Darn Technology

Sooooo my computer cord blew up.

Seriously...it was smoking.

It wasn't even my fault...

they're doing some construction here and we were in the library when suddenly there was a loud explosion noise and the desktop computer hard drive started smoking like crazy.

I went to check my cord (which I had unfortunately left plugged in)

and yup, it was smoking too.

When the power came back on hours later,

I tried it out and there was no juice.

Luckily there's a Mac store right in Bangalore, so at a price I am able to continue using my computer.

I'm just thankful it wasn't the computer that started smoking :)

Behold the joys of living in another country.

Actually, behold the joys of technology.

Which become just even more joyful when you're working with another country's electrical currents.

Tell Me a Story

At 5:30 every day, I teach an English class. Right now I am just helping with an existing class; at the end of August when the other interns have left I will be starting my own classes. Anyway, the task at hand in this English class is to write a story. Every class for the month that I have been here, each girl will dictate to me or Crystal the next page in their story. We will write it down, and then they will illustrate their page.

Yesterday, I was early to class and Crystal ended up being late. She was bringing the supplies, so to fill the extra time I decided to attempt an educational game. I had come to class with only a pen, which (thanks to my year at SIT) quickly became a “talking piece” and I gathered all of the girls into a circle on the floor. Thursday’s class is our youngest and craziest class, so I was cutting out quite the chore for myself (but they are also my favorite class J). We sat in a circle and I explained to them that, since we were writing stories in class, we were going to write one big story together. You were only allowed to speak if you were holding the pen, and you were only to dictate a little bit of story.

As far as the rules go, the game was a failure. Each girl ended up telling her own story, and, although I would try to thread them together, one story was not even the same genre as the next. (This is an accurate reflection of what happens in their books, as well…each page is a story in and of itself. One page they are putting flowers in their hair and going to their sister’s wedding, and on the next page they are doing agriculture work.) However, since the end goal was to get them speaking creatively in English, I would say it was a success.

The success was reaffirmed tonight when I was hanging out with some of the girls, helping them with homework and shooting the breeze. Sunitha (an 8-year-old whose crooked-toothed underbite and uneven bangs captured my heart on day one) left her group of friends, came to me and said, “Auntie – story – mine” and proceeded to regale me with one of the most creative but saddest stories that I have ever heard leave an 8-year-old’s mouth. One baby was bitten by a snake, a lion ate the other baby, and the older brother and sister hung themselves from the fan. I expressed my sadness at the morbidity of the story, and she decided to change the ending to the mom and dad dying in a car accident. Still pretty gruesome, and it is times like these that I wonder at the sadness and trauma they have seen in their young lives (or if it is simply a product of what they watch on TV). Nevertheless, the fluency with which she spoke when telling her stories was absolutely incredible compared to the halting English that she speaks on a daily basis. I praised her creativity and her capability…and lo and behold 10 minutes later she came to me with “Another story, Auntie” and I said, “Is it a happy story?” and she said, “Yes, Auntie” and proceeded to tell me a story about schools and festivals and chocolate and lots of happy children and happy families…I’d say we have a gifted storyteller in our midst, and I’d say that my little English game was a success J

I Appreciate India

Today marks the one-month anniversary of my arrival in India. When people ask me how I like India, my auto-reply is generally, “I love it!”

However, I met a girl a few days ago who, when I asked her that question, responded, “I appreciate it.” I kind of laughed, because often when you hear the word “appreciate” it is because you don’t like something enough to use a more positive word. That being said, the more I think about it, the more I realize that this phrase, “I appreciate India”, better articulates my feelings thus far about my time in India.

I appreciate that I am in a culture so different than my own. I appreciate what I am learning about coexisting with nature (I now say goodnight to the lizard on my wall instead of finding a way to remove it from my room). I appreciate the time that I have to make out of it what I want to. I appreciate the space for discussion. I appreciate the different perspectives that I hear every day. I appreciate the simplicity of life. I appreciate the 10+ hours of sleep that I am getting every night…actually, treasuring might be a better word in this case J.

Don’t get me wrong – I love aspects of India. But at this point, it’s not a place that I am dying to come back to or am dreading leaving. I appreciate what India is teaching me and who it is encouraging me to be, and I look forward to seeing who that turns out to be in December…because I have a feeling that by then I will not only appreciate India, but I will also have a lot for which to thank India.

Fu...Fu

Fu…Fu (Pronounced “foo…foo”). This was the theme for “Visthar Day”, which we celebrated at work today. It was a day of celebrating memories, celebrating the history of Visthar, celebrating the present, and looking towards the future. What is Fu…Fu, you ask? Well, let me explain. It actually is the initials “f-u”…twice, which stand as abbreviations for “Food Unlimited…Fun Unlimited.”

We kicked the day off with a delicious potluck to which everybody brought their specialty. We have staff speaking several languages and from several different parts of the country, so there was quite a feast for us. Then, from 2:30-5:30 we had what would be considered by most to be an office talent show. There was singing and dancing, poetry, drumming and a skit. I work with some seriously talented people. The “Vistharite” was announced (aka employee of the year…as well as an honorable mention) and a “Diversity Cake” was served (this was my part – Melissa and I made a cake that had 3 different layers bound together with frosting and an almond design on top showing the journey that is life and how each individual contributes to the beauty of it).

After the cutting of the cake, the boss left and it turned into a regular office karaoke party. The mike was passed from person to person, and there was food and laughter and dancing and singing. The fact that we had “Visthar Day” doesn’t surprise me in the least, because they do a lot to cultivate a community culture here. But today gave me an opportunity to spend time with my colleagues in a different manner, and it bonded us in a way that meeting for coffee or morning reflection never will.

Hospital Phobia

One of our girls has become very sick, and we went down to the hospital to pay her a visit. As I walked through the hallway on the way to her room, I suddenly became aware that my legs had unexpectedly become very heavy and were moving more and more slowly, as if they were dreading entering that hospital room. I had to consciously tell my legs to move forward. It was funny to me, because none of my family or friends has ever been hospitalized for something serious nor do I have conscious memories of negative experiences at a hospital. Somewhere along the road I must have internalized an apprehension towards hospitals, and I wonder what it was. Or perhaps my body was simply responding to the fact that I hate seeing people in pain, but I was mentally blocking that uneasiness because I wanted to show Saandhiya that I cared. I left the hospital (1) in awe of how my body knows and responds to things that I am not even aware of (2) so thankful that I do not work in a hospital because (3) it is so emotionally breaking to see not only people you love but also those around them sick and hurting.

Kerala Came to Us

It’s funny how once you know a place, that place comes back to find you. We were waiting for dinner at Visthar, and I started making conversation with two people who were new here since I had been away. They are dance and martial arts instructors, and they are here for a few weeks with an Indian Culture course that is occurring on our campus. These people are the sweetest, most genuine visitors I have met thus far at Visthar, and it soon becomes evident why: the woman is Shirley’s neice. As in Shirley from Wayanad, who was one of my favorite women that we had the opportunity to meet. This woman grew up participating in KJ Baby’s plays and she and her husband both taught at Kanavu, the non-formal school for Adivasi that we visited. In fact, he was Saji (our driver’s) martial arts master who we had seen in some photos when we had lunch at Saji’s house. I feel so crazily connected to this new community that we found in Kerala…it’s funny what a small world it really is.

Church

This morning I made it to church for the first time! While there are many many churches in Bangalore city, Visthar is just far enough away that to go into the city would be quite the hassle. As it is, our closest church is quite a walk and a busride away. It was so wonderful to be at church and with the body of believers again! I always love experiencing the House of the Lord in different cultures; I don’t know what I was expecting, but the service was relatively reserved compared to other international churches that I have attended and, as usual, the worship songs sung were classic 90’s contemporary Christian tunes: Lord I lift your name on high, Blessed be the name of the Lord, Open the eyes of my heart. The pastor gave a sermon on the role of a pastor, highlighting that leadership is consistent discipleship. Chew on that for awhile. Because they had an annual meeting directly after the service, I wasn’t able to stay for tea and meet people, but I look forward to doing so on future Sundays!