busy!

Hey everyone!
Sorry I didn't get to update my blog yesterday (other than the pics). The internet was down all evening yesterday.  I have so much to write about in these past two days, but there's probably not enough time or space to do so. I'll hit the highlights.

Yesterday we got to play in the preschool that is here in the compound. Children come from pretty far around this area, and many of them are very poor.  Here at the preschool, they receive a bath, eat good meals, and they are taught basic Marati and Enlgish.  There are about 50 kids every day, and only one teacher, so she was delighted to have us come and play with them! I was playing inside with a group of girls.  We played with these plastic tabs that you can create designs with in a plastic mesh thing. If that makes any sense, lol.  I was trying to learn my Marati numbers and colors, but all I can remember is that red sounds like "lala," and blue sounds like "nahli." But then again, they were laughing at me the whole time, so for all I know I could have been saying "poop." They were really sweet kids. Here's one picture of a girl that I worked with all morning (her eyes are big because she was just playing around):

Next, we went to the cattle market and the vegetable market.  I've posted a picture of me and Michelle at the cattle market in the previous post. Basically, there are hundreds of bullocks, goats, and water buffalos for sale by all of the people in Jamkhed. It's mostly a social gathering than anything else, and boy, were we an attraction for those at the cattle market.  It's all men at the market, no women usually come, so we were even more of a wonder to them.  People literally followed our group around as we walked through the market, and when we would stop, they would too. And surround us. And stare at us.  Very peculiar.  We felt pretty uncomfortable, even though we had a guide and he assured us that we were completely safe.  It just feels really odd to stand out so much, and to have people stare blankly at you.

After the market tours, we headed home to get a tour of the hospital here at Jamkhed.  It's an incredible facility, and it's considered high-tech for the area that it's in.  The hospital serves an area of 500,00 people! Since this area is so poor, only those who have adequate money have to pay the full price for medical services.  All others can receive treatment at a subsidized price. It's an amazing system, and works marvelously for the population that this hosptial serves. Here is a picture of the operating room:

All of that happened before lunch on Saturday! We were happy to have some down-time in the afternoon, and in the evening, Smisha (one of the educators/workers here) led our group in yoga.  Here is a picture of me and Emily getting loose before we started:

And for dinner on Saturday night.... WE HAD SPAGHETTI!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing with rice! And nothing that we had to guess at! AND it's one of my favorite meals! I had two plate-fulls. And I went to bed fat and happy. 

Today has been busy, but I don't really want to go into it too much because this entry is already long. We had church this morning, and our group sang "He Reigns" to the group that had gathered (Abbie and SarahJean, I know what you're thinking!). I htink they liked it, even though they couldn't understand it. We got a few smiles and nods from the crowd. Later, we met with an adolescent girls group from a local village, who told us the things they are learning from CRHP: how to handle their menstrual cycles, how to protect themselves from boys and men who are violent to them, and basic health care so they, too, can help their families and villages. Truly amazing young women!

Time to get ready for more yoga with Smisha! The rumor is that a tailor is coming tongiht to measure us for our saris! YAY!

Loving all of you from 8,000 miles away!
-Carolyn