ei ei ei...
So much to write and so little time to write about it...

I was really sick on Wednesday, but I'm all better now. Got my antibiotics and I'm good.

I have two weeks left here in Khardah. Crazy.

I've been spending lots of time with my students, watching movies and playing kabadee and football outside of school. I've been going to Piya's house alot, which I really enjoy.

I have a new friend, a woman who works at a shop near the flat. When I'm on my way home in the evenings I always stop and chat with her (in Bengali). She gave me a gift, a green statue of a couple dancing. Indians have a thing for cheap statues of Westerners. It was really sweet of her.

Elections had been going on in India for awhile, but they ended on Wednesday. Different regions of the country vote on different days. It gets really violent in the areas where the elections are taking place. Kolkata voted on Wednesday, so all CRAWL programs where stopped. The results will be released tomorrow and all programs will stop then too. There was actually a problem in another part of Khardah on Wednesday. I don't know exactly what happened but it was violent and it made the news. It wasn't close to me though. One would have to take an auto to get to that part of Khardah from this part. Anyways, its pretty crazy. A few people I've talked to voted, but most did not. They all say that all of the people up for election are bad and corrupt. America sure doesn't have a perfect democracy or a perfect election system, but it is leagues ahead of India. Here voting goes hand in hand with riots.

Let me tell you about a delicious food to be found on the streets of Kolkata (and Khardah, and probably everywhere in India). Its called fuchka. Its deep fried balls of dough, slightly larger than ping pong balls. They're hollow and extremely thin and crispy, probably thinner than a potato chip. The fuchka-walla makes a mixture of potato, spices, onion, cilantro, and chilli, which he mashes in a bowl with his hand. Then he puts a little bit of this mixture in the bottom of one of the balls. He then dips the ball into one of two pots, one containing tamarind water which is spicy, sour and salty, and the other containing rose water which is syrupy and sweet. With the ball overflowing with this water, he places it in a bowl made out of a leaf, which the customer is holding. The customer puts the whole ball in his or her mouth at once. There is a huge burst of flavor; it is so delicious! I prefer the tamarid water to the rose water, but the most recent time I had this treat, the vendor double-dipped it, in the tamarind water and then in the rose water. That is the best. It is spicy, sweet, sour, salty, crunchy, soft, liquidy, everything all at once! And as soon as you've put one in your mouth, the vedor has put a new one in your bowl, so its really easy to eat a whole bunch of them without noticing, which isn't necissarily a good thing. They aren't very filling, but they surely aren't too healthy either. Anyway, if you ever go to India, you must try fuchka!
(ok, do I sound like a commercial, or what?)
That's all for now, folks.

~m

three weeks...

I know, I know, I've been slacking. I've just been so busy that I haven't been able to write. The problem is, every day is so full that I have so much to write that many days I dismiss the prospect of a post because I don't have the time to do it justice. And then the unrecounted experiences add up. So, like last time, there's no way I call tell about everything that's happened since my last post.

Today, Weis, a 60 year old Dutch woman, left. She was the last of the volunteers besides me, so now I'm alone at the flat and it looks like it'll probably be that way for the rest of my time here, which is only three weeks. Its ok, I have enough to keep me occupied, I'll just miss having someone to talk and process with. Especially because I know these last few weeks will be quite emotional.
Summer camp ended and regular school started back up. Summer camp was fun, the kids really enjoyed it. At school I'm teaching linear equations to the advanced group, and the intermediate group is working on geometery, currently the area of triangles.
A few weekends ago I went to visit Mayapur, the main world Hare Krishna place. It is really beautiful. I saw more (white) foreigners (not tourists, religious folks) there than I ever do in Kolkata.
I continue to play football, frisbee and cabardee with the kids outside of school.
My birthday was on Tuesday. Weis and I went to Bobby's house for lunch. We had rice, dal, chapatti, panner, potato and jackfruit curry, tomoato chutney, and cucumber. It was delicious. Bobby's husband gave me a little statue of a man and a woman sitting together. It was very Western, and odd choice, I thought, but I really like it. I was surprised that he got something for me at all. After lunch, we watched The Notebook. Its such a good movie. It took me back to being with my friends in America though, so it made me a little homesick. After the movie, the girls came to the flat. The brought me a piece of cake, which we all shared. I know they all scraped together to buy it for me. It probably cost 10 rupees, about 20 cents. It was really sweet of them. After we ate cake, we had their first extra English class. The other day when they were over for computer class, Piya said to me, "Auntie, will you teach me, Mili, Arati and Prativa English?" I said, "what? You already have CRAWL English class! What would I teach? We do noun, verb, etc at school." Piya made a face. "Spoken English class." I agreed, though I wasn't really sure it would be much help. The classes are turning out to be less about actual spoken English. Piya and Mili read, focusing on correct pronounciation. Its cute that they're trying so hard though.
I just can't believe I leave in three weeks. Its unreal that its almost over. I've gotten so used to being here, it'll be a huge transition to go back home.

I'll try to write more for the next three weeks...
~m