Getting Smarter

Our second night in India and things are beginning to seem more familiar. LuRue apparently caught the Pommern cold being passed around there, which was energized by a night without sleep on the way to Chennai, but the second night was more restful than the first, so hopefully the coughs, sneezes, & runny nose will soon go away.

Montana has been experiencing some unpleasant symptoms as well, but after an in-depth analysis, we have reached some conclusions. She needs to ride in the front seat on the way to morning school as the back gets a lot of "crack the whip" action from quick turns side to side, as well as jerky stops and rabbit starts as our driver gets us back and forth to our teaching jobs. Montana has been drinking plenty of water, so we think that the heat, the humidity, and the not-so-clean air is taking a toll along with the energy it takes to teach classes to students that barely understand what we say. She recovers every day, especially after eating and getting into our AC'd room, so we are sure it's nothing serious.

Health issues aside, things are going quite well, even though each day in general is "culture shock magnified". After our jump-into-the-deep-end day at the Christ King Nursery and Primary School yesterday, we had a little better idea of what to expect today. However, we learned that the simplest things weren't simple at all. Stephen explained at dinner tonight that Indians don't want to disappoint people, so they give their non-committal Figure 8 head wag to any question asked. That way you can take it as "a yes, a no, a maybe, or an I-don't-know." We have already revised our lesson plans for tomorrow.

After lunch and lesson-planning, Sheeba took us shopping--Montana, LuRue, Marcia and Greg. We stopped at a tiny stationery/everything shop, then on to a clothing store. LuRue bought a shalwar kameez. Since Sheeba had put bindis on our foreheads before leaving, we should blend in very soon. Not!

Greg & Marcia returned to the guest house, while Sheeba took Montana & LuRue to another store for the rest of the shopping list. Montana got a flash drive for storing her many photos & LuRue got a Barbie-lookalike named Betty. The girls at SEAM had had a well-used one on Sunday (with no hair), but it was lost at school on Monday. That was disappointing as LuRue and Sheeba had collected fabric scraps, needles, thread, etc for the older girls to make some new clothes for the doll. Luckily "Betty" came to the rescue.

The older girls at SEAM often don't mix with Global Volunteers much as most speak almost no English and don't like to play the same games as the eager boys. Previous volunteers have said that the older girls are difficult to engage in any activities, so the old Barbie doll had seemed a likely way. It was disappointing to hear that it was lost. Tonight at SEAM, though it took a bit of time for the girls to show interest, eventually they really got into it, fashioning mini-skirts, strapless tops, and other things they will probably never to able to wear.

In the meantime, Montana was in the library reading books, such as "Jungle Book", to a boy. She asked him if he understood and the boy nodded his head, then she asked him if he didn't understand. The boy still nodded his head, leaving Montana wondering if he understood or not. Stephen's explanation at dinner gave us new insights into what we've been encountering at school.

Every day we get older and wiser.