Back in Kalimpong one last time...
I can't believe it's Thursday already! We've been here since Tuesday morning. Santa was kind enough to give Phil, Matt and me a lift.
The BBQ Sunday was really fun. I ate sooooo much chicken (quite surprising to SM no doubt). Matt, sadly, was sick most of the night. Ruth and Santa had a little arguement (dramaaa) but all is well now. We listened to Queen. Fun times.
Monday was not only our last day, but NRA's as well. Their winter vacation is from December 18th to February 12th. They have winter camps here, like our summer ones. The last day, as I might have mentioned, is results day. The first couple of hours we watched some football. Phil played a bit. I took photos. Sonu and Safal came over from Barra Number. I love how everyone knows everyone else. All the kids knew each other already. After football we went back to the school. Sujit, the other head teacher in the school, read us a speech he'd written. It was so sweet. I teared up a bit. I kept a copy of it; maybe I'll post it on here eventually. Every student came up afterwards and gave us each a scarf. Again, so sweet. After that the stressssssful announcements of who placed where. Pragya was first in her class. Sangay scored the best overall. It's funny how few girls there are but in every class except 4 they placed first. Babul got 5th. Phil and I gave the kids with the best scores on their Convo exams the geometry sets and colored pencils we'd bought. We also gave everyone sweets. Then.... school was out. I took a photo of Phil pretending to ring the gong. Went home. Played lots of Uno. Watched Tom and Jerry for hoursssss.
The next morning, Santa came at 10 and that was it. It hasn't set in at all. I cried a little, but not as much as I thought I would. It was just too surreal. Driving by the paths, the houses, the school, the store... I can't accept that I might never see these places again. Or the thought that if we do go back and visit, all these sweet little kids will be grown up and with all the volunteers that come, probably not remember us. I hope we made some small difference. We saved Children's Day. That's one difference we definitely made. I'm not worried about them, though. Not at all. Every student in class 4 passed and is going to high school. There is no doubt that they will all be successful in something. Hopefully Pragya will be a teacher. Aasish will be a soldier. They're ambitious enough. I think that maybe we, individually, weren't the defining people in this school's development, but we are the pieces of a puzzle of a ton of volunteers who are always helping. I suppose Mondochallenge is to thank for that.
Interesting, miscellaneous facts that don't really fit anywhere in here:
1. Once a volunteer came over (American, of course) and married some guy from a few villages over. They spent a while together, she went home, changed her e-mail address and never talked to him again. Scandalous.
2. The government schools here cost, literally, a thousand times more per month than it costs to go to a private school like N.R.A. The private schools, however, are way better quality. The teachers actually show up and teach them more. To be a teacher in a government school, you have to pay a fee (really a bribe) of up to 40,000 rupees. Crazy.
Tomorrow is our last full day here. Gift shopping day! Phil is getting me a Christmas present too. Jewelry, probably. I have no idea what I'm getting him... ahhh. Ruth might be in town so maybe one last drink at Gompu's before we peace out.
Oh, Phil was sick yesterday! Stomach troubles from early in the morning til the evening. He managed dinner, though. He's feeling way better today and is downstairs gaming as I write this.
I might walk up the best view (in my opinion) later by the ex-leper colony. We walked up there on Saturday but I didn't have my camera. You feel like you can reach out and touch all the mountains. It makes you feel very small, actually.
The BBQ Sunday was really fun. I ate sooooo much chicken (quite surprising to SM no doubt). Matt, sadly, was sick most of the night. Ruth and Santa had a little arguement (dramaaa) but all is well now. We listened to Queen. Fun times.
Monday was not only our last day, but NRA's as well. Their winter vacation is from December 18th to February 12th. They have winter camps here, like our summer ones. The last day, as I might have mentioned, is results day. The first couple of hours we watched some football. Phil played a bit. I took photos. Sonu and Safal came over from Barra Number. I love how everyone knows everyone else. All the kids knew each other already. After football we went back to the school. Sujit, the other head teacher in the school, read us a speech he'd written. It was so sweet. I teared up a bit. I kept a copy of it; maybe I'll post it on here eventually. Every student came up afterwards and gave us each a scarf. Again, so sweet. After that the stressssssful announcements of who placed where. Pragya was first in her class. Sangay scored the best overall. It's funny how few girls there are but in every class except 4 they placed first. Babul got 5th. Phil and I gave the kids with the best scores on their Convo exams the geometry sets and colored pencils we'd bought. We also gave everyone sweets. Then.... school was out. I took a photo of Phil pretending to ring the gong. Went home. Played lots of Uno. Watched Tom and Jerry for hoursssss.
The next morning, Santa came at 10 and that was it. It hasn't set in at all. I cried a little, but not as much as I thought I would. It was just too surreal. Driving by the paths, the houses, the school, the store... I can't accept that I might never see these places again. Or the thought that if we do go back and visit, all these sweet little kids will be grown up and with all the volunteers that come, probably not remember us. I hope we made some small difference. We saved Children's Day. That's one difference we definitely made. I'm not worried about them, though. Not at all. Every student in class 4 passed and is going to high school. There is no doubt that they will all be successful in something. Hopefully Pragya will be a teacher. Aasish will be a soldier. They're ambitious enough. I think that maybe we, individually, weren't the defining people in this school's development, but we are the pieces of a puzzle of a ton of volunteers who are always helping. I suppose Mondochallenge is to thank for that.
Interesting, miscellaneous facts that don't really fit anywhere in here:
1. Once a volunteer came over (American, of course) and married some guy from a few villages over. They spent a while together, she went home, changed her e-mail address and never talked to him again. Scandalous.
2. The government schools here cost, literally, a thousand times more per month than it costs to go to a private school like N.R.A. The private schools, however, are way better quality. The teachers actually show up and teach them more. To be a teacher in a government school, you have to pay a fee (really a bribe) of up to 40,000 rupees. Crazy.
Tomorrow is our last full day here. Gift shopping day! Phil is getting me a Christmas present too. Jewelry, probably. I have no idea what I'm getting him... ahhh. Ruth might be in town so maybe one last drink at Gompu's before we peace out.
Oh, Phil was sick yesterday! Stomach troubles from early in the morning til the evening. He managed dinner, though. He's feeling way better today and is downstairs gaming as I write this.
I might walk up the best view (in my opinion) later by the ex-leper colony. We walked up there on Saturday but I didn't have my camera. You feel like you can reach out and touch all the mountains. It makes you feel very small, actually.
posted by Eliza and Phil at 11:49 AM
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