2011 Cricket World Cup

Work has ended a few hours early today.  We weren't getting much done anyhow; India is playing Pakistan in a semi-final round of the ICC Cricket World Cup.  After finally throwing in the towel, I accompanied two staff members to go take a cricket bat and ball to a group of children they met yesterday.  Upon arrival, we found no such children.

Initially, they were hesitant to come out.

Probably watching the game inside.

Vic and Danny were willing to wait.

Once they brought out the bat and ball, though, children came from every door.

These kids were good.

The townspeople were sad to see the guys go.

Returning to the office, we found everyone together in the conference room watching India and Pakistan.  Things were getting heated.  This was reminiscent of being at IJM headquarters during the FIFA World Cup last summer- just the same, an entire conference room was devoted to streaming the competition games.  We don't mess around with world championships.

Somehow I imagine we'll be here for a while.

Trains, Rickshaws, and a Swell Pancake

A few weekends back I traveled with two fellow IJM interns to a village a few hours from our city.  The experience was delightful.  As I've been aiming to finish a book I bought for high school summer reading in July 2003, (wish I was kidding!) this countryside journey was ideal.  A peek inside the train:

 

These people don't mess around with their ceiling fans!  Throughout the ride every fan blasted at full force.  Here are sights we passed:

The views were serene.  Once off the train we hired two cycle rickshaw drivers to cart us around for the day.  For a time we convinced them to let us pull our own weight:

I'm not sure that any other profession will ever measure up to this.  I've been to the mountaintop. 

The week did manage to get even better.  Thursday evening I was sitting in my flat compiling a list of comparisons for two law schools I've been considering.  This would soon prove ironic.  I changed gears for a minute to check my email, only to change gears...well...for a year.  This note was waiting for me:

 
How about that?  Get ready for another year of blogging!  Nine months ago I began discussions with IJM leaders about potentially researching Indian abolition issues at Oxford, but I wasn't fully expecting to be admitted.  This was a marvelous surprise.  The next night I was invited to one of IJM's intern flats for a pancake dinner.  Being responsible for the batter I went home after work, combined the ingredients in a container, and hopped on a bus.  En route to dinner I shook the container periodically, hoping the ingredients would come together so I wouldn't have to mix them later.  White girls around here tend to draw attention.  White girls shaking tubs of pancake batter, I learned, draw much more.

During dinner one of the guys got up from the table and disappeared for a few minutes, then popped out of the kitchen presenting a candle-topped pancake to celebrate my admission to Oxford.  That was sweet.

Then three guys tried to sing an impromptu version of the happy birthday song altered to celebrate admission to Oxford, only each sang his own set of inharmonious improvisational lyrics.  That was rough.

Stay tuned for further celebrations: Holi is tomorrow!

Hat saga continued

You may recall my recent sighting of a UF fan here in town.  I pass this newspaper vendor every morning on my way to work.  I chuckle at his hat, we exchange congenial nods (to the side, of course; people here don't nod up and down) and I go on my way.

Check out CNN!