a few weeks ago i was sitting in the hospital visiting one of the SB ladies. her phone rang, and she said, "oh, it's my granddaughter." Since she was on the phone i could (obviously) only hear her side of the conversation...but this is how it went...
S: I'm fine. how are you?
S: one of the grandma's from the office came to visit me
(i think: grandmas from the office. is she talking about me. i work at the same office as her, and i'm visiting her right now...but i'm not a grandma)
S: No, not that grandma, another grandma. her name is "Moushumi Grandma"
yup. she was definitely talking about me...it makes sense in terms of the relational connections...and i'm definitely old enough to be a grandma over here...but i'm not quite ready to claim that title.
and another good one...
We just started a new round of training at our prevention unit last friday. On Tuesday i went out to visit the unit and to meet the new ladies. One of the ladies has a 2 1/2 yr old daughter who she brings to work with her.
I walked in the room and said hello to the little girl.
she immediately started crying and snuggled up to her mom.
i said "you don't have to be afraid" but it didn't help.
i've had this response from Indian children before, so i wasn't too alarmed. i just figured it would take some time for her to warm up to me...for me to become familiar.
a few hrs later i walked into the room that she was in again, and said hello and asked her how she was...same response. crying. fleeing to mom. that's okay...i can be persistent.
At lunch i ended up sitting next to her (i'd put my stuff down and then left hte room, and she was sitting next to my stuff when i came back in). she seemed hesitant, but didn't start crying this time.
as we were eating the different ladies started chatting...and the truth came out.
She thought i was a ghost.
that's why she started crying.
she said, "i've never seen anyone as white as you, so when i saw you i thought you were a ghost. i thought 2 ghosts came to the office today" (there was another foreigner w/ me).
once we got past the fact that i wasn't a ghost we became fast friends. She sat next to me jabbering the rest of lunch time. commenting on my food, asking if it was spicy...the joyful jabber of a 2 1/2 yr old.
S: I'm fine. how are you?
S: one of the grandma's from the office came to visit me
(i think: grandmas from the office. is she talking about me. i work at the same office as her, and i'm visiting her right now...but i'm not a grandma)
S: No, not that grandma, another grandma. her name is "Moushumi Grandma"
yup. she was definitely talking about me...it makes sense in terms of the relational connections...and i'm definitely old enough to be a grandma over here...but i'm not quite ready to claim that title.
and another good one...
We just started a new round of training at our prevention unit last friday. On Tuesday i went out to visit the unit and to meet the new ladies. One of the ladies has a 2 1/2 yr old daughter who she brings to work with her.
I walked in the room and said hello to the little girl.
she immediately started crying and snuggled up to her mom.
i said "you don't have to be afraid" but it didn't help.
i've had this response from Indian children before, so i wasn't too alarmed. i just figured it would take some time for her to warm up to me...for me to become familiar.
a few hrs later i walked into the room that she was in again, and said hello and asked her how she was...same response. crying. fleeing to mom. that's okay...i can be persistent.
At lunch i ended up sitting next to her (i'd put my stuff down and then left hte room, and she was sitting next to my stuff when i came back in). she seemed hesitant, but didn't start crying this time.
as we were eating the different ladies started chatting...and the truth came out.
She thought i was a ghost.
that's why she started crying.
she said, "i've never seen anyone as white as you, so when i saw you i thought you were a ghost. i thought 2 ghosts came to the office today" (there was another foreigner w/ me).
once we got past the fact that i wasn't a ghost we became fast friends. She sat next to me jabbering the rest of lunch time. commenting on my food, asking if it was spicy...the joyful jabber of a 2 1/2 yr old.
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