I was welcomed back with warmth and enthusiasm from most of the members of the hospital and village. Biku was standoffish for a while but it's mostly because he's sick. Convincing him that my traveling wasn't to abandon him also helped.
We went to the juanga hang out at the "bridge" and caught up with the villagers. I put bridge in quotations because there's a real bridge nearby and this one is more of a 8 foot long guardrail near where a pond used to be. Everything here is much taller and browner than when I left and the rice harvest has started. The patterns made by the work in the fields are beautiful to look at.
The past couple of days, Connor and I have been biking out to the real bridge and talking while watching the sunset or enjoying the breeze by the river. It's amazing the things that start to seem normal. Getting away from India for a few weeks put fresh eyes on the strangeness. A herd of goats walked by in the bridge unaccompanied by an owner or Shepard and Connor said he wouldn't have thought anything of it if I hadn't said something. Kids often ride back and forth to get a better look at us without seeming blatantly obvious.
I went to the school around 12 and talked to the teachers for a while. One in particular likes to talk with me whenever I come by and said that I was missed. I disrupted a few classes by making faces through the windows and then picked up Pride and Prejudice from the library to read.
After school, I sat with Biku for a while seeing patients and then went to he bridge again (sorry this post is not completely chronological). When we were there, two teenagers came up to us and tried way too hard to get us to come to their village on the other side of the river. We had been warned many times by govinda and Biku not to cross the river because it was a "criminal area". It's also where one of the three sand people mafias are. I would have probably gone had the two people not been so pushy. Traveling for the past few weeks has made me wary of strangers who approach you asking for things.
Riding back in the dark is a good way to get more protein in our diets.
When I got back, I gave one of the little gold figurines I bought in Thailand to Baba-G in his shop.
--this reminds me. Gifts are a big thing in Indian culture as far as I can tell, so I bought small gifts for many of the people here to show my appreciation for what they've done for me. I gave a small gold elephant to Chogolah in the kitchen and he has been carrying it around in his pocket and showing it off since then. I'm really glad to have been able to make him so happy. I think it's more that I thought to bring him something than the actual gift, but he also seems to really like the elephant.
-about half of the gifts I brought were elephants but I'm worried about giving the other half. Some are images of deities and I'm not sure enough that it won't be offensive to give them. Doikebah.
Anyway. When I got back, I went to give one of the sitting elephant-God figures to baba-G. He loved it and said a prayer with it before putting it into the small shrine corner in his hut. Then we sat and talked for about an hour, which was quite a feat with the language barrier. We each know only a few words in the other's language. I also think I accidentally tried Paan, the thing everyone adds to beetle and turns their teeth red. It was pretty terrible and I'm not interested in repeating the experience.
I found out that baba-G is 58, has two sons 30 and 28 years old. He's married and lives that way. His leg had to be amputated 10 years ago after he was ran over by a bus. His hut was also painted by a western woman a couple years ago. He also tried teaching me Odia which involved repeating phrases after him and having no idea what most of them meant. It was a nice experience of cultural exchange and camaraderie.
Now I'm waiting for the always-to-late dinner and catching up with this post. Connor and I are going to Kolkata tomorrow to see a little more of India and visit friends that I met in Thailand.
Here are some of the things that I missed when I was gone:
Doctor Mohanti left/was fired by govinda after refusing to treat a sick teenager because his friends were drunk.
There's a new sign for the medical center
A student everyone calls "the don" has been causing mischief. He shaved his head and likes to run around untying livestock and other shenanagins. Whenever something goes wrong, they blame the don.
A student in class 8 died after fainting from typhoid and hitting his head. There's much more to talk about here and it feels careless to mention it in this list.. but this is all I'm going to write about it here.
The fields and landscape look completely different now that it's time for the harvest.
There was a holiday where the oldest in each generation gets gifts and clothing from all their siblings/relatives. In typical Indian fashion, there are no such holidays for the younger siblings.
There are puppies everywhere. It's amazing. I want to keep at least 3 of them in my room. The ones by the hospital are named Bruce, Tilly, Julie, and Whales.
Well, there it is.
-AB
Juanga has changed
Going to steal the puppies
Kolkata we go.
Tiger goat game. It's surprisingly complex and we played for hours
Connor can now read Odia and is often shown off to other people. It's often assumed that Biku has taught him but he's been self-learning (and asking for material from other staff)
There are people running in this picture and I'm going to find out who they are and how to join them.
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