As I am having trouble accessing my last post, I will try my best not to repeat anything I have written. On the 17th of January was parents day at the Y here in Ranaghat. All the girls were very excited to see their parents and have us meet them. It was a great day, and we layed low so that the girls all had ample time with their parents since they do not get to see them all that often. We returned to Calcutta on the 19th, in order to meet the board of directors and to sit in on the Y's swim program. The pool in Calcutta is a very very large outdoor pool, which was drained of all water in order for the annual cleaning. It is not chlorinated, since it is filled with pond water and the floor of the pool appeared to be the earth. We met with their swimmers many of who were on the national level. We talked with them about the importance of swimming and Tim gave some helpful strength building advice.
While on our visit to Calcutta, we went to new market where we poked around for suvineers and Kat and I purchased material for some traditional Indian garmets. We are awaiting them from the tailor who measured us for proper fit. We also were lucky enough for Mr. Sampson to bring us to the Queen Victoria Memorial and a famous Cathederal.
We returned to Ranaghat on the 21st and got back to our schedule of games, TLC, and studying with the girls. I also joined in on their dance class on Sunday mornings. I learned an Indian dance with the girls which is quite beautiful. All the girls are very beautifull dancers, and Rinky (one of the girls) even wants to be a dance teacher when she gets older.
We have also started to help out in the kitchen. There are not knives but instead a wooden plank with a huge blade attached that you use to cut everything. You push the said vegetable or such against the blade. Kat and I have been doing some dicing of tomatoes and onion. I believe we are getting the hang of it, although we are much slower than the girls and the cook. That is all for now. I'll keep you all posted. Namaste
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
India
Kat and I arrived in Calcutta on January 15th after a long flight originating in Boston. Tim Losee and Mr. Sampson (the Secretary of the Ranaghot YMCA) met us at the airport with welcoming and excited smiles. We were brought to the Calcutta YMCA, which was built in 1857. It is a very interesting building with a few floors and and indoor sporting court. The rooms were very nice as they had been recently renovated in 1996 (i believe). The view from our room was wonderful. In the morning we met with both Mr. Sircar and his wife, who both welcomed us to India and the YMCA. We then made our way by bus to Ranaghot, which is north of Calcutta. The traffic here is quite overwhelming as there is endless honking and vehicles pass so close that you could reach out and touch passengers on another bus!!! Add in all the bicyclers, rickshaws, pedestrians, cattle, and dogs and it is quite an adventure.
Anyways, we arrived at the Ranaghot YMCA to much excitement.
The girls were all waiting for us with flower lai's, tons of energy, and excited faces. They all seemed to love Tim and were very happy to meet us, although maybe a bit shy. We were shown our room which was quite nice and is in a very old building that used to house doctors. The Ranaghot Y prior to being the girl's home was a boy's home and prior to that a hospital. In fact many of the building on campus were built from the clay dug from two huge holes which are now ponds for fish.
We spent our first afternoon playing games with the girls. We played a mixture of American (Sharks and Minnows) and Indian games (Golla Churi and Gouchouri). The girls are very very fast. We then helped the girls with snack, went to prayer, and then very important study. The girls all attend three separate schools: English, Bengali, and Hindi. Cat, Tim, and I each take a room to help the girls focus on their studies. Afterwards we went to dinner, rice, eggs, dal, and potatoes (this is Tim's favorite), pretty mild since Tim is not a fan of spice. Don't worry I will definitely spice things up around here.
Anyways, we arrived at the Ranaghot YMCA to much excitement.
The girls were all waiting for us with flower lai's, tons of energy, and excited faces. They all seemed to love Tim and were very happy to meet us, although maybe a bit shy. We were shown our room which was quite nice and is in a very old building that used to house doctors. The Ranaghot Y prior to being the girl's home was a boy's home and prior to that a hospital. In fact many of the building on campus were built from the clay dug from two huge holes which are now ponds for fish.
We spent our first afternoon playing games with the girls. We played a mixture of American (Sharks and Minnows) and Indian games (Golla Churi and Gouchouri). The girls are very very fast. We then helped the girls with snack, went to prayer, and then very important study. The girls all attend three separate schools: English, Bengali, and Hindi. Cat, Tim, and I each take a room to help the girls focus on their studies. Afterwards we went to dinner, rice, eggs, dal, and potatoes (this is Tim's favorite), pretty mild since Tim is not a fan of spice. Don't worry I will definitely spice things up around here.
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