Sunday end of afternoon here and I have just got up from a 3 hour nap. I think I was a bit short of sleep and the batteries were run down. The sore throat is still there with swollen glands and I need to knock it on the head. Am now taking paracetamol regularly and asked the Ayurvedic doctor for something medicinal to take. He has prescribed a pot of interesting crumbly stuff called VYOSHAADI VADAKAM, which I am to chew every 3 hours. I can already feel the effect.
Haven't felt very busy today, just church, a chat with sisters and then the Ayurvedic treatment.
Get home in time for lunch with the Pentecostal brethren who meet in Babu's house. I manage to really disturb them all by suggesting that the women sit down to lunch with the men..... Four are handpicked to sit with me and then everyone then eats in stony silence.
When I mention the lack of conversation, Babu explains that normally the men talk a lot. So I suggest they do just that while I start a conversation with the ladies at my end of the table. I start to talk to the women and the men just stare at us and listen in, so I tell them not to listen and to carry on with their own chat. This system takes a while to work!!! My so-called conversation is a very one-sided affair as none of the women speak English. I won't be doing that again in a hurry. Oh well!
After lunch, I have the pleasure of inspecting the handiwork of Valsa (pastor's sister) who has been repairing the badly made churidars (a really thankless task). She has done a good job of the repair and I can now wear these two new sets. Hallelujah!
I am giving her another new set of materials to make a fresh one from scratch. She is shy and not terribly confident about her skills but she seems competent. I can't help thinking that this could be a new income stream for her in the future with all the volunteers wanting things made.
My next ambition is to show the two little boys (2 and 4) the Duplo blocks I bought for them. The tiny one "Unni" has appointed himself the "destroyer" of everything and tidies away the blocks in the box as fast as he can. But he is up against Gaius (4) and the older girls who busy themselves making tower blocks and creatures and cars. Mum picks Unni up and diverts his attentions.
I have told them that the toys belong to ME and that they cannot take them home, but that, any time they come to Babu's house, they can play with them. This seems to have worked. I am pleased. The 4 year old really needs something to DO when he's here - and he's here a LOT during the week - as he's not yet at school.
The three hour rest has done me a world of good and I have had some tea and a snack of a couple of appam (rice pancakes). Life is good. I think I hear the volunteers returning. They have all been at Varkala Beach all weekend. Lucky them!
No comments:
Post a Comment