I have one week left in Pamohi. Forgive me if I haven’t written for a while – its one part not having enough to write about, two parts wanting to spend my last days doing other things. I guess I should talk about what’s happened in the last 10 days and conclude with broader topics of self-reflection and the passage of time.

Well, I said goodbye to Tat, Chantal, and Lilly – they flew back to the East Coast – and Paul is in Thailand visiting his fiancé so I’ve been by myself for ten days for the first time in 2 months. I like it. Power seemed to be out more frequently so teaching is a little sporadic. We spent three days setting up for, celebrating, and cleaning up after Saraswati, the festival celebrating the goddess of learning with a ceremony and lots of food. I visited Dulumoni’s house with Bibha where I ate on a full stomach, took a nap, then ate again two hours later. Her family was good to me and sent me away with a big beautiful gamusa.

I finished up my one-month lease in Bokul’s building and moved back into the guest house – it is nice to have a bathroom, water and electricity. I initially told Uttam I didn’t want to move back but decided I was acting like a stubborn child because I only said no because he told me to. I did a mock-pack and confirmed that I have too much stuff and that next time I shouldn’t bring clothing on a long trip that I’m attached to. Seeing Tets traveling the world with just a day pack and a grocery bag inspired me to cut down. It rained for the first (and only) time last Sunday and it felt like home. The next day the power didn’t go out all day and I taught all five of my classes for the first time. We’ve moved onto Powerpoint and they catch on quick.

I went to the Assamese Youth Festival. I spent my time watching Bibha because neither of her parents came and when the fireworks started she grabbed both my legs and peed her pants. I miss camp, and I needed to shower and do laundry anyway so I just kept carrying her on my shoulders.  

There was a two-day national transportation bandh (general strike) to protest the increasing prices of fuel so no school Wednesday but a bunch of kids hung out in the computer room and I half-assedly of taught class. I spent that night revising my résumé so that just maybe a job will be waiting for me when I get home. About half the usual number of kids showed up Thursday.

Friday was a good day – kids were smart in class and after school I went to the city and bought gifts for as many people as I could. The Hero Rolls Aimoni and I got reminded me of ‘Chas food and good times in Oregon. I bought a train ticket from Varanasi to Delhi. Hopefully Henry is getting me to Varanasi through the back door and might have to pay a bribe on my behalf so I can ride the Brahmaputra Mail train.

Rumor is that Anjumoni, the last of the 4 students with whom Uttam started this school in 2003 eloped and moved in with her new husband. She is smart, pretty, a semi-professional dancer and a leader at school and it’s strange to think about quitting school for good on a Wednesday, and all the reasons for and ramifications of willingly marrying at age 15.

Today I handed out pictures to the students, gave away a big ‘ol jar of candy to kids at the inaugural Young Green Soccer Academy game, and picked up momos for Madan and Nareswar when they joked that I needed to bring them some from Garchuk. Honestly, everything is so inexpensive by our standards that any gift is worth the smile on somebody’s face.

I also shucked 5 kilos of peas.

I’ll self-reflect later.