Wednesday, July 8, 2009

A Quiet Day

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday was definitely very quiet. I woke up a little later than normal because I fell asleep late due to the walk the night before. I was pretty sore, and my feet were achy. I got up and had puttu. My stomach graciously accepted this dry, bland meal, especially after the hell it was put through the night before.

I noticed that Baboolu (Prince) was still home when I woke up. Since I have been here he has not gone to school. He was born prematurely, and gets sick often; he will go to school for a week, and then will have to stay home for a month. So far this year, he has been at school two days. Personally, I think that he could have been at school for a while now; all he does here is run around and terrorize everyone, so he must be feeling okay. Anyway, Kumari finally put her foot down and said that he had to go to school. Baboolu whined and said that he could not walk because his foot was in a lot of pain. He refused to move, and finally Kumari gave in. When I woke up he was running around and chasing the dogs. Tomorrow, I told her, he needs to go no matter what he says. This morning I woke up to Baboolu lying on the floor shaking uncontrollably. He was having a fit about going to school, and Xavier said that maybe we should wait another day. Kumari said she refused to let him stay home another day, and started dressing him. Baboolu had such a fit, and even though it wasn’t funny Kumari and I couldn’t help but start laughing. Whenever he would start going off again, Kumari would look at me with a smirk and roll her eyes. He refused to feed himself, so Kumari he to force feed him breakfast. Finally, after an hour of calming him down and preparing him, Prince was off to school.

Yesterday morning a man came to help Kumari make sure that we had all the proper paperwork for the inspection. In order to be government certified an orphanage has to have been open for a certain number of years and follow certain guidelines. I was thankful to have the man here to check my work. He gave me a couple letters and more spread sheets that needed to be typed, and I diligently abided. After he left the power went off, and during the hottest part of the day we had no fans.

Someone had told Kumari that they would bring some people to help move all of the big items such as the dressers, the refrigerator, the desks, and other things to the new house. We sat around waiting for them to show up. I was a little aggravated that we couldn’t work on the computer because the power was off, and we also couldn’t go into town and get things we needed in case that men showed up to help us move. In the end, the afternoon was basically a waste; no one showed up.

When the kids got home from school I helped them with their homework. When they finished, I let some of them draw in my sketchbook. Santosh and Subala wanted to play a game with me and I agreed. Santosh kept cheating, but when I protested in English he replied in Tamil, and no progress was made. Subala kept setting me up to get points on purpose, despite me telling her not to. Finally, whenever she set me up, I ignored the move she wanted me to make and did something else, which let Santosh get the points. With all the points I was passing up and, along with the fact that he was cheating, Santosh won.

The older boys got home a little later, and Jana sat with me and we spoke in broken English. Suseela, the servant woman, sat with us and she asked me questions through Jana. It was really difficult, especially since I usually need a translator just to speak to Jana, let alone using him as a translator. In the end though, it was nice to talk to Suseela. I like her more and more, and feel bad that I misjudged her in the beginning. She really does care about that children, and she has made this job her life. She goes out of her way to help, and when James goes off to drink or do whatever else he does Suseela helps in the kitchen even though it isn’t her job. James keeps asking for more and more money, and I have not seen her ask for a thing. One funny thing about Suseela is how angry she gets if any of the girl children touch me. Swetha has even turned it into a game; she will look Suseela right in the eye, raise her eyebrows, and then rest her hand on me. When Suseela reacts she runs away, just to come back and do it again.

After dinner I enjoyed the cool night with Xavier and Kumari. We talked for a long time, and in the conversation she mentioned that someone’s mother had breast cancer. She had a lot of questions about cancer, and I answered them to the best of my ability. I talked a little about mammograms and checking for lumps, and she very solemnly asked if the lumps hurt. At first I thought she was trying to tell me that she had a lump, but after taking me to talk in private she revealed that she was afraid Xavier might have a tumor or cancer of some kind. We discussed the fact that he needs to see a western doctor. I personally don’t feel that it is a tumor, but who am I to say? Still, I feel terrible for Kumari, she has so many things to worry about and Xavier’s back is yet another thing to add to her mountain of troubles. Close to tears, she explained that she had no idea what she would do or how she would manage if she did not have Xavier.

Before going to bed she checked her email and there was some good news. We might a potential company sponsor from the Netherlands. They said they would send two representatives in two weeks. Kumari is very hopeful that they will come while I am still here so I can help explain everything, and take them to visit the land. I hope I am here as well, I think they may have an easier time communication with me and I would love to put in a good word for Kumari and WIDE.

That’s all for now,
Peace,
Robby


This is Swetha, she has some of the funniest facial expressions I have ever seen, and she follows me around like a puppy. She tries very hard to get my attention, and when I finally look at her she makes a starnge face, and then runs away. She is so much fun, and is a little troulble maker.

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