A few loose ends

I realize the past few days have been a bit vague. I'm into a routine and have forgotten what I've explained and what I haven't.

There are only 7 true orphans here. There are 40 from the maneuvers state which has suffered for years from civil war among the tribes. Many of these children have seen there fathers murdered, mothers raped and sibling butchered as punishment. There are a few others who's parents are lepers and 7 who have HIV. Some of them have been deserted while others have families who cannot support them or their disease. While they have contact with their families it is usually only over the summer when they go home for 6 weeks or the intermittent phone calls. There are those who are products of the sex trade and are generally seen as full orphans as well, receiving virtually no contact or support from their families. They too visit their families but the situation a home is often overbearing and they hate to leave Agnel's. I'm not real clear on why the home empties out in the summer except that school is out, the temperature can reach over 110 with little to no power, and the location is far from the city. Agnel's also has a school, a very expensive private school in two different locations where the kids attend as well so they are receiving a top rated education While there is a stigma, (note children's home not orphanage), the degree of education and opportunities provided them will place them ahead of many "average" public school students.

The kids hate Hindi because it is a legal form of torture. Based on sandskrit, it does not use a roman alphabet. They speak, read, write and think in English. Most everything is dubbed in English and while not everyone on the street speaks it you will have no problem finding someone that does. So why are they learning it? Oh., by the way, they take sandskrit too - because two languages based on dots and titles in a country specializing in IT and communications needs to teach the half of it's population receiving an education to communicate with the ancient and outdated. (Sorry, haven't been able to use sarcasm or multi-syllabic words for quite some time.)

Last night I was showered with notes and a few prized trinkets before tucking everyone in far into the night. The class 5 younger girls slept on the floor of my room to "help me pack". I had to pack three times and finally take my suitcase downstairs before bed so we could finally go to bed. They helped to lighten my load by taking every travel bag and toiletry I didn't hide in my pocket. (I still have a layover in London and need my toothbrush!) I have no socks, half of my shirts have been left behind and even a pair of pants was begged for. It was most welcome because I may have enjoyed the market a bit too much. The fabric is gorgeous, it is so difficult to choose, and unbelievable affordable that you find yourself saying "I'll take both!" and spending less than the cost of stop at Panera. (I miss salads. They don,t eat lettuce at all and most vegetables are cooked to with in an inch of being mush.)

So a local Al Queda cell planned an attack against an outbound US flight from Delhi last week. The airport is crawling with FBI agents. Didn't know this or I may have panicked. Now that I'm sitting in the security manager's office while they look into my ticket I wish I had paid more attention to the outside world. I'm holding a US passport and my final destination is listed as London. My ticket is booked in two separate legs but when I applied for my Visa I never mentioned going to London because I didn't know which flight I would be taking and never imagined the ticket would be booked this way. They did finally bring an agent in to speak to me and he understands, checked my connecting flight out of London and seemed happy with my explanation. There is such a hierarchy of management here it will take forever to find the top boss to say ok but he assured me I'll make my flight. Still he has someone just outside the office and has come back once already to say the Indian official is just waiting to see his superior but is clear on the situation. I asked if I should be worried and he said no, it is just formalities. So, really looking forward to coming home now!

I'll post later, Lord willing. Miss everyone and will see you soon!