Day 23 – Tuesday, March 25
Early into my fourth week and my
stomach appears to be making the official transition to the spicy
vegetarian Gujarati diet, in addition to plenty of fluids either
water or juice, and the regular consumption of a lot of fresh fruit.
It was destined to happen at some point, why not now. Hopefully it
won't take too long. Funny, I don't feel sick at all. Feeling very
fortunate about that – most all the other volunteers have been sick
with something going around off and on over the last few weeks. I
started taking TP with me today to Naroda, just in case; nothing like
the thought of using a squat toilet to keep you feeling good.
Dropped off my memory stick at the
photo shop at the circle. Trying to finish up all the kids photos
before exam time starts. So many little kids – so little time.
Pre-exam week starts next Monday.
Today is our last full day we get to spend with Standard 7 kids.
Eleven kids, all ready to move to Standard 8 after their two month
break, making the move to another school somewhere nearby. I have
only known them for about three weeks, but there is one boy, Sumi,
who stands out. Besides doing quite well in his studies, I have been
using him to keep the other kids in line. He has taken to his
leadership role well too; not mean to the other kids, he has earned
their respect too, which is exactly what I was hoping for. I want to
get him a diary book and a pen to inspire him to continue to study
and perform well. He has the potential to inspire others, just what
Gujarat and India needs from it's younger citizens. If more kids are
like Suni, India will certainly have a brighter future. I want to
write a nice inscription inside his book, and have someone at Manav
Sadhna translate it into Gujarati. Hopefully, when he is older, he
will look back at it and remember his time with me and Nora here at
the ashramshala.
Got all the photos of Standard 7 today
and dropped them off at the shop; will finally have all the photos
tomorrow morning. Then the big task of sorting them out and putting
names to faces starts.
I've starting giving the boys
nicknames. One with glasses I call “Specs”, two husky ones I
call “Muscle 1” and “Muscle 2”, one little guy who doesn't
speak much I call “No Talk”. Piti in Standard 1 needs no
nickname.
Some of the names in Standards 2 and 3
are: Komul, Raj, Banoo, Ganesh, Damesh, Joogar, Rohit, Cirug, Mayoor
and Saceen.
By the end of the day, my stomach is
acting up again. Just part of life here. Still as before, I don't
feel one bit sick; just really annoying. My evenings are full of
going through my latest photos, listening to music I have stored on
my laptop with iTunes, and reading. I just started reading “Life
of Pi”. I had downloaded a few books on my iPad before I left.
Good thing to have around. Also at night, I plug everything in for
recharges – iPad, laptop, camera battery. My Indian adapter works
well, along with a power surge protector I bought before I left. All
the plug-in things I bought are dual voltage and its all doing well.
Life is good.
Almost forgot to mention . . . Jose
came home from Seva Cafe tonight with a stray. Ajay met this guy who
needed a place to stay for two nights. Jose was there and Ajay had
the brilliant idea to let this guy stay with us. His name is Vinish
Sihani who is from Udaipur in Rajasthan, He is on his third day of
traveling around India in around 26 days on no money. Good luck on
that – I hope he doesn't fall ill. I can understand the concept of
traveling with no money, getting some food from strangers, even
getting an opportunity to sleep on someone's floor – the Indian
people, even the poorest, will gratefully share what little they
have. It's just how they are. My only concern for someone like
Vinish is getting sick along the way. Granted, he was born, raised
and lives in India so the odds are he won't get sick from the street
foods or the water. It's like anywhere though – getting rides from
crazies is worldwide; getting robbed, beaten or even worse is always
a risk. I wish him well on his adventures.
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