3/2,3,4

Back in Raiganj, it feels good to be back in the familiar. Darjeeling and Gangtok were wonderful. I will sit down and write about the trip soon and hopefully have it posted by next Tuesday. We arrived back on Sunday night, our bus reached just before 11pm. Hannah stayed here and we were both so excited to sleep without 15 layers of clothing on (oh yea, Darjeeling and Gangtok were cold!). We slept in as late as we could (7:30, because English class is at 8am).

There just hasn't been a spare minute since we arrived back, and I am so behind on my blog. So I will write the past 3 days in bullet points, because then I can be more concise, and include the important stuff.

-I had French Toast for breakfast on the 4th, it was really really really good!
-I missed the kids at Chonditola a lot while we were gone, and when we went on Monday we had the most fun with them that we have ever had, running and laughing and playing
-The kids at Chonditola finally taught me how to say 'how are you' in Santali, a local tribal language. So now when I go, they say how are you and I say chellaka menama. :-)
-Hannah leaves on Thursday and Fr. is going to Calcutta for a few days too, I am not looking forward to seeing them off.
-Ruchicka is back in town for a few days, I have been over to her house for the past two evenings to have dinner and catch up. It has been really great to see her and Trisha again. I slept over their last night and we had a really fun girls night :-)
-The kids at St. Xavier changed playing time, so we missed it on Monday, but were able to play a haphazard game of football (really soccer) on Tuesday with the KGers
-I finally took Hannah for the flower fried sweets that I had with Puthumai in my first few weeks here. They are called a-mer-et-ty, and were really really good.
-One of the SWI staff had her farewell lunch on Monday, it is sad to see her go, she has been really nice and very helpful while I have been here.
-I attended a photo lamination training with Hannah, it was the first skill development training that I have attended for men. The men were learning to frame photos and then they will use those skills to open a shop and start a business
-The stresses of American life are seeping into my Indian life...after checking my email on Monday I realized I have lots of problems to solve (post office, taxes, registration, housing, tuition, etc)
-I am teaching my English students interview skills this week and we are doing very interactive speaking activities. It has been fun seeing their development in speaking ability from the beginning to now
-Puthumai has looked over my previous work and was very complimentary about my LFA, it felt really good to be complimented on my work. He also gave me a really interesting assignment for the next few days. It is about reading a few articles on the Millenium Development Goals and then comparing the projected targets and programs with the realities I have seen.
-I will be spending the weekend with the Sisters of the Divine Saviour in Bolegon, which is walking distance from quite a few villages. I am excited to spend the time with the Sisters and in the villages. On Monday we will also celebrate International Woman's Day with a village program. I am really excited.
-Hannah went for Henna today, but I think I will wait a while, so that it will still be on when I come home

Thats all that I can think of for now. It is becoming so normal to live in India that typing my blogs has become difficult. Everything seems so ordinary, and so mundane or redundant to type about. I guess that is a good sign. :-)

On another note, I have two weeks left here. It is the 4th and I leave on the night of the 18th (technically the morning of the 19th, 2:45am). I came to India knowing that I would leave, but I still can't help feeling that leaving here will be more difficult than I ever imagined. I have grown really attached to the people and my life here. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to have this experience, but that doesn't mean leaving is going to be easy. Praying for connections that transcend time zones and for ways to carry with me all that I have seen.

Sending love.