FIRST SUNDAY

Sunday 20 December 2009

Up early! There is a new visitor in the house - Shoba - she arrived at 5.30 from Kuwait and will be staying a few days. A very jolly and sophisticated Keralan lady who puts me at ease straight away. She knows the house well and is an old friend of Babu's. She has a conspiratorial manner and we get on very well straight away.

I share a quick chat and am off to Mass at St Anne's Church near the airport -

right beside St Roch's convent. 8.45 am. Mass is held in Malayalam but exactly resembling the liturgy format I am familiar with.

A few differences. The large airy church has marble floors and everyone sits cross legged on the floor: girls and ladies on one side, men and boys on the other. There are a few plastic chairs for old ladies or those in elegant saris. Ceiling fans and open doors keep the breeze blowing and

the heat is just about bearable. PA system is powerful and works well. Volume is turned up MAX and can be heard in the whole neighbourhood. This is an interesting feature of life here. Religious organisations everywhere (whether Hindu, Muslim or Christian) seem to feel they have to promulgate their services to the whole wide world. Ritual prayers, rosaries,

muezzin calls all mingle together in a sometimes deafening din. Very in-your-face spirituality!

During the mass, there is great participation - children and adolescents are all active on the altar as servers, readers, offertory procession bearers. There are lots of jobs to do and all play their part conscientiously and with grace. All the girls are dressed in white and their very best sparkly clothes with head coverings. Boys wear white too. Just like a First Communion.

After Mass, many people come over and shake the sisters' hands. As I am sitting with them and the trainee teachers, I get introduced as well. Lots of staring and smiling. I keep my duppatta over my hair to be discreet. But I cannot hide!

We slowly wander back to the convent in a group. The sun is high in the sky now and it's hot! Hoping to have a chat with Sr. Mercy about the work I am to do with her. I am a bit taken aback when she says she has a meeting to attend all day, but I keep this to myself. I wonder how I will spend my time till 12.30 when Babu has said he will be available to collect me.

I have a brain wave and ask Sr. Mercy if one of the trainee teachers can spare some time and teach me the letters and sounds of the Malayalam alphabet while I wait. No sooner said than done. The half dozen girls are enjoying a day off and one takes me in charge. We sit in the courtyard under the tree and start. This alphabet is complex and not memorable. I ask a lot of questions and attempt to get the writing straight. She corrects me good naturedly and we advance. After about an hour she is visibly exhausted. A friend or two come over and we start to joke around, I ask the others a few more questions. They give me words to spell and write and I practice.

Then it's their turn to ask me many questions, They are VERY interested to hear that I have two sons and insist that whenever I come back to Kerala I MUST bring them BOTH with me. They ask me why I don’t have a husband! That leads into an interesting conversation.They glaze over a little so I make it brief.

Then we talk about their plans for the upcoming holidays which they are very excited about. I ask them where they live and we draw a map. I am also interested in their future plans for working and travelling. Most have moderately high ambitions. One girl admits she just wants to get a teaching job for a short time then get married. They talk about St Roch's teacher training college and how their parents have chosen it specially as it has a high standard and the nuns keep the girls safe from outside influences. They are proud to be students here.

12.30 rolls around soon enough and Babu picks me up. Shoba is in the car and as we are nearby, we pop into the airport to check on the suitcase situation. I manage to get past the police cordon into the departures area which is deserted. I find one chap who reluctantly informs me that no Emirates staff work after about 12 noon when the flights have cleared. I leave somewhat disgusted.

Home to lunch and a long nap. I seem to have no difficulty sleeping 2 hours every afternoon! Maybe it's because I haven't been taking my vitamins, maybe it's the effort of concentrating on every new experience, maybe it's just the heat!

The reward for the long nap is that the day has cooled off and the second part of the day now starts. The locals call it evening though it’s only 5 pm. And Shoba has decided that we are all going out to a buffet dinner at the Muthoot Hotel. We all get dressed up and it's a real treat. Air-conditioning is BLISS! I definitely eat too much. It's all quite delicious. Plenty of meat which is a good change from the largely vegetarian meals served at the Deepam hostel.