We've Started!

It's true--we have actually started digging.  What an exciting day for all of us.  We have in place the temporary housing for the workers, the land has been cleared, and the puja (religious ritual) was performed.  The marking of the building was done and indicated with posts and strings.   The contractor has rented a home in a nearby village and yesterday we were invited to the blessing on his home. We had to be present at all these occasions--in fact this morning we found them waiting for us before they took the first ground up.  

The first shovelful was dug at exactly 9:30 a.m.  A big digger can move quite a bit of dirt and as the day progressed there were large holes the whole length of the school for the foundations.  It was fun to see how many bosses there were standing around watching the progress.  Everyone likes to be the boss--and with that job you stand around a lot.

We have begun on the school first since we ran into some numbers on the bid, which substantially raised the cost of the volunteer hostel.  We think with a bit a redesign and taking off some frills, we are back in line with our original estimates.  At this point we are a little gun-shy to say the least.  Many things that would be included in a bid price at home are not included here.  Some are very important, like sewer, water, electrical, etc.  We have seen the surprises that can occur with foreigners who think the system works like their own.

Ron and Joyce are leaving tomorrow for Bhutan to spend a week exploring with their friends from home, Bob and Jelean Montgomery.  We will send pictures and tell you a bit about it when we return.

Mani's Auto Rickshaw and Friends!

Mani, our oldest and best driver, used to make his living carrying passengers in his auto rickshaw.  Auto rickshaws are the primary source of moving paying customers in Chennai. They have three wheels, a smelly diesel engine, and are built to carry three passengers.  We have, however, seen as many a ten in one vehicle.  They also are an incredibly cheap--sixty cents from the store six blocks away to our apartment building and that is without any bargaining. You can distinguish an auto rickshaw when they come from behind by their squeaky horn sound.  Two wheelers (motorcycles) sound like wounded ducks while the big buses are the gigantic tuba players.  Everyone moves away from buses.  Our Tata Sumo jeeps make a nasty, unpleasant sound.  The bicycles only tinkle.  Chennai is a city of deafening vehicle horns amidst an anarchy of traffic.

Mani has now retired his auto rickshaw to a side path amongst our beautiful coconut trees.  He drives regular cars and vans, so his auto rickshaw has become surplus.  It is fun to drive, but mostly it just sits too close to the trees around it.  For awhile, the children were interested in exploring its innards.  That curiosity, however, passed and so day and night it has had no visitors.  It is sad to be so neglected and lonely.

Then, a new family from the coconut trees moved onto our campus.  It may be the same family that has been around for awhile, but since monkeys tend to look alike, we could not be sure.  At any rate, they found Mani's auto rickshaw and fell in love with it.  I think they made Mani's auto rickshaw feel much better.  You can see why.  They play on and in it.  They are even more curious than the children, and best of all--they discovered a new use.  Everybody, even a monkey, needs to feel good about how he looks.  Now Mani's auto rickshaw is once again in service.  It is the place where the monkeys can come and check on their appearance before heading back up into the trees to start throwing the heavy coconuts at us.  Mani's auto rickshaw is happy again.

(Photos by our volunteer Theresa Claugus)

A Symphony in Green!

Last Saturday was our rice planting day--we were mesmerized watching a tradition centuries old, repeated in our very own back yard.  We have two large fields we have planted in rice--we were to plant four, but one will become the leach field for the septic system, and part of the other one will have a bit of the new school wing interfering.  It's still a big area, and will provide us with rice for a year and some to sell in the market.  

The day began with a snake--auspicious or not??  Not sure, but the guys got in the power box near the water pump and there he was.  They promptly disposed of it--they're not ever likely to think will this snake hurt anyone, or does it do more good than harm?  It was quickly dispatched.

The field has been flooded for a couple of weeks in preparation for the planting.  The first thing that occurred on Saturday morning was the arrival of a pair of oxen and the driver, with a board dragged behind.  He went through the entire area to be plugged with the rice, smoothing the bottom beneath the surface of the water.  At the same time, one man was tying bunches of the rice that has been growing in the "rice nursery," while 3 of our guys carried the wet, drippy bundles to distribute evenly in the wet area.

The women were sitting under the trees waiting until there were enough bundles for then to begin.  There were eight women, colorfully dressed in their saris, which they tucked up above their knees to keep from getting in the muddy water as they did their planting.  It took them from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. to plant the two fields.  It was done in a beautiful order, starting at one side of a field at the edge, and moving backwards until they had plugged each individual rice plant into the water.  They moved back to the start of that same field and did it again, working almost in unison. They are bent over for hours--back breaking--but so beautiful to watch.  I wanted to try it, but the snake deterred me a bit!

The rice will be harvested in three months--in the meantime, we will watch the plants grow and the field fill in.  As mentioned in a previous blog, a rice field is God's green.