2/22

Today was definitely a Sunday. It felt a little like a Sunday at home, relaxed and slow. I spent the morning eating a luxuriously long breakfast, listening in on singing practice and instant messaging with M&D. Hannah arrived and took over on the computer (because the wireless isn’t working so the Internet is only available on the office computer), so I sat in the sunshine reading for an hour or so. (Although I was scolded for sitting in the sun around noon, apparently no one in India sits in the sun around noon because, well there was no reason why.) One of my favorite ways to pass time that I learned this summer is to read in the afternoon, there is just nothing more pleasantly distracting as escaping into the adventures of someone else.
Before lunch Hannah, Puthumai and I ran to the tailor. Hannah has been trying to have a dress made for the past couple weeks, but keeps running into road blocks. We went to the clothing shop the other day and Hannah bought some lunguis to cut up and make into her dress. A lungi is a large piece of fabric that men have sewn into a circle and then wrap them around their waist, like a skirt. I also wanted a few of my saree blouses loosened and the sleeves on one of my salvars cut off. It was quite surprising that Puthumai came to the ladies tailor, because he always sends female staff with us to the ladies tailor. He has always says that ‘Ladies tailors are for ladies.’ He tagged along today because no female staff were in the office and the tailor would never understand that we wanted lungis made into a dress. Hannah needed the dress made by Tuesday night, because we will be leaving for Darjeeling early Wednesday morning. Hannah is planning on meeting up with a reporter friend in Darjeeling and then heading on with her other travels from there. This means that Wednesday would be her last day in Raiganj. It will be sad to see her leave, but she is excited for her upcoming travels and that’s good.
Lunch came quickly and was very good. I have a difficult time removing the bones from fish, so Puthumai made special fish for lunch. He removed the bones and cooked the fish in a sauce that wasn’t too spicy. It was really good, we also had a new vegetable. It was white, crunchy, watery like watermelon but tasted kind of like sugar snap peas. The bananas we had today are like the bananas available in America. They were thinner and longer, while the bananas here are shorter and fatter. I like the Indian ones better, especially the ones that are orange tinted on the inside.
After lunch Hannah and I ran errands. We went to the photo shop to have photos printed, to the fruit stand to buy oranges, grapes and pomegranates and to the wal-mart to buy balloons for the kids at Chonditola. Hannah is becoming an expert bargainer and we probably only paid a little over the Indian price today. Then we went to Chonditola, where the kids enjoyed the balloons. Although they continued asking for two balloons each and pretending I hadn’t given them one so they could get another. I was really good though, I didn’t get angry once, I just kept teasing then. Then Hannah and I went to DDC for tea and biscuits. We saw the new convent that Sr. Philo’s order is building. Then we headed back to SWI.
We went to the train station to see off Regina and Johannes. They have been at St. Xavier for 6 months and they were leaving today. It was really sad at the train station, everyone was crying. It was sad to see them off, I could feel how attached they were to Raiganj, and it made me think of my own departure (only 4 weeks away). The TV is still broken, but Puthumai brought deep fried hard-boiled eggs for a treat. They were spectacular. Really wonderful.
Now for some not so great news, my foot is swelling up. It is the same one that was stung by the mutant wasp on Friday. Today during our errands the right side of my ankle began to swell and then it spread to the top right side of my foot. It itches and is red and warm. Puthumai says that we will go to the doctor tomorrow if it doesn’t get better. Tonight I am supposed to soak it in warm salt water and apply some cream that Puthumai gave me. I asked what the cream is, and Puthumai said that in India natural remedies don’t work if the person knows what they are. I am soaking my foot right now, and we will see how things look in the morning. I am hoping the swelling will have gone down ;-)
Sending love.