Week 4

Now that I've gotten into a routine it's hard to keep these posts interesting. I know that's crazy to say since I'm in INDIA! but I'll try and fill you all in on the most interesting adventures of the week.
This week started off with Republic Day. Everyone was off, so after Hindi we took a walk around the neighborhood with Minakshi. It was a rough day to be America; the first stop was improptu, the ex-mayor of Pune saw Minakshi and invited us to sit down (on chairs in the middle of the street) with him. Immediately he asked us where we were from and didn't waste anytime on me when he heard I was from the U.S. "What do you think of Pakistan" - I starred at him. "Don't you read the papers? What about those terrorists in the bombing" "9-11?" Was my surprised question. "Yes! All Pakistan". I just sat there, it's strange trying to discuss politics while abroad; it's hard to share your opinion when you're speaking for your country, not just for yourself (as I would in America). I chose to sit there while Mina kindly got us out of the situation. After we visited a few Hindu and Sikh temples and learned more about each religion. We had a second encounter coming out of the last Hindu temple. An Indian woman approached us and asked Mina if she could talk to us for 2 minutes. She asked Muriel where she was from (U.K) and started talking straight to her face about American and all the bad we've done and the fact that the Indian soldiers are fighting hard and yaddayadda.. Holly whispered to me "If she asks you, say you're from Canada.." We had a good laugh about it after, espeically since Muriel is from the UK, but while it was happening it was scary. Mina again got us out of there and promised never to take anyone out on Republic Day again; a lot of emotions running free. It was the first time I found it hard to say proudly I was from America, but I guess a lot of people in a threatening situation would feel the same way. Otherwise India has been wonderful to me as an American.
The rest of the week seemed uneventful after Monday. We went to work everyday after that, and it was definitely a rollercoaster. I had high moments (I taught the kids the names of colors in English and they filled out a worksheet) to low moments (I was given a group of 14 5-year-olds and told to teach them 1-2-3 for 2 hours). There were times when I had to ask myself why in the world I decided to do this, and was I ever going to feel like I was making a different, but then one of the children would run up to me and ask me to sing a song or play a game, and I would feel better. Holly and I talked about how we have to realize we may not actually "teach" them anything in terms of language or arithmatic, but crafts, games, and our presence can be just as special. It's definitely hard to see that, and it's taking a lot of time, but by the end of the week I was ready to try again.
Saturday was just a day of fun and relaxation. We went to MG Road again to do some shopping and exploring, then we went out to dinner at night. Afterwards Maddie, Holly and I went to a bar/lounge, then onto a club after that which was really fun. It was nice to be around people my own age for once, and it was the western side of India so it felt like being back at home. Yesterday I took a deep breath and got preparing for this week. I think I have figured out what I have to plan and how to plan things, so hopefully that will help me succeed at work a little more.
To end this week, I'll tell you my favorite thing that I was taught this week. It was a Hindu story Mina told us; one of the gods had a brother and their parents were trying to figure out who was the best of the two. They told them both to run around the world and whomever made it back first was the best. As soon as Krishna's brother started running around the world, he ran in a circle around his parents. When asked what he was doing he said, "Well of course, you are my world". This is how the society is here; parents are very revered, and I liked that a lot and thought that's exactly how I feel about my parents. It was a nice story and I hope you like it!

Namaste~
Lindsay