Dear Oprah,
     So...Valary had just introduced herself to me and asked if I was the same Katie English who sponsored her? I remember trying to keep up a conversation with her while still maintaining a conversation with myself in my head about how I could possibly be the Katie English who sponsored her.  I had never sent any money to the school. Had it been sent in in my name? I thought I remembered something to that effect but at that moment I was foggy with extreme jet lag and fatigue setting in and so most of my cognition was being devoted to trying to focus on the details of Valary's life she was sharing with me.
     Just then, Judy Cochran who runs the school with her husband Steve, came over. She was making the rounds to welcome all of the teachers. "Judy, I know this is going to be a strange question, but Valary has just asked me if I am the Katie English who sponsors her and at first I said that I wasn't but .... well, it's a long story....but, I think I might just be. I just don't know for sure because if I am, I haven't been the one to send the money and I have no idea if it is still being sent or what the deal is.  Is there a way for us to check that?"  Judy was so amazingly accommodating, "We can sure try. Let's walk up to the office. The gal who keeps our records straight isn't here today but we can see what we can find."
     I followed Judy up a winding trail along the hillside until we got to the building that served as the office. She led me to a small room, cluttered with papers strewn about and stacks of mail piled on top of every available table top so that there wasn't a single surface area that showed itself. In the corner stood an old filing cabinet and I immediately wondered where in the world that thing had come from...it wasn't like there was a Wal-Mart around or an Office Depot...which lead to the subsequent thought of who the hell had lugged it all the way up here? I imagined the rest of the furniture in the room had been made nearby, but a filing cabinet?
     Judy's fingers were fast as she flipped through the alphabetical files. She obviously was used to wearing many hats around the school and had done this before though she had humbly told me multiple times that the real pro, who was absent, would have found Valary's information much faster than she. I was thankful for whatever we could find and though I COULD have easily slept like a baby right there on top of the uneven stacks of mail due to my severe exhaustion, I now suddenly had a burst of adrenaline pumping and felt wide awake again.

The main building of the school where the "office" is located.