Preparations are truly underway for the construction of the new staff quarters here. Every day tractors bring loads of dirt and sand to the large field in front of the school. Soon brick workers will be busy making bricks by hand. Five to six thousand per day! It is going to be my job to send occasional reports to Michael and the people who donated the money for this project. Things are starting to get busier here. That means that I am starting to have more energy. It is amazing how working will actually give you more energy.
I do however have a slight problem. I can’t turn my head to the left, or look up. I think this stiff neck was caused by the trip back from Puri io Juanga. The road is filled with bumps, holes, and even ditches. These ditches are large enough to have to drive a car into them, then out the other side. I am taking some medicine for my neck, but it doesn’t seem to be helping. It should be fine in a day or two.
There is another problem. I am reaching an impasse with Oriya. I have taken to start actually writing some of what I learn down, and when I ask for help in the spelling of certain words, 5 people tell me to spell it 6 different ways. The only solution I can see is that I must learn how to read and write in the Oriya alphabet. Learning a language is one thing, but a different alphabet… I am finding it difficult. They have many more letters and letter sounds than we do. It appears there are over 40 characters in their alphabet. I suppose I should just be happy it isn’t Chinese or Ancient Egyptian.
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