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Father Puthumai came back to Raiganj today. He arrived early this morning with another students, a 20 year old girl from Germany. She is very sweet, and although she is a little reserved, I think she will enjoy herself. It was also nice to have a companion for the day.
After welcoming Father Puthumai back, I taught class. The question of the day was: “What is your dream job?” The questions are a daily activity that I use to force the students to speak. The answers must be at least 8 complete sentences and the questions vary, although they usually have to do with favorites. The students really enjoyed this question. Most of them wanted to be teachers, but one wanted to be a businessman and another a member of the Indian civil service. We played a few of our usual games, and Fr. Puthumai came and taught a new game. I have had 10 days of class so far, which means we are one fourth of the way done. Even though it seems as though it has flown by, I can really see improvement in their speaking skills. They are each advancing, and I am proud of their progress.
This afternoon I ran my errands. I went with Hannah (the new German girl) to the bank, the tailor, and to return a movie. Then after lunch at SWI we went to the sweet shop. I have discovered a sweet that is utterly irresistible! It is very flaky and melts in your mouth. It tastes like sugar, the description does not do it justice. The good news is that it is packaged in such a way that I will be able to bring some back with me! It is called soan paprid and you should all be excited to taste it when I come home.
There are two German students at St. Xavier and I have heard about them, but they were on travel until last week, so I had not had the chance to meet them. Today Regina, the girl, stopped by SWI and we were introduced. She was very nice, upbeat and positive. It was evident that she had really grown attached to Raiganj and that this experience has touched her. The three of us, Hannah, Regina, and I went to Chonditola (the orphange) and we played with the kids in the afternoon. That was so much fun today! We held some of the newborns, I chased after some of the older kids, and we helped feed the toddlers a snack. While running around, one of the little guys feel down, he bonked his head pretty bad, so I picked him up and held him until he stopped crying. He is about 2 and very cute. Regina (who goes to Chonditola most days) said that he was new a few weeks ago and painfully thin. He has filled out now, but he is still light as a feather. Well after he calmed down he fell asleep in my arms! There isn’t a better feeling in the world. He was so precious, and Hannah and I joked, because both of our mothers told us not to come home with children!
We had an early dinner with a Sr. who used to work at SWI and has since been transferred. Father Puthumai, Hannah, Sr. Lizzy and I went to a local hotel and had dinner. We had fish sticks, which I was very happy about. Because I really like fish, but I struggle to pick out the bones in the fish at SWI and usually end up with bones in my throat. The fish sticks were really good and for dinner we had tandori chicken, nan, and non-liquid dal. The dinner was really good. Nan is a thick pita like bread and tandori means very tasty spices. Sr. Lizzy was really nice and it was fun to hear Father tell stories about the days when they both had just started.
In the evening we watched television and sat with Father Herman and an visitor (Father Patrick) while they ate dinner. We all chatted and joked around. Overall it was a very good day.
Having met Regina and being tasked with introducing Hannah to SWI, I started to realize how settled I am here. Seeing Hannah in the beginning stages of adjustment, I was able to measure how far I have come. I have become attached to Raiganj, it has begun to change me. To teach me about living simply, finding peace in chaos and being friendly. And there are the children at Chonditola, I have only been there a few times, and already I am in love with every child there. I think that Raiganj has been teaching me all along, and that only recently have I opened my heart to the lessons. Yet another lesson, the importance of having an open heart. Sending love <3