Graduation Week

What my class did this week instead of learning

The 1st year GNM students and 1st year BSC students have their capping, pinning, candle-lighting  (whatever you want to call it ) ceremony and the seniors are graduating this coming Friday the 4th. Everyone here is excited about it...and the kids in class keep telling their new "teachers" that they don't have class because they have to "practice their dancing". I thought my med surg class was telling a "juht" (lie in Hindi)...but after asking the principal-turns out it is true. None of the afternoon classes are meeting for the next 3 days....but the morning classes are still on!!!! ( poor KC) They are also building these huge awning type things in the middle of the campus...complete with banners and quilts as decoration...and large sticks tied together as a fence. This is where graduation will be held Friday night-and no need to worry about if it rains-we are not in rainy season sooo IT NEVER RAINS HERE!!! woo hoo :)

KC teaching English

       It has come to my attention that if something happens in the lives of Mrs. Raina and her husband Mr.Kaina (KC corrected the spelling for them to Kenneth...although I think he should keep that name when we come back) everybody in DCH knows about it! It is turning out to be really funny. For instance...in my limited Hindi understanding I kept thinking that the staff nurse in casualty was talking about me and my saree purchase to people that came in...I was right. She was telling everyone that I bought a saree at the market and that it was pink. I don't even know how she knew! Sometimes randomly I get whisked away to different departments-or wards-and usually at the time I don't have any clue what is going on, most of the time it is just because they want to show me their unit, or to talk. Today I ended up in a completely different part of the hospital-Dental- twice...and the dentist asked if I would be wearing my new pink saree to graduation on Friday. Word gets around. Also: I have got to come up with a more diverse menu for cooking...everybody is very interested that we are cooking for ourselves and wants to know EXACTLY what I have prepared. I don't think they are going to believe me anymore if I keep telling them 'yesterday I made rice, rhoti and vegetables'. Dr.Chatterjee told me today that my husband's heart is through his stomach and that he needs fed.  So that being said-I will take recipes from anyone for anything involving rice, carrots, potatoes, onions, tomatoes and eggs. Oh and sometimes milk. We just found out that we are the only ones who have ever come here (some people have volunteered teaching at the nursing school, other Med students come to the hospital for a learning experience) that have cooked on their own. Most of them take their meals with the Chatterjees-and people are amazed they we are not!

            The good thing about not being busy in Casualty (we had approx 6 patients today-2 of them were children and the pediatrician is sick so they advised the parents to go to another hospital) is that people in other departments want to talk. I got to spend a lot of time with 2 of the dentists today, who have lived in Dhamtari their whole lives and were very interested as to why we came to India. When they found out we are not being paid to be here they were able to say in English 'then what is the purpose of you being here?' I tried to explain to them the word volunteer, and serve and finally just said 'we are also learning a lot but maybe I can help by brightening people with my smile!!!' This made them happy, and I was able to try to explain just a little bit why we wanted to come. Hopefully it made a difference. Now we have made plans to go to their house at 'any time' and to be friends on Facebook.  I asked them what Indians mean when they say "anytime" (because really EVERYBODY tells us that here!) and they said literally....that people would love you to just come over anytime, as long as it isn't the middle of the night!

Med/surg class practicing "chin lift"

             Tonight we are invited to a dedication service that they have the day before graduation, and then we also received an invitation with 2 tickets to the graduation for tomorrow, so that will be our week. KC has been busy with lesson plans (he even made handouts Ben!) to keep caught up for the week....while I am trying to figure out what to teach about Trauma. I have already spent 2 days on the A-I of trauma assessment and forced each and every student to learn how to cold C-spine while turning a patient...KC was the patient. And boy they acted like they did not want to touch him. (I think I scared them by making them leave their classroom) I am not entirely sure if they always understand my English...I try so hard to talk slow but you all know that that is impossible. Today in the Casualty I actually started 2 IV's because the staff nurse left for lunch, leaving me with 2 of the students (all of the other ones had left). I was positive that this very young patient in sickle cell crisis was going to stop breathing on us and went running to look for intubation equipment, until Dr.Chatterjee was called in and said-'he is just scared, I told him not to act like a girl, and now he is better with the oxygen'. And sure enough-he stopped gasping for air, he opened his eyes & calmed down.  Oh the things I am learning .

The casualty crew

       Our newest current problem is that we have no way to do our laundry-one person's washing machine had a rat chew through its cord and the other person's we broke. I suppose we should learn how to wash by hand. Our Hindi is getting somewhat better (meaning we know numbers 1-10 and the days of the week), we can barter the price of a rickshaw to the market and we are making new friends. It has been interesting to hear about the different religious backgrounds in the school. In one class 50% are Hindu, and the other 50% are Christian. In another class there are Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Christians. There is also an interesting blend of Hindu culture evident in the Christian's lives. Our intended trip to Jagdalpur this weekend has been put to a screeching halt as one after another person that we talked to told us not to go because it is not safe. The first person we talked to we thought was just being overly cautious and didn't want us to drive 5 hours on a bus, but by the 3rd person who said that it is a Naxallite area, and that if we go we have to go in a private car not by bus (as in with the Chatterjees) because the guerillas might stop us, we decided maybe we should not go (and we all know who I mean by "we"...he is definitely the more rational of the 2). So, perhaps we will try to rent bicycles and bike around Dhamtari on Saturday (because we are definitely not driving a car on these roads!!) 

Have a great week!

Raina (and KC)

We are attempting to memorize Psalm 139 while we are here-this is it so far: 

¹ You have searched me, LORD,
   and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
   you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
   you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
   you, LORD, know it completely.