A fair without funnel cakes

The new Dhamtari library

              On the scale of busy-ness in India for us, this week was insane (we had 3 events to attend in one week!!!)We had been invited to an array of things. As an attempt to get involved and to get to know more people, we decided (read: Raina decides it would be an adventure, KC hesitantly agrees) to accept all invitations-which is why we ended up on borrowed bicycles pedaling down the main road through Dhamtari on Tuesday afternoon after my class, with really no idea of where we were going. I had several panic attacks and almost hit a cow and a small child-with a bicycle. Some of the dentists that I had met invited us to a "library thing" (I could never quite understand what they were saying) which turned out to be the opening of the first library in all of Chhattisgarh that has English and Hindi books, owned by one of the young dentists. You will be happy to know that we did in fact turn at the right clock, and stop at exactly the right petrol station (those were our landmarks in the directions) and found our way there in plenty of time for the opening no surprise- as the power was out and they started an hour and a half late like all celebrations in India. It was very cool to see the 'Collector' there-essentially the mayor of Dhamtari-showing her support for the cause, and encouraging everyone to read more. They have a fish tank, couches, very cute tables and a coffee machine...so I told them of course that I would be back to read :).

         Wednesday brought movie night (Every Wednesday and Saturday we watch a movie on our computer and drink a diet coke-which, if you are related to KC's family/cousins...our diet coke is like Ryan's 'weekend' cup...you gotta look forward to the little things!) and Thursday I decided it was time to start taking advantage of all our evening time and learn to cook 'real' Indian food. I went to the market, pointed at a lot of green things that I didn't know the name of, and came back with a huge bag of vegetables and random spices (thank goodness one of my students found me wandering aimlessly in front of the masale-spice- market stalls and helped translate).  We had 'methi mater subje' (methi-green leafy thing that I didn't know what it was; mater-peas;  subje-means vegetables)with rice and rothi for dinner Thursday thanks to AllRecipes.com.India (yes I really joined the website...I have an addiction to Allrecipes) :)...and it turned out pretty good! But, we don't have any measuring utensils so it was a little heavy on the 'mirch' (chili powder). KC is in charge of the next menu....

Welcome Celebration "Learners today: Leader's tomorrow"

     Friday night we were invited to the 'welcome celebration' that 2nd year BSC students throw for the 1st year students. Their dorms are about 10 minutes away so we caught the school bus and went to Shantipur with them for the evening. 'Shanti' means peace in Hindi, and the dorms/hostels are located on a very peaceful piece of property outside of town, with several small buildings (about 8-10 students per building) spread out essentially like a summer camp.  We walked around the place for awhile, offered to help set up for the celebration (absolutely no...guests aren't allowed to help they said) and then waited for the 'chief guests' to arrive (principal and teachers). It was explained to us by a student that you do not start an event in India until the chief guest arrives...so if they are late the event is late. Thus-the celebration started around 6:45p...we were told it started at 5p and had been there since 4pm. We were also told that "ragging"-essentially hazing- is actually prohibited in India now because there have been so many problems (deaths-usually suicide) and so the students are supposed to take it easy on their juniors. 'Easy' involved making each one of the 50 first year students come up one by one to an embarrassing Hindi song, introduce and talk a little about themselves and then perform a humiliating act in front of everyone (sing, dance, give a rose to a cute senior boy, act, etc.) Though it was all in Hindi it was actually very entertaining. The 2nd year students went ALL OUT on decorations (which is why they didn't want class at all last week I guess) dinner was served afterward, and then they had hired a DJ and were going to have dancing when all of the staff went home. We begged our way out of the dancing and went home with the Chatterjees because we had to get up early the next morning....and boy the students were disappointed. It is hard to explain to them that this Mennonite does not know how to dance!

Eating some chicken biryani at the mela

                       There was no class on Saturday morning as some of the students were going by bus to a 'Mela' (festival) 3.5 hours away north of Raipur.  As always I invited ourselves....why yes we would LOVE to go to a fair thank you very much! I thought this would be a great chance to get away from Dhamtari for awhile, and to see what the fair was all about. KC and I are picturing carnival rides, food stalls, maybe some funnel cakes?? (we could only hope...but no we knew that it was only a dream) It is a week long Christian festival, so there are speakers that come and people are selling Christian paraphernalia (books, crosses, tracts, etc) and lots of food. Some people-we heard-think that it is a good place to "find a mate" ha-and people pick out spouses from there. Though there were no Ferris wheels, elephant ears, or funnel cakes it was like we expected -crowded, hot, and had lots of different stall type places selling things. If you know KC you know that this is a mixture of all of his most hated past-times, and that he doesn't even go to the Ohio State fair-so it was definitely an adventure-I read that some 80,000 people go every year. The students thought it was funny that our skin turned so red. We also learned that many of the 3rd year GNM students go there to light a candle and pray at a cross (has a little sense of Hindu religious practices) in order to make sure that they pass their final exam. I am sure they also pray for other things too :) It was set on a small island, surrounded by a river, and people come there to camp for weeks ahead of time. Some people go swimming in the river, but it was pretty dirty so we steered clear. We did not buy anything but food (the first thing we bought was ice cream!!!!) and lots and lots of water, and then spent most of our time under a huge shade tree getting to know some of the students. At one point we heard an AMERICAN SPEAKING and went running to the main tent to see if we knew him (which we did not-ha yes I know America is huge but I thought I recognized the voice) and he was a pastor from the US that had come to be one of the revival speakers. We didn't get a chance to talk to him as he was whisked away in a guarded police car after.
                            The fear of God and the vice principal was put into us on arrival to remind us that the bus was leaving for Dhamtari at 4pm...naturally KC and I were the first ones there in the sweltering bus by 4:03....we left at 5:30. The ride home took 2 hours longer than the ride there... there was an accident on the road that backed traffic up for miles, it was hot, my Ipod died, our good seats were stolen and I was desperately wishing for some of Brianne's trail mix that she made when we went hiking-BUT all in all it was a great learning experience. KC got to talk to some of the guys and now we know what a 'Mela' is...  but his long legs and that bus for 5 hours are not a good combination.

On the 'island'

      Next week we are hopefully going to visit an orphanage near here. We met a man named Pastor James who runs the orphanage and he said he would like KC to look at his property and help him with some construction ideas. This is a very exciting new prospect for him that we hope will pan out as we would love to help. Also on the schedule for next week: the kids in my class are going to actually have Trauma class for once whether they like it or not!!! :)

Have a great week!

 Raina (and KC)

Psalm 139: 5-10

5You hem me in behind and before,
   and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
   too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
   Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
   if I make my bed in the depths, you are 
       there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
   if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
   your right hand will hold me fast.