Here's to hoping

And just like that, two weeks have gone by. 

Boom.

Happy two-week-a-versary!

In this last week, there have been many celebrations- Holly just celebrated her first month in India yesterday which was also the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi which the sisters at the convent I work at celebrated, and then Holly’s patron saint, Saint Therese, was earlier this week as well. For my two-weeker, I ate my secret chocolate bar…it was supposed to be for Christmas…but hey things happen. The only problem was that my secret chocolate bar wasn’t so secret… the ants also wanted in on the party and unfortunately had infiltrated the ziplock baggie…also unfortunately this did not stop me from eating it. Sometimes you can’t let the little things, like eating little bugs, get in the way ~ you just have to accept the extra protein.

Two weeks! Yeah!

This is a dull comparison to the festival that was had for the feast days! The children, sisters, and I decorated the whole convent for the Franciscan feast day and put on a celebration I will never forget with flowers and lights and the whole shebang! There was a dance some of my girls did which was beautiful, then mass where all of the children dressed their very best. Masses here are on Indian time meaning ~ who knows how long things will last or if they will even finish. (This goes for many things like when buses leave, when volleyball games start, basically applicable to any situation. However, Indian time does not apply to food. More on food later). The sisters had prepared a feast for my community and other sisters and fathers that had come to celebrate from surrounding villages. Posted photos below.

Still learning how to do everything and trying not to feel too incompetent. There have been ups and downs here ~ some very low lows and some tremendous highs ~ but everything is starting to fall to a happy medium. How wonderful “normal” is! I am adjusting to the climate, the schedule, the community, the bugs, the buffalo and other various beasts that I encounter walking to the convent everyday (the other day a pack of wild dogs stared me down and I got really freaked out cause I walk by myself and I was like wow no one would hear me scream). Still learning the ways of doing things and learning the kids names. They are slowly recognizing me as an authority figure not just the new white girl although I don’t think they will ever get over rubbing my arms and face and touching my hair. Apparently the thing to do in India when you like something a lot is to pinch a cheek (or anything really), squeeze extremely hard then bring your fingers together and kiss the tips of them. I have actually caught on really fast to that and do it all the time, as well as say “Super” and giving an OK sign with my hands when the children do something well.

The girls dressed in white in the middle
holding candles were the dancers.

I have an amazing site partner and we get along great. She’s really funny and sweet and I’m so glad I get to come home to her everyday. She can help me think through things that are more difficult, and understands my pain with exam week and trying to get the kids to actually study. Literally had to force them to study and threaten to send them to Fr. Superior for bad behavior. There was an ongoing list of the awful ones I personally wanted to smack upside the head ( I have allotted myself one mental tap on the head a day and so far the same girl has gotten it…every single day.) When things like this happen, I am so glad I memorized the Serenity prayer in grade school.  Strangely enough that same girl was the one that shoved others out of the way to sit next to me at the movie showing and eventually fell asleep in my arms. She looks nice when she sleeps- that’s new. There’s hope.

So right now during the school week I get up at 6, to go mass at the convent down the road at 6:30, help the kids do their morning duties such as cleaning, then help them get ready for school which includes tying their ties, zipping up dresses, tying shoes, brushing hair (trying not to get lice), etc.  That part is my favorite part of the day because the kids have time to just be their weird little selves (seriously Holly and I always comment on how strange they are). Then we eat breakfast and study. Head over to school around 9:30 in the morning. Usually this is my free time to do little errands for the fathers, email, Facebook, or nap. Then lunch which is usually just madness and trying to get the kids not to hit each other and actually eat their food. Around 4, I take the girls and young boys back to the convent where we have some free time to play then study more. Some of the boys from the other boarding school come and I help them as well, then walk them back at night. It's actually really fun because I play them American music and they show me their dance moves on the walk back which is about a mile (So far they really like Stevie Wonder and Lady Gaga). Rosary and dinner, then a “Goodnight” from one of the fathers . Then all over again the next day. On the weekends it is different, Saturday is like a normal school day and Sunday is their day off.

Some of my crazy little men.

I play volleyball, basketball, and soccer as often as possible with the older boys at school and with the fathers.  They are so competitive and yell really sarcastic things when you mess up like “Christmas came early” “you are playing suuuuuuper” “etc. So I die of laughter all the time or try not to cry from messing up haha. The fathers have consistently commented that I always smile even when I look “dull,” which means tired. I was offended for the first couple of days when they kept saying that, but now I’m over it. WHATEVER. Haha! I try to make up for my "dullness" in other ways. But what is interesting is that when I wear makeup to cover up the dullness, I am called a clown soooo I am trying to find the balance between the two! The community insists that we do not eat enough and that is the reason we are tired by the end of the day. My person theory is that running after 100 boarding children and 500 day schoolers all day is tiring…but nope it must be because I don’t eat enough. All meals are on time and plentiful. Holly and I both feel overfed at every eating although the community thinks we are starving ourselves What’s really funny is that everyone calls me fat here. I get it at least three times a day.  It was hilariously awful at first but now it doesn’t even phase me.  

The kids are trying to teach me how to say words in Kanada, which is the local language here, and they get a kick out of me messing up everything. It is very strange, but encouraging to be able to begin to understand some of the many things that we are seeing and hearing around us constantly. I love just being with the kids and now that I am beginning to understand more of what they are saying, it is a little easier.  They love to play hand games like with clapping and things (lemonade crunchy ice), to hold hands, or sit in my lap, or any sort of physical contact with me.  It is a good reminder for me of how important it is for children to have loving touch from someone older than them.  Last night after the feast, we watched a movie on the life of St. Francis, and because it was late, the little ones crowded around me vying for a spot on my leg to rest their little heads. At one point I counted eight children snuggled all around me. Confession: I was watching them sleep more than watching the movie. I didn’t even mind that my left leg promptly fell asleep and got pins and needles. They are just so starved for affirming attention.  Even the older girls and boys come and just want to talk for a while, just to have someone’s undivided attention.

Showing their pretty dresses.

Holly and I just got back from Raichur, the district capital, where we went by ourselves for the first time by bus. We succeeded in going to the bank (only went to two “out of service” ones before hitting the jackpot, not too bad!), the American store where we bought all the fixings to make an American dinner for the fathers and some extra snacks for just our little fat selves (haven’t kicked the craving for Goldfish yet, but Indian Pringles will just have to do), buying jewelry where we spent way too much money, eating random things off the menu, and finding the bus back home! So proud. Look at us on our own. And only counted a handful of people taking photos of us on their phones- that's better than the masses that we have had before! They are slowly getting used to "America" being here- people actually yell "America, America" to us as we walk along the street. Then we stopped at the local outdoor Saturday market to pick up some fresh veggies; it is absolutely crazy how many times we get oogled at by everyone passing by. Also, we have a new saying "Here's to hoping" which basically you can apply to anything like "Here's to hoping there is internet" "Here's to hoping lunch with the kids isn't a disaster" "Do you know what is going on? Here's to hoping..." It's pretty great. 

The quote that has really meant a lot to me this past week is by Max Ehrman, “Go placidly amid the noise and the haste and remember what peace there may be in silence.” The full quote is at the bottom of this page, but the beginning line is what has struck home. 

V

Ps. Holly and I want to buy a moped...good idea? The fathers don't seem to think so...

Watch out world! Holly and Veronica's Indian Adventure.

Pps. There are ants crawling in and out of the keyboard of my computer as we speak. Someone help. What even is this! There's no food in my computer. Ruthlessly killing them.

Ppps. Let me know if there are little things about living here that you are curious about, because they become so much a part of daily life that I forget to explain them to others.


Full Quote:

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrman