Subcontinental Homesick Blues

Well, I'm experiencing some major homesickness this week, so feel free to drop me a line if you have time - I know it would help to hear how everyone is back at home. I just discovered today that you have been posting comments here, so I just now saw them all for the first time! So it's probably better if you email me directly at my gmail account to make sure I actually see your message.

I visited another Child Haven home in Tamil Nadu this week, and that certainly contributed to my homesickness. Going to the airport and boarding a plane that wasn't heading home was a bit sad, and also, it was rough to uproot myself again, even if only for a few days. I am just now getting comfortable at my home-away-from-home in Hyderabad, so it was disorienting to go to a whole new place and start all over. Needless to say, I was very happy to return, and I was overjoyed to see "my" kids again! The children in Tamil Nadu are also great, of course, but I missed all of our little buggers like crazy!

I was also just plain glad to make it back to H-bad safe and sound, as I was entirely convinced the whole time in Tamil Nadu that I was going to die of a scorpion or snake bite. I know, I know, I am so paranoid, but several people had told me they run rampant there, so I was terrified! (For the record, I didn't see any of either variety!) However, at one point, my rear-end started burning like crazy in one concentrated spot, as though something had stung me. I rushed to my room and used a handmirror to check it out (gag), only to see a big red welt! Well, I was sure that this was it, and my wonderful life was over. I ran to the nurse so she could check, and she was busy nursing her baby. So I sat with her, feigning patience, while she finished nursing and proceeded to powder the baby head-to-toe, apply ink marks to the baby (for identification purposes in case the baby is ever taken), dress the baby, and put her down for a nap. The whole time I just knew that the venom was seeping into my veins and suffocating me from within, but I just smiled and waited. When she finally looked at my snow-white bottom, she assured me that it was not an insect bite but had been caused by the heat, which is merciless and humid in Tamil Nadu. Thank Shiva! She patched it up for me and I went to lie down for a bit. But about an hour later, I was suddenly very dizzy and disoriented, thirsty beyond all recognition, and nauseous. This time I knew beyond all shadow of a doubt that death had me in its claws! Surely she had misdiagnosed me and the terrible venom was slowly poisoning me. So wouldn't you know, I just burst into sobbing wails in front of everyone! Two lovely older ladies who were volunteers there took me to their room to mother me for a bit, and the nurse was beckoned once again. She was adamant that it was not an insect bite, and it was suggested that I was dehydrated. Well, if you know me, you know that I am constantly drinking water, and that is no different over here, so I thought this couldn't be the case. But then the nurse brought to my attention the fact that I haven't been ingesting much salt (they don't put it in the food often here) and I was sweating like a wildebeest in the humidity. Turns out she was right. After some electrolytes, two liters of water, and a nice sleep, I felt like a million bucks. Hooray for not dying!

Speaking of being terrified... two nights ago on of our girls suddenly felt that she was being possessed by an evil spirit. Unfortunately, no one came to get me, so I did not bear witness to all of this, but I heard many accounts of it from children and staff the next day. Apparently, this happens every so often with some of the girls. She says all she could see was red and she couldn't even see her own reflection in the mirror! She was apparently saying that she was the devil and wanted to die, and she was trying to run away to hurl herself into a well. Scary, no? Poor girl was so shaken all day yesterday. The western-style doctor came and blamed it on - what do you know? - dehydration, but that seems like pretty extreme behavior to come as a result of dehydration. The staff all believe she really was possessed, however, and because the girl is Christian, they called the parish priest to come by for an exorcism! So Father Sebastian roared into the yard yesterday afternoon, an old Indian man with white hair and a long white priest's robe, riding a shiny red motorcycle painted with the word "Pleasure" on the side! (I couldn't make this up if I tried.) All the children were gathered for a special prayer and blessing. I was a bit squeamish at first since most of our children are NOT Christian, and it is very important to Child Haven that we honor every child's religion, but Father Sebastian opened the prayer by calling to God by all his names (Allah, Shiva, Yahweh, Jesus, etc.) and saying that all are one God, so we can each pray to our own God and know that they are all one. I really appreciated that, especially coming from a Catholic priest! He also read a passage from the Bible (in Telugu) and later explained to me that it was about washing away impurities in the soul. Well, this was incredibly ironic, because just as he finished, the septic tank pumping truck rolled into the yard to pump out our tank! Ha! Talk about impurities.... Anyway, after the prayer and the reading, he splashed Holy Water on all the children, with a special focus on the troubled girl, and into each of the children's rooms in the building. I think it made all the children feel a bit less fearful of what had happened, so if it eases their minds to call on God, I say more power to them. I certainly don't know enough about the mysterious powers of the universe to say what really happened - dehydration, depression, or possession - but we should try everything to get the girl feeling better.

Well, that's the bulk of the excitement coming to you live from India. It took my about three hours to write this and to post the pics (below) due to a power outage at the internet cafe. Power outages happen every day here, which is a bit of the pain, but it's teaching me some good Indian-style patience. So go back and read this all again and be sure to savor every word since it was such a pain in my heat-rashed behind to accomplish this!

Lots of love,
Mae

PS - Posted more pics - a lot this time, and they are even rotated properly! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64840&id=697459212&l=ee6a4

PPS - Just taught the kids to sing "What a Wonderful World!" It is awesome and I will video it to post here soon. That's right, I'm bringing a little Louis Armstrong to the subcontinent! Rock on!