Montana and LuRue normally toggle their days for blog writing, but we're switching it up today. Montana is off to SEAM and LuRue is staying home, so is writing this edition. Montana may have some additions/corrections later on, as well as adding some photos. The team is going out to dinner at a restaurant following SEAM, but LuRue has opted to NOT cross that street again in her weakened condition and will settle for a banana and orange here at the guest house.
The chest cold, originally brought to Tanzania from Chicago by Jean, handed off to Jennifer, then on to LuRue just before departing Tanzania for the flights to India, has come roaring back. The cold, almost subdued last Saturday, has had new life breathed into it by a week of singing loud songs, doing the Penguin waddle, along with the Hokey Pokey, etc and almost constant switching from one activity to another at Standards 4 and 5, then again at SEAM in the evening. LuRue woke this morning with another case of laryngitis. Her sprained/broken little toe on the right foot (stubbed on a suitcase in Tanzania) is getting slowly better, but is still quite swollen and aches from standing so much. Oh, well, that all may be minor if she gets malaria from forgetting to take her malaria medication for the first three days this week!
Having said all that, Montana & LuRue still feel fortunate that neither of us has been really sick. Montana has gotten "teacher throat" from talking so much and so loudly every day, but fortunately it heals itself on a daily basis. LuRue asked Stephen this evening if we will be changing schools for the next two weeks...perhaps the teachers are getting tired of having us in their classrooms. But he said that he had talked to both, and both love having us in there so we'll continue with the same kids. Our other choices are preschool or teaching harder-core subjects, so we're happy where we are. We'll just have to come up with some variations of activities that we've established.
Today was centered around film-making. In Standards 4 and 5, we've had the children practice "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" for the past couple of days, approaching the camera in two rotating circles while chanting so that each child will have the opportunity to see himself/herself. The boys, especially in Standard 5, were hamming it up big-time, while the girls tended to be more demure. Standard 4 was a little tamer. After Montana returns from SEAM and dinner, she'll need to spend more time tonight finishing off the "movie" so that we can show the kids tomorrow. The teachers really got into the spirit, too. While doing "The Penguin Song", one teacher even joined in with moving her arms & legs and bobbing her head.
Here is the URL for "One Fish, Two Fish":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQk4fJR-rRw
This afternoon at 2:45, we (Stephen, Sheeba, Marcia, Montana and LuRue) left to go to a film studio which is located just across the busy street from SEAM. It's a studio that tends to film soap operas. Stephen had set it up, but said that it, like everything else, runs on 'India time', so there may or may not be anything going on. As it turned out, there were scenes being shot inside a "jail". On the way to the building, Sheeba said that she recognized some of the sets from a soap opera she watches...hospital entrance, police station, etc. She also recognized one of the actors who was sitting outside. We were invited into the "jail" to watch the many takes of a couple of scenes. Apparently this is a documentary of a "good young man" who has become involved in drugs and thrown into jail. In the first scene the director didn't like the way that the "police" actors were entering the scene. Then the young man, who has successfully talked himself out of the prison cell, grabs a knife and slits his throat. The director didn't like the way he was falling, so there were several re-takes until everything was just right.
During a break, Stephen introduced the director to our group, mentioning that Montana is interested in pursuing film-making as a career. He asked what area most interested her, and when she said the filming, he allowed us to go into the "jail" to watch the monitor for the second scene. It turns out the captives could easily escape considering there was no wall on one side. The scene was from the point of view of the young man lying on the ground in the foreground with the "federales" coming in to investigate. The young man had fake blood on the knife and poured over his hand and the ground near him. The poor guy had to lie there a very long time for several retakes, partly because the first shots cut off the chief inspector's head, and the next couple of shots ended in the actors laughing.
The actors and crew thought that our being there was quite novel, so we got a lot of smiles and waves, with some coming up and talking to us. The actor with the bloody hand started to shake hands, then thought better of it ;-). A well-dressed couple came in to watch part of the action...apparently they were the producers. According to the info we got, this is going to be posted on YouTube, so it's not exactly Bollywood. Still, the actors (all men) were taking their parts seriously & trying their best.
Montana went to SEAM with the other volunteers while LuRue stayed home to rest (and write most of this blog). Montana will finish it off when she returns after dinner at the restaurant.
At SEAM, instead of starting, like usual, with music, they started with crafts and tutoring. This is because the tutor could only be there for a certain amount of time today. Like usual, the girls ran for the paper scraps to make more earrings. At 6:30, the team spent the last half hour singing, dancing, and wondering if they'll have any voice left at the end of their weeks.
The group, except LuRue, went out to dinner at the same restaurant they went to the last week. It was also the same food as last week-bread and chicken cooked in different ways. It was spicy, but very good, although LuRue most likely is not sorry she didn't go. They got back from that at 9. Montana and LuRue spent the next hour finishing up their post and the video for tomorrow.
The chest cold, originally brought to Tanzania from Chicago by Jean, handed off to Jennifer, then on to LuRue just before departing Tanzania for the flights to India, has come roaring back. The cold, almost subdued last Saturday, has had new life breathed into it by a week of singing loud songs, doing the Penguin waddle, along with the Hokey Pokey, etc and almost constant switching from one activity to another at Standards 4 and 5, then again at SEAM in the evening. LuRue woke this morning with another case of laryngitis. Her sprained/broken little toe on the right foot (stubbed on a suitcase in Tanzania) is getting slowly better, but is still quite swollen and aches from standing so much. Oh, well, that all may be minor if she gets malaria from forgetting to take her malaria medication for the first three days this week!
Having said all that, Montana & LuRue still feel fortunate that neither of us has been really sick. Montana has gotten "teacher throat" from talking so much and so loudly every day, but fortunately it heals itself on a daily basis. LuRue asked Stephen this evening if we will be changing schools for the next two weeks...perhaps the teachers are getting tired of having us in their classrooms. But he said that he had talked to both, and both love having us in there so we'll continue with the same kids. Our other choices are preschool or teaching harder-core subjects, so we're happy where we are. We'll just have to come up with some variations of activities that we've established.
Today was centered around film-making. In Standards 4 and 5, we've had the children practice "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" for the past couple of days, approaching the camera in two rotating circles while chanting so that each child will have the opportunity to see himself/herself. The boys, especially in Standard 5, were hamming it up big-time, while the girls tended to be more demure. Standard 4 was a little tamer. After Montana returns from SEAM and dinner, she'll need to spend more time tonight finishing off the "movie" so that we can show the kids tomorrow. The teachers really got into the spirit, too. While doing "The Penguin Song", one teacher even joined in with moving her arms & legs and bobbing her head.
Here is the URL for "One Fish, Two Fish":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQk4fJR-rRw
This afternoon at 2:45, we (Stephen, Sheeba, Marcia, Montana and LuRue) left to go to a film studio which is located just across the busy street from SEAM. It's a studio that tends to film soap operas. Stephen had set it up, but said that it, like everything else, runs on 'India time', so there may or may not be anything going on. As it turned out, there were scenes being shot inside a "jail". On the way to the building, Sheeba said that she recognized some of the sets from a soap opera she watches...hospital entrance, police station, etc. She also recognized one of the actors who was sitting outside. We were invited into the "jail" to watch the many takes of a couple of scenes. Apparently this is a documentary of a "good young man" who has become involved in drugs and thrown into jail. In the first scene the director didn't like the way that the "police" actors were entering the scene. Then the young man, who has successfully talked himself out of the prison cell, grabs a knife and slits his throat. The director didn't like the way he was falling, so there were several re-takes until everything was just right.During a break, Stephen introduced the director to our group, mentioning that Montana is interested in pursuing film-making as a career. He asked what area most interested her, and when she said the filming, he allowed us to go into the "jail" to watch the monitor for the second scene. It turns out the captives could easily escape considering there was no wall on one side. The scene was from the point of view of the young man lying on the ground in the foreground with the "federales" coming in to investigate. The young man had fake blood on the knife and poured over his hand and the ground near him. The poor guy had to lie there a very long time for several retakes, partly because the first shots cut off the chief inspector's head, and the next couple of shots ended in the actors laughing.The actors and crew thought that our being there was quite novel, so we got a lot of smiles and waves, with some coming up and talking to us. The actor with the bloody hand started to shake hands, then thought better of it ;-). A well-dressed couple came in to watch part of the action...apparently they were the producers. According to the info we got, this is going to be posted on YouTube, so it's not exactly Bollywood. Still, the actors (all men) were taking their parts seriously & trying their best.Montana went to SEAM with the other volunteers while LuRue stayed home to rest (and write most of this blog). Montana will finish it off when she returns after dinner at the restaurant.
At SEAM, instead of starting, like usual, with music, they started with crafts and tutoring. This is because the tutor could only be there for a certain amount of time today. Like usual, the girls ran for the paper scraps to make more earrings. At 6:30, the team spent the last half hour singing, dancing, and wondering if they'll have any voice left at the end of their weeks.
The group, except LuRue, went out to dinner at the same restaurant they went to the last week. It was also the same food as last week-bread and chicken cooked in different ways. It was spicy, but very good, although LuRue most likely is not sorry she didn't go. They got back from that at 9. Montana and LuRue spent the next hour finishing up their post and the video for tomorrow.
Wow what an interesting day. How fortunate that Montana is getting some real inside info on filming in India. I agree with Eric, just reading about your amazing days is tiring me out—so far I have learned "The Penguin Song”, "Herman the Worm”, and watched a 'How to...' video on quilling . I can only imagine you all are wiped out by the end of each day. Hope this week-end brings you both some down time to get back your strength—chest cold, 'teacher throat', painful toe… : begone!!!
ReplyDeleteYour students must just love watching themselves on the videos you all are making —the students (in their attractive school uniforms) are so enthusiastic in “One Fish, Two Fish” (and I especially love the fish inserts!).