In the land of butterflies...

I have been here in Kalimpong for 30+ days and in India for 60+ days and I am so sorry that there has not been an update before this. I am not going to make any grand promises that I will blog everyday for the next 8 months to make up for it, but I do intend to keep you all better updated from here on out...

view of Kalimpong from our terrace 

One month ago I reached Kalimpong, West Bengal, India, after quite a few days of travel. The family I am staying with here had to make an emergency trip to Kolkata to visit the adoption agency that is working on the adoption paperwork for the two kids. Jeewan Loy (5) and Manju (10) have lived with Lindy for quite some time; Jeewan Loy since birth and Manju since she was 3 years old. Three years ago Lindy began the process to legally adopt her two kids, but as with most things in India it took much longer than anticipated. So after Lindy picked me up from the airport we took an overnight train to Kolkata, spent a day in Kolkata and took and "overnight" train back. The train back was suppose to just be 10 hours, but that turned into 20 hours. Two more hours in a taxi and we were finally all home in Kalimpong.

Manju, Jeewan Loy, and Burtrum (my travel companion elephant) 

The house here is so beautiful. It is on a really nice compound with a garden. It was actually built as the retirement home of the principle of the Christian school below. Lindy has rented it for quite some from the principle. For a while she used it as a pregnancy home for troubled girls. Parts of it has also been rented out to other foreign workers. This summer Lindy and her kids moved from living in just one of the rooms, to living in the upper flat. A Finnish family lives downstairs in the bottom flat. The rooms in the house are so much bigger and nicer than I was expecting. Because they are now upstairs Lindy was able to give me my own room and a separate schoolroom. It is quite a luxury to have my own room and bathroom.

Schoolroom

I came to live with Lindy for 9 months to homeschool Manju and Jeewan Loy. Manju is in 5th grade and Jeewan Loy is in Kindergarden. Lindy is hoping to be able to take her children to the US after their adoption is finalized. It is my job to bring them up to speed with the American school system. The schoolroom they prepared for me is wonderful and spacious. They painted it a nice light sunny yellow color. We each have our own desk, and there is a white board, a bookshelf, and even a little tent to read in.

Red and brown furry caterpillar

Right now we are doing a study on insects. I decided to take advantage of all of the specimen readily available. There is alway some sort of interesting insect that has found its way inside the house. We don't even have to go outside to hunt bugs! Now every time anyone finds an insect I hear "MISS SARAH.... COME LOOK!" "Can we keep it?" We have caught a slug, a caterpillar, a ladybug, praying mantises, a dead wasp, and countless butterflies. I don't think I have ever seen this many butterflies in my life. They are always fluttering around the marigold or just floating in the breeze. They even find their way inside through the open windows. In the afternoons, or any other time Jeewan Loy can find to go outside, he is always hunting butterflies.

Dead Wasp

4 inch long slug

Pictures and words cannot quite articulate how beautiful this area is. There are not only butterflies everywhere, but there are flowers at every turn. Walking down to the bazaar through crowded streets and down smelly allies you can still be surprised by some green thing or flower that has found a little crevice to happily grow in. It is quite magical.

Manju, marigold, and butterfly