Coloring pictures and coloring meprint story
September 03, 2010
I love Mondays because I go to Sitara I for the morning and Mehan for the afternoon and it’s the only day when I see the littler ones. Mornings at Sitara I are spent coloring and reading stories and still trying to learn names. Since I only see them once a week, the names are coming to me slower. So we color! I love that the smell of a fresh box of crayons will take me right back to being in grade school. The effect is the same for me even here. Anyway, the kids are so excited to color and show me what they have done. “Ang-E-la! Ang-E-la! Look!” I tell them it’s beautiful in Dari, “Magbool! Magbool!” Some but definitely not all of these children have sponsors as well, however getting them to produce anything that resembles a letter is going to be a challenge. We are going to work on our names. That lined paper is a God-send! I’m going to use it and hopefully together we can produce some letters for the sponsors. Then I went to Mehan. 2 computer/typing classes and a karate class, then the girls got an idea. Parwana got out the henna and insisted that she decorate my hands. Now, I have very flowery, swirly decorations on the palm of my left hand and flowers from my wrist to the nail on my forefinger on my right hand. “Magbool!” Then they asked me to dance. There were about 20 girls involved in this project and they wanted me to sing a song and dance. Um… yeah… I want to embrace all of this experience, but for me dancing usually takes place in my living room after a couple Mike’s Hard Lemonades while I am blaring my Christina Aguilera dvd. So, I promised them that we would have a sleep over when I can stay at the orphanage and they can teach me Afghan style dancing and some songs. They love to sing! Mostly Afghan songs, of course, but occasionally I will hear someone singing, “That’s the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh,” which always makes me laugh. Anyway, things are good! Other than fearing for my life when I am in the car being driven to and from the orphanage, I do feel relatively safe. The loudest noises have been planes or helicopters flying over head, the prayers that get broadcast at all hours and the ice cream cart that gets pushed past our compound which squeels the tune of Beethoven’s “Fur elise.” (Ian said that they change up the song occasionally and sometime I should hear Jingle Bells, which of course I will find hilarious.) Oh, and I think I am coming down with my first cold. I expected this. I brought Airborne. And green tea works miracles.
Please log in to post a comment!
| 
Omprakash volunteers have been posting stories, photos and even videos from their time abroad since 2007. We now have an extensive collection of personal stories from volunteers who've worked with our partners abroad. You can browse through the most recent stories below or use the category selection tool to narrow your search. Alternatively click on the Stories tab for each organization we work with to see specific accounts from a particular organization. Be careful - you might lose a couple hours of your day in here! Happy reading.