New friends :)

I am suddenly starting to realize that time goes by quite fast down here.  After checking my calendar I was surprised to see that we have already been here for over three weeks! Still I almost forget that I should go and write something on the blog (sorry about that!), partly because many of the weekdays are quite the same and partly because many of the small and big things we experience down here not always is too easy to translate into good words (especially since I don’t write my original language too..). Still I will try to include you more in what happens around here, by trying to “make small things big” :) Today I want to tell you a bit about some of my new friend down here. I have got quite a few new friends, mostly smaller ones, but they are just as important for my days as the bigger ones.

Every morning, till lunch, the three of us go over to the hospital to help out at the adoption centre with the babies. There are eleven children there. The smallest one, Rani, is almost two months now, and the oldest ones are around 16 months. So they are quite small. Still, after coming several days a week for three weeks, they are now starting to get to know us (and the other way around), and I really care a lot about them all! Coming in there seeing all the cute faces, fighting about who can be lifted up first, is really nice. They are also a lot more secure with us now, and that makes it easier for us to figure out what they like, when they are tired, when they are hungry, when they just want to hug etc, despite that we have no common language for communication. For all of you that have children or have been able to follow a baby close by over time, know these things a lot better than me, but I think it’s really nice to be able to spend so much time with them and see how much we can understand from each other. And Norwegian children`s songs like “Mikkel Rev”, “So, ro, lillemann”, “Ro,ro, ro din båt” all works even if they don`t understand what I sing ( I guess I am more surprised over all the texts that I actually remember!). After just three weeks they have also changed a lot, at least the smallest ones. Me and Rani has a good connection, and it was so nice the first days I managed to make her smile :)  The bigger ones also grow a little all the time, but it is not so easy to see from day to day.. We also have a job to try to walk with them and strengthen their backs and legs, they are not so focused on that here as at homw, even if I think they are doing a good job here. Anyways, it will be interesting to see how they have all changed in the end of my time here! 

The lovely Rani - "lykketrollet mitt" :)

Shivana aka Malene :)

Revedi, who is always hanging on my hip.

Harini

Virumani

The tough guy, Vikram (Vikki), who now has moved to the children's home

I guess we are not to say that we have any favourites among the children, but as in every other setting, we get a better connection with some people before others. I see this with the babies too, even if we try to spend time with all of them. Still, when mum asked how many I would bring back, I said I would never be able to pick (not that I can, but hypothetically!).. They are all really nice, and have different qualities. So I find it convenient, and quite nice, that some things in life are totally random!

This is a few of my new friends, but I also have some others too. At the children`s home there are 175 children, and from day 1 we had many of them hanging around us all the time. They tried as well as they could to teach us some Tamil, and all of them are/were almost obsessed by us remembering their name. For a person that is really bad at remembering Norwegian names, this was (and still is) a big challenge. A Tamil name have different sounds and does not at all sounds like the English names the Christian children have, like Mary, Peter etc. But we are starting to get to know more and more of the names, and it`s nice to be able to spend time with them, even if some has quite a weak English vocabulary… Of course we cannot get to know all of them, but the point is to show them some attention. For many of them is more the fact that we answers their greetings (“Good morning, sister, how are you?” :) ), spend some time outside in the backyard etc. that matters the most. But the girls Pria x3, Vasoki, Darsheni, Laxmi (and a few more) are all a part of our constant tale that follows us everywhere. – my thangathi’s (babysisters),! So Malene, you have got some competition now ;) As long as we can get some privacy in our rooms this is just nice, it is the reason why we are here, so we just have to throw ourselves out there :)

Lakshmi, me and one more, i of course do not remeber the name of...

The girls / ladies at the kitchen, who seve us all of our meals. Really nice ones!

At the playground with the youngest here at the children's home

 

I have never had the ability to express myself in few words, I am very aware of that. Still, I have couple more I want to mention before my friends-post is over ;)

After these weeks we volunteers also get to know each other quite well. It is not so easy to get to know MeHee since her English is not so good, but we try all the way to talk to her, and ask about how things work in South – Korea, and what she thinks about things. She is a really nice lady, but it is hard when communication is rather weak. Me and Marie does not have that problem at all! We talk a lot about everything, and I really appreciate having her here! Altogether there are four Norwegian volunteers with Projects Abroad, including me and Sebastien, so it was really lucky that I got someone else where that I get well a long with AND can speak Norwegian with! It will be quiet here when she leaves, but its still a couple of weeks till, so I won`t think of that yet :)

MeHee, Marie and me at the beach in Kannyakumari (next post!

This was, as usual, a long post, but this is also an important one. These are the people I spend all my time with down here, and  who make my experiences. And I think I care a lot more for all of them then I realize! I just have to enjoy every moment with them :)

Last I just want to introduce you to a guy that I have got to know quite well over the last few weeks, and that I also would recommend you all to get to know (if you don`t already know him). His name is Lin, and I have followed him through thick and thin around in India for exactly 909 pages ;) As you might understand, Lin is a character, and his most known name is Shantaram. Reading this book down here has been really interesting, since I see a lot the things he explains (well, not all of them of course, since he is quite extreme, but some), like how Indians act, special parts of the culture, food, behavior etc. So if you have not read this book, and is ready for a great book (in both meanings!), I would really recommend it :)

Last, but not least: Hope you are all doing well! It`s very nice to see that so many people come by our blog - we really appreciate it! Comments are also very nice, feedback is a good motivator for future posts! Have a good week!

Anja