This week has been a week of dancing.....yes, me.....dancing.......crazy!.... its been busy and at times exhausting, but I think I can comfortably say that it has probably been one of the most enjoyable weeks so far.
Monday and Tuesday were spent in the office, dealing with expenses (Restless are kind enough to give us back all of the money we spend on travel), and typing up a few short documents about our take on the modules successes and improvements that could be made. It was a fairly easy two days and a great relief to have a few days off traveling around Vellore on the disastrously sweaty buses. It also gave us the opportunity to catch up on some reading and boring things like washing..... the absolute bane of my life as its all done by hand!
Wednesday saw a complete change of pace. We were up early and set sail just after 8am (which is incredibly early for Indians, plus another small miracle worth a mention is that our cook had lunches prepared before this time - amazing! - its not happened since though and I doubt it will happen again). The whole team joined together once more, our destination...... a school! It was quiet an expedition to get to with a substantial bus journey followed by a good 20mins in a rickshaw (with 7 of us wedged in - I think Jack still holds the record though for about 10 and a goat but apparently they fit 16?!?).When we arrived I ended up taking 9th standard (Volunteering and the Right to Information Act), it went very well, kids were really interactive and it was pleasure to teach. After the lesson however, some of the girls wanted me to dance, I agreed and one of them taught me some Indian dance moves.... I ended up dancing in front of both 9th standard classes, I probably looked a complete wally but they absolute loved it and it was such good fun - until a teaching with a cane chased them away - felt a bit bad about that because I had been the source of their shouting and screaming. We had lunch and then (after being followed by a ridiculously large group of girls as I walked across the field to the toilet) we spent the rest of the lunch break playing with the kids. Will and Jack attempted to teach the boys football - which resulted in them constantly picking the ball up. The news of my dancing must have spread around the school as I was now confronted by the all of the girls in the entire school begging for me to dance..... and I of course obliged - it was such good fun and (I've no idea why) but they absolutely loved it! It also turns out that there were too many of us in the rickshaw as on the return journey Will's bum was hit by an oncoming rickshaw as he was forced to sit half in, half out.... fear not though he is quiet well.
Given the success of the previous day, VadiValen decided to set up some time for us to simply go into the schools and play games with the kids...... well this is what we were told anyway. When we got to the school the headmaster was expecting us to teach a lesson on hygiene?!? Bit of a shock as you can imagine but we think it was more of a logistic issue to get us through the door, although we did still had to teach a lesson on hygiene. It was a bit shaky to begin with as we had to think on our feet but we delivered some key messages.After the break however I quickly devised a lesson structure for 6th and 7th that worked a dream. It covered all the areas you would expect (washing hands, clothes, flushing toilets, don't eat street food ect) but I animated each with a physical action and got one volunteer to help me with each one, by the end I had the whole class up singing and acting away to 'This is the way we wash our hands, wash our hand, wash our hands.....early in the morning......' It was so much fun and its incredibly rewarding when you have to think so quickly and it really pays off. We also (given that we were outside) took the opportunity to play some active games. We taught them bulldog and they taught us an interesting game called 'GoGo" - its absolutely brilliant!
As if the week hadn't already been a success, Friday was a perfect end to the week. We again found ourselves at an all girls school and they were......... brilliant. I again found myself teaching 9th standard and they were so engaged with the material. They were very interactive and went wild for the team games that we're using to get the kids thinking for themselves.I don't know if news of my dancing is spreading across Vellore but they also had me up at the front of the class at the end of the lesson dancing away to their cheers. Lunch was pretty mental as we were surrounded by loads of girls clambering and climbing across tables and chairs just to get a glimpse of us. I am constantly shaking peoples hands and answering the question 'what is your name?' Many of the kids at the front were getting crushed as their classmates were pushing them from behind trying to get closer to us - a little claustrophobic to say the least. It was good fun though and we sung songs for them as they did for us. After lunch we tackled 8th standard (Civic duties and Civic rights) which was (if possibly) even more of a success. They were also very keen to see me dance. The highlight of the day though was a last minute game that myself and Rekha quickly devised. It so hard to play games with the kids in Indian schools because the classrooms are so small and the number of kids in each class is so high. But we utilized the small space in between the rows and the game of course involved me looking silly a lot of the time acting out different scenarios and being different animals. It is still the most bizarre feeling when the kids gather round, pens at the ready screaming..'autograph....autograph'. After an awkward toilet trip where I had to ask Rekha to tell the 9th standard students from the morning lesson to leave the toilet so I could lock the door (and when I say toilet I of course mean hole in the floor). We went to find Jack and Razier, the girls from their lesson did this thing where they pinch my cheek and then kiss their forefinger and thumb, apparently its a sort of blessing. It was very sweet until they all then started grabbing at my cheeks. However, it was still a great end to an awesome week.
This weekend we were all invited to an Indian wedding (one of the guys that work at Restless brother was getting married). Indian weddings are strange in that they have a party Saturday night and then get married early Sunday morning.... obviously there was no alcohol but its still a bizarre set up in my opinion. The wedding wasn't really interesting the boys so I went lone to meet the girls from Chennai. I was lucky enough to get a lift from Kartick (another guy on the Restless staff), he pulled up in a car that looked more at home alongside grease lightning, with essentially two sofa's inside. We arrived in true Indian style..... late, and I quickly got changed into my saree. The whole wedding was so colorful!! We had a traditional dinner (on banana leafs) and sat in the main room, where we quickly learnt, that only Indian men dance, until they invited us to dance that is - the whole place went crazy! Everyone was trying to film it and even the wedding photographer shone his bright light to capture the scene for the couples wedding video.We then shortly found out that at a wedding everyone stays at the venue, which basically means there are no beds! We eventually manage d to wangle a room ( we were going to sleep on the balcony above the main room with loads of Indian women) we were provided with...... nothing.... just a room and a hard tiled floor, not the most comfortable nights sleep I've ever had if I'm honest. The wedding ceremony in the morning though made it all worth while. It took place on the stage in the main room and they do some peculiar things, they set fire to coconuts and smash them, they also have a rope that the tie their heads (that signifies different things), and wash their in laws feet. We were also invited on stage, which was wierd given that we were complete outsiders. We got to chuck rice at the couple though which was pretty cool (kind of like our confetti tradition). Anyway a great experience, we are so lucky to have been able to experience an Indian wedding in India. Its been quiet a week to say the least.
Monday and Tuesday were spent in the office, dealing with expenses (Restless are kind enough to give us back all of the money we spend on travel), and typing up a few short documents about our take on the modules successes and improvements that could be made. It was a fairly easy two days and a great relief to have a few days off traveling around Vellore on the disastrously sweaty buses. It also gave us the opportunity to catch up on some reading and boring things like washing..... the absolute bane of my life as its all done by hand!
Wednesday saw a complete change of pace. We were up early and set sail just after 8am (which is incredibly early for Indians, plus another small miracle worth a mention is that our cook had lunches prepared before this time - amazing! - its not happened since though and I doubt it will happen again). The whole team joined together once more, our destination...... a school! It was quiet an expedition to get to with a substantial bus journey followed by a good 20mins in a rickshaw (with 7 of us wedged in - I think Jack still holds the record though for about 10 and a goat but apparently they fit 16?!?).When we arrived I ended up taking 9th standard (Volunteering and the Right to Information Act), it went very well, kids were really interactive and it was pleasure to teach. After the lesson however, some of the girls wanted me to dance, I agreed and one of them taught me some Indian dance moves.... I ended up dancing in front of both 9th standard classes, I probably looked a complete wally but they absolute loved it and it was such good fun - until a teaching with a cane chased them away - felt a bit bad about that because I had been the source of their shouting and screaming. We had lunch and then (after being followed by a ridiculously large group of girls as I walked across the field to the toilet) we spent the rest of the lunch break playing with the kids. Will and Jack attempted to teach the boys football - which resulted in them constantly picking the ball up. The news of my dancing must have spread around the school as I was now confronted by the all of the girls in the entire school begging for me to dance..... and I of course obliged - it was such good fun and (I've no idea why) but they absolutely loved it! It also turns out that there were too many of us in the rickshaw as on the return journey Will's bum was hit by an oncoming rickshaw as he was forced to sit half in, half out.... fear not though he is quiet well.
Given the success of the previous day, VadiValen decided to set up some time for us to simply go into the schools and play games with the kids...... well this is what we were told anyway. When we got to the school the headmaster was expecting us to teach a lesson on hygiene?!? Bit of a shock as you can imagine but we think it was more of a logistic issue to get us through the door, although we did still had to teach a lesson on hygiene. It was a bit shaky to begin with as we had to think on our feet but we delivered some key messages.After the break however I quickly devised a lesson structure for 6th and 7th that worked a dream. It covered all the areas you would expect (washing hands, clothes, flushing toilets, don't eat street food ect) but I animated each with a physical action and got one volunteer to help me with each one, by the end I had the whole class up singing and acting away to 'This is the way we wash our hands, wash our hand, wash our hands.....early in the morning......' It was so much fun and its incredibly rewarding when you have to think so quickly and it really pays off. We also (given that we were outside) took the opportunity to play some active games. We taught them bulldog and they taught us an interesting game called 'GoGo" - its absolutely brilliant!
As if the week hadn't already been a success, Friday was a perfect end to the week. We again found ourselves at an all girls school and they were......... brilliant. I again found myself teaching 9th standard and they were so engaged with the material. They were very interactive and went wild for the team games that we're using to get the kids thinking for themselves.I don't know if news of my dancing is spreading across Vellore but they also had me up at the front of the class at the end of the lesson dancing away to their cheers. Lunch was pretty mental as we were surrounded by loads of girls clambering and climbing across tables and chairs just to get a glimpse of us. I am constantly shaking peoples hands and answering the question 'what is your name?' Many of the kids at the front were getting crushed as their classmates were pushing them from behind trying to get closer to us - a little claustrophobic to say the least. It was good fun though and we sung songs for them as they did for us. After lunch we tackled 8th standard (Civic duties and Civic rights) which was (if possibly) even more of a success. They were also very keen to see me dance. The highlight of the day though was a last minute game that myself and Rekha quickly devised. It so hard to play games with the kids in Indian schools because the classrooms are so small and the number of kids in each class is so high. But we utilized the small space in between the rows and the game of course involved me looking silly a lot of the time acting out different scenarios and being different animals. It is still the most bizarre feeling when the kids gather round, pens at the ready screaming..'autograph....autograph'. After an awkward toilet trip where I had to ask Rekha to tell the 9th standard students from the morning lesson to leave the toilet so I could lock the door (and when I say toilet I of course mean hole in the floor). We went to find Jack and Razier, the girls from their lesson did this thing where they pinch my cheek and then kiss their forefinger and thumb, apparently its a sort of blessing. It was very sweet until they all then started grabbing at my cheeks. However, it was still a great end to an awesome week.
This weekend we were all invited to an Indian wedding (one of the guys that work at Restless brother was getting married). Indian weddings are strange in that they have a party Saturday night and then get married early Sunday morning.... obviously there was no alcohol but its still a bizarre set up in my opinion. The wedding wasn't really interesting the boys so I went lone to meet the girls from Chennai. I was lucky enough to get a lift from Kartick (another guy on the Restless staff), he pulled up in a car that looked more at home alongside grease lightning, with essentially two sofa's inside. We arrived in true Indian style..... late, and I quickly got changed into my saree. The whole wedding was so colorful!! We had a traditional dinner (on banana leafs) and sat in the main room, where we quickly learnt, that only Indian men dance, until they invited us to dance that is - the whole place went crazy! Everyone was trying to film it and even the wedding photographer shone his bright light to capture the scene for the couples wedding video.We then shortly found out that at a wedding everyone stays at the venue, which basically means there are no beds! We eventually manage d to wangle a room ( we were going to sleep on the balcony above the main room with loads of Indian women) we were provided with...... nothing.... just a room and a hard tiled floor, not the most comfortable nights sleep I've ever had if I'm honest. The wedding ceremony in the morning though made it all worth while. It took place on the stage in the main room and they do some peculiar things, they set fire to coconuts and smash them, they also have a rope that the tie their heads (that signifies different things), and wash their in laws feet. We were also invited on stage, which was wierd given that we were complete outsiders. We got to chuck rice at the couple though which was pretty cool (kind of like our confetti tradition). Anyway a great experience, we are so lucky to have been able to experience an Indian wedding in India. Its been quiet a week to say the least.
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