Every Little Bit Helps

Teaching at Grace School went well. I know you’re not supposed to pick favorites, but my favorite class is my 2^nd Standard class. I’ve been having the 3^rd and 4^th Standards write short stories. They seem to be having a problem of applying the proper tense of verbs. I know they know this, as we go over it in class, but it’s a different story when it is applied.

When I returned to the guesthouse, I shocked to be greeted by the Assisi Illam kids. We enjoyed lunch together than I was sent on my way with them back to Assisi Illam. The little kids had off from school. I was able to see two kids that I’ve been missing: Augustine and Sophia. I had seven 4-5 year olds to entertain for a few hours. We sure had a great time.

Back at the guesthouse, a neighbor came over to draw mahendi on my hand in preparation for the wedding. I love how it turned out. This is a beautiful art form; it’s like an extended temporary tattoo (it stays on for 2-3 weeks). I wish it were more commonplace back home.

I was the only volunteer at SEAM tonight: two were sick and two went into town for an event. I had a blast with the children. The first order of business was getting a photo of children individually and recording their name and age. I know about 35 of the 40 kids by name and I’m trying to master them all. Also, I’m going to organize the photos with names printed on them for future volunteers. It’s a daunting task to learn all of these names, but it’s important to do as the children love to hear that you know their name.

One boy (pictured on the left) told me that he wanted to call me mommy. I told him I’d be honored to be called his mommy. A few of these kids have hit a soft spot in my heart. With each day that I spend with them, it is going to be harder to say goodbye. There was a young lady who came to visit the orphanage from Bangalore. She brought treats for the children and she was wondering if I worked there. I told her about Global Volunteers and she told me she was planning on opening an orphanage in Bangalore. She was trying to gather as much information as possible. I asked if she knew Dr Sr Rexline (who has opened several orphanages) and she didn’t. We have lunch scheduled with Dr Sr Rexline next Tuesday; I’m going to see about inviting her to join us. We exchanged information and I was on my way. One of the older boys walked me part of the way home. He’s going to a trade school for mechanical engineering. He was interested to hear that my youngest brother was also studying mechanical engineering.

Katrine and I enjoyed dinner together with conversation surrounding the cultural differences that we’ve observed. Stephen purchased me a Kingfisher per my request. I felt defeated that I wasn’t able to open the bottle, as there was no opener in sight. Tempted to walk to the store to purchase an opener, I thought to call Stephen first (he was at the hospital with Jeff) and asked him where I could find one. He told me to go across the street to the small food stand and ask to borrow one and just return it right away. I felt silly for calling Stephen with this question, but I was determined to have a beer last night. I just had one beer last night because the Kingfisher label read, "Alcohol ruins country, family, and life."

I’m heading to Hyderabad this afternoon for a wedding and will be returning Monday morning. I have my sari back from the tailor and I love how it turned out. I’m hoping someone will be available to help my wrap my sari. Stephen said I shouldn’t even attempt to do it myself, as it needs to be done just right for a wedding.