Day 21. Jan.25 Ginny Ryan
The brave souls eager to absorb every bit of India awoke early this morning for a quick breakfast at 7:15 AM. Jan, Anne, and Christine joined Stephen on an early morning visit to the flower and vegetable market purchasing staples for their cooking lesson which began at 4 PM. Chefs Sheba and Rani did all the work and the above joined by Roma took notes standing around the kitchen while the chefs prepared all the food. Chicken curry, beet root poriyal, sambar, coconut chutney, Maggi noodles, and kasari (sweet cous cous) were prepared and served for dinner tonight. Everyone went to their respective sites this morning. George left early as Grace school was going on a field trip to the Chennai zoo. When George hadn’t returned by 5:20 PM no one was excited and I for one thought someone might have put him in a monkey cage.
Jan and I got a real treat today as St. Joseph’s school had sports day. We watched as every class performed some type of fun activity from tying balloon on each foot and then trying to punch out every balloon to be the winner. A series of empty coke bottles was set up with pails of water approximately 4 feet away. The contestants had to scoop up the water with their bare hands and the winner was the first to fill their coke bottle. Walking on bricks and moving them without losing their balance was fun to watch. I think only three boys finished as most stumbled and were disqualified. My favorite games were the ones played by the yellow and green shirted girls. They had to tag out all three girls from one color and did it in sort of a relay style. Blindfolded girls were left in a circle with paper plates that they must find with their feet. Very funny to watch and one girl picked up all 10 plates in the allotted time. She did a nice scientific job with her feet. She was also the one in my class yesterday that showed a lot of interest in the May 1, Electricity shut off from 7-8 PM to make people aware of Global warming. I was looking forward to giving the same lesson as I did to the older classes yesterday as they will make the difference. I did however give the article to Sister Emily and hopefully she will do something with the older children educating the younger ones. Any US teacher that goes to teach at St. Joseph’s will know it is heaven to teach there.
Thought for the day: “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” JFK
To future Chennai volunteers: Book titled The Best of Success located in the bookcase downstairs contains thousands of thought for the day. Don’t tax your brain.
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