The title of this post is not “The Bare Necessities” for a reason. I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine.
His name is Mr. Bear. I am admitting to the world that at age 22 I still sleep with a stuffed animal. Think what you like, but I couldn’t imagine being in India without him. He was sitting on my dresser the day that I was born. He was a gift from my grandmother. He is the only one here who has known me my whole life. He is pretty special to me. He is especially a comfort to me when I am sick. And guess what? I’m sick again. I found out that the Malayalam word for cold is “jelladoshum”, which means “water curse” when translated literally. The word curse seems appropriate for the amount of illness I have been dealing with here. So the beginning of this week was difficult. I found myself being really negative about my health which made me a little negative about my surroundings. In other words, I got very very homesick. Luckily, these past few days have helped me remain positive.
I have been trying to take it easy, but things are picking up at lightning speed. I am leading a Christmas dance to “Do You Hear What I Hear?” that will be performed at the Buchanan Christmas program on the 13th. This week I had to cut a few girls from the dance (which was really difficult) because we had 25 girls! We are back down to 20 and the dance is coming along, so that is good. This weekend I am finding some makeshift costumes for the “lambs” “shepherds” and “kings” in the dance. I hope to get a good video of the performance. This week I am also started a “conversation class” at Speechly College. Our meeting on Thursday turned out to be a little less conversation and a little more singing of Christmas music. There were 8 students there and all were in the choir. We worked on pitches and harmonies. When I was walking back to the hostel with Reema, she suggested that I should help the choir students more often! I am so overjoyed that the choir shaped hole in my heart may soon be filled!
Much of my attitude has been all work and no play lately, so I decided that I would start a video series showing you all of the basics of my life here at Buchanan. It keeps me busy to work on these videos and hopefully provides some further insight into my daily environment and activities. When I have some time to upload them I will send them your way. For now, an exclusive sneak preview.
The first video is a tour of my room. You will most likely spot a guitar. I am practicing a lot and improving my playing as much as possible. I can play basic chords and some songs, but my strumming isn’t that rhythmic and I need to work on picking individual notes. I printed out a few scales and some basic “guitar theory.” It is nice to just experiment with music when I have the time.
The second video is a demonstration of how I wash clothes. Washing on stone is truly an experience. The girls tutor me and observe me washing clothes whenever I do. I thought it would be fun to catch it on film. It turned in to an entire production, which I didn’t expect, but welcomed with open arms. It was such a fun video to make. I sadly lost a little footage in editing.
So, the Holidays are a big ball of crazy, stressful, ridiculous fun. I am quickly figuring out what helps me cope with stress when it hits me. I am drawing lots of pictures, playing lots of music and writing novels. Haha. With the hostel girls this time of year has provided a good common ground for sharing and listening to Christmas traditions. I have enjoyed asking the girls at my hostel about their family traditions. Thursday night we lit the big Christmas star at the top of the hostel, as well as one paper star in the down stairs study area, a Kerala tradition.
For now I am signing off, attempting to rest some more and rid myself of the curse of illness that comes with teaching tons of kids. As you prepare for this holiday season, remember the joy of Christmas. Drink Hot Chocolate, make a fire in your fireplace, hang out with your loved ones, eat pie, and decorate a Christmas tree. These are all of the silly things I am missing here in the 90 degree weather that Kerala brings. Instead of Hot Chocolate, I will be drinking Chaia tea. Instead of a fireplace, I will help light the fire under the pot that cooks my meals. Instead of pie, I will eat delicious cake (A Kottayam tradition). Instead of decorating a Christmas tree, I will be gazing at lit up paper stars hanging from each house. So, Christmas is different for me this year, but I am surrounded by people who love and care for me. People who make me laugh and make each day better. These are the only true bare necessities.
“You will realize that both the noblest and the wisest thing to do is to cherish others instead of cherishing
yourself. This will bring healing to your heart, healing to your mind, and healing to your spirit.” – from The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche
His name is Mr. Bear. I am admitting to the world that at age 22 I still sleep with a stuffed animal. Think what you like, but I couldn’t imagine being in India without him. He was sitting on my dresser the day that I was born. He was a gift from my grandmother. He is the only one here who has known me my whole life. He is pretty special to me. He is especially a comfort to me when I am sick. And guess what? I’m sick again. I found out that the Malayalam word for cold is “jelladoshum”, which means “water curse” when translated literally. The word curse seems appropriate for the amount of illness I have been dealing with here. So the beginning of this week was difficult. I found myself being really negative about my health which made me a little negative about my surroundings. In other words, I got very very homesick. Luckily, these past few days have helped me remain positive.
I have been trying to take it easy, but things are picking up at lightning speed. I am leading a Christmas dance to “Do You Hear What I Hear?” that will be performed at the Buchanan Christmas program on the 13th. This week I had to cut a few girls from the dance (which was really difficult) because we had 25 girls! We are back down to 20 and the dance is coming along, so that is good. This weekend I am finding some makeshift costumes for the “lambs” “shepherds” and “kings” in the dance. I hope to get a good video of the performance. This week I am also started a “conversation class” at Speechly College. Our meeting on Thursday turned out to be a little less conversation and a little more singing of Christmas music. There were 8 students there and all were in the choir. We worked on pitches and harmonies. When I was walking back to the hostel with Reema, she suggested that I should help the choir students more often! I am so overjoyed that the choir shaped hole in my heart may soon be filled!
Much of my attitude has been all work and no play lately, so I decided that I would start a video series showing you all of the basics of my life here at Buchanan. It keeps me busy to work on these videos and hopefully provides some further insight into my daily environment and activities. When I have some time to upload them I will send them your way. For now, an exclusive sneak preview.
The first video is a tour of my room. You will most likely spot a guitar. I am practicing a lot and improving my playing as much as possible. I can play basic chords and some songs, but my strumming isn’t that rhythmic and I need to work on picking individual notes. I printed out a few scales and some basic “guitar theory.” It is nice to just experiment with music when I have the time.The second video is a demonstration of how I wash clothes. Washing on stone is truly an experience. The girls tutor me and observe me washing clothes whenever I do. I thought it would be fun to catch it on film. It turned in to an entire production, which I didn’t expect, but welcomed with open arms. It was such a fun video to make. I sadly lost a little footage in editing.
So, the Holidays are a big ball of crazy, stressful, ridiculous fun. I am quickly figuring out what helps me cope with stress when it hits me. I am drawing lots of pictures, playing lots of music and writing novels. Haha. With the hostel girls this time of year has provided a good common ground for sharing and listening to Christmas traditions. I have enjoyed asking the girls at my hostel about their family traditions. Thursday night we lit the big Christmas star at the top of the hostel, as well as one paper star in the down stairs study area, a Kerala tradition.
For now I am signing off, attempting to rest some more and rid myself of the curse of illness that comes with teaching tons of kids. As you prepare for this holiday season, remember the joy of Christmas. Drink Hot Chocolate, make a fire in your fireplace, hang out with your loved ones, eat pie, and decorate a Christmas tree. These are all of the silly things I am missing here in the 90 degree weather that Kerala brings. Instead of Hot Chocolate, I will be drinking Chaia tea. Instead of a fireplace, I will help light the fire under the pot that cooks my meals. Instead of pie, I will eat delicious cake (A Kottayam tradition). Instead of decorating a Christmas tree, I will be gazing at lit up paper stars hanging from each house. So, Christmas is different for me this year, but I am surrounded by people who love and care for me. People who make me laugh and make each day better. These are the only true bare necessities.“You will realize that both the noblest and the wisest thing to do is to cherish others instead of cherishing
yourself. This will bring healing to your heart, healing to your mind, and healing to your spirit.” – from The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche
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