July 1-4

1 July 2010

This has been the most exhausting week ever. On Monday, two more Americans arrived at the convent here in Hassan, a soon-to-be-high-school-senior, Nash, and his mother, Patti, from North Carolina. They’re staying here for two weeks. It’s been great having other Americans around, and Christi and I have been helping them get oriented here at the school. Things have been crazy with Sister Maria and Sister Mary still gone, especially since all the girls seem to be getting sick at the same time. I feel bad for Patti and Nash, as this is probably a bit overwhelming of a situation to be thrown into. They seem to be having fun, though, and Christi and I definitely appreciate the good company.

So as for all the girls getting sick… One of the girls, Devika, has complained of a toothache for the past week or so, and it seems that either a tooth is growing in horizontally, or the root is rotting and becoming exposed through her gum. It looks terrible. We asked if there’s a dentist around, but Sister Anna and Sister Rani don’t seem to know anything about this. Another girl, Nilena, showed me her cavities today… GROSS. Her mouth made Devika’s look flawless. Nilena’s teeth are completely rotted out. My shocked reaction prompted the rest of third standard to show me their teeth, and I’d say about half had similar issues. I asked them if they brushed their teeth two times a day, and one of the girls gasped and said “TWO?!?!” I’m not even sure she brushes once a day. I made them all pinky promise me they’d start brushing twice a day. If there’s a “Dentists Without Borders” group, some of them need to make this place one of their destinations ASAP.

There have been plenty of other health issues to deal with in addition to the dental problems. Headaches, stomachaches, pink eye—the list goes on. Sister Rani has nudged both Christi and I into taking on some nurse duties, so we’ve been handing out medicines and administering eye drops. The fact that Christi and I are the resident medical experts worries me.

A great example of why I’m so concerned was an incident that occurred yesterday morning. A girl from 7th standard, Sumalata, started having severe chest pains after breakfast. She was sobbing from the pain and could barely swallow water. She told us that it’s not the first time this has happened, that she’d had episodes like this before and needed to go to the hospital. Everyone was just sort of standing around watching her, unsure of what to do. Sister Anna told us it was “gas” aka heartburn… right. Christi and I took her pulse, and we could feel her heartbeat fluttering. I may not be a doctor, but I’m pretty sure that’s not heartburn. Eventually, someone finally decided she needed to go to the hospital. Since Patti knows CPR, we thought it’d be best for her to go along, in case something horrible happened. Sister Anna was having none of it, Christi had to literally demand that Patti be allowed to get in the car. It was an awkward situation. If anything, we’ve learned that health care is clearly not a priority around here.

I can’t even begin to describe how frustrating this all is to watch. It makes me wish I were a doctor, so that I could do something more to help these kids. Sumalata needs to see a real doctor, not an educated-in-Southern-India doctor. She was eventually diagnosed with rheumatic fever, but I wouldn’t put any money of the accuracy of this claim. It makes me so thankful that I live in America and have access to real health care. If only these girls could have the same.

On a lighter note, today was Prajwal’s birthday. He was dressed up in traditional Indian clothes for school… he sort of looked like he’d walked straight out of Aladdin. That was pretty much the highlight of the day. His mother came to school to give him a bag of candy to share with the whole school. It’s funny—I’d forgotten that in elementary school it’s tradition for a birthday boy or girl to bring in sweets for his or her class. I guess in India they prefer candy to cupcakes, but it’s still the same idea.

So a few of the girls wanted to show Patti their rabbits yesterday, and Christi and I got dragged along on the trip. There are quite a few rabbits, and some of them are babies. The girls keep them as pets, though I still haven’t figured out whether they eat them or not. Oh, and when I say “baby,” I mean that humans probably shouldn’t handle these rabbits yet. They’re so teeny and their eyes weren’t even open yet. That didn’t stop the girls, though. Margaret proceeded to display all the rabbits, holding them only by their ears (yes, like a magician). Watching them squirm was slightly terrifying. I yelled at Margaret. “Hold it carefully, Margaret! Margaret! Hold it like a baby!” It was disturbing. My yelling took a while to get through to her, obviously. As a side note, none of these rabbits are even half the size of my family’s pet rabbit. I’m also pretty sure our rabbit would never tolerate being held by the ears. I’m not even sure that it possible to hold him that way, since he’s so fat.

Anyways, it’s almost July 4th, which means it’s almost Independence Day. It makes me miss America, especially since last year I spent the 4th in DC—pretty much the best place to be for that holiday. India seems a little unpatriotic in comparison. At least we’ll have other Americans here to share the day with. Mike, the volunteer coordinator for Home of Hope, the service organization we’re working with, is arriving here in Hassan this weekend. I have no idea how long he’ll be visiting for, either. I DO know that he’s traveling with Sister Mary and Sister Maria, whose return surely implies that some order will be restored around here. I can’t wait… seriously.

3 July 2010

So all I have to say about today is this: I opened my suitcase this morning to retrieve an article of clothing, only to find a nice little surprise inside. Well, more than one nice little surprise. Cockroaches. THAT was exciting. I’m sure you could guess how pleased I was. Patti heard my reaction and came to help me kill them—she’s a lifesaver. Those things are so FAST. As to how they got into my zipped-up suitcase in the first place, I don’t know. I am quite determined not to bring them back to America with me, though, so it looks like my bags are going to need to be bug inspected before going to the airport. Mrrrr.
4 July 2010

So while Christi and I were asleep last night, Sister Mary, Sister Maria, and Mike arrived. This was probably the best way to kick off the Fourth of July. Mike is just what I imagined him to be like during our few phone conversations. He’s great and full of facts and stories about India since he’s been over here so many times. He’s also obsessed with Notre Dame football, which scores huge points with Christi and I. With five Americans here, there’s almost not enough room at the dinner table anymore. It’s exciting. Tamuto’s flight for India leaves tomorrow, if only he was coming here, too!

Also there’s apparently a celebration for children’s birthdays tonight, one that involves another dance show… we’ll probably have stories about this later.