Mathru School for the Blind
Wednesday 1/15/14
Now that I've been wearing my new salwar kameez for a few hours I can tell I need to have the pants adjusted. The waist is too high and big, even with the drawstring. But it should be easy to fix, and in the meantime, it's completely wearable. Shortly after we arrived here at the School for the Blind, one of Muktha's staff anointed my forehead with the red dot, and everyone approves.
The red dot … here, women wear the red dot like we wear lipstick at home. No outfit is complete without the red dot, also called a "bindi." Almost all indian women and girls wear them -- not just married women. It has religious and spiritual significance but I get the impression that it's a tradition mostly followed not for religious reasons but for cosmetic reasons. It's considered a beauty mark.
Everyone is all dressed up. The salwar kameez outfits are all particularly colorful and sparkly, some of the staff are in saris instead, and Muktha is wearing an especially gorgeous sari iof deep red and pink with black and gold. She said she is having her own seamstress meet me tomorrow to sew up one of my saris for Saturday.
I gather this harvest festival is sort of like our Thanskgiving holiday. I am not sure if January is really their harvest season, or if they celebrate this time of the year because the weather is so nice. This might really be their harvest season. judging by the delicious ripeness of the pineapples. papayas and other fresh fruits I've had here. Their monsoon begins in July and runs through September, with the heaviest rain in August. I don't think much harvesting goes on during that time.
As for the weather right now, it's delightful. Andy and I found it so refreshing after sticky steamy Singapore. The mornings are cool enough to wear my light flannel shirt-jacket, but otherwise it's shirt-sleeve weather with a nice breeze and low humidity. Well, humidity in the 60s and 70s here is low compared to the high 90s of Singapore.
Muktha just came in with some bangles for me to wear. They're nice, and match the coppery thread running through my sheer scarf that goes with this outfit.
But.
Once again, I'm an elephant here. These bangles are made for the smaller-boned women of India. I could just barely get one over my left hand, but my right hand is bigger and those bangles just weren't going on. For some reason, you have to wear them on the right arm. Anyway, Muktha dragged me into the bathroom, smeared soap all over my right hand, and forced the bangles over. It was not a painless operation.
I seriously doubt I'll ever get these off without cutting them off. Nevertheless I now have some bangles on my right arm to finish off my outfit, complete with the red dot and all, and Muktha is happy.
She also brought me a length of nice black cloth to make the fitted bra-top for my red sari tomorrow. She's enjoying getting me outfitted in traditional garb almost more than I am.
Late Wednesday night, back at the School for the Diufferently-Abled:
Well, apart from a chance to wear my new outfit and get a change of scenery, I'd just as soon have stayed here and worked on my new mosaic. There wasn't much to the festivities today. It was mainly a special lunch feast for the students. Lots of singing, and special treats before, during and after the lunch meal.
The special treat I liked best was a savory cracker-shortbread that I think is made with a blend of ground lentils and wheat flour. It was buttery, spicy, crunchy and absolutely delicious. Another one I liked was a blend of chopped peanuts and almonds with bits of fennel seed and other spices, and little tiny rocks of brown sugar.
Other than listening to the kids sing and enjoying some new foods, there wasn't much for me to do at the other school except be gracious when Muktha introduced me to some of the school's supporters who were on hand. She had a couple of my mosaics (the ones I brought from home to give to the school) hanging in the main entrance, and pointed them out to visitors.
I am starting to understand Muktha a lot better now, but understanding all the people she introduces me to is another thing. It's amazing how much energy it takes to act gracious when struggling with the accents, feeling anxious and embarrassed, and trying to go with the flow with no idea where the hell the flow is going or even what is flowing.
I was glad to get back and spend the rest of the day decompressing while working on the new bees mosaic. I must not have been fully decompressed when Kamakshi brought me dinner, because she irritated me when she reached into my tray, picked up my spoon, and started spooning rice and curry onto the tray. She's trying to teach me to eat the Indian way, I know, and usually I'm tolerant when she takes liberties like that. Her heart's in the right place and we can't communicate well because she knows very little English and her accent is so strong I can't understand much of what she does know.
But tonight I have no energy for tolerance. I growled out an "Ah!" at her. She had no trouble clearly and accurately understanding me to mean "You're overstepping your boundaries and I'm getting really pissed at you."
"OK, OK," she muttered.
"That's right," I said, and added firmly, "bye-bye now."
She was on her way out the door as I spoke.
My mood improved when Kavitha and Akshatha came in to take my measurements for the fitted bra-top that goes with my red and black sari. Muktha must have changed her mind about having her own seamstress meet with me tomorrow. I guess she decided it would be easier to have Kavitha do it here rather than have me go back across town. Either way is fine with me, I'm just happy to have them made for me.
Kavitha took both sari materials, and said she'd be back Friday with the new top and saris ready for me to wear. She'll also fix the waist on the pants to my emerald green and indigo-purple outfit that I wore today.
On another note, it was a nice surprise to hear from the computer guy at the Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped. Apparently he met with some representatives of the Friends of the Disabled Society there, and they are interested in providing training in certain handcrafts -- including mosaics.
So we'll see what happens. I'd enjoy a teaching gig in Singapore. As long as my classroom is air-conditioned, grin.
Wednesday 1/15/14
Now that I've been wearing my new salwar kameez for a few hours I can tell I need to have the pants adjusted. The waist is too high and big, even with the drawstring. But it should be easy to fix, and in the meantime, it's completely wearable. Shortly after we arrived here at the School for the Blind, one of Muktha's staff anointed my forehead with the red dot, and everyone approves.
The red dot … here, women wear the red dot like we wear lipstick at home. No outfit is complete without the red dot, also called a "bindi." Almost all indian women and girls wear them -- not just married women. It has religious and spiritual significance but I get the impression that it's a tradition mostly followed not for religious reasons but for cosmetic reasons. It's considered a beauty mark.
Everyone is all dressed up. The salwar kameez outfits are all particularly colorful and sparkly, some of the staff are in saris instead, and Muktha is wearing an especially gorgeous sari iof deep red and pink with black and gold. She said she is having her own seamstress meet me tomorrow to sew up one of my saris for Saturday.
I gather this harvest festival is sort of like our Thanskgiving holiday. I am not sure if January is really their harvest season, or if they celebrate this time of the year because the weather is so nice. This might really be their harvest season. judging by the delicious ripeness of the pineapples. papayas and other fresh fruits I've had here. Their monsoon begins in July and runs through September, with the heaviest rain in August. I don't think much harvesting goes on during that time.
As for the weather right now, it's delightful. Andy and I found it so refreshing after sticky steamy Singapore. The mornings are cool enough to wear my light flannel shirt-jacket, but otherwise it's shirt-sleeve weather with a nice breeze and low humidity. Well, humidity in the 60s and 70s here is low compared to the high 90s of Singapore.
Muktha just came in with some bangles for me to wear. They're nice, and match the coppery thread running through my sheer scarf that goes with this outfit.
But.
Once again, I'm an elephant here. These bangles are made for the smaller-boned women of India. I could just barely get one over my left hand, but my right hand is bigger and those bangles just weren't going on. For some reason, you have to wear them on the right arm. Anyway, Muktha dragged me into the bathroom, smeared soap all over my right hand, and forced the bangles over. It was not a painless operation.
I seriously doubt I'll ever get these off without cutting them off. Nevertheless I now have some bangles on my right arm to finish off my outfit, complete with the red dot and all, and Muktha is happy.
She also brought me a length of nice black cloth to make the fitted bra-top for my red sari tomorrow. She's enjoying getting me outfitted in traditional garb almost more than I am.
Late Wednesday night, back at the School for the Diufferently-Abled:
Well, apart from a chance to wear my new outfit and get a change of scenery, I'd just as soon have stayed here and worked on my new mosaic. There wasn't much to the festivities today. It was mainly a special lunch feast for the students. Lots of singing, and special treats before, during and after the lunch meal.
The special treat I liked best was a savory cracker-shortbread that I think is made with a blend of ground lentils and wheat flour. It was buttery, spicy, crunchy and absolutely delicious. Another one I liked was a blend of chopped peanuts and almonds with bits of fennel seed and other spices, and little tiny rocks of brown sugar.
Other than listening to the kids sing and enjoying some new foods, there wasn't much for me to do at the other school except be gracious when Muktha introduced me to some of the school's supporters who were on hand. She had a couple of my mosaics (the ones I brought from home to give to the school) hanging in the main entrance, and pointed them out to visitors.
I am starting to understand Muktha a lot better now, but understanding all the people she introduces me to is another thing. It's amazing how much energy it takes to act gracious when struggling with the accents, feeling anxious and embarrassed, and trying to go with the flow with no idea where the hell the flow is going or even what is flowing.
I was glad to get back and spend the rest of the day decompressing while working on the new bees mosaic. I must not have been fully decompressed when Kamakshi brought me dinner, because she irritated me when she reached into my tray, picked up my spoon, and started spooning rice and curry onto the tray. She's trying to teach me to eat the Indian way, I know, and usually I'm tolerant when she takes liberties like that. Her heart's in the right place and we can't communicate well because she knows very little English and her accent is so strong I can't understand much of what she does know.
But tonight I have no energy for tolerance. I growled out an "Ah!" at her. She had no trouble clearly and accurately understanding me to mean "You're overstepping your boundaries and I'm getting really pissed at you."
"OK, OK," she muttered.
"That's right," I said, and added firmly, "bye-bye now."
She was on her way out the door as I spoke.
My mood improved when Kavitha and Akshatha came in to take my measurements for the fitted bra-top that goes with my red and black sari. Muktha must have changed her mind about having her own seamstress meet with me tomorrow. I guess she decided it would be easier to have Kavitha do it here rather than have me go back across town. Either way is fine with me, I'm just happy to have them made for me.
Kavitha took both sari materials, and said she'd be back Friday with the new top and saris ready for me to wear. She'll also fix the waist on the pants to my emerald green and indigo-purple outfit that I wore today.
On another note, it was a nice surprise to hear from the computer guy at the Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped. Apparently he met with some representatives of the Friends of the Disabled Society there, and they are interested in providing training in certain handcrafts -- including mosaics.
So we'll see what happens. I'd enjoy a teaching gig in Singapore. As long as my classroom is air-conditioned, grin.
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