Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow, America

Saturday, Nov. 19, Kovalam and Kollam

I found out late last night that there would be school today. I had already told Joseph I was leaving this weekend, so I plan to take the 9:30 bus if there is no problem that develops this morning.
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I’m in Kollam. The Sea Bee is more depressing than it was two years ago, and there is no TV now, although the cable still comes into the room. It will do as a base for today, however. The sheets look clean. And it’s nice to be on my own again.

I walked to Kollam Beach, but there was nothing to see there. The only people on the beach were fishermen dragging nets to try to catch fish. I stopped at a bakery and ate a chicken-filled pastry and another with beef. I bought some milk candy for later. Coming back into town, I found a cyber café and spent an hour posting to my blog and reading and writing e-mail.

In my room, I read a story and became sleepy. I took a nap, and it felt so nice to relax without any concerns about the school. At the hostel, I always worry that I should be out of the room helping the kids with their homework.
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I went out looking for a cookbook I read about recently. The newspaper said almost every bride in India gets it and that there is a new edition for the first time. It sounded like the Joy of Cooking for India. I went to a wedding store, a gift store, and two bookstores looking for it. No one seemed to know what I was talking about. While I was wandering around looking, a man recognized me. He said, “I know you. You are staying in Kumbalam.” He is a sales representative for tobacco products who had seen me there.

I stopped at a restaurant in the back street behind the hotel and ate dinner—barotta (sp?) (the slapped, cut, twisted, coiled, and rolled flat bread) with beef curry and vegetable curry. It was spicy and delicious. When I paid it was only 30 rupees (68 cents) including a liter of cold water which usually costs 12 rupees. So I guess I paid 18 rupees for dinner.

Rajesh had been here when I returned. He said he would be back about 8:30. I can’t believe I missed him after being around the hotel for 3 ½ hours earlier.
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Rajesh took me to his neighborhood. There’s a small beach, and his home is down a pathway along a small ditch. We stopped at a beach cabin where we were served toddy, a fermented drink made from coconut, some prawns, and some tapioca. As soon as he served us (after pushing us to order the food), the owner started pushing us to leave saying it was closing time. It was an example of someone trying to make a buck off the tourist but not caring at all otherwise. Then he wanted a tip!! I walked out.

We walked to his home where I met his mother and his brother. They wanted me to drink fresh coconut milk, so his brother climbed a tree and brought down two coconuts. Rajesh cut off the top to make a hole, and I drank it with it running down my chin and my neck. Then he brought me back to the hotel. He’ll be back at 7 a.m. tomorrow to pick me up to go to Kovalam.

Sunday, Nov. 20, Kollam-Kumbalam

I was up at 6:00, since Rajesh had said he would pick me up at 7:00. I hadn’t slept well. The hotel room was warmer than my room at the hostel, and there were lots of mosquitoes. I kept the ceiling fan on high to try to blow them away, then I shifted my head to the foot of the bed where the strongest fan breeze was. When I picked up my pants this morning, about 15 mosquitoes fluttered out of them; I guess they had gotten into the gaps to avoid the breeze from the fan.

I went downstairs at 6:50 to wait for Rajesh. I visited with George, the night clerk. He’s a 34-year-old man with a wife and a son who live in a village east of Kundara. They are all members of the Assemblies of God church.

When Rajesh still had not arrived at 8:20, I wrote a note to leave for him. I pointed out that it was getting too late to go toKovalam by bus, since it takes 2 ½-3 hours to get there and we would have to return on a 4:00 p.m. bus for me to catch the last bus for Kumbalam. Besides, rain was in the forecast. So I left the note with George and just started walking toward Kundara/Kumbalam. Eventually, I caught a bus.

I was back at the hostel at 10:30. The kids and Joseph were having breakfast. Bot the gate and the hostel were locked. I climbed over the gate. And I walked up to the dining room window to ask them to open the front door for me.
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I was so tired in the afternoon. I think it was from getting so much sunshine yesterday and from not sleeping well at the hotel last night. I napped about 2 hours this afternoon.

We went on the traditional Sunday outing about 4:00. Joseph drove us to a peninsula that juts into the lake near here. There were beautiful views. Then we stopped at a lakeside resort there. The children enjoyed playing on a swing and seeing the rabbits they had. We watched as 3 men tried to get into a canoe and caused it to tip over. They all frantically searched for their mobile phones which had fallen to the bottom of the water.

Monday, Nov. 21, Kumbalam

This is the beginning of my last three weeks here. I can tell I will have mixed feelings when I leave. I’ve learned to love the kids at the hostel. They are all sweet and likeable (most of the time). It will be very difficult to leave them knowing I may never see them again. I have great respoect for Joseph’s dedication to his dream and the efforts and sacrifices he is making to get this school to be what he wants it to be. And I like the way he can laugh at his problems. I’m going to miss Rosalind, Jospeh’s most dedicated employee, too. I’ve even grown to appreciate the quiet, slow pace of village life. I will be happy, however, to be free again—no more locked gates at night and at the hostel during the daytime. I’ll be glad to leave the school’s problems behind, too. I’ll also be happy to have more variety in my diet. Two-and-a-half months has been just about right for me here. I’ve accomplished work that is worthwhile. I feel like I’ve really lived in India rather than just being a tourist!
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The day was a difficult one for Joseph. One bus driver was out, so he had to first worry about whether the substitute would arrive and then give him instructions. The cook was gone for both breakfast and lunch, so he bought barota (flat bread) and heated beans from last night for breakfast and he asked the live-in driver to make rice for lunch which the kids served with leftovers from Saturday night. A teacher called to say she would be out because her “aunty” (a term used here for a family friend—NOT usually a relative) died. The absent bus driver is also the office manager who deals with visitors and phone calls, so no one was covering that. Rosalind was also out, and she’s the one who might have handled the office chores. (I’m not sure if she was sick, was interviewing for another job, or was searching for alternative housing so she can quit her job. I hope it was the former.) Joseph was occuped five periods because he is temporarily teaching the English classes to get them on track and to model what he wants the new teacher to do. And finally, I was sick.

I felt fine earlier. I got up early and took the kids to basketball practice so Joseph could deal with the driver and with breakfast. I got dressed and went to school on time. I ran a couple of errands to help Joseph out while also doing some of my work on the computer. Then, about 9:30, I had a bout of diarrhea. I continued to work until unch. But walking to the hostel, I realized I had flu-like symptoms—achy joints and tiredness. I walked to the table and couldn’t even think of forcing the food down. I went to my room, ate about 5 small plain cookies, and went to bed until 2:30. I walked back to school to close the office windows, get my bag, etc., and I noticed my symptoms were more pronounced. I worked, however, for about an hour. I returned to the hostel and napped and rested from 3:45 until now (6:45). I’ve smelled dinner cooking and it smells horrible to me; I doubt if I will be able to eat tonight. I’m taking Advil and drinking water.

I hope these are just minor temporary symptoms. My two fears, however, are: 1) I ate some prawns (only about 5) Saturday night, and guidebooks often warn against eating shellfish. 2) Even though I am taking anti-malarial medications, it’s still possible to get malaria. If I’m not better tomorrow, I’ll probably ask Joseph to let the driver take me to a doctor’s office. Local doctors can usually recognize if symptoms are of a disease that exists only locally. In the meantime, I’m going to leave the room for a while to see if the kids need any help.
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Well, I never went down to the kids. And I didn’t eat dinner. I did read a story in my current book. And now I’m off to bed hoping I can sleep all night and will feel fine tomorrow.

Tuesday, Nov. 22, Kumbalam

I’m not well, but I am somewhat better today. I had a normal bowel movement, and I ate breakfast this morning. There’s still a bit of stomach pain, and I have been burping. My body is still tired and sluggish. I taught 1 ½ classes this morning, since the math teacher was late arriving due to a private bus strike. Then I worked in the office all morning.

Rosalind called. When I asked how she was, she didn’t say anything about being il. She did mention, however, that Jasmine was out. Maybe she has stayed in Kollam to run the campus there in Jasmine’s absence. I hope so. But she asked me for the new web address for the school. I hope that wasn’t so she could show it to prospective employers.

Joseph is getting tired of all the hassles and the fact that he is having trouble gettng teachers to do what he wants—be here regularly, speak English all the time, and move away from memorization and toward developing thinking and reasoning skills. He said this moring he would rather have only 30 kids if the parts of those would support his ideas. Then we talked about what he could do to get better teachers. He asked me to think about it and put a plan in writing. It might be a good way to get out of this present mess and do something really progressive in India, but I wonder if memorization and a poor work ethic are so ingrained that they cannot be left behind.
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My stomach still doesn’t feel good. And I’m still burping a lot. I had breakfast and lunch, but I think I will skip dinner.

Jerry’s and Jenny’s mother called from the Middle East today. I’m glad, because both were so sad that they were almost in tears a week ago due to not having heard from her for a while. She told them she will be home during the entire school break in December. They are so excited.

I gave Joseph the report I’ve been working on. It was 13 pages single-spaced of observations and suggestions. I don’t know how many of the ideas he will accept, but he can’t affort to ignore several of them. He wanted them now so he could thik about them and have time to discuss them with me.

I also developed suggestions for what he would need to do if he wanted to pursue his idea of promoting comprehension, thinking, reasoning, and problem solving skills. I doubt that he will do this. That’s too bad. What good does it to to build a school if it’s just like all others, especially when that means the kids mostly memorize everything and never understand or know how to apply any of it?

Wednesday, Nov. 23, Kumbalam (Anashree’s birthday) (Part I)

Anashree is a very pretty girl who is 11 today. She’s the daughter of Prameela, the cook. She’s quite charming and was one of the lead dances in the recent comeptition. Last night, I made a paper crown. I painted it gold with red “rubies” and green “emeralds” on the points. I cut out holes in the shapes of diamonds. This morning I placed it on her head and declared her Queen for the Day at 7:30 when we gathered to sing Happy Birthday and have cake—a spice cake with dried fruits inside.

Joseph told me he read part of my report last night. At 13 pages, it was too long for him to digest it all at once. He surprised me by telling me he has already made changes to improve the situation with Rosalind. He has placed her permanantly at Tangasseri where she lives and has sent his other trainee back to the classroom. (That’s why Rosalind hasn’t been here this week.) Here at Kumbalam, he has named the only remaining male teacher as Vice Principal/Principal Trainee. He also said he will quit micro-managing (as I suggested), will communicate to Rosalind and Renjith the goals they should work toward, and will have weekly meetings with them to discuss progress toward the goals, problems, and strategies for dealing with the problems. I have a feeling we will have several discussions over the next 2 ½ weeks related to my report. It’s my feeling that he will become happier if he adopts more of the suggestions. He has been over-extended for too long and needs to cut back his responsibilities to the most important things. He also needs to solve some of his problems.

I feel better today. I think that my stomach may be back to normal. I don’t feel pain there, and I’m not burping as much today. I just hope there’s not a bug in me that could cause other problems over time.