A Depressing Day in Miraj

 First off - no sunrise photos.  I was out looking but just no good view.  

With all of our travels on this trip I have not need to use my little travel tea kettle.  Every place has had an electric water heater rather than a coffee maker.  But here in Miraj I got to use it.  Unfortunately, the only place to plug it in is the place where the plug to the bathroom light is. 

No hot showers here.  I had a dubba bath.  I couldn't face a cold shower.  It was easier to just pour cold water over my head to wash my hair.

Dubbas

 

Our sad house.

Fletcher's home

Fletcher Guest House

Emerick's home (upper level)

A lot of donkeys and dogs rambling around

At 7:30 am they dropped off a tiffin with several hard boiled eggs and some toast.  

Ambulances all lined up across the street from the hospital.  There are 20 of them.  I don't think that they moved at all.  

We did not have time to eat it because we were going to the 8 am chapel service.  They had a choir who helped to sing several songs - one I knew "He Leadeth Me" and one I did not "There Shall be Blessings."  They had a drummer as well.  It felt like the Praise bands in the States.  The service was mostly in Marathi with some translating.  Rakhi Moreshwar spent much of the day with us. She is the one who preached.  She tended to not give the translator time to speak.

After the chapel George and I had a tour of the Physio Therapy school.  In 2016 it was almost completed.  It doesn't look new any more. They start with about 50 students.  It is a 4 1/2 year program.  Usually about 40 students at graduation. 

Vrushali and Dr John Frederick

Some of the classrooms

The library 

We sent Sonu back to Mumbai. The hospital wanted to provide our chauffeur.

We ended out having our breakfast.  I had a chapati roll-up with jelly and egg - totally a non-Indian way.  But it was good.

We then headed off to the bus station to meet Priya  (Rebecca's daughter and also sister to Akshay). Priya came with her mother-in-law and her two young kids.  We thought that they were arriving at 11:30 am but they did not arrive until about 12:30 pm.  But they did arrive.

Rebecca, George, Mother-in-law, Aishwarya, Angel, and Priya. 

All in the way back (Angel is hiding)

They came to our room to relax a bit and have some snacks.  

For the next few things Rakhi joined us.  We went to the cemetery. 

Christian cemetery

It is disappointing that you can no longer read any of the text on the stones. But someone must have recently repainted the names on the cross.  Akshay should be happy since we put the garlands he gave us on the grave stones.

It is a dusty museum.  

Mom's painting

 They do not want to let us take any of  the pictures on the wall or mom's painting, because they are so important to them.  That is why they are keeping them locked up in a dusty place that no one can get in to see them.

Archie Fletcher on the wall of all the directors.  We could not get in           to see the Orthopedic Office because it was locked and in a dark hallway of the main hospital.  We asked if we could come by later.

We drove out to WanlessWadi to the the weaving department.  

That, too, was smaller with fewer looms going.  When we wanted to buy a few things it took them forever to figure things out.  Very disorganized.  

We had the driver drop us off at the Hotel Akshay for lunch.  

Thali plate

George and I shared a vegetarian rice bowl.  I tasted a few things.  It was all good.

Rebecca gave a bag of some gifts for the family. Angel loved her teddy bear.

We had to check out several ATMs to find one that worked.  While George and Rebecca were doing that I bought some chikus (sp?)!!   yummy.  

I only wanted a couple but they gave me a dozen.  

 

We went back to the hospital to try to get into the Orthopedic office.  They couldn't find the right key.  So we drove Priya and family back to the bus stop. They got on ok. It sure was great to meet Priya and the family.  

We went back to the hospital.  This time they tracked someone down who could open the office that is on the main floor in the middle of the day of the hospital.  

Mom and Dad on the right.

Interesting spelling of sandwich.

The day ended on a very nice thing.  Due to social media.  Rakhi posted some pictures of what we did today.  A woman who was a nursing student back when my parents were working and teaching saw the pictures and made her daughter bring her to meet with us.  She (89 years old) also worked at the hospital for years.  She remembered so many people, Fletchers, Donaldson, Emerick, Hilty, Harvey, Bond .... She remembered when we were kids.  So fun to talk with her.  She was thrilled to connect.  Felt so GOOD.  Her English was great and so was her daughter's.  So we could communicate.  This was a real highlight of the day for me.  

Raswanti Chavan and her daughter Neelam.  

The hospital people kept offering us more meals but we had so much sitting around here from previous meals we kept refusing.  We had a good day of meeting a lot of people.  But the hospital itself is very depressing.  Dark, unused, empty, ....  Not alive at all.