There will be good days, and "bad" days..

So yesterday, Sunday, we went to the S.O.S Children's Village after breakfast. SOS Children's Villages are all around the world, and this one happens to be right across the way from the Center. This is where children who are orphans, or have just one parent that can't provide for them, come and stay in a safe place. There are 20 houses, each with ten children and one mother. The children are so cute and so well behaved. We borowed one girl from each house who is in scouting and we taught them some games and crafts to bring back to their "families". There were children all over the village sweeping and cleaning and on such good behavior. We visited one of the houses and saw the children's rooms. They were completely organized and spotless. It's amazing how appreciative these children are for having so little, material wise.
After the visit we came back to the center and relaxed before going out to the movie theater. The best part about this trip...we saw an ELEPHANT! He was standing outside the theater. Sara let me borrow a rupee, and I put it in his trunk! It was GREAT! We went inside, this was a very western area, and saw "Meet the President". It was not Bollywood-esk (haha Dad) at all unforunately. It was all about Bush coming to India and who would be chosen to shake his hand. Afterwards Sara, Holly and I went out. Sara knows the owner of a really cool bar/lounge here and we decided to go for a bit. Jemma and Maddie met up with us later, and we just hung out. It was weird hearing music like "Kiss Kiss" by Chris Brown and "Disturbia" by Rhianna while all these Indian girls are dressed in mini skirts and tank tops. This is a part of town where people can dress as they please. It was actually kind of nice to experience a bit of home. We came home rather early so we wouldn't be tired for today.

Today was the first day of work. It was definitely not easy..it was really really hard. I don't really know how to put any of it into words. I got to the site, which is just a cement building, and inside were 70 children and 3 teachers, none of whom spoke English. Today, and only today, there was a girl would could translate the big things to me. She tried explaining what they do each day, but it seems very erratic. The hardest thing is that no one speaks English. During our lunchtime, the teachers eat together, and for a whole hour they talked to one another. It's hard to be in that environment and not communicate. What was harder for me was seeing the conditions where these children are living. It's very unsanitary, the children are very dirty, and they have such limited resources for education. It's hard too because I guess they truly don't know what they're missing, but for someone like me it's hard to see these children live this way when I've seen it so differently. I'm trying to understand that this is what they know, and it might not be bad, just different. So, I'm taking it one day at a time. It was just hard to have a full day of this new experience (work will be 8 hours, 4 times a week).
In the mornings the children come at 9:30 and are fed an oatmeal type dish. Then they start their activities. In the afternoon they are fed rice and go home for an hour while the teachers eat. When they come back, they do some reading exercises and crafts and games and then they are fed a milky liquid before going home at 5:30. There are three groups that the children are split up into; babies, 3-5, and 6-9. I worked mostly with the older children today, but I am allowed to move around as I wish. I'll have to see what is most comfortable for me.
I knew this wasn't going to be easy, I just didn't know it would be this hard. I've lived my whole life unaware that people live this way. It's the sort of thing you read about, or may see a commerical on to support these types of programs, but to be part of it is a completely different experience. I hope that it will get easier as time moves on.

Thanks still for reading these posts! It helps me as well..