Buddhist Priest (Not to be confused with Judas Priest)

After another hike up the hill to reach the Internet (approximately 100 ft with varying inclines and narrow pathways) we have come to blog our thoughts about the trip to St. Joseph's School for Boys North Point.

We started our day at 8:00 am with a school assembly in the court yard of the Harry Potteresque school with students lined in the courtyard that was reminiscent of drill exercises. We were welcomed with a round of applause as the special guests for the day. We decided not to get to used to this treatment from students in general, although Nadia is thinking of incorporating some basic training in Grade One...couldn't hurt. By the time they reach me in grade 8 they will be well trained.

We toured the school and saw the dormitories, bed halls and community grooming areas for the boarders. We interrupted classes and were greeted with the students standing up and chiming in with a collective "Good Morning Teacher". We walked through all the grade levels, but our encounter with a group of middle school students solidified the old homage " Boys will be Boys" half way around the world. The boys had been sent out into the hall for talking and arriving late. Some things are universal. Students also were privy to guitar, violin, multiple language classes, economics, civics, music, sciences, commerce etc. The school is famous for performing musicals and today they were holding auditions for Jesus Christ Superstar. Big competition for the role of Jesus and Judas. Mary...not so much.

One of the highlights was meeting Father Kinley who we have learned was a Buddhist who was a former student of the school. He decided to become a Jesuit Priest after sitting next to Mother Theresa on an airplane. He has been thinking about leaving his job as a business man and was considering the priesthood. Mother Theresa suggested that he become a priest after talking with him, and not knowing his pondering. He said this was a final sign, but concluded that he is both a Buddhist and a Jesuit.

INTERJECTION from Jeffrey: Hello there. It's been brought to my attention that maybe not a lot of people are reading my interjections, so if you get anything out of this or just want to hear more or just want me to feel good. Tell your friends that you like Jeff's interjection. So.. here's my thought for today. We're on day number 10 of our trip, and I am going to be completely honest with you all - the kindness is a little less ... cute. You know how after you've been hanging around with folks for a long time, and you're hungry, and you're tired, and you're smelly, and you're diarrhea medication isn't working... you know.. you're slightly less tolerant of people's foibles. So, we're at that point. NOW, don't think that this a bad thing, but recognize it is just a human thing. We are aware of our limitations with each other... which is good, because we're also realizing our limitations in a lot of other ways. You know, moving out of your comfort zone forces you to really reflect on your self in a whole wack of ways. So, the discomfort just means that you're moving into a new place... It's growing pains in some sort of way. So, the cuteness may be gone, but this means that we're all going to become a bit more authentic with each other... And, I think that the cuteness with this whole India experience has kinda disappeared too in a lot of ways... but I think that in the end, it's going to force is also to be a bit more authentic with the whole experience. Until next time - !

Finding the good deals,
Nadia and Andrea ( with a guest interjection by Mr. Poopy Pants)