They don't call it Indian Style for nothin

This guy in the picture is really good at sitting this way.

I am not.

The apparent chair shortage here will either - break my back - or - give me back STRONG LIKE BULL!

I'm not sure if I've written much about the Ashraya Initiative for Children yet, but this may be a good time before I tell you a bit more about how the past few days have been for me.

Liz Sholtys, along with a group of other young people started the organization to establish a home for street kids. Until a few months before I came, I thought most of their work was focused on the kids.

Emailing with Liz and Patrick though, I learned that they'd started health and education outreach programs to have greater impact. After being here a week or so now, I'm still consistently impressed by AIC's projects.

I originally thought I'd be helping out as a volunteer with their health outreach, but since lots of kids have exams coming up, I've been doing more teaching. Which has been quite a ride in and of itself. I've always loved kids, but usually in the way that I love a good book. I'm used to observing characters from a healthy distance, and then putting them down whenever I want to. Not so when you're living with the kids - or teaching them about brer rabbit and the "wonderful tar baby." Another unexpected element of working with the kids is that dada is a word for brother (i think) so i'm called dada all day...

"Dada what I doing this?" "Um, in this activity they want you to draw one less balloon than in this box." "Coloring?" "See there are five in this box, draw one less over here." "one, three FIVE!" "yes, five, draw one less than five here." "FIVE! Matching?" "Um, no draw four - one, two, three, four balloons here." "FIVE?!" "four. draw only four balloons here." "Dada?" "yes?" "what I doing this?"

So the other reason that I haven't been with the health outreach program as much is that Patrick, who normally runs that wing of the organization is still in the US waiting on a visa to return. When he was here until January, they apparently had a good thing going with office hours at the community center they run every day of the week. This has been reduced to three days a week. And, I'm concerned, may be reducing Liz. She takes care of so many folks, it's hard not to wonder who's taking care of her.

Walking with Liz is quite the experience. She's keeping a lot going right now - even with two hired live-in teachers, she is ultimately in charge right now of the 10 (plus one twelve-toed baby. pictures to come as soon as i get a camera...) residential kids, 30 kids in the education outreach program, dozens of families supported by the health outreach program (where did you go last night Liz? to the hospital again, the guy we helped back on his feet last year has nearly killed himself and we need to go to the blood bank for a transfusion. which, by the way ended up being the perfect time for a blackout and for the rickshaw we were riding in to get stuck in the mud. really.) and now... wait for it... Microfinance!

Apparently she asked around about having an interest session for a women's self-help finance club. Instead of interest, there ended up being commitment and excitement. When do we start?
I tagged along for their first official meeting yesterday, which was fascinating. I've always been interested in the way groups organize themselves. The Waghris are one of the lowest "criminal" castes, but not only do other groups not trust them, but they don't trust others. So three groups ended up forming yesterday with roughly twenty women each contributing funds to a pot that they can draw from at 2% interest. Each group was divided pretty clearly by caste, which because of the level of trust needed for something as dicey as finance, is probably not the first place to try and work on integration.

One of the most recent winners of the Nobel peace prize was a Bangladeshi man who started a huge bank that oversees several of these small loans giving credit to folks that wouldn't get it otherwise, at fair rates of interest, and a sustainable means of economic growth.

Last Thursday though, I went with Liz to help one woman get an epidural for back pain, another woman get a mammogram and a boy checked out for asthma and PTSD. The mammogram ended up being $10 with consult, which brings me to the plug. For a group that is getting so much good work done, they have the lowest operating costs I've seen. So a huge portion of donations go directly to project funding, which in turn goes a really long way given the strength of the dollar against the rupee. If you're feeling generous, there's a link to the right for AIC where you can donate online. OK, Sally Struthers is done.

Suddenly a month feels like a very short period of time. But while this stuff gets me excited about heading to school in the Fall, I'm trying to be intentional about taking it easy. Reading some. Drinking tea. Breathing. Sitting.

Holi

So far, my favorite moment of each day here is just after I get out of the shower. It's hot here. Hot as blood. And, after getting up a few times in the night to give the ceiling fan a hard push to get it going again and drinking a half gallon of water here and there - the best thing in the world at that moment is to jump in a cold shower. Being covered in cold water helps life get good again. After that, I'm happy to sit with a book, the rousing birds, and my jet lag before the day starts.

I don't sleep well in heat.

Maybe sometime I'll tell you about when my family went camping in southern Louisiana in the summer. In the mean time, feel free to let your imagination work up the horror that came to pass that night.

Yesterday was the second day of Holi, which made me happy to get in the shower for another reason. Holi is the festival of color, for reasons that wikipedia doesn't really help ellucidate. The most noticeable feature of the holiday have to be children running around with water guns filled with colored water, and packets of color powder. Interestingly enough, wikipedia does suggest that these colors used to have semi-medicinal value, green coming from neem, yellow from turmeric, and red from kumkum - all plant products with demonstrated health benefits. These days though, toxic ingredients are what make up these bright dyes - not the least of which include mercury, asbestos and silica.

Still, it's fun to paint each other like easter eggs. So, that's what we did. On the roof. 10, wait, now 11, now 14 kids on the roof spraying each other with colored water. Thankfully this is how the Ashraya folks play Holi. Not in the streets.

Around town, no one, including the policeman pictured above in the BBC photo series, is safe from the little spectrum-happy miscreants. Liz, the lady in charge here, says that she's even been attacked while riding in a covered rickshaw.

After playing for an hour or so, it was nice to get in the shower again and wash the dye down the drain.

highly ranked list of waiting

I often feel like I'm living my life all at once. Not sure if it's the source or result of being so laid back, but I slip into memories hourly and I rarely feel regret because often I get the sense that events are set. I joke sometimes that I'm living with the goal of being a very old man by the time I'm 40 - cane, highball of single malt, cigar, small change to pay off neighborhood kids to steal things from convenience stores - the whole time ranting about the good old days.

In my course on Confucian classics, one of the most memorable passages was when Confucius was going on about how much better things were in the past. You know, back in the 4th century BCE, before all the modernity of the 3rd century mucked everything up.

Still, I'm feeling better today about waiting for school.

I had my last interview at OHSU, and in each of the three interviews the interviewers asked where I see myself in 10 years. Oh, I don't know, 10 years older?

I called my top choice and talked with the Dean of Students and he was very encouraging. He says that they keep a pretty short wait list and usually pull several dozen into accepted status. So, depending on what I hear from the other schools, I think I may have to let two acceptances go before May 15th and then just wait until the mad rush this summer when spots open up across the country.

OHSU, it turns out, puts the majority of its interviewees on a "hold" list until it finishes interviewing. More of the Columbia style of being less rolling, interviewing everyone first and then offering seats in the class.

The waiting that I'm most excited about right now though is for a potential niece/nephew. It develops my brother and sister (in-law, we're not that southern) are going to try in august for a munchkin, and I'm tickled with the prospect of a new person coming.

Oh how I long for friction

Seattle with out tread on your shoes is a death trap.

I think I'm going to look for new kicks this week.