Meet the Parents

Last Sunday, October 12th the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders had the privilege to spend a whole 4 hours and 15 minutes with their parents after not seeing them for three months. That is how the kids referred to it, ‘the privilege’…talk about looking at the bright side. They kept mentioning their parents’ arrival since that day when we wrote the invitations. By the end of the week they couldn’t sit still as they counted the hours in anticipation. They told me they were not only excited to see their parents and siblings, but also excited because them and I would get to meet; they were adamant about me wearing my sari for when we met.
Sunday came, and I am not kidding their smiles that morning were so big and beautiful they could stop crime. “Miss, thank you, thank you, thank you sooooo much for wearing the sari, it’s soooo nice and its blue and beautiful…our parents are coming!!!!” Every sentence that day no matter how nonsensical it sounded, ended with the phrase, our parents are coming.

At first I thought that meeting the parents would be a bit awkward considering the language barrier, but it turned out to be a series of very moving encounters. All the families and their children sat around by the cherry trees and I went from group to group introducing myself and telling them something nice about their kid (because, even though a few of them are very talkative, I really did have something nice to say about each one of them)…. Some of them spoke a little English but most of them spoke Tamil or Kannada so the children were the translators. Many of the families gave me a fruit, or a small candy or an Indian sweet. I was so grateful for their generosity but even more for the way in which they gave me the gift; their eyes, although intensely black, transparently expressed gratitude and appreciation towards me. I am convinced that non-verbal communication is the most honest and truthful form.

Among their parents you could sense a sort of questioning, “Is my child okay here in this school? It feels so right to be next to him, how could I leave him here again?” But at the end of the day they made that decision once again and they all trickled out of the premises. Luckily the kids had PT after their parents left so all the volunteers went to cheer them up and we played kick ball and Monkey in the Middle and Dog and the Bone, aka Panueleta in Nica terms. Every day I wish to fill that void that these children have.



I have learned a new skill:

For a few days now I have debated whether or not I should include this particular incident in the blog but I realized that it has definitely added, in some way, to this experience and that it would make a good story. My scalp is infected by, oh you know, creepy crawly creatures…yeah LICE! Although I make several jokes about this infestation through out the day and the children think it is hysterically funny, this has been a catastrophic experience for me. No I didn’t have to get a buzz cut but this has affected my being in several ways.

Number one: My scalp ITCHES, it ITCHES, it ITCHES SOOOO MUCH. Number two: I have felt like a primate several times this week as I go about my daily tasks and activities with one hand up on my head, scratching away at my sensitive scalp. Number three: I have had vivid dreams about these intruding germs holding concerts up in the forest that is my hair…yeah I HEAR THE MUSIC AT NIGHT, it’s disturbing. Number four: the treatment ITCHES, it ITCHES, it ITCHES SOOOO MUCH.

Fewph, now that I got the venting is out of the way… I am now an expert in LICE detection and extermination. A skill that I hope doesn’t come in handy often, but if it must, I AM PREPARED.

I got the lice from my fourth grade girls. Even though their hair is short, which sadly causes many new volunteers to confuse them with the boys, they still get lice. And well I must admit that because I have grown so fond of these children, I probably hug them enough so that lice get the chance to travel over to my dense and frizzy, curly hair. The itching has diminished a bit since I started the treatment and hopefully they will all have chocked to death in a few more days.

This weekend Suparna and I are in Bangalore again staying at her aunt's place, using wireless internet, amazing! Today we went Sari shopping and off course got into a couple amusing arguments with rickshaw drivers, which is an inevitable annoyance. Tonight we are going to a party at a place called Fuga. We got the invite from a german friend of Suparna's who is doing a project here with his company for some time. The party is being organized by the Ives club which is a club for Interns, Volunteers, Expats, and Exchange Students in Bangalore city...should be fun to meet some internationals like me!