Report of 14 Feb 2017
Happy Valentine's Day!
I'd forgotten this was a thing. It's not as frenzied here - though it is becoming more so. [All my teen life, I looked forward to getting a heart-shaped box of chocolate: I'd seen it in comics and it looked so, so novel and attractive. I did get one after we got married; Scott bought it on 15 Feb, the sensible thing to do - when everything was discounted.] It was only when we Skyped with Navin on Sunday and he mentioned Valentine's Day (his professor's girlfriend had recently died, they were told during an exam and Navin spent the rest of the exam apparently thinking "Dang, a week before Valentine's Day") that I realised it.
Family Day is almost here! It is a day when staff bring their families to the B. There are games, and mehendi (henna), and rides; there is also biryani and fried chicken and ice cream, and the staff wait for it all year. This year, Scott's former professor at Purdue donated a chunk of money and that made the fundraising easy. We also dance like ones possessed; as the cast of "Slumdog Millionaire" said, "Everyone dances." It is a fun day. I bought saris for some of the staff, and one young woman got teary; these precious folks often come to us as teenagers, charged with earning enough to support their families at home. They are at the age when clothing and fashion and romantic interests must rule, and instead they must earn to sustain families. I feel for these folks and we do whatever we can to make them feel appreciated.
Private practice is also nice. A new breed of patient: the sexually active, young, unmarried Indian. Many young women end up pregnant, come in for a procedure and then have to be counselled extensively on birth control. "It was an accident" and "He can control it" are common refrains. It helps to have a huge swathe of grey hair, thus I can speak of birth control without getting "koocham" (awkward.)
The weekend before last, we were in Coorg for a 2nd cousin's wedding. It is nice to go to these things and see relatives. A tradition in Coorg is for close family members and friends to make short eats, or hors-d'oeuvres, to be served on entry to the marriage hall; these are sinfully good and I usually binge on them instead of the wedding meal. That happened this wedding, too. We visited other relatives, also, and all was fun. The train journey back was eventful, with several wait-listed individuals clambering on and Scott and I squeezing up on one berth; we got home, which was the important thing. And then, we had a neighbor's son's wedding to go to here, which was also fun.
I'd better wind up and get ready for bed.
Unw -
R
I'd forgotten this was a thing. It's not as frenzied here - though it is becoming more so. [All my teen life, I looked forward to getting a heart-shaped box of chocolate: I'd seen it in comics and it looked so, so novel and attractive. I did get one after we got married; Scott bought it on 15 Feb, the sensible thing to do - when everything was discounted.] It was only when we Skyped with Navin on Sunday and he mentioned Valentine's Day (his professor's girlfriend had recently died, they were told during an exam and Navin spent the rest of the exam apparently thinking "Dang, a week before Valentine's Day") that I realised it.
Family Day is almost here! It is a day when staff bring their families to the B. There are games, and mehendi (henna), and rides; there is also biryani and fried chicken and ice cream, and the staff wait for it all year. This year, Scott's former professor at Purdue donated a chunk of money and that made the fundraising easy. We also dance like ones possessed; as the cast of "Slumdog Millionaire" said, "Everyone dances." It is a fun day. I bought saris for some of the staff, and one young woman got teary; these precious folks often come to us as teenagers, charged with earning enough to support their families at home. They are at the age when clothing and fashion and romantic interests must rule, and instead they must earn to sustain families. I feel for these folks and we do whatever we can to make them feel appreciated.
Private practice is also nice. A new breed of patient: the sexually active, young, unmarried Indian. Many young women end up pregnant, come in for a procedure and then have to be counselled extensively on birth control. "It was an accident" and "He can control it" are common refrains. It helps to have a huge swathe of grey hair, thus I can speak of birth control without getting "koocham" (awkward.)
The weekend before last, we were in Coorg for a 2nd cousin's wedding. It is nice to go to these things and see relatives. A tradition in Coorg is for close family members and friends to make short eats, or hors-d'oeuvres, to be served on entry to the marriage hall; these are sinfully good and I usually binge on them instead of the wedding meal. That happened this wedding, too. We visited other relatives, also, and all was fun. The train journey back was eventful, with several wait-listed individuals clambering on and Scott and I squeezing up on one berth; we got home, which was the important thing. And then, we had a neighbor's son's wedding to go to here, which was also fun.
I'd better wind up and get ready for bed.
Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
5:09 AM
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