day off, round two

In a country of 1.1 billion, everything is interconnected in some way or another.

Take, for example, the bus drivers' strike (or "bandh," as it's called in India) that's emerged in the last day here (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Bharat-bandh-What-s-the-situation-in-your-state/Article1-567680.aspx see: Karnataka). Though the village of Josephnagar is reasonably remote, the strike has impacted the town - enough to cancel classes for the day.

So, we had our second day off from teaching, something I relished: because really, I'm much better at playing with the girls than I am at teaching them English. We spent the morning doing some impromptu tutoring in the home. I'm better with the older students, so I spent time with them, teaching them how to structure sentences; meanwhile, my perpetually-patient mother took the smaller ones.

Having explored the surrounding area a bit, I had the idea to take the girls on a walk before the inevitable daily late-afternoon thunderstorm. The nuns eagerly agreed, so after lunch, we five volunteers and Sister Mary - the Superior here - took sixty-odd girls on a walk through the surrounding countryside to the nearby river. Swimming is a rare treat for them, and they made the most of it. I had initially planned to avoid getting wet (the phrase "fecal coliform" echoed in my ears from science class), but I was bored within five minutes, so I figured what the heck.

The girls were happier than I've seen them in my week in Hassan, and it was comforting to know that I had done something right. Geetika, one of the third standard girls, thought it would be funny to steal my sandals: I walked the half-mile back to the home in bare feet, but I'm not complaining.

Once we were back, Mike showed us the home's biodiesel generator, fueled by the waste of the home's cows. India is surprisingly very green, and the home and school are no exceptions. I also had the opportunity to check out the solar panels on the roof, from which I could see wind turbines capping a mountaintop in the distance. If I ever come back, I'd love to implement my knowledge of environmental science and work to perfect the home's renewable energy sources (particularly the solar water heater).

We're finishing up our time here; tomorrow, sadly, is our last day of teaching. On Wednesday, we're heading two and a half hours to the east to visit an orphanage under construction, and on Thursday, we leave for Bangalore at around six in the morning. Of course, our return is dependent on the status of the bus drivers' strike: no bus drivers, no buses. This would mean delaying our sightseeing trip in the north of the country, but frankly, I'm not adverse to spending a couple more days with these kids.