Thoughts on India

I’ve been in India for over a month now and I can’t believe how fast my time here is flying by. Life here is crazy, hard, intense, joyful, and more wonderful than I can describe.  Each day and week teaching these kids brings soaring highs and sinking lows.  Exhaustion and frustration intermingle with joy and love. 

The day before I came to India, I went with my dad to see a movie called “The Most Magnificent Marigold Hotel”.  It is about a group of old British people who, for various reasons, move to a hotel in Jaipur, India.  The movie, which filled me with such excitement at the time, now seems so poignant and meaningful to me.  In one scene of the movie, two characters are discussing their experiences in India.  One is a woman who, despite everyone’s best efforts, refuses to leave the hotel or see the wonders of the land in which she finds herself residing.  She spends her time reading and complaining about the climate. The other is a man who fully immerses himself in the chaos of India and experiences the true nature of this country.  He forms bonds with the people and finds himself changing for the better. The woman, feeling miserable and underwhelmed with India, asks the man, “What do you see that I don’t?”  His response, which I wish I could remember in its entirety, is something that has played through my mind countless times since I’ve been here.  He says, “I see light.  I see love.  I see the joy of the people around me.” 

This conversation perfectly illustrates the reality of India.  Those who come here with hardened expectations and a narrow mind will always fail to grasp the spirit of India.  They will find themselves overcome by the heat, the poverty, the odors, the beggars, the filth, and the chaos.  However, those who come here with a willingness to open their eyes, mind, and heart to this crazy world that is so incredibly unlike their own, will see what the man saw and what I see in this country.  They will see the rich and abundant history of the ancient ruins and temples that are so abundant here in this land. They will see the beautiful light from that hot Indian sun filtering through the leaves of the mango trees.  They will see the vibrantly green, open fields of rice surrounded by the horizon of towering palm trees on the edge of the jungle.  They will see the resilience and strength of the people who strenuously labor and fervently pray to keep their families alive in a place of such extreme poverty.  They will see the glowing smiles on the faces of the children playing cricket in the trash-filled fields on the side of the highway.  They will see the love shared between the tiny brother and sister as they grasp each other’s hands and journey alone along the side of the road.  Love, charity, joy, and awe-inspiring faith abound here in this little corner of the world.

I never thought I would feel so content, peaceful, and happy living in a place of such poverty and hardship on the other side of the world.  I never thought I would be so appreciative of a bucket shower or a cold water bottle.  I never thought that I would bond so tightly and quickly with the other volunteers and become like family.  I never thought I would find myself living in a tiny village in rural India, falling madly and deeply in love with 200 children whose lives have been affected by leprosy.  Most of all, I never thought I would find Christ and a renewal of faith amidst this kind of chaos and turmoil.  My gratitude is overwhelming.  Even on my hardest, most exhausting and frustrating days here, I feel the warmth of the people who surround me and have to smile.  I love my little slice of heaven here at Rising Star.  Once again, the words of the man in that movie run through my mind as I think about my life here in India, “I see light.”

I love all of you and I miss you every day.  I have the most amazing family and friends and I can’t wait to see you all again.  I wish you all were here to feel the love of these beautiful children.   I hope, at least, you can feel my love.  

Triple Plank

Yesterday, we went back to Mamallapuram.  It had been a few weeks since I’d been there and I was so excited to go back.  It definitely didn’t disappoint.

When we got there, Callie, Carl, Julie, and I decided that we didn’t really want to shop, so we took a rickshaw out to a few cool places. We had to buy a ticket to go look at the sites.  As you can see, they really like to overcharge Americans and Europeans.

 One was called the monolith.  It is one of the oldest historical sites in India and in the world.  It is basically a bunch of little temples and statues.  However, the cool part is that the temples are carved out of a single rock.  They didn’t build a temple with stones, they found a giant boulder and carved these incredible, intricate temples out of them.  It was amazing.

One rock.  Incredible.

Callie, Carl, and Julie by one of the temples. 

We all rode the bull.

We think we’re cool.

I loved this huge elephant statue.

Afterwards, we took a rickshaw to the Shore temple.

 I love looking out at the street on drives here.

That’s a monkey. Dressed up.

These are all over here in India.  They are like stuffed scarecrows tied to buildings and construction sites.  Apparently the purpose of them is to ward off evil spirits.

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The Shore temple was super fascinating to me.  It is this beautiful, extremely ancient temple that was underwater 10 years ago. 

When the giant tsunami hit Thailand several years ago, it also hit India.  We have seen so many places here that still bear the marks of the devastation that the tsunami created.  This temple was uncovered as the tide receded right before the tsunami.  The tide had never been out that far before, and as it receded, people saw this temple on the shore.  I don’t know all the details, but after the tsunami hit, they were somehow able to go uncover this temple.  The engraving and details of the Shore temple are so fascinating.

There was a bit more bull riding by Carl.

We also had an incredibly epic moment of triple planking.  Props to Callie, Julie, and Carl for holding the plank position as I took a picture with five different cameras.

I felt like Indiana Jones exploring this temple.  It had really narrow passages inside and the entire thing was intricately carved.

We found a room with a bunch of bats inside.  That’s why they’re nervously looking up.

After the temple, we ate lunch at a restaurant and headed straight for the beach and pool, where we spent the rest of the day.

The catch of the day at the restaurant.  Yep, a shark on a plate.

 Shots from the beach, although we really just spent the whole time in the pool.

As always, it was a wonderful weekend.  I just love India and the people I’m here with. 

Thank you all for your love and support.  I really am going to try to be more consistent with blogging here.  I love you all!

Teaching

This last week of teaching has been such a crazy rollercoaster.   Teaching is a hard job.  Teaching kids who are still in the process of learning English is a really hard job.  Teaching kids who have been negatively impacted by the effects and stigma of leprosy, and are still in the process  of learning English at a school with extremely limited resources in the middle of rural India is a really, really, really hard job.  I am constantly trying to come up with creative lesson plans and ways to help the kids understand what I am saying.  Education is their one and only ticket to a better life and they deserve the best, so I am pushing myself so hard out here. 

Thursday was such a frustrating day for me.  There must have been something in the water that day because all the kids were so crazy.  I had to use my stern teacher voice a whole lot in all of my classes.  The kids were bouncing off the walls, hitting each other, and refusing to do their school work.  I left the school that day feeling so disheartened and exasperated.  I want so desperately to be able to help these kids learn what they need to, so days like that are the epitome of frustration for me. 

After school, I had about 30 minutes before I had to go teach choir.  I spent that time trying to lift up my spirits and renew my patience.  I finally was able to drag myself to choir, and had a really great time.  The choir is going to sing on Tuesday for the session volunteers because it is their last night here.  We are preparing to sing “God be With You Till We Meet Again.”  However, parts of that song go really high, and most of the kids can’t hit those notes.  I was able to find a few soloists who can sing it, and the kids were all feeling really excited.

 In India, kids do a lot of chanting. They chant prayers, school lessons, songs, everything.  Unfortunately, this results in a lot of kids being unable to sing pitches because they are so used to monotone chanting.  These kids are definitely not the world’s greatest singers, but their enthusiasm and pride in choir is so adorable and makes it so worth it. I love that they love music and they love to be a part of something that will take up some of their time in positive ways.

That night, I was trying to think of something to do in my classes the next day that would give both me and the kids a break from the usual and recapture their energy and attention.  I decided that in my writing classes, we were going to play a game using adjectives.  It was basically like Catch Phrase.  One kid would stand with their back to the board and I would write a word on the board behind them.   Then the other members of their team would have to use adjectives to help them guess the word.  The kids loved the game and I felt so encouraged by their enthusiasm.  I felt like I was able to grab their attention and show them that they can have fun in school and still be learning.

In my reading and English classes, I decided to show some videos on my laptop about the things we are reading about in our books.  My favorite part of the whole day was when I let my 5^th standard reading class watch Disney’s “Oceans”.  We have been reading a book where the main characters explored the ocean in a submarine.  The kids showed so much interest in the parts about the ocean, so I decided to let them see what it really looks like under the sea.  I wish I had a picture of their faces as they watched the movie.  I have never seen kids so fascinated.  They sat with huge, wide eyes staring at the screen as schools of fish and families of dolphins danced on the screen.  They kept asking, “Auntie, what is that?” or “Auntie, what are they doing?”  They were so enthralled with the images of life beneath the surface of the ocean.  At one point, it showed a school of fish swirling around like a cyclone.  The kids all gasped and started clapping and cheering.  It was such a magical and wonderful moment.  After my discouragement the day before, it was so rewarding to see them so engaged and interested in something. 

These kids have such incredibly limited exposure to anything outside of their little section of India.  They have never traveled, they have never explored, they have never even watched National Geographic.  Watching them gain a little exposure to the wonders and mysteries of this glorious planet was such a beautiful experience that I hope to never forget.

After school, we had a giant water fight with all the kids.  I love water fights here.  It’s basically just a chaotic storm of tiny feet running around, filling up buckets, and dumping water on each other.  I ran around for a little while soaking people, but my favorite part was sitting on a bench in the little area where they refill their buckets and just watching.  The little kids would just stay in that little area, refilling and dumping, over and over again.  I got so soaked just sitting there.  I would be watching and laughing, when I would suddenly here a little giggle and be drenched by a five year old with a bucket of water.  I love watching them laughing and smiling as they pour water on each other, on the volunteers, and on me.  It was heaven.

One thing I have learned about India is that no matter how bad your day goes or how disheartened you feel, it won’t last long.  My rough Thursday was overshadowed by a near-perfect Friday.  My feelings of frustration and discouragement were replaced by feelings of gratitude and joy.  As Annie says, “The sun will come out tomorrow.”  I love these kids.  I love teaching.  I love India. 

Thanks for sticking around through this ridiculously long post.  I love and miss all of you!

Talent Day

The first few days of this past school week were pretty normal.  School went normally, some kids were good, some kids were not so good, some things were great, and some things were frustrating.  On Wednesday, we had talent classes for the older kids.  The session volunteers brought a bunch of different activities for the kids to participate in. 

We had a bean bag toss. 

Trying to get it into the bucket.

Crazy dancing while waiting in line.

We had mask coloring.

All the different mask choices.

Ebenezer and Akash with their masks.

 Hari and Rutish working hard.

 Callie and Miranda helping out.

 Jayaraj, Rutish, Devidraj, and Hari dancing and posing.

Not everyone was such a happy camper.

We had bag painting.

Mariambee, Kaviya, and Jennifer working on their bags.

So many people in the bag room.

 Gokulraj and Balakumar pausing for a minute to pose for picture.

Some of the finished products

We had bracelet making.

Revathi, Abirami, and Priya working

 Me and Eswari with the necklace she made for me.

Not everyone got to play.  Some of the older kids were still hard at work on their school work.

 Krishnamoorthy and Satiya

Ashok working on the computer

It was so fun to just go around taking pictures and talking to the kids. They were so excited to be participating in the talent classes.  We all had such a great time. I love these kids.