Today I wanted to do a quick post about some of the crazy, wonderful, hilarious things these 230 beautiful kiddos say to me in their adorable little accents on a daily basis.
1. "It so comedy." This is one of my very favorites. They say this whenever they think something is funny. They will tell you a story or describe a movie they've seen and follow it up with "It was so comedy." I love it.
2. "I take and come." They will say this whenever they are going to go bring you something. I hear this about ten-thousand times on Fridays when their weekly reading sheet is due. They will come talk to me and say, "My paper is in hostel. I take and come." It can also be used when they want you to go get something for them, "Auntie, I need marker. You take and come."
3. "Auntie, doubt." This phrase has begun to weave itself into my dreams now because I hear it so much. This basically means they have a question. In math class, you will see a kid raise their hand and shout, "Auntie, doubt!" It's pretty adorable.
4. "I'm doing my duty." They call their chores "duties". Whenever their housemother tells them to do something, they will tell us they have to do their duty. I wish you could hear their cute little accents when they say it, it makes it so much better.
5. "Why you no come!?" This is usually said with a little grumpy face as they march up to you. Luckily, I've only heard this one a few times in my summer here. They use it when you don't do something they want you to and they want answers.
6. "Super!" This is the general positive remark around here. And by here, I don't just mean Rising Star, I mean India. Everything is super. Whenever they like things, they tell you it's super. Even the tiniest ones know that the best compliment you can give is super.
7. "Auntie!" This is the word I hear the most around here. The kids yell this out when they see you, when they want you to come stand or sit by them, when they want you to play with them, basically no matter what they want. They call all the female volunteers and housemothers Auntie. It makes me ridiculously happy to hear it shouted out on the playground or outside of the school.
8. "Grandma" This is what they call any volunteer who appears to be over the age of 40. Also, they call some of us Grandma when they're trying to be funny.
9. "When you go to America?" This is one of the first things the kids ask you when they meet you, and is a question that is repeated often. They are always trying to gauge how much time they have left with you. They love volunteers.
10. "Yen, Yem, Yeggs, Yamen" Indians put a 'y' sound at the beginning of words that start with a vowel. The kids say their "Yay, B, C's". The letter 'N' becomes "Yen". 'M' becomes "Yem." Eggs are "Yeggs", and "Amen" is "Yamen". It is one of my favorite things.
11. "This boy" or "This girl" This is what the kids say when they are talking about one of the other kids. Two boys will come up to you and one will point to the other and say something like, "This boy is my friend."
12. "Clash!" The boys are obsessed with wrestling. They have WWE cards which they use to play a game they created. The game is similar to the game kids play with Pokemon cards. They each pick a card and battle. The cards have the rank of the wrestler, the size of his bicep, the size of his chest, his weight, etc. So one of them will pick a category that they think their wrestler excels in (if they think he has the bigger bicep, they will choose bicep). Then he yells it out and follows it with the word clash. So on the playground, you always hear things like, "Bicep 32, Clash!" or "Weight 200, Clash!" It is ridiculously adorable.
13. "What is your bicep?" Their WWE obsession makes them curious about what everyone's bicep measurements are. They always run up to volunteers and ask them what their bicep is.
14. "I tell to him." The word 'tell' is used for anything involving speaking. Instead of saying "I said.." or "I will say..", they say "I tell..." When you ask them who said they could do something, they say, "My housemother tell." or "One volunteer tell."
15. "You give one paper" This happens when they need a piece of paper in class. They raise their hand and say, "You give one paper." Also, they pronounce paper with a short 'a' sound, like in candy.
16. "What is my name?" They are constantly quizzing volunteers on their names. This becomes quite the challenge when there are 230 of them and they have names like Veralekshmi, Vijaybalaji, Amirthavasan, and Ambarasu. There is also a kid named Marutharajamannikkam. Not kidding, that's his name.
17. "This boy is beating me." The constant shout on the playground. If they receive any sort of hit or shove from one of the other kids, they run over and say, "This boy (or girl) is beating me."
18. "Auntie, photo!" They love cameras. Love. If they see you with a camera, they swarm you and try to shove each other out of the way as they yell, "Auntie, photo!" It's chaos, but also kind of hilarious.
19. "I want to go to there." Whenever they read a story that takes place somewhere cool or they watch a movie, they will say this. For some reason that extra 'to' in there makes it so much cuter. The volunteers have all adopted this one as well. When it's hot and we think about the pool in Mamallapuram, we say, "I want to go to there."
20. "You know my sponsor?" These kiddos sure do love their sponsors. Whenever they find out you are from the same place as their sponsor, they will inevitably ask you if you know their sponsor. They will then launch into a story about who their sponsor is, what their sponsor likes to do, the names of the sponsors family members and pets, and any other little facts they can think of. Seriously, they love their sponsors. If any of you want to sponsor one of the kids, let me know. You'll get yourself a little best friend for the rest of your life.
1. "It so comedy." This is one of my very favorites. They say this whenever they think something is funny. They will tell you a story or describe a movie they've seen and follow it up with "It was so comedy." I love it.
2. "I take and come." They will say this whenever they are going to go bring you something. I hear this about ten-thousand times on Fridays when their weekly reading sheet is due. They will come talk to me and say, "My paper is in hostel. I take and come." It can also be used when they want you to go get something for them, "Auntie, I need marker. You take and come."
3. "Auntie, doubt." This phrase has begun to weave itself into my dreams now because I hear it so much. This basically means they have a question. In math class, you will see a kid raise their hand and shout, "Auntie, doubt!" It's pretty adorable.
4. "I'm doing my duty." They call their chores "duties". Whenever their housemother tells them to do something, they will tell us they have to do their duty. I wish you could hear their cute little accents when they say it, it makes it so much better.
5. "Why you no come!?" This is usually said with a little grumpy face as they march up to you. Luckily, I've only heard this one a few times in my summer here. They use it when you don't do something they want you to and they want answers.
6. "Super!" This is the general positive remark around here. And by here, I don't just mean Rising Star, I mean India. Everything is super. Whenever they like things, they tell you it's super. Even the tiniest ones know that the best compliment you can give is super.
7. "Auntie!" This is the word I hear the most around here. The kids yell this out when they see you, when they want you to come stand or sit by them, when they want you to play with them, basically no matter what they want. They call all the female volunteers and housemothers Auntie. It makes me ridiculously happy to hear it shouted out on the playground or outside of the school.
8. "Grandma" This is what they call any volunteer who appears to be over the age of 40. Also, they call some of us Grandma when they're trying to be funny.
9. "When you go to America?" This is one of the first things the kids ask you when they meet you, and is a question that is repeated often. They are always trying to gauge how much time they have left with you. They love volunteers.
10. "Yen, Yem, Yeggs, Yamen" Indians put a 'y' sound at the beginning of words that start with a vowel. The kids say their "Yay, B, C's". The letter 'N' becomes "Yen". 'M' becomes "Yem." Eggs are "Yeggs", and "Amen" is "Yamen". It is one of my favorite things.
11. "This boy" or "This girl" This is what the kids say when they are talking about one of the other kids. Two boys will come up to you and one will point to the other and say something like, "This boy is my friend."
12. "Clash!" The boys are obsessed with wrestling. They have WWE cards which they use to play a game they created. The game is similar to the game kids play with Pokemon cards. They each pick a card and battle. The cards have the rank of the wrestler, the size of his bicep, the size of his chest, his weight, etc. So one of them will pick a category that they think their wrestler excels in (if they think he has the bigger bicep, they will choose bicep). Then he yells it out and follows it with the word clash. So on the playground, you always hear things like, "Bicep 32, Clash!" or "Weight 200, Clash!" It is ridiculously adorable.
13. "What is your bicep?" Their WWE obsession makes them curious about what everyone's bicep measurements are. They always run up to volunteers and ask them what their bicep is.
14. "I tell to him." The word 'tell' is used for anything involving speaking. Instead of saying "I said.." or "I will say..", they say "I tell..." When you ask them who said they could do something, they say, "My housemother tell." or "One volunteer tell."
15. "You give one paper" This happens when they need a piece of paper in class. They raise their hand and say, "You give one paper." Also, they pronounce paper with a short 'a' sound, like in candy.
16. "What is my name?" They are constantly quizzing volunteers on their names. This becomes quite the challenge when there are 230 of them and they have names like Veralekshmi, Vijaybalaji, Amirthavasan, and Ambarasu. There is also a kid named Marutharajamannikkam. Not kidding, that's his name.
17. "This boy is beating me." The constant shout on the playground. If they receive any sort of hit or shove from one of the other kids, they run over and say, "This boy (or girl) is beating me."
18. "Auntie, photo!" They love cameras. Love. If they see you with a camera, they swarm you and try to shove each other out of the way as they yell, "Auntie, photo!" It's chaos, but also kind of hilarious.
19. "I want to go to there." Whenever they read a story that takes place somewhere cool or they watch a movie, they will say this. For some reason that extra 'to' in there makes it so much cuter. The volunteers have all adopted this one as well. When it's hot and we think about the pool in Mamallapuram, we say, "I want to go to there."
20. "You know my sponsor?" These kiddos sure do love their sponsors. Whenever they find out you are from the same place as their sponsor, they will inevitably ask you if you know their sponsor. They will then launch into a story about who their sponsor is, what their sponsor likes to do, the names of the sponsors family members and pets, and any other little facts they can think of. Seriously, they love their sponsors. If any of you want to sponsor one of the kids, let me know. You'll get yourself a little best friend for the rest of your life.
I love these kids. I love Rising Star. This place is so incredible and I cannot believe my time here is winding down. I hope you all know how much I love you and how grateful I am to have the family and friends that I have.
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