More India

All is well. The long delay is due to a four-day trip to Mussoorie, India (part of which was an overnight trip for the teenagers and I was one of the chaperones). The town is located on a mountain-top and we spent much of it in clouds. A monkey came into our room one morning, woke me up, stared me down, then stole a banana and hopped out the window.

When I returned to the Ashram/Orphanage something changed… the little ones now lean on me and take my hand and plop in my lap much more often. I am a sought after badminton partner. The older girls painted henna on my hands last night.

Art today were portraits of “Babaji,” the man who started the Ashram and is the children’s father figure. I have some photos that I can post in just a week!

Really my time is almost over. One more day with the children, then a day to travel to Delhi, and then fly home the next evening. A good trip.

Monday

Today we started prayer flags with some of the younger children using muslin and markers and glitter paint. The hand was the main image on most of them… they are so beautiful. (The class was small tonight due to a dance contest, which of course was a lot of fun! These kids are great dancers!)

We have a new art teacher, a grad student from Santa Fe (David). Later in the lesson I pulled out some of my transfers to show him. One of the boys asked if he could take one over to where he was working. In a few minutes he had interpreted “Orange Girl” onto the muslin. He promply made a second, “Wood Fairy.” They are so sweet and special. He has given them to me, and I love them.

Today I got to visit some rescued elephants in the early morning. There were three… 70, 16, and 12 years old… the youngest had come (I think) because his mother got killed by a nearby train. I got to pet them and one took the cap off of my bottled water with its trunk… so fun.

Less than two weeks left… coming home July 1st.

Printmaking yesterday

We had a great class yesterday. The kids made temples using a simple relief printing technique…

Starting to get into the routine here: 7:30 breakfast, 9-12 day camp (I’m helping with the craft/art part), 12:30 lunch, 1-4pm rest, 4:00 chai, 4:30 art class, 7:30 dinner, usually bed after that (the kids get up at 5:30am every day!). More soon.

I’ve been sick

Some of you might have guessed since it’s been so long. I haven’t
been this sick since my early 20s when I thought I was going to die….
anyway, the highlight probably was sometime in the middle of
Saturday night… I’ll spare you details which I can’t really remember
anyway but give you the characters involved:

• a sweaty, shaky, naked woman (me)

• diarrhea

• a wasp

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I’m feeling a little better today.

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Have you ever seen a monkey play with a puppy? I have!

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Have been too sick to really work well with the kids but so far so good. The orphanage is wonderful, and the women running it are saints. I promise more details later when I feel better.

In Haridwar now… will visit orphanage today

We’re having tea today at the orphanage to meet the nurses and I think the children, then we’ll start art classes tomorrow. I’m excited to finally get to this part!

Haridwar is a city located right on the holy river Ganga… we swam yesterday. Indians from all over come to Haridwar for this purpose.. it’s a pilgrimmage site. The river is wide and surprising cold and strong… I’m a good swimmer but had tremendous respect for the conditions and held onto a concrete post the entire time!

Physically I”m a bit under the weather the last two days – the usual – so am spending more time lying under the fan in the hotel room than actually out and about… I was so tired last night at 7pm that I fell asleep and didn’t wake until 8am!

Especially for Wendy: Steve was stressed from afar as to where I was going to go that night… he really just wanted to catch me before I left that particular hotel…

Most Astonishing Moment

The most astonishing moment so far was when I was in the taxi from one hotel to another. About 3 minutes into the ride, the driver’s cell phone rang… and it was for ME!!! (It was the first hotel telling me that Steve had e-mailed them and wanted me to contact him right away.)

This is a place where electricity poles look like they have dreadlocks, the wires are so helter-skelter, and apparently there is no trash disposal system to speak of. But they were able to call me IN THE TAXI at a moment’s notice!

 I am loving India right now. It’s chaotic for sure, but an adventure and very fun for me. The taxi ride yesterday (to Old Delhi) was like being on a carnival ride/sauna combined! 

In some ways the children in the orphanages are the privileged ones… the facilities are well-funded and they are well taken care of… Christine Tiernan is working on setting up art-teaching gigs at the AIDS center here in Delhi and she already has worked with some children in the slums here… there really is just so much that can be done….

(Please forgive my writing/spelling/thinking as I post here…. I noticed I misspelled “tattoo” in my last post (fixed now)… usually I’m a bit out of my head by the time I sit down to write!) Thanks for all of the encouraging comments… they help me feel connected!!!

In a New Delhi Neighborhood

We were scheduled to be at the orphanage in Haridwar tomorrow, but one of the teenage volunteers is having emergency dental work tomorrow here in Delhi, so I’m here another two days. I switched hotels and neighborhoods, and I’m so much happier here!

It is more the “India” I had expected… wonderful textile market, tons of people, rickshaws, motorcycles, taxis, cows, etc. down a narrow street (cows wander loose)… it’s also the happening place, it seems, for foreigners… so lots of dreadlocks and henna tattoos and cigarettes and meaningful discussions over chai. Yesterday was the hottest day of the year in India at 45C. Bye for now!

In India

I’m sitting in the lobby of the hotel in Delhi after a day of doing “touristy” things… my favorite was the Modern Art Museum… discovered some wonderful Indian artists such as K.G. Subramanyan, Singh Arpita Singh and Jamini Roy…. someone’s waiting for the computer so I’ll go now, take a shower and rest.