Thursday, January 31

Thursday, January 31, 2008:
This morning after breakfast with our hosts—I was served what my host said is a typical Indian breakfast—it consisted of what looked like crepes but was made out of wheat and rice filled with a potato—curry mixture, some more potato curry mixture, and a coconut juice sauce to dip it in, I also had several other dishes that were a mixture of various vegetables and beans all mixed in some sort of sauce. It was a meal with the type of foods that we would more likely have for lunch or dinner, and was not quite what I am used to eating for breakfast, but I did not want to appear rude. We are all tired of trying so many different types of food, and being watched so closely what we eat. I think all of our hosts feel like we are going to starve because they are continually asking us to have more food. It is a little wearisome.

After breakfast we were brought to a school athletic day where the students were also performing some patriotic dances. We were given tea and were seated under a special tent along with the honored guest, who I think was the head of the Indian Navy. We stayed for about a half an hour watching the dances, and then K.K., our site coordinator, announced “let’s move”.

We loaded up and traveled on to the next stop—a poor village that one of the Rotary wives, Dani’s host’s wife, has been working with to help improve the sanitation conditions, their access to health care, and to provide some education and vocational training. Evidently it was getting too crowded in Barhampur so groups of people were moved out to these “villages” but were not provided with anything else. We were seated in the “health clinic” and were entertained by some of the villagers; one was a fourteen year old boy who due to the poor living conditions was the size of a seven or eight year old. We were also shown some of the handicrafts that the villagers make to sell at the market to provide some other type of income and vocation. It clearly is not an easy life and they face many challenges. It is clear that there are endless opportunities for providing help to the poor in India. They also offered us some food but our hosts discretely suggested that we only eat the bananas and give the rest to the children.

Next we stopped at two temples before heading to the next school. This school was a private school which was quite a contrast to the village. It still does not even come close to the school facilities that we have in the United States but it was a huge step up from the village. We were introduced to the standard 12 class, again they were all dressed in their school uniforms and the girls were seated on one side, and the boys on the other. Afterward many of the students wanted us to sign their books and give them some words of advice. Again quite a contrast from how our high school students in the United States respond to visitors. At the school we were served lunch which included some fresh watermelon that K.K. stopped for and bought along the way to the school.

After the visit we were brought back to our host’s homes where we were able to relax and visit. My host showed me a presentation that he gives to undergraduate students about the different kinds of defects and abnormalities found in children, and the surgical procedures that he performs on them. It was very interesting and a little graphic; his youngest daughter also watched the presentation and was not at all fazed by some of the photos. I tried to get on the internet to catch up on email and update our blog but the dial up connection was not working. We are all a little surprised at how difficult it has been to get online at different places.
Before our presentation to the joint Rotary meeting we all gathered at K.K.’s home where he presented each of us with a box of incense that is made right there in his home. After our presentation at the meeting we all headed to a wedding reception of one of the Rotarian’s daughter. We were quite surprised to see another Caucasian woman dressed in a Sari. We found out that she was the daughter-n-law of the Rotarian; she was married to his older son whom she met while he was working in Melbourne, Australia, as an accountant. She was delightful to visit with and it was nice talking to someone with an accent that was not quite so difficult to understand. We also “blessed” the wedding couple by sprinkling rice over their head and of course having our photos taken with them. At the reception there was plenty of food along with an Indian version of karaoke, the performers were all very good. It had been another long day and we were all ready to head back to our hosts to pack.