The school where I will teach...

This morning we went to the school where I will be teaching.  We arrived and they had us sit down.  They are always insistent that you sit when you come into their office areas.  They gave us a glass of soda and talked in Tamil and English-it was confusing to know when they were talking to us and when they were talking to each other.  Sometimes their accent, when speaking English, is so thick that it sounds as though they are speaking Tamil.
All the girls lined up outside-they waited patiently with small chatter here and there for the assembly to begin.  A few girls recited some readings and then did a brief reading of current events in both Tamil and English.  After that we were introduced.  They honored us in front of the whole school by putting beautiful shalls around us and shaking our hands.  All the students clapped for us and a professional photographer took our pictures.  I almost cried because it was so beautiful and they were all so genuinely happy to have us there.  All the girls look at us and smile, and if you smile and wave back they giggle.  They are so pleased when you say hello to them.

After that we went to the library which was a rather bare library with a very random assortment of books.  All the teachers came to meet us-we had to introduce ourselves, which made me a little nervous.  One of the teachers told us that they could never have imagined that we would come to their school to help them.  They kept expressing their gratitude toward us.  Once we were done there we moved onto a classroom of older girls.  When we walked in they all said, "Good Morning" and stood to show their respect for us.  I was then handed a white board marker and asked to pretend to teach the classroom in order to model for a calendar that will be distributed locally and to all the students and their families!  It was quite funny and awkward.  I didn't know what to say or do!  With a little help from my co-volunteers I got the courage to write where I was from on the board and my name.  All the while this professional photographer was taking my picture!  It was quite the scene!  After, one of the teachers, who speaks English very well, joked with me that I will be a local celebrity!

We then finished up our morning by taking a tour of the complex which is rather large.  There are many schools which all do different things at all sorts of levels.  We walked by one school which had these beautiful young girls and they did a traditional South Indian dance for us.  We also stopped by another school which serves local children in poverty.  All of the children there followed us, shook our hands, waved at us, and giggled at us.  Their classroom consisted of a straw mat on the ground and a teacher.  I really wanted to stay there and work with those kids!

I am generally beginning to settle in and feel more comfortable.  The power outages are long and frequent which make it extremely hot and uncomfortable since none of the fans work during those times.  But you learn to love and appreciate those fans even more when the power comes on!  The bugs are not bad.  We have salamanders that live in our rooms-they don't bother you but they do like sitting right near or on the toilet which makes me a little weary when I go to the bathroom when the power is out!  This morning I had the pleasure of watching local school children bike by on their way to school.  There was also a little herd of goats outside the house and three cows which were heartily eating from the compost/trash pile which is right near our house.  There is a boys hostel above our house.  Last night I got to see them through the windows and they were each at their desks doing work.  This morning they came downstairs and bathed outside the front of the house from the spigot while I was sitting there.

There are many things that take getting used to but I love India!