The long-awaited welcome blog

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Although I love to keep people's anticipation high, I feel that it's about time I introduced you all to Shanti Bhavan. After all, as of 3:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, I will have been at Shanti Bhavan for 48 hours!

First impressions are hard to express because there are so many battling for the page right now. So, some quick basics (Minnesota-style, if you will):

The weather here is very pleasant, and very dry. It's supposed to be monsoon season, but I have yet to see a drop, and other volunteers who have been here longer said it has been a while. But the temperature is comfortable day and night, and I am indoors for most of the day, so no sunburn yet!

The food is suiting me well so far. A couple of things have caught me off-guard, but in general it is not very spicy at all. For right now, at least, I enjoy all of the rice!

No, bugs are not that bad at all. The worst part is the gnats, which tend to hover at the periphery of your vision when you're trying to talk to someone. Oh, and then there's that spider who decided to hang out in my bathroom (no worries, I caught it in true spider-tarian (like humanitarian, right?) fashion).

I have been placed with the 11th and 12th grade English classes, which is very exciting for me. The students are responsive and thoughtful. I have one student who, after initially asking me point-blank how "The Red Wheelbarrow" by good old William Carlos Williams could be any good, decided that it was a representation of the sun. Good stuff. I am also working with a very small elective literature course which has proven a bit more of a challenge for me--Those students have to study the poetry of this Hopkins guy that I've never heard of and whose poetry (to me at least) seems bland. And doing poetry stuff one-on-two feels more like grilling than teaching. Any good pointers on how to make analyzing poetry fun for two students, please send it my way!

So, now for a general idea of how my life has gone since my airplane ride:

I arrived at the Bangalore airport at 12:30 a.m. on Sept 12. I got through customs and everything pretty easily. And, after some initial searching among the hundred or so cabbies waiting for jet-lagged customers, I found mine, who was a pleasant man maybe in his early thirties. We made some small talk during the 2 hour drive, but I generally just watched the city/landscape. We went through some pretty dingy-looking places, and I could not tell you how many stray dogs were almost ran over by my taxi, but I made it safely to Shanti Bhavan and was immediately swept up to my room where my roommate, Ally, was fast asleep.

These past two days have been a bit of a whirlwind. I didn't experience any jetlag, thank goodness. I can't imagine how I would have functioned if I had! I was told my class assignments, and immediately brought up to introduce myself to my classes. Apparently, the students I'm teaching have been missing an English teacher for a little while now, and they just spend the hour in their homeroom when no teacher is there for them. So I introduced myself, got their names, and asked them what they were studying. Both groups are studying the same material--In 12th grade, Indian students are expected to take a large test called the Indian School Certificate (ISC) and both grades are working toward that eventual test. What this means, however, is that the 12th-graders are reading the exact same material they read last year. Luckily, I have been given permission to supplement with other pieces so that they don't get bored out of ther minds.

I have been told that I will soon take over the choir, and probably work on presentational skills with students once I get settled in. I'm looking forward to working with all ages, and to getting to share the arts.

The students here are very talkative and bubbly, and they are very curious. One of the questions I am asked a lot is if I have any siblings, and after that what are my family's birthdays! They have a very structured day, with PT (equivalent to PE) at 6:30 a.m. and classes from 8:30-3:35. Of course, in between there is tea, then assembly, then lunch, and immediately after classes is snack. And then more PT time. And shower time. And then prep, which is basically study hall. Then Supper, and right back to prep (for the older ones) until 9:30 p.m. I can't imagine having that structured of a day, every day except Sunday. But I guess that's just the college in me talking--I'm not used to being told where to go all the time anymore.

All in all, this is a beautiful place, with lots of energy and life to it. I hope to take some pictures of the kids (or let the kids take some pictures--they LOVE to do that) tomorrow, but Friday is also my busiest class day, so no promises. In any case, Ally and I (and possibly other volunteers) are planning on going to Hosur this weekend. It is about 30 minutes away and seems to be a pretty nice place from what I hear. I'm hoping to come out with some traditional long tops, as I always feel so frumpy when I stand next to the Indian teachers. Looking forward to it!

Well, off to lesson planning (and making poetry fun)!

Love,

Lynn

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Comments

[Susan Mullin]

Thanks for the pictures
That spider is special. I hope you don't encounter too many of those.

[lynnbix]

The photogenic spider
I've only seen the one so far. In fact, I've seen far more translucent geckos that run from light. And those are certainly harmless. But I'm certainly keeping my eyes open!

[Allyce]

Looks Gorgeous!
Except for the spider. The spider looks very frightening! Also, congrats on no jet lag. All I remember of our first day in London was wanting to die :)