1/31

This morning I slept an hour later than usual. It was actually difficult for my body to stay in bed that long, but I wanted to at least try and get some extra rest. Breakfast went as usual this morning and I spent most of the rest of the morning lounging around the Internet, checking email, posting pictures, etc. The wireless was working decently well, and I had a lot of pictures that I wanted to post. I was having some difficulty with facebook, so I will write captions and post the links to the albums in my blog within the next few days. There are so many people that I would like to write very long emails to, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day. I hope that everyone who is reading this feel as though it is written especially for them, because it is!
The best news of all though, is that this morning there was no fog!! It was clear and the sky were blue (well as blue as the pollution allows them to be). I was so happy when I opened my door and say the sunshine. I sat outside this morning just to bask in the sunlight. It was beautiful.
In the afternoon Regina and Johannes came by, and the four of us and Puthumai went to a to a local street market and to a dress shop. The street market was so cool. There were people sitting on the ground with their fruits and vegetables displayed on tarps on the ground. There were so many vegetables that I had never seen before! It was really neat. Then we went to the dress shop. The shop was closed, but because Puthumai is a special customer they opened just for us. The saree and salvar material was gorgeous. We sat on the floor and they brought out one after another for us to see. I found a gorgeous turquoise saree made out of synthetic material that looks like silk. It has a beautiful design on it and it was roughly 200 ruppes which is 4 US dollars. I also bought material for a few more salvars (daily Indian dress) because I think that as it gets warmer that is going to be more comfortable than my Western dress. I will take it all to the tailor on Tuesday, which is sort of the best part. All of the clothes here are made especially to fit you. So if you like a material you can make it into anything, in any size.
Then for lunch we ordered onion (insert a long word that I can’t pronounce). It is a South Indian dish. They were like pizza’s but not. There was a dough bottom part and they were round, but the dough part was made out of rice power. Then there were onions on top (I picked off a few, but was able to eat most of them) and I am sure there was more that I can’t properly identify. There were also two sauces, one white and one brown. The white sauce was really good, and the dough part unlike anything I have tasted before. Overall a very enjoyable culinary experience ☺!
Then in the afternoon Hannah and I went to Ruchi’s. We missed the puja, but from what I can gather it is not a very communal kind of event. Anywho, there was the statue of the Saraswati goddess with flowers and other gifts around her. In the community field area there was also a community lunch. Shortly after we arrived, Ruchi and her neighbor (who teaches at St. Xavier and is very nice) Daisy helped Hannah and I put our sarees on. It is quite a process, and even after watching them put it on, I wouldn’t have the slightest clue as to how to reproduce the look. Hopefully I will learn as time goes on. Then we went and ate. The entire community commented on how nice we looked, and they were all very happy that I was sitting on the ground eating off a leaf plate with my fingers in a saree! Hannah was sick last night after the food from the picnic, so she didn’t eat today. I think the food was too spicy for her stomach, She needs some more time to adjust to the foods here.
I noticed today that I am gaining the ability to make conversation with lots of different people. I am becoming quite the competent extrovert. It is like my Grandpa Hewitt, he can sit down on a bench and five minutes later he will have 10 new friends. It is a quality that I thought I didn’t possess, but maybe Grandpa passed it on to me, I just needed some time to grow into it!
After lunch we went back to Ruchi’s house and a few of the neighborhood girls followed. Daisy’s older daughter Neha, is 15 and very sweet. So there was Neha, her younger sister Nidi, and about 6 of their friends. They all are very kind to me and were so happy to see my in a saree. More then once they commented on how nice I looked. Then after sitting a chatting for a few minutes the younger ones decided we should all dance. So Jonathan turned on some music and everyone (about 10 of us) started dancing! There was all kinds of different music, from popular Hindi songs, to Hip Hop to Elivis. We were doing all varieties of dancing and everyone was having a great time. Let me tell you, it is quite an experience to dance to Elvis in a saree! Then we had some tea and conversaion and Hannah and I were on our way. We traveled by rickshaw today, mostly to avoid the stares. Because I will tell you there is only one thing that attracts more attention that a white girl in Raiganj, a white girl in a saree in Raiganj.
After arriving at SWI, we showcased our sarees for the Fathers, and received more compliments. Then we (Puthumai, Father Herman, Hannah and I) went to Susmita’s home for some snacks and conversation. Her house is very close by and we were served fried rice, cheese curds, fried brinjol, and a wet sweet. We had an enjoyable time, and she gave me a bindi, which is the red dot for your forehead. Susmita was very complimentary of my saree. Which was surprisingly comfortable.
Then Puthumai and I went the market to pick up some snacks for tomorrows journey (we are going somewhere, but don’t ask me where, because I can’t pronounce it). We will leave early tomorrow (3am) and then drive all day. We will have a picnic and see some historical places. We will stay in a hotel and then come back Monday. It will be fun so see a little more of India, but to be honest; I have become quite content with Raiganj. There is so much life here, and I think that even after three months there will still be many things I haven’t seen or begun to understand.
Dinner was uneventful. No one ate much because we were all full. I will not write for a few days, because of the trip. But don’t worry! I’ll be back soon. Loving and missing everyone.
PS. Ally I hope your enjoying Mexico, miss you and I hope you know I am there with you, whenever you need me ☺