Let's see... this past week hasn't been too out of the ordinary. On Friday Anna left, which made the flat seem empty and quiet. Then on Sunday Ellenoor left, which made the flat seem even emptier and quieter. This is the first time there's only been one other person with me at the flat since a few weeks after I got here. I really was sad to see both of them go, because things tend to be more fun with more people and because I really liked both of them alot. Hopefully I'll get to see them again sometime. Ellenoor told me that if I go to school in New York, she'll come visit me. That wold be neat!
Lauren has been really sick since one or two days after she got here. She seems to be on the mend today though, so that's good. Major culture shock plus physical sickness make for a miserable existence.
School, computer class, and football playing have all been going along as usual. Some of the kids' English has improved alot since I've been here, I think mostly because they're talking to me so much. Its really neat to see that.
Sealdah was pretty normal on Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday wound care was worse than usual. We treated two people with really nasty, infected wounds on their feet and legs. There was also a guy who had a big gash at the back of his knee and a woman with a finger which appeared to be broken. These were along with the usual cuts and scrapes we treat on the kids.
I got two salwars made and they look pretty nice. I will wear one of them to school tomorrow. The kids are pretty excited about that. I can't remember if I've described what a salwar is before, so here's a brief description: they are outfits for women that consist of a long tunic worn over pants (usually really baggy, but sometime skin tight) and a matching scarf (called a dupatta) which is draped over the chest and thrown backwards over the shoulders. I got a blue one and an orangey-browney-green one. I'll post pictures some time.
Today Lauren and I went to Bobby for a sari lesson. Usually I just wrap the sari over my clothes, but after I did this today Bobby decided I should go ahead and do it the right way too. She got out a really nice sari for me to wear and I changed out of my clothes on and put on her petticoat and blouse thing. The shirt was too loose so she had me take it off and she proceeded to stitch it up the sides so it fit. She did the wrapping so that it looked right. Then she told me I should wear it home and for the rest of the day. I couldn't say no. Next she got out jewelery and had me put on makeup and a bindi (the red dot on the forehead). She called her husband home from work to take a picture.
I thought that my walk back to the flat would be the most humiliating ten minutes of my life, but it was actually ok. People definitely looked harder than usual, but they were very approving. Some people even stopped to tell me I looked nice. I wore the sari around the house for about four hours, but then I changed out of it to go play football with the kids. I was surprised to find that saris are really quite comfortable.

~m