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Hello Everyone,

Once again it was a fairly quiet day. Yesterday evening when I got up Xavier was home from getting the MRI of his back. He was really worn out from all the traveling and his back hurt more than ever after having to lay so still in the MRI machine. He said they had to take it several times because he kept involuntarily twitching from the pain of having to keep so straight.

The children slowly rolled in from school and quickly got to work on their homework. Baboolu had homework too, for the first time. The teachers have been giving him a hard time because he doesn’t know anything and is way behind, and he feels no shame in admitting that they are correct. For homework he had to write the names of different animals in English, ten times each. I have never heard someone whine so much in my life. He kept throwing his arms in the air claiming his hand hurt too much from writing and that he needed a rest. All of the kids thought it was hilarious watching him do work, because usually he is the one harassing them while they try to finish their homework.

Pown and I took the motor bike to get water and print letters out. I have become a real pro at getting water. I get these big ten liter jugs of Bisleri water, and have to hand in my old jug. I read somewhere that this water isn’t always safe; the jugs are sent back to the company to be cleaned and refilled, and most of them are pretty beat up. Their caps are then covered with a piece of shrunk plastic wrap, and it isn’t hard to create counterfeit seals. Still, though, this is the only kind of water that I can buy in such large quantities, and even this much only lasts me two days. Buying hundreds of bottles would cost a lot more, and so far I have had good luck with this water. When we went to print out the letters there was some problem with the printer because I needed it on the WIDE letterhead. I wanted to know when it would be fixed. Should we come back later that night, or tomorrow? I felt really bad for Pown because he was trying so hard to translate and had no idea what I was asking. Finally he threw his hands in the air, stated that he did not understand, and we quietly left.

Later in the night we were all outside playing when the power went off. It was cloudy and everything was pitch black. The kids went crazy yelling and running around banging into one another. For some reason I have always liked power outages at night; it’s a change in the routine and there is something cozy and fun about only being able to see what lies in the small circle illuminated by your flashlight. Because of the power outage we weren’t able to serve dinner until later and everyone was starving. The lights came back in a little over an hour though.

After dinner the children presented Priya with tiny gifts for her birthday. The gift ranged from little handmade cards, to broken necklaces they found outside and then fixed with tape and string. Priya graciously accepted them all, and showed her presents off fondly to everyone. Subala gave her the funniest collection of strange broken knickknacks I have ever seen: a broen makeup mirror, a used container of foundation that only had a bit of powder left in it, several beads wrapped up in a piece of paper, and a colorful scrap of fabric. All of this was lovingly wrapped up between two sheets of ripped notebook paper that she decorated with highlighter and pencil.

Priya also received several figurines of different Hindu gods. The Xavier family is devoutly Christian, however they still respect and practice Hinduism as well. God, is God, Kumari says, and it doesn’t matter what figure or face you have given it, it is still God. All that matters, she believes, is that you pray and that your prayers go somewhere. I wish others could be so open to different beliefs. I spent the rest of the night having the children and Xavier tell me different stories behind the Hindu gods. Each child would yell out extra details to fill out any parts of the story Xavier was missing. When they finished, Kumari would then retell the story to me in English. The tales were fascinating, and I wish I had known the history and stories of the gods before I had gone on the mountain walk, I probably would have understood the paintings and figurines in the temples and shrines a lot better. I think my favorite god, of the ones I have learned so far, is Lord Ganesha. He both creates and destroys obstacles and problems; I like that he has a good and bad side.

Today most of the children had a holiday. Kumari and Xavier took the MRI scan to the doctor to have it read. I wanted to go too, but that would have left James alone with the kids, and he can be very rough and strict with them, so I stayed behind. I was with the kids until lunchtime when Kumari and Xavier returned. It seems that he has tuberculosis. It is in his bone, not his chest or lungs, so it is not contagious according to the doctor. Xavier feels pretty firmly that it is not tuberculosis, despite the tests saying otherwise. Still, the doctor ordered him medicine for five days, and after five days he will return for more tests. If it is looking better, he will need to continue on the medication for nine to ten months, and for one month he must do nothing but rest. If it doesn’t change after these five days, then they will have to open his back to remove fluid from the swollen area and run tests on that fluid. There is the possibility that he has tuberculosis plus some other infection on top of that, causing the swollen back. Time will tell.

The rest of the kids got home very early today; there was a bomb threat in one of the schools, so all the schools closed. Baboolu was probably the most excited about the unexpected break.

That is all for now,
Peace,
Robby