The End Is Near

Saturday, Nov. 26, Kumbalam

I took Jerry to the cyber café with me this morning. He’s been wanting to know about the Harlem Globetrotters. I told him about them when he was trying to spin a basketball on the tip of his finger. So I searched for websites and showed him videoclips and still photos of them. India uses PAL rather than NTSC, or I would mail a DVD to him after getting back to the states. It wouldn’t play on their systems here, however. Besides, there’s only a VCR at the hostel and not a DVD player and none of the computers have DVD players on them at school.

It’s been a slow day otherwise. I napped, read, and visited with the kids. Weekends seem so long here. I may go back to Varkala next weekend just to make it pass faster.

Sunday, Nov. 27, Kumbalam

It’s been a quiet Sunday. I was disappointed that there was no Sunday outing. Although it’s in the schedule, an outing seems to occur no more than once every two weeks. Not having one makes the weekends seem SOOOOOO long! All I’ve done is relax and read.

Monday, Nov. 28, Kumbalam

The entries to the blog are shorter these days. There’s no reason to write the mundane. I will put only what seems significant for the next two weeks. After that, I will be traveling again and there should be longer entries.

Today is the beginning of my last two weeks here. I have a long list of things on my to-do list for these two weeks. Most of them are personal things rather than ones for school. I need to get cash from an ATM; buy gifts for the cook, the kids, and Joseph; get my train ticket for Dec. 22 from Goa to Mumbai before reserved places are sold out (due to Christmas and this being a Christian area of India); plan my itinerary from here to Goa; etc. For the school, I need to plan the in-service session for Dec. 10, parepare the materials for it, help interview some job applicatns, finalize a letter for Joseph to send out about the goals of the school and changes that will occur for next year, etc. I will also go with Joseph to Trivandrum on Wendesday to invite the Minister of Education to a program the school will have in January. I’ll probably go to Kollam tomorrow to start working on my list of things. I need to transfer some final files to the computer on the Tangasseri campus anyway. And I can be on the Internet there for a couple of hours to research info for my travels and maybe to make a reservation or two since this is now the prime tourist season in India.

Monday, Nov. 28, Kumbalam

Today is the beginning of my last two weeks here. I have a long list of things on my to-do list for these two weeks. Most of them are personal things rather than ones for the school. I need to get cash from an ATM; buy gifts for the cook, the kids, and Joseph; get my train ticket for Dec. 22 to Mumbai before reserved places are sold out; plan my itinerary from here to Goa (my last stop before going to Mumbai for my flight); etc. For the school, I need to plan the in-service session for Dec. 10, prepare the materials for it, help interview some job applicants, finalize a letter for Joseph to send out about the goals of the school and changes that will occur for next year, etc. I will also go to Trivandrum with Joseph on Wednesday to invite the Minister of Education to a program the school will have in January. I’ll probably go to Kollam tomorrow to start working on my list of things. I need to transfer some final files to the computer on the Tangasseri campus. And I need to be on the Internet there for a couple of hours to research some things related to the in-service session and my travels.

Tuesday, Nov. 29, Kumbalam

I went shopping today with Joseph and Prameela. We went to Kollam right after lunch. I bought address books to give to the kids, since they have so many volunteers here. I thought they should keep contact information in case they want to write letters or e-mail some day. I also bought a sari for Prameela for cokking and serving my meals and for keeping the toilets, shower stalls, floors, etc., clean. Joseph picked up his air ticket to go home and had an appointment with his lawyers. Prameela bought brooms, a mop, and other household items.

I'm worried about Jerry and Jenny, but especially about Jenny. I can see she is depressed. She showed me her journal tonight, and it's related to her mother who lives and works in Dubai. The mother didn't come home to visit them last summer. Now, she has changed her plans about coming at Christmas. Even if she does come some day, esentially these kids have been abandoned by her. She lives with their uncle (the brother of their foather) and there are questions about how the father died, since she and the brother began living together immediately. In the meantime, Jenny's journal professes her love for their mother, questions why the mother won't come to see them, and tells about how she keeps praying to God, yet he won't listen to her for some reason.

Wednesday, Nov. 30, Kumbalam and Trivandrum

The weather has been different this week. We're getting rain in the morning hours for the first time. It's due to a low pressure system that has turned into a cyclone according to the paper. Anyway, a man in Kollam yesterday said that the weather is not following the normal pattern this year. This should be the sunny season here, yet rain continues almost every day. Fortunately, it has been mostly good weather during the daytime.

I hope the rain stops before Joseph and I leave for Trivandrum. His driving is scary enough in good weather! Yesterday, I found myself hoping I will survive the next 1 1/2 weeks without being in an accident as he drove to Kollam and back!
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What an exhausting day. I'm tired mainly because of Joseph's driving. It was a long trip with me on the edge of my seat much of the time. The rain stopped, but his driving was still bad.

We went to several government offices in Trivandrum. The high minister's office waived a new law so that Joseph could offer summer programs this year. We missed the Minister of Education, because he had left town to see his brother who had been in an accident. We got back to Kumbalam at 9 p.m., and I'm going to bed!