End of the 1st Week

Well - I have made it through my 1st week. Each morning i have administered mid-term exams to kindergarteners, the 1st 4 afternoons i drilled 3rd and 5th graders to prepare for their exams at a different school. this afternoon was my 1st visit to the Assisi Home - a day care for 40 children ages 2-5 and an orphanage for 80. Half the volunteers in our group have been working every day at Assissi with the day care. This afternoon was their christmas pageant - what a spectacle!!! the children were dressed in their finery and the nuns and volunteers had made a very exotic creche. Like young tots anywhere in the world some performed their songs and dances with flair, while others froze or melted down. But compared to the SEAMs home where we go every evening, the Assisi house was clean and orderly...and - most delightful for me - it was COOL - with thick stone walls, curtains to keep out the sun, ceiling fans, and great breezes. The street the Assisi home is on is beautiful - a far cry from the streets in the neighborhood closer to where we're staying...no trash in the street, everything very clean and neat (of course my standards probably have changed drastically.)

So you probably saw that i managed to post just one photo...the problem is that the one person at the internet cafe who can help me get the photos up is almost never here during the hours that i have free. perhpas i can come back later tonight...but i want to go to bed early as tomorrow our group is travelling to pondicherry for the weekend. i'm looking forward to seeing another part of india, and we also will visit some temples and the famous stonecarvings at mamallapuram. also - in pondicherry - we will stay in a hotel that will have HOT RUNNING WATER. i did the happy dance when i found out.

despite my struggle with hot weather 9although i must note that despite the temperatures in teh 80s here - many people wear scarves and sweaters, as it is their "winter.")...so despite my struggles with the hot weather - the fact that i have been showering in cold water for a week makes me grateful to look forward to a hot shower. Lest you think i am living in adverse circumstances - the bedrooms in the guest hose DO have air conditioning - which is very nice since i doubt i would be sleeping so well without it. as i usually wake up somewhere between 4 and 5:30 a.m. to visit the bathroom i have been able to hear each morning the loud music blaring. apparently it is the call to prayer time for Hindu temple, mosque, and church alike!

but - back to the bathroom...the house has only cold running water (which we definitely DO NOT DRINK) but here is my dilemma - if you shower mid-day the water feels very warm, as it's collected into a tank which gets warm from the sun. the problem is that i slather up with mosquito repellant in the morning and then again before we go to the SEAMS home. I get so sweaty and disgusting at SEAMS that i have designated one set of clothing that I wear there as there is no point in washing it in between visits. So, also, there is no point in showering until i am finished at SEAMS. By then - the water is cold - refreshing, but cold!.

Once I can post a photo you will be able to see the facilities. The bathroom is a small room with a tile floor. There is a toilet with a spray hose adjacent for cleaning the backside. Ours lacks a sink - but as Miriam and i are the only residents with our own attached bathroom (we just lucked out on room assignment) i wouldn't dare complain about lack of sink. There is a set of faucets that control the shower (although only 1 works, as there is only cold water) and another set of faucets taht control a faucet below (again - only the cold works). However - one of our 1st evenings, Miriam used the faucet and it came off in her hand - water spraying EVERYWHERE!!! fortunately i was able to get our host, Stephen, to run up and reattach it before we flooded the entire 2nd floor of the house! His look of horror was much more because Miriam was there wrapped in a towel (India is a very modest country) than because the water was going all over the place. Needless to say - neither of us has been willing to TOUCH that faucet again. I use the shower, Miriam uses the spray nozzle, and there is another faucet near the nozzle. The room has a big squeegy on a long handle so that we can dry the floor and send the water down the drain in the floor after we've made our big mess bathing or hand washing our clothing.

We also often must pour a bucket of water into the toilet, as there is not always sufficient pressure for it to flush. Also - because the water is collected in a tank - when it runs out - someone has to turn on the pump switch, which is located in the kitchen. we've been warned that we NUST remember to turn the pump off after 10 minutes, or the tank will overflow and create "artificial rain." While this set up may seem a bit primitive, today I noticed the public water faucets at the end of our street. IN the morning I saw women filling their large water cans from the public spigots...so clearly, many local residents have no running water in their homes...not surprising.

I really enjoy reading your comments - so please keep posting!!!