Melinda and Sarah Get Roped into Babysitting

Just so you all know, my blog website keeps switching the language into Bangla. Today I read it and figured out how to sign in without having to reset anything. Success! It's the small things that count.

Last Thursday, an important meeting was held in my city and everyone had to be there. Volunteers had come in to provide childcare for the event. Wednesday night, the volunteers got sick. So, guess who got a knock on their door at 7 am Thursday morning? ... If you guessed 'Sarah and Melinda', congratulations! You are correct! Sadly, there is no prize. We agreed to come around 10 am, after language class. As a rule, I like kids. But there are a LOT of kids in this city and babysitting from 10 - 2 was not exactly how I had planned to spend my day. There were 6 boys between 5 and 9 years old and one 2 year old girl. (That's not all of the kids, most of the older ones were in school.) Maybe 5 minutes after her mother left, the 2 year old became very aware that she was being babysat. She immediately set out to find her mother. The only problem was that she was going to wrong way. The meeting was held at the American Club and on one side of the campus, a preschool was having its sports day. Seeing other parents, the little girl incorrectly assumed her mother was over there too. I tried to convince her otherwise, but babysitters are not to be trusted and she ran away from me. I actually had to chase her down and carry her screaming away from where she thought her mom was. I'm sure I had absolutely convinced her that she would never see her family again. I imagine everyone within 20 miles was convinced of that fact too. As the poor child was being carried to certain doom, she finally lost control and had an accident.... in my arms... all over me... within the first 5 minutes of my day. I love kids. Upon delivering her to safety, I asked if anyone had extra clothes. The mother, understandably concerned for her daughter, replied that yes, she did have another outfit for her. No, no, I meant for me. Thank God, one of the other ladies had sweat pants and a jacket.

Later, a frog was discovered, dug up, and then rescued by Melinda from the boys who kept smashing it with a plastic sand shovel, because they said "frogs pee poison". Who teaches these kids science? One little boy got hit by a ball in a very sensitive spot, and later that same boy was told by someone that his family had gone home and left him. This, of course, was not true. His dad and sister had left, but his mom was still there. I would have taken him to his mom immediately, but of course Melinda had gone to the restroom and there were still 5 other kids who couldn't be left unattended. The second Melinda came back she took the distraught little boy inside and showed him his mom.

We were told that this meeting would be over at 2. At that time, we started telling the kids, who were repeatedly asking, that their parents would be there any minute. At 2:45, I was ready to escort all of them into the meeting. The children were beginning to doubt us. 

On the bright side, I got to see my uncle and he brought everyone marshmallows. Now the question is, should we eat them immediately or save them to make rice krispies treats later? Decisions.. Decisions...

Holiday Highlights

Happy New Year! And welcome to Sarah’s official Holiday Highlight Blog! We shall begin with Thanksgiving: Melinda and I had class on Thursday, so unfortunately, we missed out on the official celebration. However, one of the cooks at the guest house made us chicken strips, mashed potatoes, crescent rolls, and amazing apple pie. Then our Language Coordinator invited us to her family’s house for a post-Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving. We had traditional foods. No turkey though. It’s not really available, but there was ham and more amazing apple pie. Melinda and I also helped decorate their Christmas tree. Plus we got leftovers, overs so that makes 3 Thanksgivings in one year. J

Christmas season kicked off with “caroling” at the local church. You might think this means that a group of people got together and sang songs like ‘Silent Night’ or ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’, possibly while walking through their community. You would be completely, totally, and utterly wrong. But don’t worry so was I. What actually happened was a massive Christmas rave, complete with heart pounding drums, a fog machine, and techno lights. The whole church was dancing, including the pastor and his wife. There was a men’s circle and a ladies’ circle, and the two never mixed. At one point, they made Melinda and I join them. I can’t say that I actually “danced” I’m not that coordinated, but the ladies had fun dragging me around the floor.

Then there was the Pre-Christmas party at the girls’ school. The girls played games, did a skit, had a birthday cake, and performed some traditional Bangla dances. They also did two traditional American dances: the Macarena performed to the song Cotton-Eyed Joe, and the Mexican Hat Dance. Epic.

On December 20, we went to a town on the border of India for another Christmas party. To get there we took a night bus. It left at 10:30 pm. and the idea was that we would sleep on the 8 hr. journey there. HA. We took an Air-conditioned bus, because that means better quality. Little did we know, they would leave the A/C on all night in spite of the fact that it was December. The windows were also left open. However, Melinda and I were graciously provided with one blanket for the two of us. It was freezing and I did not sleep at all. If I never do that again it will be too soon.  We got to town at 6 am, slept about four hours, and proceeded to the Christmas party. It was a huge meal, with some speakers. But, we did meet some of the ladies who will come to our classes later, so that was exciting. Afterward, we drove to India to meet some friends.

On Christmas Eve, we had dinner with our friends the Smith’s. Then Christmas Day, everyone went to George’s apartment. George is Melinda and I’s supervisor. He bought stockings and presents for everyone on his team, and the other guests as well. I got several movies, and a t shirt.  George also made a big meal, basically Thanksgiving all over again, this time including turkey. And we read the Christmas story.

On New Year’s Eve, we went back to Smith’s for pizza, dessert, and games. Their apartment complex was hosting a huge party. They hired some bands, a dance troop, and constructed a stage, and a dance floor in the courtyard. All afternoon and night, there was really loud music, and lots of colorful lights. The Smith’s two year old son thought it was a giant birthday party.  After the party got started, four of us decided to go down and try to join it. It was supposed to cost 650 rupees, but none of us wanted to pay $15 to get in. So, we decided to just walk in and see what happened. At first, we were stopped and told to stand by the gate. Then, after a few minutes, the guard told us to go enjoy ourselves. There are some perks to being the local oddities. We definitely danced to Bon Jovi’s ‘It’s My Life’ and ‘The Summer of 69. We left after a while, but then came back for the countdown. The second time, someone actually moved people out of the way so that we could have better access to the dance floor. I guess we were just that good. :P The first song we danced to in 2011 was ‘Jail House Rock’. Followed by ‘Footloose’, something Michael Jackson wrote, Justin Beiber, and ‘Low’ by Flo Rida, and songs from Bollywood. There were also fireworks.  Who would’ve thought that my first New Year’s Eve dance party would happen in India? Life is so weird.