others) will stimulate the department especially that which I join. This I find humbles me greatly I am not to be an American in this land nor a foreigner but to as much as possible assimilate into the culture that I find myself in(depending on the state India has many diverse "cultures" and it could be said that the culture in the North-East is eclectic mostly derived from China and Mongolia). Thank you for the sandals that you gave me long ago(I think you said they were Louis's). I wear them most of the time and I have walked through Monsoon rains in the Markets(once 4 Kilometers to a friend's flat) and they have faired wonderfully. Thank you also for the books(Atlas and Culture Smart) I have spent not a few hours learning about this land absorbed in those books. Oh, and my friends from all over India have found it very interesting as well. I must go now I am late for an appointment! Please give my regards to Louis and remind Natalie that I love her(thank her for the journal for me please).
I love you
Your Son
Benjamin