Here are the pictures from our trip to Darjeeling and Gangtok. I know that I haven't written about the trip, so this is like an appetizer, but my stories will be even better, don't worry.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055743&id=32404648&l=42d32
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055748&id=32404648&l=1002b
There are also some more pictures of Raiganj. Hope you enjoy.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055749&id=32404648&l=5cdf1
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
2/24
This morning Hannah woke up sick again. Which is the 5th time she has been sick in her 5 weeks here. I hope that she feels better soon! We had a quick breakfast of Special K at DDC, (we found Special K at the Wal-Mart last week). Then we took a trekker with 28 people in it to SWI. There were only two students in class again today, because the puja included staying awake all night to worship the god. So the students who were celebrating the puja yesterday and missed class, were sleeping and eating this morning. I hope that next week my students show up, because class is really more enjoyable when the students show up.
Sr. Anisha arrived back today after being gone in the south for the entire month of February. It is good to have her back, and Hannah and I went to Bolegon today to have tea and sit with her for a while. Bolegon is the Sisters of the Divine Saviour’s concent, and it is located about 45 minutes drive away near quite a few villages. It was market day in the village near Bolegon and we got the see the market as we drove by. Village markets are really cool, they are a large field with hundreds of people standing around selling just about anything that a village family could need. Once we reached Bolegon we had tea, biscuits and sweets. Hannah and I sat with Sr. Anisha and Sr. Minnie for an hour and just chatted. We had a lot of fun.
We were back at SWI for lunch, and then we did some work around the office until we left for Chonditola. I also got to chat with Ajla for a few minutes, which was wonderful, I miss her so much! We ran a few errands on the way to Chonditola and then we played with the kids for a couple hours. Today we learned a few of the kids names, which is really exciting. I now know 8 of the kids names. We were running around chasing them today, and Hannah and I were both covered in sweat. Today was the hottest day yet in Raiganj, especially because modestly standards require that women wear long pants and short sleeves. Both Hannah and I were really hot, but the kids were pretty understanding a sat around resting with us for a while. Then we were off to St. Xavier to play with the KGers. Today we played ‘Go Fish’, very similar rules to the previous day. Then we ran around in bare feet and kicked the soccer ball around. The kids were jumping all over me and throwing grass into my hair. We were laughing and running, and it was hot, but it was so much fun.
Hannah and I went to DDC to pack her things for our Darjeeling trip. She started feeling even worse, which sucks. I hope she feels better for our trip. We couldn’t find a trekker or auto to take home, because it was dark out. Which also meant that we had to walk down the DDC path in the dark. It was really creepy, but we made it without tripping or running into any scary nighttime creatures. We ended up getting onto a bus that we thought was going to Raiganj. We lucked out and the bus ended up going exactly where we needed.
After packing my things, sending a few emails and sitting for dinner, Hannah and I are now sitting in my room both freshly showered and watching a movie. We will leave for Darjeeling tomorrow morning after Ash Wednesday service. We will travel all day tomorrow and then spend the next two days alone in Darjeeling. Then we will travel to Gangtok and meet Puthumai for a trip to the China/India border. The area is hilly country and supposed to be really beautiful. I will make sure to take lots of pictures and I will update my blog when we return on Monday.
Sending love.
Sr. Anisha arrived back today after being gone in the south for the entire month of February. It is good to have her back, and Hannah and I went to Bolegon today to have tea and sit with her for a while. Bolegon is the Sisters of the Divine Saviour’s concent, and it is located about 45 minutes drive away near quite a few villages. It was market day in the village near Bolegon and we got the see the market as we drove by. Village markets are really cool, they are a large field with hundreds of people standing around selling just about anything that a village family could need. Once we reached Bolegon we had tea, biscuits and sweets. Hannah and I sat with Sr. Anisha and Sr. Minnie for an hour and just chatted. We had a lot of fun.
We were back at SWI for lunch, and then we did some work around the office until we left for Chonditola. I also got to chat with Ajla for a few minutes, which was wonderful, I miss her so much! We ran a few errands on the way to Chonditola and then we played with the kids for a couple hours. Today we learned a few of the kids names, which is really exciting. I now know 8 of the kids names. We were running around chasing them today, and Hannah and I were both covered in sweat. Today was the hottest day yet in Raiganj, especially because modestly standards require that women wear long pants and short sleeves. Both Hannah and I were really hot, but the kids were pretty understanding a sat around resting with us for a while. Then we were off to St. Xavier to play with the KGers. Today we played ‘Go Fish’, very similar rules to the previous day. Then we ran around in bare feet and kicked the soccer ball around. The kids were jumping all over me and throwing grass into my hair. We were laughing and running, and it was hot, but it was so much fun.
Hannah and I went to DDC to pack her things for our Darjeeling trip. She started feeling even worse, which sucks. I hope she feels better for our trip. We couldn’t find a trekker or auto to take home, because it was dark out. Which also meant that we had to walk down the DDC path in the dark. It was really creepy, but we made it without tripping or running into any scary nighttime creatures. We ended up getting onto a bus that we thought was going to Raiganj. We lucked out and the bus ended up going exactly where we needed.
After packing my things, sending a few emails and sitting for dinner, Hannah and I are now sitting in my room both freshly showered and watching a movie. We will leave for Darjeeling tomorrow morning after Ash Wednesday service. We will travel all day tomorrow and then spend the next two days alone in Darjeeling. Then we will travel to Gangtok and meet Puthumai for a trip to the China/India border. The area is hilly country and supposed to be really beautiful. I will make sure to take lots of pictures and I will update my blog when we return on Monday.
Sending love.
2/23
I got up on the wrong side of the bed today. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but I am not in a good mood, and I do not have a positive outlook today. When I woke up my foot was still swollen, I hadn’t slept well and I had a headache. Breakfast was good, but for class only two of my students showed up. Apparently it was some sort of puja, single women fast and worship the god that will bring you a good husband. Since there were only two students my lessons didn’t work out so well, but class went well anyway. We ended early and then I went to the office to putz around on the computer. I got very bored, very quickly, and when Puthumai walked in I attacked him and demanded he give me work. He gave me a small project that I finished before lunch.
Puthumai and I went to the Dr. so that he could look at my foot. The doctor was a private doctor. We took a rickshaw, and took our shoes off at the front door. Once up the stairs we sat in a waiting room because the doctor wasn’t in. Puthumai knows the doctor and the doctor’s wife. He called the doctors wife and the doctor showed up soon. The doctor ended up laughing at me, because of my weak American immune system and my need to go to the doctor for such a ‘mundane’ problem. The doctor wrote me a prescription and when I asked Puthumai what the pills were for he said, my ‘mental satisfaction.’ This encounter only made my bad day worse.
Lunch was miserable because, well because I was still in an awful mood. After lunch I did some work scanning. It was interesting to learn about what I was scanning, but it was a lot of scanning for a funding/oversight agency that would probably never actually open any of the documents that I scanned. Hannah and I left to run a few errands in the afternoon. Then we went to Chonditola, which was probably the best thing for my bad attitude. The kids were really energetic, we chased after them, spun and tossed them around. Sleepy, the little cuddly guy, starting crying when I picked him up for 5 seconds and put him down. Hannah and I decided that we didn’t want to affirm his cry until someone picks me up behavior, so we let him cry for a few minutes. We tried to comfort him in everyway besides picking him up, but he wouldn’t have it. He was more persistent than we expected, and cried for about 20 minutes before he finally calmed down. It was really sad to see him cry, but I think it is better that he doesn’t get too attached.
Then we went to St. Xavier, and since Regina and Johannes were gone, the kids were really happy to see us. I played with the KGers for playing time. We played a game of matching cards with animal pictures. The rules included screaming as loud as you could, cheating by turning over the cards when it was not your turn, and constantly accusing other kids of cheating. It was slightly chaotic, especially with one little guy sitting in my lap, one sitting on my shoulders, and one pulling on my arm. But it was a lot of fun. I was finally smiling, laughing and distracted from my bad day.
Then Hannah and I went back to SWI, waited for Puthumai for a while before our dinner out. We went to a hotel that we had eaten at before. Hannah and I both really enjoyed the food their. We had fish sticks, fried potatoes, really juicy chicken tikka, nan and dal. Nan is like thick chapatti and the dal wasn’t liquid it was more pulse like. We all really enjoyed our dinner. I slept at DDC with Hannah and we both were very excited to end the day, get a good’s night sleep and hope for a better day tomorrow.
Sending love
Puthumai and I went to the Dr. so that he could look at my foot. The doctor was a private doctor. We took a rickshaw, and took our shoes off at the front door. Once up the stairs we sat in a waiting room because the doctor wasn’t in. Puthumai knows the doctor and the doctor’s wife. He called the doctors wife and the doctor showed up soon. The doctor ended up laughing at me, because of my weak American immune system and my need to go to the doctor for such a ‘mundane’ problem. The doctor wrote me a prescription and when I asked Puthumai what the pills were for he said, my ‘mental satisfaction.’ This encounter only made my bad day worse.
Lunch was miserable because, well because I was still in an awful mood. After lunch I did some work scanning. It was interesting to learn about what I was scanning, but it was a lot of scanning for a funding/oversight agency that would probably never actually open any of the documents that I scanned. Hannah and I left to run a few errands in the afternoon. Then we went to Chonditola, which was probably the best thing for my bad attitude. The kids were really energetic, we chased after them, spun and tossed them around. Sleepy, the little cuddly guy, starting crying when I picked him up for 5 seconds and put him down. Hannah and I decided that we didn’t want to affirm his cry until someone picks me up behavior, so we let him cry for a few minutes. We tried to comfort him in everyway besides picking him up, but he wouldn’t have it. He was more persistent than we expected, and cried for about 20 minutes before he finally calmed down. It was really sad to see him cry, but I think it is better that he doesn’t get too attached.
Then we went to St. Xavier, and since Regina and Johannes were gone, the kids were really happy to see us. I played with the KGers for playing time. We played a game of matching cards with animal pictures. The rules included screaming as loud as you could, cheating by turning over the cards when it was not your turn, and constantly accusing other kids of cheating. It was slightly chaotic, especially with one little guy sitting in my lap, one sitting on my shoulders, and one pulling on my arm. But it was a lot of fun. I was finally smiling, laughing and distracted from my bad day.
Then Hannah and I went back to SWI, waited for Puthumai for a while before our dinner out. We went to a hotel that we had eaten at before. Hannah and I both really enjoyed the food their. We had fish sticks, fried potatoes, really juicy chicken tikka, nan and dal. Nan is like thick chapatti and the dal wasn’t liquid it was more pulse like. We all really enjoyed our dinner. I slept at DDC with Hannah and we both were very excited to end the day, get a good’s night sleep and hope for a better day tomorrow.
Sending love
Sunday, February 22, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
2/21
I slept in until 7:30am this morning; it felt wonderful, luxurious even. I never thought that 7:30am would feel like sleeping in, but this morning I got the same consuming calm that usually accompanies staying in bed until noon, I got out of bed at around 7:45am, knowing full well that I had to get dressed, post my blog and eat breakfast all before class at 8:00am. The best part is, I was in class at 8:06am and I still beat half of my students to class. There are days when I love Indian time.
During breakfast we watched TV (which is out of the ordinary). A terrorist group (which functions more as a violent government that is unrecognized) in Sri Lanka (and parts of Southern India), used some of their planes to drop bombs last night. From what I could tell the targets were mostly Sri Lankan government or military buildings and 2 people were killed. There has also been conflict in Southern India. In Tamil Nadu (a state) the government has issued a shoot on sight order for all policemen. The police are supposed to shoot anyone seen to be damaging public property. There is conflict between the lawyers and the police that has caused this shoot on sight order. The lawyers are upset because a political leader they support is in jail. It is very interesting to see the law and order tactics and situations that are common in India. There is corruption in every county, rich or poor. But in India some of the police corruption is blatant. The police take bribes from the goods carriers by stopping them on the side of the road and reaching up to the window to take the money. I have witnessed this, as Puthumai is always quick to point it out. The part that gets me, is how can a country maintain any sort of order and stability if the law enforcement officers don’t obey the laws. I guess that in the US there is corruption and bribery that takes place, but at least the criminals hide it from the public. Does it make it better or worse that they hide it? What does a society that values law and order look like, and who monitors the law enforcement agents? Where is the system of checks and balances?
Puthumai and I finalized the CBDP budget and sent it into the regional office. We spent the morning rereading every single detail and triple checking for mistakes. It was eye-bleeding tedious, but the feeling of accomplishment when it was finished was more than worth it. For lunch we had pork and green grapes, two special treats. The pork was in a sauce that was really tasty and the grapes were fresh and crispy. After lunch I helped Hannah with the assignment that Puthumai gave her earlier this week. He had asked her to read an article on Voluntary Organizations in India and the government’s new policies regarding the non-profit sector. She wrote a summary of the article and an opinion piece about the positives and negatives of the new policies. I helped her edit her English grammar, it was difficult for her to understand some of what the article was saying, because English isn’t her first language. But overall her article was well-written and interesting for me to read (I got an idea of the upcoming government policy regulating voluntary organizations).
In the afternoon I read in the sunshine for a while and then we went to Chonditola. The kids were good, although since there was a light breeze outside we had to play inside. Regina and Johannes leave tomorrow, so they brought all of their donations for the kids. There were lots of toys and games. The kids had a lot of fun playing with the new toys and seemed even more energetic then usual (especially for being inside). I spent most of my time there holding Rajes, or Sleepy (we can’t understand all of their names, so we give them names based on personality traits, its all done very lovingly). He is the cuddliest child I have ever met. When you pick him up he squeezes his body into the crevices of yours. The only problem is that when you put him down he cries. It is really sad, so I try not to hold him the whole time. Today I held him the first half, and then sat down on the bed next to him while we played with the new toys. He didn’t cry and I we had a lot of fun playing together. After Chonditola we went to St. Xavier and played with the KGer’s. We played memory and ‘spin me around’. The kids are really sweet and I am going to try and make an effort to go and play with them during their play hours for the next few weeks.
In the evening I spent a few hours posting pictures and doing Sudokus. The Fathers were late for dinner and I sat in the dining hall from 8 till 8:40pm waiting for them to show up. Finally Fr. Herman and Markus arrived, but Fr. Puthumai was a no show. The television was broken so the English channels weren’t working. And the man on the English news channel was speaking in Hindi. I went to bed early and am hoping for another good nights sleep.
Sending love.
During breakfast we watched TV (which is out of the ordinary). A terrorist group (which functions more as a violent government that is unrecognized) in Sri Lanka (and parts of Southern India), used some of their planes to drop bombs last night. From what I could tell the targets were mostly Sri Lankan government or military buildings and 2 people were killed. There has also been conflict in Southern India. In Tamil Nadu (a state) the government has issued a shoot on sight order for all policemen. The police are supposed to shoot anyone seen to be damaging public property. There is conflict between the lawyers and the police that has caused this shoot on sight order. The lawyers are upset because a political leader they support is in jail. It is very interesting to see the law and order tactics and situations that are common in India. There is corruption in every county, rich or poor. But in India some of the police corruption is blatant. The police take bribes from the goods carriers by stopping them on the side of the road and reaching up to the window to take the money. I have witnessed this, as Puthumai is always quick to point it out. The part that gets me, is how can a country maintain any sort of order and stability if the law enforcement officers don’t obey the laws. I guess that in the US there is corruption and bribery that takes place, but at least the criminals hide it from the public. Does it make it better or worse that they hide it? What does a society that values law and order look like, and who monitors the law enforcement agents? Where is the system of checks and balances?
Puthumai and I finalized the CBDP budget and sent it into the regional office. We spent the morning rereading every single detail and triple checking for mistakes. It was eye-bleeding tedious, but the feeling of accomplishment when it was finished was more than worth it. For lunch we had pork and green grapes, two special treats. The pork was in a sauce that was really tasty and the grapes were fresh and crispy. After lunch I helped Hannah with the assignment that Puthumai gave her earlier this week. He had asked her to read an article on Voluntary Organizations in India and the government’s new policies regarding the non-profit sector. She wrote a summary of the article and an opinion piece about the positives and negatives of the new policies. I helped her edit her English grammar, it was difficult for her to understand some of what the article was saying, because English isn’t her first language. But overall her article was well-written and interesting for me to read (I got an idea of the upcoming government policy regulating voluntary organizations).
In the afternoon I read in the sunshine for a while and then we went to Chonditola. The kids were good, although since there was a light breeze outside we had to play inside. Regina and Johannes leave tomorrow, so they brought all of their donations for the kids. There were lots of toys and games. The kids had a lot of fun playing with the new toys and seemed even more energetic then usual (especially for being inside). I spent most of my time there holding Rajes, or Sleepy (we can’t understand all of their names, so we give them names based on personality traits, its all done very lovingly). He is the cuddliest child I have ever met. When you pick him up he squeezes his body into the crevices of yours. The only problem is that when you put him down he cries. It is really sad, so I try not to hold him the whole time. Today I held him the first half, and then sat down on the bed next to him while we played with the new toys. He didn’t cry and I we had a lot of fun playing together. After Chonditola we went to St. Xavier and played with the KGer’s. We played memory and ‘spin me around’. The kids are really sweet and I am going to try and make an effort to go and play with them during their play hours for the next few weeks.
In the evening I spent a few hours posting pictures and doing Sudokus. The Fathers were late for dinner and I sat in the dining hall from 8 till 8:40pm waiting for them to show up. Finally Fr. Herman and Markus arrived, but Fr. Puthumai was a no show. The television was broken so the English channels weren’t working. And the man on the English news channel was speaking in Hindi. I went to bed early and am hoping for another good nights sleep.
Sending love.
So I'm still in India, even though the Post Office doesn't belive it, here are the pictures to prove it
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055121&id=32404648&l=3d306
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055118&id=32404648&l=7f680
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055118&id=32404648&l=7f680
Friday, February 20, 2009
2/20
Father woke me up this morning with a phone call telling me the Internet was working. You see the past three days the Internet has been on and off. The early morning and late night seem to be the most reliable times for working Internet. I had a good chat with my parents this morning. We did quite a bit of laughing, and that is one of my favorite ways to start the day. I did find out though (from Puthumai) that I have eaten pigeon. I was telling my parents about eating the duck last night and Puthumai started laughing and said that I have eaten pigeon too. At the time I was under the impression that I was eating chicken, and no one decided to correct me. So it isn’t as though they lied to me directly, but it was definitely a lie by omission.
Class went well, I am beginning to transition away from playing games and simple confidence building activities and to testing the students listening comprehension and ability to edit for correct grammar, spelling, etc. Mostly it has been good, although there is one student who occasionally makes me want to tear my hair out. This morning we were reviewing the homework and she read a partial definition for a word, when I told her that her definition was incomplete she then read the full definition listed in her notebook. I was confused as to why she didn’t read the full definition the first time. When I asked her she started reading the definition again. I asked again only to receive blank stares. One of the other students tried to explain it to her in English, and then another student explained it to her in Bengali. Even after all of that, she still didn’t answer and just went on with reading the sentence! If Indian time wasn’t increasing my patience, then teaching certainly is.
I spent the morning finalizing the budget reports from the previous day. Once everything was finalized I gave it to Puthumai, and I am very proud of the job I did. I was very thorough and hopefully everything is correct.
For breakfast and lunch I got a fried egg, one of my favorite non-Indian Indian dishes. After lunch Hannah and I ran some errands. We went and got passport size pictures taken for our applications for a permit into Sikkim. Then we went to the clothing shop. Hannah wanted to buy some material for a dress, but they didn’t really have anything that she liked. She also wanted to buy some lungi’s which are large pieces of fabric stitched into a circle. You tie then around their waste and they act as pants and a skirt. They are only men’s clothes though. She wanted to buy some to bring home for male friends. She bought 7 of them, because she decided that she could use the lungi fabric to make her dress. I can’t wait to see what the dress looks like ☺. Although she originally wanted to make it out of fabric that I am pretty sure was meant for curtains, which made me laugh so hard my stomach hurt ☺
Then we went to the tailor to have the lungi’s sewn. We stumbled upon a men’s tailor, and understood about as much of his Bengali and he understood of our English. But after some intense gesturing we got the point across and he immediately started sewing the lungis which were done within an hour.
The kids at Chonditola were good today, some of the older girls and I were having fun playing a grown up version of patty cake. Hannah and Regina taught them how to play and when they do it with the kids they sing a song in German. The kids expect me to sing the same song in German, but unfortunately I don’t speak German. So I just make up German sounding words and say them to the correct tune. It was funny today because some of the kids were trying to copy my fake German singing. They singing my made up words ☺ I have also taught them how to play thumb wars and the game where you try to slap the other persons hand. Those are all good games to play with the older ones, and the little ones are usually happy enough being held or spun around. The older kids taught me a game the other day that involves two teams and a line in the middle. A team member from team 1 crosses the line into team 2 territory and says ‘cub-a-dee, cub-a-dee, cub-a-dee” over and over and over again. You say the words because you are only supposed to stay on the other side as long as you can hold you breath and if you are saying the words then you can’t breath. You try to touch a person from team 2 and then run back on your side. But if the members on team 2 hold you on their side until you run out of breath then you loose. Those are the rules as far as I understand them, and it is a pretty fun game, especially when you are 4 times the size of the largest kid and you can pretty much always win ☺
I took the auto home with Hannah to DDC. We got our laptops out and exchanged pictures, which we have been meaning to do for a while. We sat on the roof and watched the sunset while we took the pictures. I am really enjoying her company, especially the honesty that is common between the two of us. Then Puthumai came and we had mass. I like mass at DDC, because its just the 5 of us (Puthumai, the two DDC Sisters, Hannah and me). We all sit on the floor, its all in English, and the hymns are really pretty. I did the reading today and was really enjoying the service, until I got up to put my mat away and I got a stinging pain on my right ankle. I swatted at it a little and continued to put my mat away. Then the pain got worse, I started making a fuss and something yellow and large fell from my pants onto the floor. By that time my ankle was really hurting and I was yelling and pointing at what had just fallen out of my pants. It turned out it was a wasp (a giant 3 inch mutant Indian wasp). I got stung on the back of my ankle. The Sisters were trying to get the stinger out and I was standing in the chapel grasping my scarf and crying because it hurt and because I was still in shock. It hurt pretty bad, but after a minute I calmed down and we went downstairs and Puthumai put some ice one it. My ankle is pretty swollen, but I have been assured that I will go down by tomorrow and that as long as I don’t get a fever everything will be fine. I am kind of embarrassed for the scene that I made, but if I am being honest, I have to admit that I thought it was a scorpion (don’t ask why, I don’t know).
For dinner we had fish and I didn’t get any bones stuck in my throat. We took Father motorbike home and Hannah came too. She is spending the night at SWI tonight, we are going to watch a movie and we bought some late night snacks.
Sending love.
Class went well, I am beginning to transition away from playing games and simple confidence building activities and to testing the students listening comprehension and ability to edit for correct grammar, spelling, etc. Mostly it has been good, although there is one student who occasionally makes me want to tear my hair out. This morning we were reviewing the homework and she read a partial definition for a word, when I told her that her definition was incomplete she then read the full definition listed in her notebook. I was confused as to why she didn’t read the full definition the first time. When I asked her she started reading the definition again. I asked again only to receive blank stares. One of the other students tried to explain it to her in English, and then another student explained it to her in Bengali. Even after all of that, she still didn’t answer and just went on with reading the sentence! If Indian time wasn’t increasing my patience, then teaching certainly is.
I spent the morning finalizing the budget reports from the previous day. Once everything was finalized I gave it to Puthumai, and I am very proud of the job I did. I was very thorough and hopefully everything is correct.
For breakfast and lunch I got a fried egg, one of my favorite non-Indian Indian dishes. After lunch Hannah and I ran some errands. We went and got passport size pictures taken for our applications for a permit into Sikkim. Then we went to the clothing shop. Hannah wanted to buy some material for a dress, but they didn’t really have anything that she liked. She also wanted to buy some lungi’s which are large pieces of fabric stitched into a circle. You tie then around their waste and they act as pants and a skirt. They are only men’s clothes though. She wanted to buy some to bring home for male friends. She bought 7 of them, because she decided that she could use the lungi fabric to make her dress. I can’t wait to see what the dress looks like ☺. Although she originally wanted to make it out of fabric that I am pretty sure was meant for curtains, which made me laugh so hard my stomach hurt ☺
Then we went to the tailor to have the lungi’s sewn. We stumbled upon a men’s tailor, and understood about as much of his Bengali and he understood of our English. But after some intense gesturing we got the point across and he immediately started sewing the lungis which were done within an hour.
The kids at Chonditola were good today, some of the older girls and I were having fun playing a grown up version of patty cake. Hannah and Regina taught them how to play and when they do it with the kids they sing a song in German. The kids expect me to sing the same song in German, but unfortunately I don’t speak German. So I just make up German sounding words and say them to the correct tune. It was funny today because some of the kids were trying to copy my fake German singing. They singing my made up words ☺ I have also taught them how to play thumb wars and the game where you try to slap the other persons hand. Those are all good games to play with the older ones, and the little ones are usually happy enough being held or spun around. The older kids taught me a game the other day that involves two teams and a line in the middle. A team member from team 1 crosses the line into team 2 territory and says ‘cub-a-dee, cub-a-dee, cub-a-dee” over and over and over again. You say the words because you are only supposed to stay on the other side as long as you can hold you breath and if you are saying the words then you can’t breath. You try to touch a person from team 2 and then run back on your side. But if the members on team 2 hold you on their side until you run out of breath then you loose. Those are the rules as far as I understand them, and it is a pretty fun game, especially when you are 4 times the size of the largest kid and you can pretty much always win ☺
I took the auto home with Hannah to DDC. We got our laptops out and exchanged pictures, which we have been meaning to do for a while. We sat on the roof and watched the sunset while we took the pictures. I am really enjoying her company, especially the honesty that is common between the two of us. Then Puthumai came and we had mass. I like mass at DDC, because its just the 5 of us (Puthumai, the two DDC Sisters, Hannah and me). We all sit on the floor, its all in English, and the hymns are really pretty. I did the reading today and was really enjoying the service, until I got up to put my mat away and I got a stinging pain on my right ankle. I swatted at it a little and continued to put my mat away. Then the pain got worse, I started making a fuss and something yellow and large fell from my pants onto the floor. By that time my ankle was really hurting and I was yelling and pointing at what had just fallen out of my pants. It turned out it was a wasp (a giant 3 inch mutant Indian wasp). I got stung on the back of my ankle. The Sisters were trying to get the stinger out and I was standing in the chapel grasping my scarf and crying because it hurt and because I was still in shock. It hurt pretty bad, but after a minute I calmed down and we went downstairs and Puthumai put some ice one it. My ankle is pretty swollen, but I have been assured that I will go down by tomorrow and that as long as I don’t get a fever everything will be fine. I am kind of embarrassed for the scene that I made, but if I am being honest, I have to admit that I thought it was a scorpion (don’t ask why, I don’t know).
For dinner we had fish and I didn’t get any bones stuck in my throat. We took Father motorbike home and Hannah came too. She is spending the night at SWI tonight, we are going to watch a movie and we bought some late night snacks.
Sending love.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
2/19
I got a good night’s sleep last night and woke up feeling refreshed. It really is amazing how much being well rested can change your outlook on the day. Everything seems a bit more positive after a peaceful rest, even if things aren’t actually better; it is easier to see the good. Both Hannah and Puthumai didn’t sleep well last night; I hope that tonight they are able to catch up on their sleep tonight.
After class (which went well) Puthumai called Hannah, two other staff members and me into the refectory. We all got out our laptops and crowded around a budget that consisted of papers taped together that was as long as our dining table (for those of you who don’t know how long our dining table is, I would say its about the 20 ft longs, but that could very well be a gross under or over estimation). The budget was for 11 different organizations and their Community Based Development Program (CBDP). The CBDP is funded from one large organization and each of the partner organizations works within the program and funding guidelines of that organization. The 5 of us were to look over the submitted budgets and make changes when necessary. It turned out that ‘when necessary’ meant ‘more often than not’. We sat around the table, each with different organizations to work on and we typed in proper numbers for the 108 columns in the excel spreadsheet. We began and 10:30am and worked until lunch at 12:30pm. After taking an hour for lunch, and the completion of other errands or meetings we gathered together and began typing again. It was a really community effort and felt good to participate in something so important for the 11 partner organizations. We took a tiffin and coffee break around 4 and worked until it was time for the staff to leave at 5pm. Then Puthumai and I took everyone’s finalized sheets and doubled checked them. Finally we began the process of combining all of the sheets into one final budget on Puthumai’s computer. We aren’t quite done, it is quite a daunting task and its important that there aren’t mistakes. And even after everything is entered correctly Puthumai has to compare the total grant requested to what was requested previously, and see if the numbers are close or not. Hopefully they are close, because it wouldn’t be good to present an inflated budget. Puthumai and I worked until dinner, when the three Fathers and I loaded into the Jeep and went to DDC for dinner.
I really enjoyed helping out today, and I think it has less to do with being helpful and productive (although those are both feel good activities). I think it is because I am knowledgeable about data entry in excel, and I enjoy doing things that I am knowledgeable about. It feels good to know how to do something, to be good at something. It is something that I definitely take for granted in the US, and being bad at everything in India has been extremely humbling. Today was quite the confidence booster ☺
Ok, now some news about dinner. I ate duck. This is my first time eating duck. DDC has all kinds of animals, and Hannah said that they killed two of their ducks today (she saw the heads). They were cooked in a sauce and served for dinner. It seemed as though everyone thought this was quite a treat. And there were many jokes that we were feasting before the beginning of Lent next week. When I was informed that the meat in the dish was duck, I was a little taken aback, but I haven’t yet refused to try anything in India that has been offered to me so I took four pieces and some sauce. Now for those of you who are familiar with my eating habits, you know that even in the US, my county of origin I am a particularly picky eater. I have often been known to pick certain ingredients out of my food and turn my nose up at many a dish. So my adventuresome food habits in India should come as quite a surprise to those of you at home. Now I am not saying that I am going to be able to keep up my food tasting, but so far I am very proud of this accomplishment. The duck meat was actually very good, it was darker and very tender (which Indian meat usually isn’t). There were a lot of bones, but they were easy enough to eat around (that is one benefit of eating with your fingers, you can eat around the bones, because there is no way you could do that with a fork). The only slightly unfortunate this was that one of my four pieces was a body part. Now I realize that everything that I ate was at one time a body part of the duck, but I mean this was in internal body part, a liver or kidney or something of that sort. I took a bite of it, and then set it down on my plate, not wanting to waste it, but not really wanted to finish it. Thank God for Hannah, who noticed and offered to finish it for me ☺. But I tried it, and for me, that is what counts.
I also spoke with Ajla for about 15 minutes today, which was so wonderful. It was just great to hear her voice. It will be strange if we don’t end up living together, but the longer I spend in India the more I learn that people come and go from you life. And that when someone leaves God is pretty mindful of making sure that someone enters. Also, just because someone leaves and things change, change isn’t inherently negative. It is important to be grateful for the time that people are present in our lives, and to cherish the time we have with those we are close to. My Grandma Hewitt, as my mother reminded me today, says that her life is a series of hellos and goodbyes. I think she is a pretty insightful woman, and that this comment pretty much sums it up. But I do think its important to remember that between each of those hellos and goodbyes there are some pretty damn good times.
Sending my love.
After class (which went well) Puthumai called Hannah, two other staff members and me into the refectory. We all got out our laptops and crowded around a budget that consisted of papers taped together that was as long as our dining table (for those of you who don’t know how long our dining table is, I would say its about the 20 ft longs, but that could very well be a gross under or over estimation). The budget was for 11 different organizations and their Community Based Development Program (CBDP). The CBDP is funded from one large organization and each of the partner organizations works within the program and funding guidelines of that organization. The 5 of us were to look over the submitted budgets and make changes when necessary. It turned out that ‘when necessary’ meant ‘more often than not’. We sat around the table, each with different organizations to work on and we typed in proper numbers for the 108 columns in the excel spreadsheet. We began and 10:30am and worked until lunch at 12:30pm. After taking an hour for lunch, and the completion of other errands or meetings we gathered together and began typing again. It was a really community effort and felt good to participate in something so important for the 11 partner organizations. We took a tiffin and coffee break around 4 and worked until it was time for the staff to leave at 5pm. Then Puthumai and I took everyone’s finalized sheets and doubled checked them. Finally we began the process of combining all of the sheets into one final budget on Puthumai’s computer. We aren’t quite done, it is quite a daunting task and its important that there aren’t mistakes. And even after everything is entered correctly Puthumai has to compare the total grant requested to what was requested previously, and see if the numbers are close or not. Hopefully they are close, because it wouldn’t be good to present an inflated budget. Puthumai and I worked until dinner, when the three Fathers and I loaded into the Jeep and went to DDC for dinner.
I really enjoyed helping out today, and I think it has less to do with being helpful and productive (although those are both feel good activities). I think it is because I am knowledgeable about data entry in excel, and I enjoy doing things that I am knowledgeable about. It feels good to know how to do something, to be good at something. It is something that I definitely take for granted in the US, and being bad at everything in India has been extremely humbling. Today was quite the confidence booster ☺
Ok, now some news about dinner. I ate duck. This is my first time eating duck. DDC has all kinds of animals, and Hannah said that they killed two of their ducks today (she saw the heads). They were cooked in a sauce and served for dinner. It seemed as though everyone thought this was quite a treat. And there were many jokes that we were feasting before the beginning of Lent next week. When I was informed that the meat in the dish was duck, I was a little taken aback, but I haven’t yet refused to try anything in India that has been offered to me so I took four pieces and some sauce. Now for those of you who are familiar with my eating habits, you know that even in the US, my county of origin I am a particularly picky eater. I have often been known to pick certain ingredients out of my food and turn my nose up at many a dish. So my adventuresome food habits in India should come as quite a surprise to those of you at home. Now I am not saying that I am going to be able to keep up my food tasting, but so far I am very proud of this accomplishment. The duck meat was actually very good, it was darker and very tender (which Indian meat usually isn’t). There were a lot of bones, but they were easy enough to eat around (that is one benefit of eating with your fingers, you can eat around the bones, because there is no way you could do that with a fork). The only slightly unfortunate this was that one of my four pieces was a body part. Now I realize that everything that I ate was at one time a body part of the duck, but I mean this was in internal body part, a liver or kidney or something of that sort. I took a bite of it, and then set it down on my plate, not wanting to waste it, but not really wanted to finish it. Thank God for Hannah, who noticed and offered to finish it for me ☺. But I tried it, and for me, that is what counts.
I also spoke with Ajla for about 15 minutes today, which was so wonderful. It was just great to hear her voice. It will be strange if we don’t end up living together, but the longer I spend in India the more I learn that people come and go from you life. And that when someone leaves God is pretty mindful of making sure that someone enters. Also, just because someone leaves and things change, change isn’t inherently negative. It is important to be grateful for the time that people are present in our lives, and to cherish the time we have with those we are close to. My Grandma Hewitt, as my mother reminded me today, says that her life is a series of hellos and goodbyes. I think she is a pretty insightful woman, and that this comment pretty much sums it up. But I do think its important to remember that between each of those hellos and goodbyes there are some pretty damn good times.
Sending my love.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
2/18
I am really beginning to notice a difference in the practical speaking skills of my students. It is very rewarding to see them speaking confidently, and I can tell that they understand the majority of what I say now. Teaching has been a (perhaps the only) consistent and predicable part of my experience in India. Along the way I have really enjoyed getting to know my students and helping them struggle (and persist) their way through English grammar and vocabulary. I have appreciated their dedication and their patience with my developing teaching skills. I have felt like a very inadequate teacher some days, but more often than not, I feel appreciated (and what more can a teacher ask for).
I finally finished my project today. I have had 3 or 4 cells in my logical framework to complete for the past two weeks, and it always seemed that when I sat down to do them something came up. I know that isn’t a very good excuse, but life here isn’t about planning, its about the moment. And there just weren’t that many moments available to finish that last little bit. I have also been asking the staff and Puthumai for some clarification and more details about a few of the terms and issues I was less familiar with. In the afternoon Puthumai gave me another assignment, to read the current government schemes available in W. Bengal. The document was intimidating at first, but eventually very interesting. The schemes helped me get a better sense of what problems the area faces and what the government is doing to combat these problems. I them wrote a few page summary of what I judged to be the most impactful programs and what suggestions I offered. It was good to do some intellectual work.
In the afternoon I visited Ruchi one last time before they boarded the train this evening. It was good to see Trisha and chat with Ruchi, and I know that I am going to miss having them around Raiganj. Then I met up with Regina and Hannah at Chonditola for an afternoon of arts and crafts. In my package their was some pencils for the kids, and Regina had some water colors and crayons. Hannah had purchased some notebooks for the kids early that day. We all brought the supplies and it was the first time that I have seen all of the kids sitting quietly for more than 15 minutes. It was great because the younger and older ones were all entertained and there was plenty to go around.
We all headed to St. Xavier afterwards to play with the hostel kids. We took tea and sweets before playing, to stock up on energy, and because as Hannah noted, it was tea time. There are four groups of kids out playing, they are all boys and they range in age from kindergarten (KG) to high school. I played a game that was similar to UNO with the KG’s for a while. The game was German (I think), and although I am pretty sure the rules are exactly the same as American UNO the kids had rules of their own (that changed quite often). It was definitely a good laugh. After I tossed the kids around for a while, chasing them and spinning them around while holding their hands. When that tired me out, I ran off to join some of the older ones in a game of volleyball. There is usually always a volleyball, soccer and basketball game going on. The volleyball teams consist of as many people as want to play and usually the oldest boy serves the whole game (I think this is because the old ones are the only ones who can hit the ball over the net). After a while Hannah and I left, because she didn’t want to walk home in the dark, and because I had broken quite a sweat by that time.
When I arrived at SWI Puthumai and I rushed to grab a rickshaw. He informed me on the way that we were going to Ruchi and Jonathon off at the train station. I was so glad he thought of that, it was such a considerate thing to do. We surprised them, and chatted for a few minutes before they had to board the train. After a slightly sad good-bye we waved as their train sped away. It was really sad to see them go, but it is a blessing that I have had people to care about in Raiganj. During dinner we watched the news, per usual, and discussed the relationship between Pakistan and the Taliban. It was a very interesting conversation, and I enjoy hearing the Fathers varying political positions and theories.
I have a large swollen bug bite on my left ankle, I showed Fr. Herman, because he was the only one up when I discovered it, and he thinks it looks like a wasp or ant bite. The only thing is, it doesn’t hurt or itch, which rules out the majority of bug bites. And it is decently swollen. I put some bug bite cream on it and will see what comes of it in the morning. Seeing the bite and realizing I had no idea what it could be from made me remember that I am in a foreign country, with different bugs and different sicknesses. It is surprising how easy it has become to forget that I am in some place that isn’t normal for me to be.
Sending love.
I finally finished my project today. I have had 3 or 4 cells in my logical framework to complete for the past two weeks, and it always seemed that when I sat down to do them something came up. I know that isn’t a very good excuse, but life here isn’t about planning, its about the moment. And there just weren’t that many moments available to finish that last little bit. I have also been asking the staff and Puthumai for some clarification and more details about a few of the terms and issues I was less familiar with. In the afternoon Puthumai gave me another assignment, to read the current government schemes available in W. Bengal. The document was intimidating at first, but eventually very interesting. The schemes helped me get a better sense of what problems the area faces and what the government is doing to combat these problems. I them wrote a few page summary of what I judged to be the most impactful programs and what suggestions I offered. It was good to do some intellectual work.
In the afternoon I visited Ruchi one last time before they boarded the train this evening. It was good to see Trisha and chat with Ruchi, and I know that I am going to miss having them around Raiganj. Then I met up with Regina and Hannah at Chonditola for an afternoon of arts and crafts. In my package their was some pencils for the kids, and Regina had some water colors and crayons. Hannah had purchased some notebooks for the kids early that day. We all brought the supplies and it was the first time that I have seen all of the kids sitting quietly for more than 15 minutes. It was great because the younger and older ones were all entertained and there was plenty to go around.
We all headed to St. Xavier afterwards to play with the hostel kids. We took tea and sweets before playing, to stock up on energy, and because as Hannah noted, it was tea time. There are four groups of kids out playing, they are all boys and they range in age from kindergarten (KG) to high school. I played a game that was similar to UNO with the KG’s for a while. The game was German (I think), and although I am pretty sure the rules are exactly the same as American UNO the kids had rules of their own (that changed quite often). It was definitely a good laugh. After I tossed the kids around for a while, chasing them and spinning them around while holding their hands. When that tired me out, I ran off to join some of the older ones in a game of volleyball. There is usually always a volleyball, soccer and basketball game going on. The volleyball teams consist of as many people as want to play and usually the oldest boy serves the whole game (I think this is because the old ones are the only ones who can hit the ball over the net). After a while Hannah and I left, because she didn’t want to walk home in the dark, and because I had broken quite a sweat by that time.
When I arrived at SWI Puthumai and I rushed to grab a rickshaw. He informed me on the way that we were going to Ruchi and Jonathon off at the train station. I was so glad he thought of that, it was such a considerate thing to do. We surprised them, and chatted for a few minutes before they had to board the train. After a slightly sad good-bye we waved as their train sped away. It was really sad to see them go, but it is a blessing that I have had people to care about in Raiganj. During dinner we watched the news, per usual, and discussed the relationship between Pakistan and the Taliban. It was a very interesting conversation, and I enjoy hearing the Fathers varying political positions and theories.
I have a large swollen bug bite on my left ankle, I showed Fr. Herman, because he was the only one up when I discovered it, and he thinks it looks like a wasp or ant bite. The only thing is, it doesn’t hurt or itch, which rules out the majority of bug bites. And it is decently swollen. I put some bug bite cream on it and will see what comes of it in the morning. Seeing the bite and realizing I had no idea what it could be from made me remember that I am in a foreign country, with different bugs and different sicknesses. It is surprising how easy it has become to forget that I am in some place that isn’t normal for me to be.
Sending love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
