Lookin Up

I haven't been here a week and it would seem I'm already slacking at my blog. Let m explain. Two days ago, literally all I did that day was eat, read, play solitaire, talk to my mommy on the phone, and do laundry, so nothing blog-worthy.
Yesterday I hadn't been online for 10 minutes when this part of town lost power ( a frequent occurence, though it had never happened while I was at the Internet cafe' before) so I didn't get a chance to write. But Yesterday was basically as uneventful as the day before. The biggest difference with is and the previous days is that my mood had improved a great deal, mostly thanks to being able to talk to my rents on the phone at the flat whenever I needed it.

Today, however, was a big change. I got up early to go to school. I taught math, Bobby the school teacher taught the little kids the alphabet and such, and the other volunteer who's staying with his relatives in Kolkata taught English. The kids I teach are broken up into two groups: intermediate and advanced. The inermediate kids that were in attendance today (way less than usual) were Prativa, Manisha (both 12 yearold girls) and Jayanto (8 year old boy). They're working on division. The advanced kids (also today there were way less than usual) were Dulal and Aminesh (or Animesh, I can't remember. Its like little kids saying "aminal" or something) They're working on orders of operations. So that was fun to get to work with them, esp the intermediate kids because I think they liked me more and they were more willing to do their work.

After school, Trina arrived and Subhamita and Kakoli came to interview people to permanently work the Sealdah and Dum Dum (free food and first aid at train stations) projects. They had me sit in the inerviews so at the very end I could ask the prospective a question ("If some one had a cut on their finger, what medical treatment would you give them?") To make sure that they could communicate effectively in English with someone who doesn't speak Bengali and share their accent.

After that, Subhamita showed some useful places around Khardah, then Trina and I headed over here. On the way home, we're gonna stop a pastry shop. I'm excited!!

So things are finally picking up, and its getting easier!

~m