A New Experience

Rae Rae is the social butterfly of our family…of our children that is.  We have been homeschooling her in kindergarten this year even though she is technically too young by our school district standards.  She is doing well with school but she misses the social element, especially since her closest friends have moved away recently.  They used to live in the bottom flat of our 3-story apartment building.

Last weekend, she attended a VBS with a couple of her friends.  She went at 8 am and came back at 2:30 pm saying, “My ma’am says I need to take a bath and come back.” She rushed to get cleaned and changed and was ready to return for the evening program.  Tony and I took her back at 4:30 pm for the program and we didn’t come home until after 8 pm.  Twelve hours!  She had such a great time!  This got Tony and I thinking that we should let her attend the school where the VBS was held...for socialization reasons.  We discussed it with the school and decided to send her to school the following Monday.

She attended school 4 days last week and had so much fun!  We are only here for a few more weeks before we return home to the States for a visit…but she is loving her time at her new school right now! And, that brings such joy to our hearts!  Besides, she looks soooo adorable in her uniform! Doesn’t she?!?!

Heat Days

This week the temperatures increased drastically.  So, we decided to join the Indian public schools in our area and cancel school for a few days because of the heat.  What better way to spend a heat day than at the pool?  Or driving up the mountain to find cooler weather? 

Tuesday, after our language class, Tony and I decided to take the family to the pool.  Our kids wanted to invite their friends to go along, and before we knew it, we ended up taking 12 people.  Delaney’s friend, Angel, had never been to a swimming pool before.  The kids swam for four hours, and we still had to drag them out of the pool so we could go home.  It was a fabulous afternoon…and a great way to spend a 102 degree day!

 

Wednesday, we took another day off from the heat…did I mention our house is like an oven on hot days?!?  We drove up the mountain with our family and a few friends to enjoy the cooler temperatures of Darjeeling.  We took a trip to the zoo, did some shopping, and ate some great food!  The ride up and down the mountain was just as entertaining as the time we spent in Darjeeling.  We love rolling the windows down, turning the radio up, and singing our hearts out together.

It was fun to play hooky from school for a couple of days with our kids and their friends.  Being spontaneous is one thing we have gotten very good at since we moved to India.  Living here can be difficult; so we have found that it is all the more important for us to be able to just enjoy life and laugh together.

And...Another Trip to the Hospital

So, this week the rains started.  The other night, I was running down the stairs of our apartment building after our dog, who clearly had to use the potty!  The last step was my downfall…literally!  The marble floor was wet from the rain and my shoes had no traction…so I went down.  The dog proceeded to run out of our compound to meet the girls, who were waiting on us.  When I hit the ground, I landed on my shoulder and my hip and I banged my head against the iron gate…nearly passing out.  Our landlord’s mother-in-law and two daughters ran down to check on me. As they helped me up, I felt quite a bit of pain in my shin.  When we investigated, we found an inch long gash, dripping blood. 

So…Tony took me to the hospital.  They met me at the emergency room door with a wheelchair and took me right into a room.  After cleaning the wound and assessing it, the doctor said I would need a few stitches.  The three nurses standing around watching asked him if he was going to numb the area, but the doctor said it was not necessary.  Of course, when I heard that my eyes got big.  I started to watch the first stitch, but quickly realized that it hurt too bad to watch, so I closed my eyes, hoping for it to be over…quickly.  He only gave me two stitches…which I am super glad about.  I think if he would have done another, I would have either passed out or tossed my cookies.  I guess I’m not much for pain.  The staff was nice and they were all very excited that we were speaking to them in Hindi.  And, the greatest thing about all of it was that the entire emergency room bill was only $5.30 US.

We took a prescription sheet and another sheet to the pharmacy that was attached to the hospital.  It was there we realized that we had to buy supplies to replace the ones that were used on me.  So along with my prescriptions, we bought a pair of rubber gloves, some gauze, and the suture material.  Before leaving, we had to take the supplies back to the emergency room.  All in all, the bill was still under $10 US, and the entire process took less than an hour.  Here’s to another exciting adventure in India!