Ok I have REALLY been slacking on the blog posting. I started writing this post a week ago and am now over two weeks behind with blogging and such…oops. Between this post and my next giant catch-up post I should be caught up….hopefully.
So I have been slacking on the blogposts this week--I apologize. It is a lot harder to blog being a coordinator because time is very limited. As I have already mentioned, the first group of volunteers arrived last Sunday and since then I feel I have been going non-stop. There is always tons to do and plan and coordinate (go figure!). To add to the craziness, I have been at about 60% since Wednesday...traveling definitely messes with your body. Despite that I have had a good week that involved working with the group of doctors that has come to RSO from UC Davis. We did skin checks, physicals, and vaccinations for UKG - 2A (kindergarten through the first 2nd grade class). It was a very productive week and it was really fun getting to know all the volunteers.
My favorite day this week, though, was my day in Kanchipurum with Vikram. We had been trying to schedule a time all week to go to Kanchipurum (the main city in the district where RSO is located). Because I will be in India for so long, have to register myself at the police station within 14 days of my arrival. We had been trying to go all week but were not able to find a day we could both go. This being India, we went on Friday--the last possible day. Vikram, our new driver who's name I don't know, and myself left RSO at about 10:30am to get everything all figured-out. Kanchipurum is about an hour and a half from Rising Star so it would be a whole day affair--and it was an amazing day indeed. As mentioned in previous posts, Vikram is the go-to man here at Rising Star. He takes care of accounts, everyday errands, and just generally keeping everybody on track. Because of this, we had many other things to do in Kanchipurum. We started off by getting my pictures taken (for the registration) and then going to the police station. You would think the registration station for foreigners living in the country would be a nice organized system with an exact process that every person registering has to go through. This being India that was not the case. Registering consisted of me sitting in a plastic picnic chair in a room that had papers (I’m assuming other people’s registration documents) stacked all over the place while Vikram talked to the guys in the room and to his usual contact in the office via cell phone. After sitting for a few minutes we left and I assume everything was taken care of and completed…I’m still not 100% sure about that but let’s hope for the best.
From the police station we headed to the bank to get some money out for the upcoming overnight trips with the volunteers as well as for some other miscellaneous RSO things. I easily could have sat in the car for all of these errands but who wants to do that when you can check out a new city in India?? I went into the bank hoping it would be way different from American banks and be another culture shock experience for me...it was exactly the same as an American bank. But it was still fun to go in and see that it was the same. And thankfully I did go in because my bag came in handy when Vikram turned around from the teller and was carrying eight big rubber-banded stacks of rupees. Now, something to know about me is that I don’t carry cash around…ever…or at least if I can help it. Obviously in India I carry some rupees on me but never that many…so the fact that I was now carrying ten of thousands of rupees in my bag made me quite nervous. I told Vikram this a few times and he just thought I was goofy and laughed it off—guess this was a good way to get over my dislike of carrying cash around.
After the bank we went and had a DELICIOUS lunch and because I was the only white person around the owner of the restaurant personally served us! Granted this put a lot of pressure on me to eat a lot of food (as mentioned before I had been quite sick and not eating much besides bread for a few days prior to this) but I made it through just fine. J After lunch it came time for my favorite errand: shopping for clothes. Vikram had to get material for a uniform for one of the students at RSO and naturally this turned into shopping for clothes for Vikram and his family—it was great!!! If there is one thing I love no matter what it’s shopping for clothes; whether they be for me, my family, or someone I don’t even know it’s just always fun. So basically this errand was tailor-made to me and it was fabulous.
After our shopping extravaganza we were headed back to Rising Star. On the way back Vikram wanted to stop at his house in the Junction to drop off his purchases (the Junction is the closest non-village to Rising Star). By this time is was past five and school had long since gotten out and Shama (his wife who is the kindergarten teacher at RSO and 8 months pregnant) would be home. Vikram thought it would be funny for me to come up with him and surprise Shama, so we went up to his apartment and he knocked on the door and hid so that when Shama opened it she would only see me—it was awesome. She was DEFINITELY surprised to see me, of all people, standing at her door. One thing I absolutely love about Indian culture is the hospitality and how giving and kind they always are. As soon as Shama got over the surprise of seeing me at her house, she immediately invited me in, sat me down and offered me apples, oranges, and fruit juice. Her, Vikram, and I had a great chat enjoying the snacks before we had to go back to RSO.
Now, this day may seem boring to some—tons of errands and driving all day—but for me it was perfect. It was great getting to know Vikram and spending the day exploring a new city in India. Everyday I fall in love with India a little more. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like to leave…thankfully I have plenty of time and days like this before then. :)
Vanakkam
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