the beauty of busy, the beauty of nothing, and my Buchanan stage debut

This post was written on December 18.

I’d like to thank all of you who have given me such positive feedback about my blog. The emails, facebook wallposts, etc that I’ve received throughout the past months are all nice reminders that I’m not just writing to myself. But it’s becoming increasingly apparent that while I could write for days about my latest cultural observation, or the random sentiment of any given moment, I kind of suck at the whole writing-about-what-I’ve-actually-been-doing thing.  So I’ll try to give you a summary update every once in a while.

Today is Saturday and this is my first ‘nothing’ weekend in who knows how long.  ‘Nothing’ doesn’t mean nothing, of course…today, before 9AM, I had already been to prayer, gone jogging, had breakfast, washed clothes (HANDwashed, mind you (sorry, just gotta throw that in there)), and cleaned my room.

By ‘nothing’, I mean it’s the first weekend that I haven’t had to attend one or more major activities away from Buchanan. In past weekends, these have included visits to different churches, two different Harvest Festivals, the Kottayam Mixed Voices Choir Concert, celebrating Jim’s birthday, finally seeing Harry Potter!, and a memorial lecture given by Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. 

While each of the above events could probably merit its own blog post, time won’t (nor your interest, I’m sure) permit this as the power is currently out and my laptop battery life is running low. Suffice it to say that they were all super :) This weekend, however, has so far proven to be an enjoyable time of rest and relaxation with the hostel girls. Sometimes it’s nice to just do nothing. Even if ‘nothing’ is chores.

Other noteworthy events of the past few weeks…

-attended a housewarming

-went on a fieldtrip with the students of one of the Lower Primary Schools where I teach on Wednesdays

-went to a funeral. Betty Kochamma’s brother passed away :(

In addition to these events, the normal routine has been progressing as usual. Teaching English at 5 different schools keeps one busy, you know. Also factor in the writing project, my Spanish class, visits to the KNH hostel, activities with my own hostel, and the myriad activities that have been occurring—well, I’ve been a busy girl!

On a parting note, I will tell you that last week I was asked to teach a dance to some 5^th grade students for the Buchanan Christmas Program, which is taking place on Thursday, December 23. This has been more of a joy than I ever could have anticipated, and it is more than obvious that the girls are thrilled that I’m teaching them. They have picked up the steps well, but have trouble remembering the order; without my direction, all turns to chaos. So while there were originally supposed to be 11 girls dancing to Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas is you’ on stage in front of the 1000 students and teachers of Buchanan, there will now be 12. Except one of them isn’t in 5^th grade. She’s actually 22.

“My advice to the women of America is to raise more hell and fewer dahlias” –William Allen White