Today was my favorite day. Education day where we got to go tutor the kids. I talked with the principal the other day and she had asked me to go observe some teachers, then give them ideas on how to get students more involved. In India, the typical learning style is by memorization. The teacher stands up at the front of the class, she reads a sentence, then the students repeat after her. They do a LOT of worksheets and repetitive work. My teaching style is very different than that. I try to incorporate as many different learning styles as I can in the lesson. It was interesting to how well the kids did respond to just the 'boring' repetitive instruction though. They are very disciplined. Today, I just observed three different teachers.
The classrooms look very different as well from American standards. The school is a cement building. Each classroom is very small with an open window with bars on it to let some air come through the muggy classroom. The teacher has her desk up front with a chalkboard and the students share wooden desks that hold up to three students on a long, wooden desk.
My favorite time is lunch time with the kids. We walk out to this big open pavilion where they are all served the typical Indian food. This consists of rice and curry to put on the rice. They all sit with their 'dorm families' on the floor and eat with their hands. There are no chairs. Even the dorm mothers sit on the ground to eat with them. Us volunteers are lucky cause we do get silverware! :-) I love kicking back and just talking to the kids during this time.
After lunch, we were able to measure each students foot as a volunteer just donated enough money to allow each student to get a new pair of shoes. The kids were so excited to get their foot measured. We saw a LOT of little feet that day!
I am getting used to the kids coming up and climbing all over me during playtime as if I were some rock climbing wall. I am beginning to love it! My favorite is when this little boy, Aravind, comes running up to me with this grin from ear to ear yelling at me “Auntie, Auntie” where I know it is time to brace myself cause soon he would be running up my legs climbing up to my neck to give me the biggest hug anyone could ask for.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
BACK TO ROUGH OUT CAMP!
Wave goodbye to luxury. Enjoy the hot, clean shower one last moment. Use the bathroom one last time before going back to a hole in the ground to pee in, bucket showers, and a hard bed. But it's all worth it to see the smiles on the kids faces as they run up to you as fast as they can yelling, "Auntie, Auntie" and jump up and attack you with hugs. After our drill sargent count off, we were off in the half-sized bus back to Chennai. And then....maybe not.
Halfway through our long, hot journey back our bus decided to break down. Having a breakdown in India is a little different than back home. No AAA, no 24 hour Subaru service...just even a hotter van with a LOT of beggers coming up to the bus knocking on the windows begging for money or trying to sell their burnt corn they just cooked up. One begger I will never forget was this woman in a pink sauri consistently knocking on our van, pulling on the door determined to get in and get some money from us. It is hard to watch and do nothing, but Rising Star discourages beggers. Instead, promotes them to be self-sufficient. I agree with this as well, but it is hard to watch them banging on the bus with their sorrowful faces.
We were watched over though cause of all places to break down it was in front of about 4 different mechanic shops. It just took about 2 hours to fix.
After doing the potty dance for about 30 min, I knew I was going to have to explore the streets of India for a bathroom. As I set out on a journey to find a bathroom, I was reminded of the show, Slumdog Millionaire. I was here out in the slums. It was messy, trashy, and dirty. There were a lot of people without work walking around begging. I finally found a toilet, and lets just say this. NEVER will I think an American gas station bathroom is discusting and dirty compared to what I used.
After this adventure, we went to a place where you could ride an elephant and camel. One of our friends, Annie, was totally attacked by a monkey and it bit her and broke skin!! We were so scared and again were grateful for the conveniences we have in America of so many clean, efficient hospitals and clinics we can go to if things like this happen. In this case, we had to wait till we got back to Rising Star to see the doctor on that campus.
We finally made it back to campus at midnight...back to our AMAZING hard beds! :-)
Halfway through our long, hot journey back our bus decided to break down. Having a breakdown in India is a little different than back home. No AAA, no 24 hour Subaru service...just even a hotter van with a LOT of beggers coming up to the bus knocking on the windows begging for money or trying to sell their burnt corn they just cooked up. One begger I will never forget was this woman in a pink sauri consistently knocking on our van, pulling on the door determined to get in and get some money from us. It is hard to watch and do nothing, but Rising Star discourages beggers. Instead, promotes them to be self-sufficient. I agree with this as well, but it is hard to watch them banging on the bus with their sorrowful faces.
We were watched over though cause of all places to break down it was in front of about 4 different mechanic shops. It just took about 2 hours to fix.
After doing the potty dance for about 30 min, I knew I was going to have to explore the streets of India for a bathroom. As I set out on a journey to find a bathroom, I was reminded of the show, Slumdog Millionaire. I was here out in the slums. It was messy, trashy, and dirty. There were a lot of people without work walking around begging. I finally found a toilet, and lets just say this. NEVER will I think an American gas station bathroom is discusting and dirty compared to what I used.
After this adventure, we went to a place where you could ride an elephant and camel. One of our friends, Annie, was totally attacked by a monkey and it bit her and broke skin!! We were so scared and again were grateful for the conveniences we have in America of so many clean, efficient hospitals and clinics we can go to if things like this happen. In this case, we had to wait till we got back to Rising Star to see the doctor on that campus.
We finally made it back to campus at midnight...back to our AMAZING hard beds! :-)
TAJ MAHAL
WOW!! WOW!!! WOW!!!! No words can explain how breathtakingly beautiful Taj mahal is! Our hotel was only about a 5 min drive away. One of the reasons Taj Mahal is so beautiful, is no matter what angle you look at it or stand, it is perfectly symmetrical. It is built out of marble that is translucent, so it also changes colors with whatever the weather is outside. In the morning when the sun rises it is orange. In the sun it shimmers. In the clouds (the way I saw it), it looks pure white. It also has many different stones that light up when light hits them. When you go inside, it becomes very colorful with all the different stones. We had the best tour guide that explained so much history to us. By the time we were done looking inside Taj Mahal, it was a downpour! We all were able to play in the rain AT Taj Mahal...how many people can say that!?! And, it also cleared out a lot of the people. We were drenched by the end of our rain dances, but we sure made a lot of fun memories.
After Taj Mahal, we went to an Emperors palace. This was a gorgeous palace that had colorful artwork on the ceilings and walls. It looked a lot like Egyptian work. They showed us the moat that used to have alligators around it, and the inside moat that had Lions to protect the king. The architecture was beautiful.
Then we did what I do best. WENT SHOPPING for the rest of the day. We did a lot of bartering and I got myself a whole new Indian wardrobe. I actually like their clothing and think I will wear them to school. Maybe I will be the only one in the States thinking I look 'cool' but India is now a part of me.
We ended our day at, I am ashamed to say it, PIZZA HUT!! Yes, I am in India. I shouldn't want to eat at an American food chain, but it tasted SOOO good. And it is very different than American Pizza Huts. They have many different items on their menu and it is a nice sit down restaurant. My favorite part is they have a huge bell as you walk out and if you had 'fun' while you were there you are supposed to ring the bell. Not a good idea for 15 tired and worn out Americans. We all thought that was so funny.
After Taj Mahal, we went to an Emperors palace. This was a gorgeous palace that had colorful artwork on the ceilings and walls. It looked a lot like Egyptian work. They showed us the moat that used to have alligators around it, and the inside moat that had Lions to protect the king. The architecture was beautiful.
Then we did what I do best. WENT SHOPPING for the rest of the day. We did a lot of bartering and I got myself a whole new Indian wardrobe. I actually like their clothing and think I will wear them to school. Maybe I will be the only one in the States thinking I look 'cool' but India is now a part of me.
We ended our day at, I am ashamed to say it, PIZZA HUT!! Yes, I am in India. I shouldn't want to eat at an American food chain, but it tasted SOOO good. And it is very different than American Pizza Huts. They have many different items on their menu and it is a nice sit down restaurant. My favorite part is they have a huge bell as you walk out and if you had 'fun' while you were there you are supposed to ring the bell. Not a good idea for 15 tired and worn out Americans. We all thought that was so funny.
NEW DELHI TRIP
It was an early morning for us as we left for the airport at 3:00 in the morning! Many didn't sleep. Our crazy Indian driver rushed us to the airport in an hour and fifteen min when usually it takes at least two hours! As we met up with the other van, we heard they almost got into a wreck but they had to slam on the breaks. Brenda, one of our rising stars, got thrown forward pretty hard and gashed her leg! OUCH!!!
When we arrived in New Delhi we took a rickshaw ride (the bicycle riders with the wagons behind them) through the old town and new town of Delhi. The streets are once again crowded with so many different people, vehicles and animals. The alleyways are very narrow dirt and brick paths that people have to push their ways in. The rickshaws we were on could barely make it through the narrow alley. Many times I thought we were going to crash into the people, or tip over due to the huge potholes in the road.
When we reached the spice markets, you could distinctly smell the peppers! It cleared out my nose in a hurry! We walked up on top of a roof to look down onto the spice market. Everything is SO crowded. There are people everywhere walking with huge spice bags on top of their heads. When you look up at windows and doorways, you can see many people hang hot peppers out to ward off the evil spirits. We went into a spice shop where I bought some authentic spices to go back home and make authentic Indian food!
Our tour guide took us into a really unique hindu temple. Their temples are very colorful with many different looking elephants that they worship. These elephants and different animals represent different gods. Much like the greek god times. Their beliefs are much different than ours. If a woman is on her period, it is forbidden to step into the temple.
Our last stop was to the most delicious Indian restaurant. I never was sure I enjoyed Indian food until I ate this food. It was so flavorful. I got the butter chicken. It is a curry chicken that you dip nan into.
The next part they don't really tell us about until we are on the bus then they inform us we were in for about a 6 to 8 HOUR BUS RIDE to Agra. The bus we had isn't like the American luxury buses either. We had a small bus that fit all of us in very snugly. I was in the back corner of the bus with little circulation flowing. I made it through the bus ride, but this is why I am in the airline industry...It is so much easier to fly! :-)
Our long bus ride paid off when we reached the LUXURIOUS RADDISON hotel! American showers once again, a toilet that isn't a hole in the wall, and VERY SOFT COMFORTABLE BEDS!!! Yes, the majority of American people are spoiled.
When we arrived in New Delhi we took a rickshaw ride (the bicycle riders with the wagons behind them) through the old town and new town of Delhi. The streets are once again crowded with so many different people, vehicles and animals. The alleyways are very narrow dirt and brick paths that people have to push their ways in. The rickshaws we were on could barely make it through the narrow alley. Many times I thought we were going to crash into the people, or tip over due to the huge potholes in the road.
When we reached the spice markets, you could distinctly smell the peppers! It cleared out my nose in a hurry! We walked up on top of a roof to look down onto the spice market. Everything is SO crowded. There are people everywhere walking with huge spice bags on top of their heads. When you look up at windows and doorways, you can see many people hang hot peppers out to ward off the evil spirits. We went into a spice shop where I bought some authentic spices to go back home and make authentic Indian food!
Our tour guide took us into a really unique hindu temple. Their temples are very colorful with many different looking elephants that they worship. These elephants and different animals represent different gods. Much like the greek god times. Their beliefs are much different than ours. If a woman is on her period, it is forbidden to step into the temple.
Our last stop was to the most delicious Indian restaurant. I never was sure I enjoyed Indian food until I ate this food. It was so flavorful. I got the butter chicken. It is a curry chicken that you dip nan into.
The next part they don't really tell us about until we are on the bus then they inform us we were in for about a 6 to 8 HOUR BUS RIDE to Agra. The bus we had isn't like the American luxury buses either. We had a small bus that fit all of us in very snugly. I was in the back corner of the bus with little circulation flowing. I made it through the bus ride, but this is why I am in the airline industry...It is so much easier to fly! :-)
Our long bus ride paid off when we reached the LUXURIOUS RADDISON hotel! American showers once again, a toilet that isn't a hole in the wall, and VERY SOFT COMFORTABLE BEDS!!! Yes, the majority of American people are spoiled.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
DAY THREE - Medical
I am not going to lie. I think this was the day I was most afraid of ever since I signed up to be a volunteer for Rising Star. On medical days, we go into lepracy colonies and wash the lepors feet and hands if needed. On this specific day, we went back to the same colony we went to the day before to a old folks home. What made this home really special is this specific colony decided to put their money together as a group effort and build this home specifically for older people to go stay at so that they could have the attention needed and a place to stay as they got old. It isn't anything like American retirement homes. It is made out of strictly cement. Has two large rooms. One room for the ladies, and one for the men. The beds are all medal beds with hard matresses and their belongings are just laying around their beds. But, there are very many happy faces there. There are the cutest old ladies in the world. Some of them have leporasy, and some don't.
When I got there, my first assignment was to wash the feet in water. Lepors have huge ulcers that eat away at the skin until they deform the whole muscles, bones, and flesh of the individuals feet, hands, and legs. I was afraid to wash feet. For one thing, I normally don't like to touch feet in general. The other was I didn't know how I could look at all the ulcers on their skin. Suprisingly enough, it was a very emotionally rewarding experience for me. My first patient had some bad ulcers all over her feet. Tears were dripping from my face as I was washing her feet. It reminded me of when Jesus washed others feet and when others were washing Jesus's feet. I eased into this medical process very fast as I ended up washing, oiling, and taking off the bandages of the patients feet. As I was serving these people, the ulcers didn't even phase me. I just knew we needed to help heal these patients, and this was how we needed to do it. Although many of them were in a lot of pain, they were brave souls that just seemed grateful for us to make eye contact with them and help them heal. I will never forget one of the older ladies I connected with. It was like we just spoke with each other with our eyes. We didn't understand each other, but she did the ritual where she blessed me over and over again. I wanted to take the old lady home with me. When we were finished washing the feet, the fun began. We broke out into dancing and we interacted with the people at the home dancing and laughing. What good times we had. They will always be in my heart.
We were able to hit the town after our medical experience, and I had some fun buying many different 'treasures' to take back with me!
Some of my favorite times is in the evening when we are with the little kids. It is a time for bonding with the kids, playing games with them, and helping them with their homework. I was bummed at first that I didn't have a girls dorm, but have ABSOLUTELY bonded with this set of boys! I just need to get these extremely weird names down.
When I got there, my first assignment was to wash the feet in water. Lepors have huge ulcers that eat away at the skin until they deform the whole muscles, bones, and flesh of the individuals feet, hands, and legs. I was afraid to wash feet. For one thing, I normally don't like to touch feet in general. The other was I didn't know how I could look at all the ulcers on their skin. Suprisingly enough, it was a very emotionally rewarding experience for me. My first patient had some bad ulcers all over her feet. Tears were dripping from my face as I was washing her feet. It reminded me of when Jesus washed others feet and when others were washing Jesus's feet. I eased into this medical process very fast as I ended up washing, oiling, and taking off the bandages of the patients feet. As I was serving these people, the ulcers didn't even phase me. I just knew we needed to help heal these patients, and this was how we needed to do it. Although many of them were in a lot of pain, they were brave souls that just seemed grateful for us to make eye contact with them and help them heal. I will never forget one of the older ladies I connected with. It was like we just spoke with each other with our eyes. We didn't understand each other, but she did the ritual where she blessed me over and over again. I wanted to take the old lady home with me. When we were finished washing the feet, the fun began. We broke out into dancing and we interacted with the people at the home dancing and laughing. What good times we had. They will always be in my heart.
We were able to hit the town after our medical experience, and I had some fun buying many different 'treasures' to take back with me!
Some of my favorite times is in the evening when we are with the little kids. It is a time for bonding with the kids, playing games with them, and helping them with their homework. I was bummed at first that I didn't have a girls dorm, but have ABSOLUTELY bonded with this set of boys! I just need to get these extremely weird names down.
DAY TWO - CONSTRUCTION!!! AHHHH
I had a quick night sleep before I was off to my next challenge: Construction. We drove about an hour into this colony where we were going to help build BY HAND septic tanks. Those that don't know what septic tanks are, they are sewage lines. YUCK!!! I quickly found out not only do Indians not have any electrical tools or heavy construction equipment like Americans do, they like to do things in the most complicated way. We were working in at least 95 degree weather that day WITH humidity. We were carrying big cement cylendars and laying them on top of each other in a big ditch they dug out. But instead of finishing one project completely, they made us move around from house to house doing the cylendar placements before we finished filling in the ditches. This wasted a lot of time. Then once we were finished placing the cylendars in the ditches we had to fill in the holes. THAT WAS THE HARDEST PART. We had to hand shovel the dirt back into the deep ditch. In the meantime, BIG RED ANTS had built nests in the pile of dirt and we got attacked by red ant bites. That hurt. It was hot. No air conditioning in any houses. No ice for a cold drink. We drank warm water to cool off on. We allowed Indian 'construction' workers to boss us volunteers around as we sweat our fat off!
But, under all this hard work, there was the beauty of India surrounding us. There had been a death in the village that day. Here they mourn the same day, playing drums and singing where the people from the village can come over and say goodbye to the body. There were many people in the streets that day for the funeral. I don't know what they do with the bodies after that.
When we were done with this, we were able to go to an art school. It was really special to see the art these people have created. Many of them have lepracy that paint and so they paint with limbs, or with deformed hands. But the work is very pretty. I was able to buy a painting from them which also gives them a salary.
We were pretty exhausted after this adventure, so many of us used our rest time that day in showering and resting up. I enjoyed the evening this night. The kids recognized me more and I brought the stamp art that they LOVED. I don't think some of them have ever seen stamp art before...and the stamps didn't just get on the paper. It ended up all over our FACES and BODIES! We all had a blast Making a mess!! I might not be able to use this as a center anymore for my kindergarten classroom, but we sure do have the memories!! :-)
But, under all this hard work, there was the beauty of India surrounding us. There had been a death in the village that day. Here they mourn the same day, playing drums and singing where the people from the village can come over and say goodbye to the body. There were many people in the streets that day for the funeral. I don't know what they do with the bodies after that.
When we were done with this, we were able to go to an art school. It was really special to see the art these people have created. Many of them have lepracy that paint and so they paint with limbs, or with deformed hands. But the work is very pretty. I was able to buy a painting from them which also gives them a salary.
We were pretty exhausted after this adventure, so many of us used our rest time that day in showering and resting up. I enjoyed the evening this night. The kids recognized me more and I brought the stamp art that they LOVED. I don't think some of them have ever seen stamp art before...and the stamps didn't just get on the paper. It ended up all over our FACES and BODIES! We all had a blast Making a mess!! I might not be able to use this as a center anymore for my kindergarten classroom, but we sure do have the memories!! :-)
Monday, August 8, 2011
Day one - BREAKING IN
I arrived in Chennai at 8:30 in the morning where a taxi driver was going to greet me. All I had to do was find my name on the paper he was holding up. The only problem was, there were at least 50 taxi drivers that were all piled together holding up peoples names. I didn't see my name. Thank goodness I had my phone on me and Matt was able to call the taxi driver and communicate that way where I was. I finally found the right taxi driver where the adventure began the moment I slammed the door shut to the car.
Indian driving is CRAZY CHAOS! Forget the lines they have perfectly marked on the road to show where the cars are SUPPOSED to be, they drive ANYWHERE there is space. Cars, buses, bulls, cows, dogs, horses, people, families of five stacked on the back of a motorcycle, and bicycles all share the narrow roads. When driving in india, DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT A GOOD HORN! They honk their horns constantly. This horn honking is a language in and of itself. They have no speed limit I am aware of. THEY make the rules of driving.
I latter learned India has the most deadliest car accidents in the world. If you are one of the unfortunate ones that gets in an accident, the moment you can RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! Tradition has it that the witnesses and the other vehicle involved will come over and beat you until you are dead. Especially if you have killed an animal or a person. This is their justice and the cops don't do anything about it. And if you happen to be lucky enough to not get beaten up by others, don't expect an ambulance to come get you and take you to a hospital, cause that is little and few in-between.
After a very exciting two hour car ride, I finally reached my final destination: Rising Star Outreach Campus. I was greeted by Derek in which he allowed me to take a shower. I am now 'rough out camping' it. The toilets are a hole in the floor. the showers are bucket showers with luke warm water if you are lucky. (actually the cold showers feel good here because it is so hot everywhere) After that, I was put to work. I had 'education' day my first day. It was really fun to associate and meet the kids.
After education, we had some down time then I was really introduced to the kids during play time from 4:30 - 6:30. We go and play games with them. They jump on me and always want to play tag with me and I am the one that is always it running around chasing them. I better have lost some weight by the time I get back to the states with all this running! ;-)
I think the most memorable moment of my first night would be when we went to visit our families. We are assigned to a dorm room. Our dorm room is a room full of boys from age 5 - 16 years old. I was complaining earlier about how hard the beds were for us to sleep on here. Then I saw what the boys sleep on at the houses. They only have three rooms. The floors are cement. That is where they sleep. They only have a straw mat that they lay down to sleep on. They don't have any pillows. They probably don't know what those are. They don't see their parents all but once a month. But they are still the most cheerful, grateful kids I have meet. They are so positive. This was a big reminder to not take things for granted. I am so grateful for this experience. I look forward to more exciting adventures!
Indian driving is CRAZY CHAOS! Forget the lines they have perfectly marked on the road to show where the cars are SUPPOSED to be, they drive ANYWHERE there is space. Cars, buses, bulls, cows, dogs, horses, people, families of five stacked on the back of a motorcycle, and bicycles all share the narrow roads. When driving in india, DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT A GOOD HORN! They honk their horns constantly. This horn honking is a language in and of itself. They have no speed limit I am aware of. THEY make the rules of driving.
I latter learned India has the most deadliest car accidents in the world. If you are one of the unfortunate ones that gets in an accident, the moment you can RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! Tradition has it that the witnesses and the other vehicle involved will come over and beat you until you are dead. Especially if you have killed an animal or a person. This is their justice and the cops don't do anything about it. And if you happen to be lucky enough to not get beaten up by others, don't expect an ambulance to come get you and take you to a hospital, cause that is little and few in-between.
After a very exciting two hour car ride, I finally reached my final destination: Rising Star Outreach Campus. I was greeted by Derek in which he allowed me to take a shower. I am now 'rough out camping' it. The toilets are a hole in the floor. the showers are bucket showers with luke warm water if you are lucky. (actually the cold showers feel good here because it is so hot everywhere) After that, I was put to work. I had 'education' day my first day. It was really fun to associate and meet the kids.
After education, we had some down time then I was really introduced to the kids during play time from 4:30 - 6:30. We go and play games with them. They jump on me and always want to play tag with me and I am the one that is always it running around chasing them. I better have lost some weight by the time I get back to the states with all this running! ;-)
I think the most memorable moment of my first night would be when we went to visit our families. We are assigned to a dorm room. Our dorm room is a room full of boys from age 5 - 16 years old. I was complaining earlier about how hard the beds were for us to sleep on here. Then I saw what the boys sleep on at the houses. They only have three rooms. The floors are cement. That is where they sleep. They only have a straw mat that they lay down to sleep on. They don't have any pillows. They probably don't know what those are. They don't see their parents all but once a month. But they are still the most cheerful, grateful kids I have meet. They are so positive. This was a big reminder to not take things for granted. I am so grateful for this experience. I look forward to more exciting adventures!
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