Finally meeting Rashmi.

This morning was a bit different from the first few that I have had here so far… I finally got to meet Rashmi.  Although she was in a very big rush and zoomed right past me with a quick ‘hello’ and ‘sorry I am just so busy right now’, that was the first of her that I saw in the morning.  I really wanted to ask her about going into town to get things essential like toilet paper and maybe warmer socks but she was rushing in and out of the office signing things and doing this and that I felt it might have been an unnecessary thing to add to her plate at the moment.  I did get to talk to her a bit to tell her about my trip and where in India I came from for a little while.  I was in such desperate need of toilet paper that I asked Seema (the lady that has the keys for everything) for some… entering into secret rooms she pulled out two rolls of toilet paper and awarded them to me.  I was so insanely happy to finally have them I couldn’t stop smiling and making my happy noises. 

After that I kind of just chilled out and did my laundry because it was such a nice day out, I just had to do something productive in the sun!  I filled up a bucket of water and grabbed my soap bar because I had nothing else at the moment.  Stuffed all my clothes in the hot water and soaked them completely, I picked one thing out at a time and soaped it up with my bar and then dunked it back in the bucket.  When everything had been done just like this I squeezed all the water out of them… or as much as I could and then hung them up on the plastic wire in the corner of the balcony.  When all was good and done I made my bed and took a shower with a bucket.  Feeling clean and refreshed I went outside to sundry.

Lunchtime rolled around and everyone came home for food and a bit of playtime and then they were off again.

I went onto the girls side and brought my laptop with me just incase someone might want to watch a movie.  As I lay on the balcony with Sonja soaking up the beautiful sun, Rashmi cam out of her room which just so happened to be right in front of us.  Finally her and I got to talk about the kids, their education and even a story of how Aadi, the youngest, came to the orphanage.  Just so I don’t keep you wondering, he was found by friends of the orphanage in a riverbed on a very rainy evening.  The friends rushed him here instead of the police, the police didn’t do anything anyway, Aadi has been having seizures but so far he is getting better and hasn’t had another episode for a while.  Rashmi says he probably receives the most love out of everyone at the orphanage because he is so cute.

Sonja braided my hair before Arati.

Soon everyone returned from school and it was study time.  Rashmi paired Sonja and I together to help tutor two little girls who are 6 and 7, unfortunately I kind of forget their names and don’t know how to spell them.  I helped with math, their ABC’s and even Hindi… but only a little bit, I mostly was taught.  I helped one of them with her nursery rhymes and taught her ‘Row Row Row your Boat’ and the fun action that goes along with it, she had it all down by the time I became tired from rowing… which would have been probably 20 verses.  Finally it was play time and Sita ran over to me, grabbed my hand and whist me away to run everywhere.  We played tag with the puppy and climbed all over the monkey bars, played hide and seek tag with the other kids and ran up and down the slide to many times.  I was so tired after that it was unbelievable.  Luckily, the bell for Arati saved me from this exhaustion and I got ready for prayer.  There was lots of singing like usual and crazy boys beating the drums much too hard and girls trying to sing over top of all the noise going on.  It always seems to be a bit chaotic in a good kind of way… I enjoy it every time and I am starting to learn some of the words to sing along.

Finally dinnertime approached and I was dragged here and there to sit with this person and this person.  Only when food was being served did I get a break from all the kids.  When dinner was done I drank my hot milk outside and talked with everyone that had questions about this and that… Guatum always has something to say after dinner.  Bedtime couldn’t come soon enough and nor could my shower.  Pouring buckets of water over my head is the best thing ever and going to bed is even better than that.  Even though it was 8:30 I was sooo ready for bed and didn’t try to keep myself awake.