This post is simply a tribute to the many amazing people who have become my advisors, friends, and much appreciated 2nd family.
I’ll start with the Silk Centre ladies (as I call them). These are the women I live with. The 180-degree revolution we have gone through in these first few weeks is remarkable! The first days I was here, they were the main cause of any sadness I felt. As I wrote earlier, they mostly speak in Hindi and Marathi so I felt extremely alone whenever I would come home. Rupa, my roommate, really changed that for me! She would translate what I couldn’t understand and really served as the bridge between me and the other women. A few days ago we all celebrated a Hindu holy day by going into the town of Panchgani (AKA the market) and eating dinner and ice cream. We had a great time eating delicious food with our hands (the custom in Maharashtra), laughing a lot, and taking tons of pictures. 
They love my camera and always ask me to take pictures! There are 8 women altogether and Ashwin, the man of the house.
Ashwin (pronounced Ash-vin. “W”s tend to be replaced by “V” sounds here, and vice versa…or wise wersa) is Sabeeta’s son. He’s a really cool kid and quite the ladies man since he lives in a house with 8 doting women. Sabeeta, his mother, is the only female teacher in the computer department of New Era and is a very strong woman and mother. Her husband is an engineer whose work requires him to live in another state and thus she pretty much raises her son alone, for the time being.
Jothi, another one of the Silk Centre ladies, is the comedian of the group. She has a sense of humor that is not for the faint of heart or overly sensitive. She often times makes fun of me and my English, which initially really bothered me, but as I’ve gotten to know her better, I see that it is her way of growing close to people and now I laugh along with her and really enjoy her company. She’s a very genuine person and is kind of the “mama” of the house, seeing to it that everyone has eaten a proper dinner and all the lights are turned out before heading to bed.
Sunita is a bubbly and energetic woman from a state in eastern India. She cares about everyone she meets and always tries to bring a spiritual energy to everything she does. My other roommate, Sangeeta, has a nephew in Pune who is very sick and Sunita invited all the women in the house to gather in our common room to say a very long Baha’i healing prayer. Even though half of the women in the house are Hindu, they agreed and we all sat for about 45 minutes offering prayers and meditating. Afterwards, we decided that the Hindu women in the house would give me Hindu Sunday school at breakfast on Sundays and teach me Hindu prayers! They also have agreed to help teach me Hindi, Marathi, and Indian cooking!
The most important Silk Centre lady, however, is my friend Rupa. She’s simply the sweetest little ball of joy one could ever ask for. She’s always helping me out and serving as a sort of intermediary between me and the other women in the house. I’m totally honest with her and trust her a lot. She’s really a blessing!
Mrs. Tuba is the head of the primary school. She is a very gentle natured woman and is extremely well respected by students and faculty alike.
Mr. Isaac is the reason this blog can exist! He is the head of the IT department and always has an open connection to the Internet ready of me! More than my gateway to the World Wide Web, Mr. Isaac has been a total ally and safe-haven for me. He is a true lover of Christ and deeply honest, spiritual, and reflective man. I often go into his office to hook up to the Net, but instead end up having a long conversation with him about the soul, music, worship, humanity, or any other such topic. He and I see the world in a very similar way, a critical and creative view of life that is not particularly common in this school. I can come to him and express my frustrations with the methods of the school or the differences in the culture at large and know that my thoughts are safe with him. He does not judge nor does he preach. He simply suggests, guides, and most importantly, listens.
Mrs. Naoko is my co-worker in the Learning Centre. Simply put, this woman rocks. She has four crazy-wonderful kids and raises them on her own (her husband also works abroad, but should be moving to Mumbai in a few months! This, however, is after two years of raising her kids pretty much solo). I say “crazy-wonderful” because her kids are really energetic, loud, creative, and expressive, and could be classified as crazy. But, in the manicured world of Indian childrearing, their “craziness” is a breath of fresh air. The kids raised in the more traditional Indian method are extremely well mannered, polite, quiet, and obedient. However, what they excel in with regard to conduct, they can at times lack in sincerity and creativity. For example, every time I pass a student, he or she has been trained to say “Good morning/afternoon/evening, Miss.” 80% of the time he or she will say it with a radiant face and true interest in my happiness. But the 20% that greet me out of obligation really depresses and disturbs me. The words are dead to them, simply ritual. Mrs. Naoko’s kids, on the other hand, say exactly what’s on their mind (“I like to play with your hair, but I don’t think I would want hair this curly!”) Her son, Rui (pronounced Louie), is pretty much the coolest 4-year-old I have ever encountered. He is a human monkey and climbs on everything (including his mother’s limbs as she cooks dinner). Also, he has the most inquisitive and creative mind! He is always asking how things work, praising the beauty of the mountains, and trying to be as healthy as possible (to get this kid to eat food you actually have to tell him that it IS healthy! He only likes food if it will make him healthier and stronger!) Below is a montage of pictures I took one day at lunch when Rui decided to decimate an apple after being informed that it would make is biceps bigger.
Mrs. and Dr. Rost are the caretakers for the Baha’i Bhavan and all around great people. She is Indian (from Uttar Pradesh), he is American (from Wisconsin), and they lived in Kenya and Uganda before moving to India. I’ve decided to adopt them as my surrogate grandparents! They hold prayers every Sunday morning at the Bhavan followed by a traditional Maharashtran breakfast called “pooha” (pronounced poe-ha). It’s seasoned puffed, flat rice with cilantro, lemon, green chili, mustard seeds, and most importantly, peanuts! The cilantro, lemon, peanut combo is heavenly. It’s a wonderful way to start a Sunday – prayers and pooha!
My students are the other big influence on my time. I remember people at Bishop’s saying that the students are like the blood of the school. Without them, there is no life and the school is just a skeleton. As a student I never really understood or believed this, but now that I am on the other side, I totally get it. The moment the first students began to arrive, I knew that the school would be a different place when I went to bed that night than it had been when I woke up in the morning. I work with the really weak students in the primary department and it is such hard work! Let me take this moment to thank each and every one of my teachers! From pre-K till 12th grade, THANK YOU! Teaching really is the hardest job imaginable. You must remain patient, loving, and encouraging while pushing students, enforcing discipline, soliciting respect, and just maintaining basic order! By lunchtime I’m EXHAUSTED! Yet, there have been some awesome moments where my students have finally gotten a concept, or acted with virtue, or made me laugh so hard I cry! Overall the students are simply the most adorable little bundles of cuteness. Every Tuesday I teach the primary school a prayer and every Thursday I teach them a song. They love me because they associate me with music and fun stuff! It’s great! But back to the whole difficultly of teaching thing: I can’t thank all of my various teachers enough for being so patient and wonderful with me. You truly are saints!
The last person I have to mention in this post is the wonderfully adorable RHIM! She is the daughter of two teachers at New Era and simply the most beautiful child I have ever seen. She is so kind, funny, gentle, and caring! I love to play with her and take pictures of her big, bright eyes. Enjoy!
These are just a few of the many, many people that have welcomed me and guided me through the foreign waters I find myself in.
I promise I will post again soon and sorry for the long delay!
