This morning I had the funniest thing happen. At 6:30 I was sound asleep when my door flew open and 2 seven year old boys came in shouting, "Chris key - crackers - bring key." They were talking Tamel too so I didn't understand anything they were saying. I asked what they needed crackers for and motioned with my fingers to my mouth. They agitatedly said "NO, crackers, crackers." Then one said 'Mani' who is a vehicle driver who works here so I thought there must be something to do with Mani or something to do with the children's safety. I told them to go out so I could dress then asked them again to which they excitedly said "Key for crackers - come to kitchen with key." I wasn't getting it so we started walking to the school area.
Here's some background - This weekend is one of the major Hindu holidays. It's equivalent to Christmas. The children were so excited yesterday in school it was hard to keep them focused. The festivities started last Monday and culminate tonight - Friday. They have been shooting off fireworks for days. They especially light large cherry bombs to scare away the evil spirits.
Here on campus we have a hostel where the children live with a housemother for every 20 kids. It was self contained with a kitchen and bathrooms until two months ago when a new dining hall was built that is much, much better for serving over 200 people rather than the very small one in the hostel. The old kitchen is now used for storage.
Back to the 2 little boys. They figured out that there were fire crackers stored in the old kitchen and that Mani could set them off since children are not allowed to have 'crackers' at the school. When I realized what they were saying I smiled. I knelt down to explain there are no fire crackers in the old kitchen. We had a few other kids and a house mother standing around listening so I made it a simple explanation to them. I walked back to my room chuckling all the way.
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