Everything is coming to a close, I only have two more days teaching at school, I only have four more nights sleeping in my bed here, I only have four more hot showers that only last two minutes, I only have a few more spiderwebs to walk through. When I got here 8-ish weeks ago, it felt like this day would never come and now that its here it feels like it came maybe too fast.
Next Sunday I will be on a plane to southern India for my last hurrah with the whole family before I leave.
I was asked what teaching is like here. If I put it simply being with the children, is the cutest thing ever. I'm constantly surrounded with "Good morning Ma'am", "How are you Ma'am? I am fine.", and "What is your name?" to which I tell them and receive a puzzled look and a butchered pronunciation of my name "Bunin" (kind of like Burning without the r)
To put it not so simply, it can be exhausting and hard at times. Certain kids don't want to be taught or don't want to be uncomfortable. Certain teachers are hard to communicate with. Most lessons are hard to teach.
My solution? We play games a lot and draw pictures and read books. Anything I can do to get them thinking in English, but more importantly to teach creativity and imagination. That has become my main mission while I've been here. The more I teach, the more used to me they get and some more excited. I have one 8th grade class that is constantly finding me and asking me to teach them:)
(Also, when I first got here in the blasting heat and humidity the mere fans in the classrooms killed me.)
When Charu, one of the English teachers and a new friend, did mendi (henna) on my hand.
I found this gem from like a hundred years ago, McArthur and Ved didn't recognize me at first, then they were amazed that we had met before. Little do we know when Ved says "You always have a home in India if you wish," very seriously a few moments after this picture was taken, that I would actually take up that offer a few years after. That has been the best decision of my life.
When Zara decides to take selfies on my phone and they're actually good.
P.S. Can you believe this? Because I can't. What the heck happened?
I had no idea we had that picture. How fun that it’s documented that we met them so many years ago. I will be grateful to the Chrishna’s for the rest my life for the experience they have provided for you.
ReplyDeleteI love the pictures of the school and of McArthur and Zara. Post more pictures of the estate and everything around you that seems so everyday now. And enjoy these last 2 weeks. 😚
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you remember my family, but I've know your mom since she was a little girl. I LOVE reading about your experience and seeing all of the beautiful sights of India. I probably will never get a chance to travel there, but it's been nice to see India through your eyes. My brother Mark served his mission in the India Bangalore Mission about 20+ years ago. I have a question for you... I'm in a book club and the book we are reading right now is "No longer a slumdog" by K.P. Yohannan. The main purpose of the book is to bring the light of Christ to those who are thought to have no worth... the dalit or the untouchables. This man talks about the Bridge of Hope which is a school in India (through an organization called the GIA-Gospel in Asia). It helps the dalit/untouchables receive an education. I found it interesting that you talked about the girl who became a teacher and that she is one of 3 girls in her family. She had received the status of begging called "boy" in her family because she had found her worth in society. How this saddens me... what a beautiful daughter of God she is on her own, but yet their society has created this ugly cast system. So, now to my question... what have you seen or witnessed as to the "cast" system in India? It might be that you have really only had the chance, or been exposed to the upper tiers of the cast system so you might not even be able to answer my question. Thank you for sharing your experience. Good luck with the last couple of days in India!!
ReplyDeleteSadly the caste system is still very much respected here. I've noticed many instances where the darker skinned people treated very rudely and not quite like people. Or one moment when Zara,the two year old, was showing signs of respect to all the people around her, she signed to a "servant" or staff person as I call them. After which the staff woman immediately looked around to make sure nobody had seen her receive the sign of respect. I have been exposed to a lot of upper caste people, but I spend most of my time with the lower caste at the schools and places I get to serve. You can tell by the color of their skin, the way they're treated, the way they hold themselves, what schools they go to, and how they live. Its gotten more obvious to me the more I've been here. It is so hard to watch and wonder if it will ever truly be ridden of.
DeleteThanks for the question.