We were supposed to travel to Mumbai for the travel volleyball tournament. M was excited since this was the first travel team she made that she tried out for. N was excited because well it was another sports tournament. He also made friends in Mumbai, and they had been on facebook chatting with each other about the tournament. Then came the news...
We woke up on Monday morning our time (Sunday night your time) to the news that Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. armed forces. Really? Could this be right? Yes it was. Around 11:00a, I received a call from the Athletic Director that the trip had been canceled. It was advised by the American Consulate that unnecessary school trips be canceled until further notice, and it was also advised that Americans living overseas should be cautious of traveling unless necessary.
We still had volleyball practice since we were still planning a tournament, but it would be with local clubs instead of international schools.
Tuesday morning, I get the M and N up for volleyball practice. At 6:45, I received a call from N. He was at the school, but they had had an accident. He told me everyone in our car was okay, but our driver seemed upset. I asked if our driver was driving safe, and if the other person was okay. He told me our driver did nothing wrong, but the person was on a scooter and he rolled across the pavement. N said that he was screaming in pain. I told him to say a prayer for the man. I asked if he was okay emotionally, and he gave me the "tough man" response...Yeah. I received a call from our driver 10 minutes later. Apparently the man on the scooter had his finger cut off. Our driver took a rickshaw to the hospital with the man. Charles went to the school with E. Grateful we were for two cars at this moment. The man on the scooter came from behind another car and accelerated to overtake the car behind ours and did not see our car. He hit the driver's side (passenger side for everyone in the U.S.), and he crushed his hand between the mirror and and his handle bars. The mirror cut his finger off (just the top - tip really).
Our week was not going so well, but it could only go up from here!
The end of the school year can get hectic as many of you know, but if it is on the school calendar we are good, right? Usually....
My friends and I had planned a scrapbooking weekend for May 13th - 15th. We could not wait. It was at our favorite hotel. I never thought I would have a favorite hotel, but that is how it is in India. When the tournament was canceled, we changed our weekend to May 6th - 8th. Two days later, school events popped up. We changed our weekend back to the 13th - 15th.
Anyway, we received an invitation to the SAISA Banquet Award Dinner for the 13th. No problem, we will leave for a couple of hours and then resume scrapbooking. After all, we had to eat. Soon we found out the volleyball tournament would be on the 14th. Ok, we can change the plans. Before we changed our plans, we starting asking if it was confirmed. The athletic director assured me that the tournament would still be on the Saturday. We walked into the school on Wednesday afternoon, and it was posted all over that the banquet was canceled due to the election results that would be announced on Friday.
Ok, will be still have a tournament or not? I was assured again that it would be okay. Now, we have changed the date to the weekend of May 20th. No problem, the only thing scheduled was a Middle Concert. We could just come and see the kids and leave again. Oh, now there was also a dance scheduled. This is the last dance of the school year.
The banquet was on Monday the 16th. N received an award for Most Valuable Player for the swim team, and an award for Most Improved Player for track. We were very excited for him. These were sports that he had never participated in before.
I am not sure how easy or hard this is to follow, but we managed to get it all worked out. My friends and I had a wonderful weekend of scrapbooking.
We have one more sports assembly this Friday. I have one more card class that I am co-teaching with my friend. We only have 3 weeks left of school. We have one more R&R planned for the week after school to the U.K. to visit our friends. We have 3 weeks left of swimming club.
Living here has taught us to be flexible and keep that smile on your face even when you may feel like screaming. We never thought we would have to cancel plans for elections results. Oh, let me explain. It was rumored that if a certain party one by a little bit, there would be riots in the streets. The kids got a day off of school. We can never predict why things will happen or what the reason is for the things that seem so different to us. The locals live this life every day, most of them for their entire life. India puts speed bumps in the path (figuratively and literally), but we need to approach with caution and drive slowly to get over it.
My driver asked me, "Madam, why not live one more year?"
I did not answer right away. Then he told me that the airline was not answering the phone, and I said that is why I cannot live here. Simple things are so much time and energy.
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