March 29, 2009
So the new school is really nice. It is in a prime location, so two out of the four hostels can walk to it, decreasing the bus trips from three to one. Also it is four floors, so there is so much room that they literally can’t use one whole floor yet, but the kids are coming in every week, so you never know. We have designed the school to have a big library, a science lab and a computer lab, which will make the school better than any of the private schools in the area. One thing that is funny is the land owner is very Hindu and in Hinduism, how your house is set up is very important, it is called Vastu. In Vastu the bathrooms have a lot of rules as to where they can and cannot be. One things that they can never be on the East side of the house, which I had heard once before, and luckily our plan did not have bathrooms on the East side by chance, but there is another rule that both Lynne and Ratnam had never heard that there can not be a bathroom in a corner, which cut out 3 bathrooms, which was quite annoying. Along with being strict Vastu they land owner and his wife are illiterate. They technically are not because they can right their names, but they are very slow and can only write in Telugu. I really do not understand how an illiterate man could make so much money that he could buy land and build a four-story building on land that is just a little less than the price of Lexington land. After a couple of stops in the road, it seems like the school is going well.
Last Saturday the wholesale tailor that was handling the boys clothes for Easter came to drop all of them off. It was impressive how on time he was. The clothes looked great on the boys. However, about a third had pants there were too long.
This past week two women from Boston came and volunteered. One was a native Indian. It was a little weird since even though she was, both of them seemed to have no idea of like the dress code. Lynne thought that since the woman from India was coming she didn’t have to have a cultural lesson and it is pretty hard to tell someone who to dress in their own country, but whatever. Besides that, they were pretty helpful. We finished sorting all the clothes that we got into when Marion and Amy were here, but we sorted them even further into sizes. It took is about 4 days to do all to boys and all the girls. They would work from 11-5 and then they did crafts with the kids, so the first night, they had third hostel do drawings. Second hostel they just played with, and first they did the craft project that Marion sent, with the boys. The kids all seemed to have fun. The only bad thing was that we always had to go back to the house to set up for tomorrows project, which meant Lynne and I didn’t get to spend much time with the kids. Friday we all worked on the library project of pasting labels on all the books. I never thought about the process that it must have taken years for these modern American library that have millions of book, to put labels on all of them. We worked straight for almost 9 hours, and we only labeled about 50% of the 1,300 books that Agape has now. For their last day here we took them to the best Biriyani in town, Bawatchi. We ended up staying out until 12, and we only went back because I was about to fall asleep at the table. I had spent two of the past night up until 1 trying to make the library software print out what I wanted. It had finally caught up with me.
Yesterday we woke up at 5:30 to get a head start before the heat to put up fliers for staff. The whole night, none of us slept, because it was so hot. I would fall asleep for maybe five minutes and then I would wake up. When the alarm went off it was so sad, I thought it had to be a joke. We got up got ready, while we did that Thanuja made some homemade glue to put the fliers up with. We left at around 7, half an hour off schedule and drove the hostels to pick up a couple of boys to help us paste. We took the mini-van. Hafeez and Ranjete (the driver) in the front. Lynne, one of the boys Ratan, and me in the middle, and three more boys sitting on the floor in the back with the seats lifted up. We started out in Uppal, but decided that we couldn’t put up flies to steal school teachers from schools in broad daylight, so we decided to go on the main roads out towards the village and past them in major intersections and bus stops. We drove probably a total of 1 and a-half hours away from Uppal, but we stopped a lot to put up fliers, so it took us about four down and two back. We stopped at a place for lunch that was actually pretty good for being so far outside of the city. We had a system down. Whenever we saw a place, all the boys hoped out we popped open the trunk. Lynne and I handed back the amount of posters for that specific stop. One boy laid out newspaper and pasted the back of each with the glue and the other three boys ran them out to where they wanted to post them. We all then piled back into the car and moved on to the next place. While were out we got pulled over by the police twice at checkpoints. It was nomination day, so there were a lot of police checking for bombs and there were big huge mobs of people marching around, making it pretty difficult to get were we wanted to go. When we got pulled over, they wanted to see the trunk and whenever they opened it they were surprised to see the boys in the back. The boys just waved, and the police officers waved back and then we were on our mission again. By about five we were on our way back to the hostels and I was pretty beat. I was tired last night and I didn’t get really any sleep, so I was now exhausted. We went back and laid down with the girls for about an hour before we went and ate at first. We then decided to go back out at 9 so that we could paste on schools and shops without anyone there to object. We took the ambulance too with a couple extra boys to get the job done. We didn’t take the ambulance in the afternoon, because we would have boiled to death with out the AC. Ratnam, and Jayapaul, along with 3 other boys joined our group. We put up a ton of fliers. Then at around 12:30 some cops pulled us over to tell us that there is a curfew up, which none of us knew about, because of the elections coming up. We drove away from them and put a few more, but at one we stopped, even though we didn’t do nearly as much as we had hoped. Surprisingly I was able to stay awake until we got back to the house at around 1:45. At 2 I crashed.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Being a Tourist
March 19, 2009
Sorry, time has gotten away from me again. I left off with Thaunja and Ratnam gone. The rest of the week was a little crazy, with the majority of the time spent in the kitchen, but Thanuja came back on the 23rd at around 7. Ratnam got back on the 24th really early. Lynne, James and I went to the airport at 3 am and met him there. We spent the 24th relaxing and working at the house, since no one was really awake. The next morning we went out to buy the rest of the boys’ cloth for Easter. At around 5 we got back and we ran around to get me ready to leave for my flight. These past two weeks my family came to India to visit me and to tour around. It has been a very packed two weeks but very fun and interesting.
On the 25th I flew to Delhi to meet up with my parents. We stayed over for a night before flying the Varanasi in the morning. Many of you probably have seen pictures of it, since it is that city that is on the Ganges river that is the holy place to bath and cremate people. They have many ghats, which are the stairs into the river. It was a very interesting site and quite unique. We only stayed overnight, but we got to see both the sunset with the evening prayer, and the sunrise with the morning prayer.
From Varanasi we flew down to Mumbai were Becca met us. We only spent half a day there and saw all the big important sites to see including this very good Gandhi museum, which was actually a house that he used when he visited Mumbai. Another interesting site was this garden called the hanging garden, which was actually a garden sitting on top of their reservoir.
From Mumbai was traveled to Udaipur, which is in the state of Rajasthan. It was a really beautiful area. Our hotel was absolutely amazing. The first day we just enjoyed the hotel, but the next morning we went and saw the city palace. It was quite impressive, and it turns out that they still have a king, even though he has no real power. After that we took a boat ride to another palace, which is on the middle of the lake. In Udaipur there are three big man made lakes, which is funny since Rajasthan is pretty much a complete desert. It had a spectacular view. We then went out to dinner, we took autos to the place, which was right on the water.
The next morning we flew to Jaipur, from Jaipur we drove to this village, Samode, about an hour north of the city. It had another spectacular hotel, which was the king’s palace. It had this one room that was so well preserved it was amazing, full of mirrors and inlaid with real gems and amazing paintings. In Samode we took a Camel ride through the village and the over to the kings old gardens which were quite fantastic and full of Peacocks. The next morning was nice and relaxed and about midday we drove back to Jaipur. Yet again it was an amazing hotel. And another old palace. It was probably the best hotel of the trip. After lunch we went and saw the palace in the city of Jaipur which was very interesting and had some examples of the old clothes and weapons. The most interesting part was the observatory. From what had heard I had assumed it was like the white round building that had seen before, but it turned out to look like a sculpture garden, which had many different sundials. The biggest was accurate up to two seconds. We then went through the city palace, which had a couple of interesting museums. It also had beautiful work. From there we went to a textile and rug factory, where we bought a bunch of textiles with block printing. After we returned to the hotel, were we all did a little exercise. I swam for I think the first time in 6 months and it showed. We then went out to dinner to an ok place, but there turned out to be a French tour group that was eating there too, but the food was good. The next day we drove to Amber Fort, which used to be the big city in the region. It was deserted when they couldn’t expand and the water was drying up. We took a elephant ride up to the fort and then walked around. It was quite well preserved, since no one had lived there since the 17th century. From the Amber fort our guide took us to the Jaipur market, which is supposedly the best place to shop in India. Everyone got something, and then we headed back to the hotel. It was March 4th, which means that it was my Dad’s birthday, and even without Mom telling them, the hotel had arranged for a cake to be sent to the room. We then went to the really fancy restaurant in the hotel, which had really good food from four different areas in India. Then after dinner they brought him another cake, (which was arranged). It was absolutely delicious, but we could only finish half. There was an Italian couple sitting at the table next to us, eyeing the cake, and actually asked the waiter if they could get the same, but you had to pre order it. So my Dad decided to give them the rest ot the cake, which horrified the waiter, but everyone else was happy.
The next morning we drove 4 hours from Jaipur to Agra. On the way we stopped at a little known fort called Fatipur Seacrey, which was quite beautiful. We the went on to see the Taj Mahal. It was so impressive. It was the one thing I had send that I thought we had to do on this trip. Our guide was so enthusiastic and found some areas that had no people and showed us different angles to take pictures from. We watch it at sunset, which was beautiful, and it really does change color.
The next day we drove 5 hours up to Delhi. Even though it is a little shorter distance it took more time because of the traffic in Delhi. We at lunch at this amazing buffet before heading out for a short tour of Delhi. After that we went to dinner at one of my Mom friends’ house, who works for Bain and Companies Delhi office. We had dinner with family and another friend of my mom’s family. I was really nice and was a nice break from eating out or at the hotel every night.
The next morning we flew back to Hyderabad. As soon as we got there we headed off to the one main tourist attraction in the city: the Charminar, were we only spent a few minutes. From there we drove to eat lunch at Bawatchi the best place to get biriyani in the world. It is a place that only the locals go, so it is not fancy at all, but the food is amazing. After that we went to the hotel. This took a lot longer than I had expected because of the traffic, so we didn’t get to do everything that I had planned, before we had to get ready to have dinner with the family friends I had met up with before. It was a very fun night, and what was really funny is that the friend that had hosted us in Delhi actually knew the guy that had us over for dinner here. The next morning I brought the family to see Lynne and Ratnam’s house and to see the kids. I was so happy to find that the kids had not forgotten me. We had breakfast and coffee before heading off to the hostels. We went to them all. I had missed the kids a lot and it was good to be back. I think that the family also really enjoyed hanging out with the kids, even though it was really short visit. From the hostels we went out to lunch at Little Italy were TT, the man that had us over for dinner the night before, had taken me to when we first met. It was just as good as I had remembered and everyone seemed to enjoy it. After that I said good-bye to Mom, Dad, and Becca, who ran off to their flight. And went home with Lynne and Ratnam.
These past weeks has been full. Some engineering students came to give the kids trunk boxes and had a function. Also Semaritans Purse came and gave 100 kids shoe boxes that are supposed to be for Christmas, but the kids didn’t mind. Another big thing is that Lynne and Ratnam finally put a deposit down on the school building that they had been hoping for, for almost a year. It is only the outside frame right now, so we get to design the inside however we want. I found an architecture program online and we worked on a plan. It was fun and I think it is going to turn out really nice. Clothes have also been a big project. We are working on the new outfits for all the kids for Easter, along with sorting and handing out donated clothes. Again I am sorry for taking so long, but I got so far behind I couldn’t keep up. Hope everyone is well.
Sorry, time has gotten away from me again. I left off with Thaunja and Ratnam gone. The rest of the week was a little crazy, with the majority of the time spent in the kitchen, but Thanuja came back on the 23rd at around 7. Ratnam got back on the 24th really early. Lynne, James and I went to the airport at 3 am and met him there. We spent the 24th relaxing and working at the house, since no one was really awake. The next morning we went out to buy the rest of the boys’ cloth for Easter. At around 5 we got back and we ran around to get me ready to leave for my flight. These past two weeks my family came to India to visit me and to tour around. It has been a very packed two weeks but very fun and interesting.
On the 25th I flew to Delhi to meet up with my parents. We stayed over for a night before flying the Varanasi in the morning. Many of you probably have seen pictures of it, since it is that city that is on the Ganges river that is the holy place to bath and cremate people. They have many ghats, which are the stairs into the river. It was a very interesting site and quite unique. We only stayed overnight, but we got to see both the sunset with the evening prayer, and the sunrise with the morning prayer.
From Varanasi we flew down to Mumbai were Becca met us. We only spent half a day there and saw all the big important sites to see including this very good Gandhi museum, which was actually a house that he used when he visited Mumbai. Another interesting site was this garden called the hanging garden, which was actually a garden sitting on top of their reservoir.
From Mumbai was traveled to Udaipur, which is in the state of Rajasthan. It was a really beautiful area. Our hotel was absolutely amazing. The first day we just enjoyed the hotel, but the next morning we went and saw the city palace. It was quite impressive, and it turns out that they still have a king, even though he has no real power. After that we took a boat ride to another palace, which is on the middle of the lake. In Udaipur there are three big man made lakes, which is funny since Rajasthan is pretty much a complete desert. It had a spectacular view. We then went out to dinner, we took autos to the place, which was right on the water.
The next morning we flew to Jaipur, from Jaipur we drove to this village, Samode, about an hour north of the city. It had another spectacular hotel, which was the king’s palace. It had this one room that was so well preserved it was amazing, full of mirrors and inlaid with real gems and amazing paintings. In Samode we took a Camel ride through the village and the over to the kings old gardens which were quite fantastic and full of Peacocks. The next morning was nice and relaxed and about midday we drove back to Jaipur. Yet again it was an amazing hotel. And another old palace. It was probably the best hotel of the trip. After lunch we went and saw the palace in the city of Jaipur which was very interesting and had some examples of the old clothes and weapons. The most interesting part was the observatory. From what had heard I had assumed it was like the white round building that had seen before, but it turned out to look like a sculpture garden, which had many different sundials. The biggest was accurate up to two seconds. We then went through the city palace, which had a couple of interesting museums. It also had beautiful work. From there we went to a textile and rug factory, where we bought a bunch of textiles with block printing. After we returned to the hotel, were we all did a little exercise. I swam for I think the first time in 6 months and it showed. We then went out to dinner to an ok place, but there turned out to be a French tour group that was eating there too, but the food was good. The next day we drove to Amber Fort, which used to be the big city in the region. It was deserted when they couldn’t expand and the water was drying up. We took a elephant ride up to the fort and then walked around. It was quite well preserved, since no one had lived there since the 17th century. From the Amber fort our guide took us to the Jaipur market, which is supposedly the best place to shop in India. Everyone got something, and then we headed back to the hotel. It was March 4th, which means that it was my Dad’s birthday, and even without Mom telling them, the hotel had arranged for a cake to be sent to the room. We then went to the really fancy restaurant in the hotel, which had really good food from four different areas in India. Then after dinner they brought him another cake, (which was arranged). It was absolutely delicious, but we could only finish half. There was an Italian couple sitting at the table next to us, eyeing the cake, and actually asked the waiter if they could get the same, but you had to pre order it. So my Dad decided to give them the rest ot the cake, which horrified the waiter, but everyone else was happy.
The next morning we drove 4 hours from Jaipur to Agra. On the way we stopped at a little known fort called Fatipur Seacrey, which was quite beautiful. We the went on to see the Taj Mahal. It was so impressive. It was the one thing I had send that I thought we had to do on this trip. Our guide was so enthusiastic and found some areas that had no people and showed us different angles to take pictures from. We watch it at sunset, which was beautiful, and it really does change color.
The next day we drove 5 hours up to Delhi. Even though it is a little shorter distance it took more time because of the traffic in Delhi. We at lunch at this amazing buffet before heading out for a short tour of Delhi. After that we went to dinner at one of my Mom friends’ house, who works for Bain and Companies Delhi office. We had dinner with family and another friend of my mom’s family. I was really nice and was a nice break from eating out or at the hotel every night.
The next morning we flew back to Hyderabad. As soon as we got there we headed off to the one main tourist attraction in the city: the Charminar, were we only spent a few minutes. From there we drove to eat lunch at Bawatchi the best place to get biriyani in the world. It is a place that only the locals go, so it is not fancy at all, but the food is amazing. After that we went to the hotel. This took a lot longer than I had expected because of the traffic, so we didn’t get to do everything that I had planned, before we had to get ready to have dinner with the family friends I had met up with before. It was a very fun night, and what was really funny is that the friend that had hosted us in Delhi actually knew the guy that had us over for dinner here. The next morning I brought the family to see Lynne and Ratnam’s house and to see the kids. I was so happy to find that the kids had not forgotten me. We had breakfast and coffee before heading off to the hostels. We went to them all. I had missed the kids a lot and it was good to be back. I think that the family also really enjoyed hanging out with the kids, even though it was really short visit. From the hostels we went out to lunch at Little Italy were TT, the man that had us over for dinner the night before, had taken me to when we first met. It was just as good as I had remembered and everyone seemed to enjoy it. After that I said good-bye to Mom, Dad, and Becca, who ran off to their flight. And went home with Lynne and Ratnam.
These past weeks has been full. Some engineering students came to give the kids trunk boxes and had a function. Also Semaritans Purse came and gave 100 kids shoe boxes that are supposed to be for Christmas, but the kids didn’t mind. Another big thing is that Lynne and Ratnam finally put a deposit down on the school building that they had been hoping for, for almost a year. It is only the outside frame right now, so we get to design the inside however we want. I found an architecture program online and we worked on a plan. It was fun and I think it is going to turn out really nice. Clothes have also been a big project. We are working on the new outfits for all the kids for Easter, along with sorting and handing out donated clothes. Again I am sorry for taking so long, but I got so far behind I couldn’t keep up. Hope everyone is well.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Big Move
February 16, 2009
I am sorry it has been so long since the last update. It has been quite crazy and I probably could write forever about it, but I will just give you some of the key things that happened these past two weeks. Ratnam and Lynne got back from Delhi on the 31st after a successful trip. The FCRA papers (for foreign money) were final in the system and they got the ball rolling. The FCRA people also said that they would move it along as fast as possible, which is a good sign. While they were in Delhi they bought some dresses for the younger girls at the wholesale market.
The day after they got back we started moving into the new house. It was quite a project. I took the whole day driving loads in the ambulance from the guesthouse to the new house, using three of the bigger boys to help and it wasn’t even finished. Along with the moving in process, we had to deal with the fact that we had no water, no electricity on the second floor, and no bathrooms at the new house. They were supposed to fix all of them by the night, but they ended up only fixing the electricity in the second floor. By the night, pretty much neither house was livable, but we made it work at the new house. We had planned on keeping the boys only for the day, but the day turned into overnight, which turned into a second day and night and they ended up staying at the house for five days. With the three extra boys we had eleven older people and 4 babies living in the house. It was almost comical how many people this house can hold quite comfortably. By the time the boys left on Friday, we had water, bathrooms, a clean house and it was almost organized. We hadn’t left the house for five days when we went to drop them off, and we probably wouldn’t have come out except that some people from the central government in New Delhi, who are doing some outreach program, where interested in doing a presentation to their group about Agape. It is very exciting since they will be presenting to very important people. We then worked on Saturday in the house doing more organizing and cleaning, Sunday we went back to the hostels because Sophia’s (Sweetie’s) birthday was on Feb. 1st and because of the move we didn’t get to celebrate until then. Sophia wore the dress I bought her in the US and she looked absolutely adorable. We brought her around to all the hostels to “give out” candy. (I ended up giving out most of it.) After that we came back to the house to have a celebration there. Sweetie was hilarious eating her cake. The next couple of days we spent some time at the office and some time at the house, Ratnam ran around like a mad man trying to get everything settled before he had to leave for America. The internet, phone, and the washing machine were all not working, and we didn’t have a driver. He got us a driver and got us hooked up on the phone and on the internet before he left on the 13th. In addition, Thanuja left for her village on the 14th for a function for her sister’s new baby. Having them both gone has made the house quite crazy. Lynne and I each have been giving two of the kids baths, cooking breakfast and lunch before heading out to the hostel or Easter shopping and then coming back to cook dinner. Today was a little crazy because it was ARV, but Jayapaul, who normally handles it, is visiting his village, so basically I had to be Jayapaul. Luckily Hafeez could come and help.
I am sorry it has been so long since the last update. It has been quite crazy and I probably could write forever about it, but I will just give you some of the key things that happened these past two weeks. Ratnam and Lynne got back from Delhi on the 31st after a successful trip. The FCRA papers (for foreign money) were final in the system and they got the ball rolling. The FCRA people also said that they would move it along as fast as possible, which is a good sign. While they were in Delhi they bought some dresses for the younger girls at the wholesale market.
The day after they got back we started moving into the new house. It was quite a project. I took the whole day driving loads in the ambulance from the guesthouse to the new house, using three of the bigger boys to help and it wasn’t even finished. Along with the moving in process, we had to deal with the fact that we had no water, no electricity on the second floor, and no bathrooms at the new house. They were supposed to fix all of them by the night, but they ended up only fixing the electricity in the second floor. By the night, pretty much neither house was livable, but we made it work at the new house. We had planned on keeping the boys only for the day, but the day turned into overnight, which turned into a second day and night and they ended up staying at the house for five days. With the three extra boys we had eleven older people and 4 babies living in the house. It was almost comical how many people this house can hold quite comfortably. By the time the boys left on Friday, we had water, bathrooms, a clean house and it was almost organized. We hadn’t left the house for five days when we went to drop them off, and we probably wouldn’t have come out except that some people from the central government in New Delhi, who are doing some outreach program, where interested in doing a presentation to their group about Agape. It is very exciting since they will be presenting to very important people. We then worked on Saturday in the house doing more organizing and cleaning, Sunday we went back to the hostels because Sophia’s (Sweetie’s) birthday was on Feb. 1st and because of the move we didn’t get to celebrate until then. Sophia wore the dress I bought her in the US and she looked absolutely adorable. We brought her around to all the hostels to “give out” candy. (I ended up giving out most of it.) After that we came back to the house to have a celebration there. Sweetie was hilarious eating her cake. The next couple of days we spent some time at the office and some time at the house, Ratnam ran around like a mad man trying to get everything settled before he had to leave for America. The internet, phone, and the washing machine were all not working, and we didn’t have a driver. He got us a driver and got us hooked up on the phone and on the internet before he left on the 13th. In addition, Thanuja left for her village on the 14th for a function for her sister’s new baby. Having them both gone has made the house quite crazy. Lynne and I each have been giving two of the kids baths, cooking breakfast and lunch before heading out to the hostel or Easter shopping and then coming back to cook dinner. Today was a little crazy because it was ARV, but Jayapaul, who normally handles it, is visiting his village, so basically I had to be Jayapaul. Luckily Hafeez could come and help.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Good-Byes and Beginnings
January 31, 2009
So Friday Marion had her last set of classes and Amy had her last day with hostel 2. We then came back and worked on bills and the Library. Saturday we spent all day doing bills. At around 5 we went to 2nd hostel so that Marion and Amy could say good-bye. We then went back to third hostel to say good bye to 1st and 3rd. After the long ceremony, we finished off the bills from the last 3 years. We then went upstairs and packed. We had planned to stay up all night since they had to leave at 4:30 for the airport, which was a good plan in theory, but once 1:30 came around I was completely exhausted and ended up falling asleep until about 3. We then watched Grey’s Anatomy until 4:15 to keep awake. We headed to the airport so that they would catch their 7:30 flight and we said good-bye. We came back and I slept in my old room at the guest-house for a couple of hours.
Sunday I realized that I didn’t have the key to get back into the room. I am thinking that both the keys ended up heading back to the states. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but not having clean cloths for the day was quite a bummer. We then went to clean Lynne and Ratnam’s new house because they are planning to move in this weekend. We brought along some of the kids who volunteered and cleaned pretty much the whole day. Monday was Republic Day so we went to first hostel where all the kids were waiting. They had Lynne hoist the ceremonial flag and the kids sang the national anthem. They then had the teachers play some games and they handed out some candy. We went back to the house where Lynne and Ratnam started packing to go to New Delhi. Lynne is going to New Delhi to make sure that their application to bring in foreign money is processed. They had applied three times before, but each time the government didn’t even respond to say that they even received the paperwork. Tuesday they left early in the morning. I worked on administrative things at the house. Wednesday I went into the office and worked online for a while. Thursday I started back up classes I took 7th, 8th, and 9th in for computer classes, 7th math class, 9th grammar class, and 10th math and English class. It was quite a long day, but it was good to get back to teaching. Yesterday Laxmi and Thanuja were packing the house, so I was helping to watch the kids. I held the non-computer class, but I canceled the computer ones. Today. I had classes as usual. The older kids are very anxious to start learning how to program, so I gave an exercise similar to the “Making an Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich” problem where you have to very specifically describe how to make a sandwich. However since they don’t eat PB & Js I had them write about their morning schedule. At first I had them write a little, but while they were writing I wrote one to show how detailed it needs to be. They had trouble at first, but once they got the idea they did a really good job.
So Friday Marion had her last set of classes and Amy had her last day with hostel 2. We then came back and worked on bills and the Library. Saturday we spent all day doing bills. At around 5 we went to 2nd hostel so that Marion and Amy could say good-bye. We then went back to third hostel to say good bye to 1st and 3rd. After the long ceremony, we finished off the bills from the last 3 years. We then went upstairs and packed. We had planned to stay up all night since they had to leave at 4:30 for the airport, which was a good plan in theory, but once 1:30 came around I was completely exhausted and ended up falling asleep until about 3. We then watched Grey’s Anatomy until 4:15 to keep awake. We headed to the airport so that they would catch their 7:30 flight and we said good-bye. We came back and I slept in my old room at the guest-house for a couple of hours.
Sunday I realized that I didn’t have the key to get back into the room. I am thinking that both the keys ended up heading back to the states. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but not having clean cloths for the day was quite a bummer. We then went to clean Lynne and Ratnam’s new house because they are planning to move in this weekend. We brought along some of the kids who volunteered and cleaned pretty much the whole day. Monday was Republic Day so we went to first hostel where all the kids were waiting. They had Lynne hoist the ceremonial flag and the kids sang the national anthem. They then had the teachers play some games and they handed out some candy. We went back to the house where Lynne and Ratnam started packing to go to New Delhi. Lynne is going to New Delhi to make sure that their application to bring in foreign money is processed. They had applied three times before, but each time the government didn’t even respond to say that they even received the paperwork. Tuesday they left early in the morning. I worked on administrative things at the house. Wednesday I went into the office and worked online for a while. Thursday I started back up classes I took 7th, 8th, and 9th in for computer classes, 7th math class, 9th grammar class, and 10th math and English class. It was quite a long day, but it was good to get back to teaching. Yesterday Laxmi and Thanuja were packing the house, so I was helping to watch the kids. I held the non-computer class, but I canceled the computer ones. Today. I had classes as usual. The older kids are very anxious to start learning how to program, so I gave an exercise similar to the “Making an Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich” problem where you have to very specifically describe how to make a sandwich. However since they don’t eat PB & Js I had them write about their morning schedule. At first I had them write a little, but while they were writing I wrote one to show how detailed it needs to be. They had trouble at first, but once they got the idea they did a really good job.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Busy Busy Busy
January 19, 2009
So Friday all the kids had math exams in the afternoon, so I went to school and sat outside and let the kids ask me any last minute questions before their exams. Some of the older kids I was really impressed with, but there were others that I had a hard time understanding how they past 2nd grade let alone the ninth. I worked with them until the afternoon and I had lunch at the school with Marion, who had classes for most of the morning, and then we went over to Lynne’s house since we could do anything there while they are taking exams, Marion and I helped Lynne work a little, but mostly played with the boys.
Saturday, Marion and I spent the day entering things into the Library, and Amy spent it sorting bills. Both super, super fun tasks, but they need to get done. We worked from about 9 to 5:30. We then just relaxed in the room for some time before coming out to play with the girls.
Sunday I woke up quite early to pick up my grandmother Bammy who decided to make a quick stop, (probably 4 hours out of her way by plane) to come visit me. I hired a driver for the day ad he brought me to the airport. We met up really easily and headed back to hostel 3. I introduced her to Amy and Lynne and all the girls. We then went over to hostel 1 to meet the boys. We then drove into the center of Hyderabad to the Charminar. I had never been there so it was a very cool experience. The Charminar is the main monument of Hyderabad. When we first got there we walked in the area around it which is called the old city. We went down a street with so many bangel shops that had thousands of bangels. On that road we stopped and Bammy, Marion, and Amy all got bags. We then took a tour around the Charminar from a guy that came up to use and flashed his Deparment of Tourism badge and told us all about the significance of it. It was created after the Plague hit India and to comemorate the 4 thousand people that died in Hyderabad the created this four tower structure of limestone. Each tower was constructed for 1000 people. He took us up to the second floor of the structure we he pointed out other important sites that we could see, like the second biggest Mosque in Asia, seating 10,000 people. After we finished the tour we went back to car. He took us towards the airport, but right before we got there we stopped at the airports 5 star hotel’s buffet for lunch. The food was absolutely amazing, especially since we had been eating hostel food for 2 weeks. The chairs were some of the most comfortable chairs I have ever sat in. After we finished we had a couple of minutes to relax on their bed like seating area. At 4 we brought Bammy the last 5 minutes to the airport so that she could make her flight to Chennai. We said good bye and then the three of us headed back to hostel 3. It was a very good day.
Monday, Marion and I went to school and Amy went to 2nd hostel as usual, but instead of teaching computers, Lynne took me into the city to by the rest of the nighties for the girls, because only half ended up getting them for Christmas. We walked around for quite some time, with no luck. We actually came across a very cute shop for baby clothes for Lynne’s kids and for the new baby Hannah. We were not successful in finding nighties, but we put in an order so that they should come with in the next week. We came back, and since Monday was Dan’s last day, we had a small function for him at 3rd hostel and 2nd hostel. While we were out two new girls were admitted to 3rd hostel, one is 5 years old and one is 4. At 11 we said bye to Dan and headed off to bed.
Tuesday we worked at 3rd hostel. Marion and I worked on the library while Amy started putting the that she had sorted on Saturday, into binders. At around 12 Ratnam called me to tell me that a computer Engineer had come to fix the computers, and that he needed me to identify which ones were a problem. Even though we have four computers that are messed up, he would only fix one, because apparently Ratnam had only given one serial number when he filed the complaint for the computers, which seems completely stupid. After he engineering guy left I had lunch at Lynne’s house and then we went and picked up Amy and Marion to take them shopping in the city. Amy was looking for a Punjabi for when she gives a little presentation for the people that gave her donations to come here. Lynne took her to Palaka Bazaar, where I got my first Punjabis, because they can make them there within an hour. We then came back to Uppal and went on a driving adventure into a village that is only a few minutes outside of Uppal. It was very cool to see how the majority of India lives. We saw a ton of buffalo, classic village homes, that are one room with slate roofs. We also went into a field were some people were working and Lynne bought some of the greens that they were growing. We stayed out and watched the sunset. We came back, had dinner, and then crashed.
Wednesday, Marion and I went to the school and Amy went to second as usual. At school I sat with the computer guy that came back for a while. I then came down helped Lynne with some paperwork. After lunch we went into the city to look for cloth for the boys
Easter clothes. How crazy is that! We finished Christmas just to start the Easter project. We went to the same guy as last time for shirt and pant pieces. We brought him a calendar to thank him and to help him be even more willing to give discounts on his merchandise. We stayed there only for an hour before we had to come home. Lynne and Ratnam were going out to dinner with Shelia and her husband at the Marriot and were dropping off James and Luke for a sleep over in Marion, Amy, and my room. The transition process was pretty smooth, but about half an hour in James started crying and screaming for about an hour. At 9:30 we finally got him to bed. Luke was as happy as he could be, but once we put him to bed he woke up a couple of times but went right back to sleep.
Today I took my shower downstairs and made their bottles and about 5 minutes after I came back in the boys woke up peacefully and I had their bottles ready. They were very cute this morning and played nicely. Lynne picked them up at 11am and then we did some work. I did my laundry, and cleaned the room after the tornados named Luke and James had passed through last night. The rest of the day I have been trying to fix the wireless portion on the internet router unsuccessfully.
So Friday all the kids had math exams in the afternoon, so I went to school and sat outside and let the kids ask me any last minute questions before their exams. Some of the older kids I was really impressed with, but there were others that I had a hard time understanding how they past 2nd grade let alone the ninth. I worked with them until the afternoon and I had lunch at the school with Marion, who had classes for most of the morning, and then we went over to Lynne’s house since we could do anything there while they are taking exams, Marion and I helped Lynne work a little, but mostly played with the boys.
Saturday, Marion and I spent the day entering things into the Library, and Amy spent it sorting bills. Both super, super fun tasks, but they need to get done. We worked from about 9 to 5:30. We then just relaxed in the room for some time before coming out to play with the girls.
Sunday I woke up quite early to pick up my grandmother Bammy who decided to make a quick stop, (probably 4 hours out of her way by plane) to come visit me. I hired a driver for the day ad he brought me to the airport. We met up really easily and headed back to hostel 3. I introduced her to Amy and Lynne and all the girls. We then went over to hostel 1 to meet the boys. We then drove into the center of Hyderabad to the Charminar. I had never been there so it was a very cool experience. The Charminar is the main monument of Hyderabad. When we first got there we walked in the area around it which is called the old city. We went down a street with so many bangel shops that had thousands of bangels. On that road we stopped and Bammy, Marion, and Amy all got bags. We then took a tour around the Charminar from a guy that came up to use and flashed his Deparment of Tourism badge and told us all about the significance of it. It was created after the Plague hit India and to comemorate the 4 thousand people that died in Hyderabad the created this four tower structure of limestone. Each tower was constructed for 1000 people. He took us up to the second floor of the structure we he pointed out other important sites that we could see, like the second biggest Mosque in Asia, seating 10,000 people. After we finished the tour we went back to car. He took us towards the airport, but right before we got there we stopped at the airports 5 star hotel’s buffet for lunch. The food was absolutely amazing, especially since we had been eating hostel food for 2 weeks. The chairs were some of the most comfortable chairs I have ever sat in. After we finished we had a couple of minutes to relax on their bed like seating area. At 4 we brought Bammy the last 5 minutes to the airport so that she could make her flight to Chennai. We said good bye and then the three of us headed back to hostel 3. It was a very good day.
Monday, Marion and I went to school and Amy went to 2nd hostel as usual, but instead of teaching computers, Lynne took me into the city to by the rest of the nighties for the girls, because only half ended up getting them for Christmas. We walked around for quite some time, with no luck. We actually came across a very cute shop for baby clothes for Lynne’s kids and for the new baby Hannah. We were not successful in finding nighties, but we put in an order so that they should come with in the next week. We came back, and since Monday was Dan’s last day, we had a small function for him at 3rd hostel and 2nd hostel. While we were out two new girls were admitted to 3rd hostel, one is 5 years old and one is 4. At 11 we said bye to Dan and headed off to bed.
Tuesday we worked at 3rd hostel. Marion and I worked on the library while Amy started putting the that she had sorted on Saturday, into binders. At around 12 Ratnam called me to tell me that a computer Engineer had come to fix the computers, and that he needed me to identify which ones were a problem. Even though we have four computers that are messed up, he would only fix one, because apparently Ratnam had only given one serial number when he filed the complaint for the computers, which seems completely stupid. After he engineering guy left I had lunch at Lynne’s house and then we went and picked up Amy and Marion to take them shopping in the city. Amy was looking for a Punjabi for when she gives a little presentation for the people that gave her donations to come here. Lynne took her to Palaka Bazaar, where I got my first Punjabis, because they can make them there within an hour. We then came back to Uppal and went on a driving adventure into a village that is only a few minutes outside of Uppal. It was very cool to see how the majority of India lives. We saw a ton of buffalo, classic village homes, that are one room with slate roofs. We also went into a field were some people were working and Lynne bought some of the greens that they were growing. We stayed out and watched the sunset. We came back, had dinner, and then crashed.
Wednesday, Marion and I went to the school and Amy went to second as usual. At school I sat with the computer guy that came back for a while. I then came down helped Lynne with some paperwork. After lunch we went into the city to look for cloth for the boys
Easter clothes. How crazy is that! We finished Christmas just to start the Easter project. We went to the same guy as last time for shirt and pant pieces. We brought him a calendar to thank him and to help him be even more willing to give discounts on his merchandise. We stayed there only for an hour before we had to come home. Lynne and Ratnam were going out to dinner with Shelia and her husband at the Marriot and were dropping off James and Luke for a sleep over in Marion, Amy, and my room. The transition process was pretty smooth, but about half an hour in James started crying and screaming for about an hour. At 9:30 we finally got him to bed. Luke was as happy as he could be, but once we put him to bed he woke up a couple of times but went right back to sleep.
Today I took my shower downstairs and made their bottles and about 5 minutes after I came back in the boys woke up peacefully and I had their bottles ready. They were very cute this morning and played nicely. Lynne picked them up at 11am and then we did some work. I did my laundry, and cleaned the room after the tornados named Luke and James had passed through last night. The rest of the day I have been trying to fix the wireless portion on the internet router unsuccessfully.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Library Mishaps and Confusion
January 14, 2009
Tuesday was quite frustrating. It took us forever to get the library software to work and when it finally worked we brought it over to third hostel, but we were missing a power cord for the monitor. We had to wait until Hafeez got back from picking up the kids at school, so the whole morning was lost. We then had lunch and came back to find that the power was out. We decided to work on sorting the mountain of clothes that were donated that were sitting in one of the rooms downstairs next to Dan’s room. The power stayed out for at least 3 hours. When it finally came back on we found out that the monitor we were using doesn’t work. So, again we were stuck. We spent the rest of the day pretty much playing with the kids and relaxing.
Yesterday was a Hindu holiday, so three teachers were not going to be there. I had planned to take over one for the Math teacher that was not supposed to come, so I took the school bus and was all prepared. Once we got to the school I found out that the teacher was in fact going to come. I was a little bummed, but I decided that it was a good thing because then I could start computer classes. However, three out of the ten computers were not working and also most of the kids had finished the typing software that is on the computers. I spent a while trying upload new software, but the power kept going out in the middle so I gave up. I worked at Lynne’s house for a little while updating the medical records and other administrative things up until lunch. Marion and I had lunch at the school. Marion spent the day teaching English by herself. She seemed to really enjoy it!
After lunch I went with Lynne to the store to buy some supplies for the Hindi movie we were going to have that night, we then went to 2nd hostel to hand out the kids Easter outfits from last year for them to wear and then we ended at the office. I did a lot of photocopying and printed out some application photos. At around 5 Ratnam picked me up on the two-wheeler to take me to get a cell phone. While we were there we went across the street to Coffee Day for a really good treat we both had a drink called a Café Frappe which had coffee and vanilla ice-cream. It was really good, and while we were drinking I got to hear all about Ratnam, He has such a cool story. He literally came from nothing. He went to public school were his parents didn’t have to pay his tuition until college. Then he had to beg for them to let him in because he had no money for the tuition. By the ended he felt really guilt for not paying anything so he and his parents sold there only cow to pay for half of his tuition. When he got to medical school he had nothing even to sell to pay the tuition, so he took a year off and worked three jobs everyday. At the end of that year he had just enough for the tuition for the year and a little pocket money for food. At the end of the first year he really had no desire to work as hard as he had the year before, so he had an idea to make sort of a study guide for first year medical students. The whole summer he spent writing a condensed version of the text book with helpful sample questions. He went to a publisher, but they would not pay for the idea so he sold it on his own. He said that he went to all the local medical schools and sold them. It went really well and he didn’t have any money problems after that. He made another book after each of the next three years and he got them all published. He said that I could still find his study guides in schoolbook shops. We then went back to the house were everyone was waiting to start the movie. Hindi movies are all about three hours, so we had to start early. It was called Jab We Met, which means, “when we met”. It was pretty good, considering all Hindi movies have music videos in the middle of them. Lynne, Ratnam, Dan, Amy, Marion, Thanuja, and I all watched it, and then had dinner at around 10:30.
Today I went to ARV with Amy. It was the same usual group of kids except that one negative boy, A. Sai, came with us because he has a weird skin rash. We met Sheila there and waited to be called to see the doctor. The hospital was nice enough to provide ride on toys for the kids while they waited, which they had a blast on. After we say the doctor, Jayapaul took A. Sai to the dermatology department with Amy, Sheila, and I, while Hafeez stayed with all the other kids. It turned out to be a kind of virus that is common in HIV positive patients, which caused us to be a little scared. We all went back to the ambulance and then Jayapaul took Sai to get a blood test done to make sure that he is not positive. We waited in the ambulance for the results for almost 2 hours and everyone fell asleep including Amy and I. We woke up and luckily the results said that he was negative. We headed back to have lunch and we hung out in the room for a while. We had to wait until Dan got home to get into the ground floor where the library is. After Dan got back we worked on the library for a while, seem to get nothing done, but I guess we made a little dent. We are about a 20th of the way done WOOHOO! Well at least we finally started, after talking about it for four months.
Tuesday was quite frustrating. It took us forever to get the library software to work and when it finally worked we brought it over to third hostel, but we were missing a power cord for the monitor. We had to wait until Hafeez got back from picking up the kids at school, so the whole morning was lost. We then had lunch and came back to find that the power was out. We decided to work on sorting the mountain of clothes that were donated that were sitting in one of the rooms downstairs next to Dan’s room. The power stayed out for at least 3 hours. When it finally came back on we found out that the monitor we were using doesn’t work. So, again we were stuck. We spent the rest of the day pretty much playing with the kids and relaxing.
Yesterday was a Hindu holiday, so three teachers were not going to be there. I had planned to take over one for the Math teacher that was not supposed to come, so I took the school bus and was all prepared. Once we got to the school I found out that the teacher was in fact going to come. I was a little bummed, but I decided that it was a good thing because then I could start computer classes. However, three out of the ten computers were not working and also most of the kids had finished the typing software that is on the computers. I spent a while trying upload new software, but the power kept going out in the middle so I gave up. I worked at Lynne’s house for a little while updating the medical records and other administrative things up until lunch. Marion and I had lunch at the school. Marion spent the day teaching English by herself. She seemed to really enjoy it!
After lunch I went with Lynne to the store to buy some supplies for the Hindi movie we were going to have that night, we then went to 2nd hostel to hand out the kids Easter outfits from last year for them to wear and then we ended at the office. I did a lot of photocopying and printed out some application photos. At around 5 Ratnam picked me up on the two-wheeler to take me to get a cell phone. While we were there we went across the street to Coffee Day for a really good treat we both had a drink called a Café Frappe which had coffee and vanilla ice-cream. It was really good, and while we were drinking I got to hear all about Ratnam, He has such a cool story. He literally came from nothing. He went to public school were his parents didn’t have to pay his tuition until college. Then he had to beg for them to let him in because he had no money for the tuition. By the ended he felt really guilt for not paying anything so he and his parents sold there only cow to pay for half of his tuition. When he got to medical school he had nothing even to sell to pay the tuition, so he took a year off and worked three jobs everyday. At the end of that year he had just enough for the tuition for the year and a little pocket money for food. At the end of the first year he really had no desire to work as hard as he had the year before, so he had an idea to make sort of a study guide for first year medical students. The whole summer he spent writing a condensed version of the text book with helpful sample questions. He went to a publisher, but they would not pay for the idea so he sold it on his own. He said that he went to all the local medical schools and sold them. It went really well and he didn’t have any money problems after that. He made another book after each of the next three years and he got them all published. He said that I could still find his study guides in schoolbook shops. We then went back to the house were everyone was waiting to start the movie. Hindi movies are all about three hours, so we had to start early. It was called Jab We Met, which means, “when we met”. It was pretty good, considering all Hindi movies have music videos in the middle of them. Lynne, Ratnam, Dan, Amy, Marion, Thanuja, and I all watched it, and then had dinner at around 10:30.
Today I went to ARV with Amy. It was the same usual group of kids except that one negative boy, A. Sai, came with us because he has a weird skin rash. We met Sheila there and waited to be called to see the doctor. The hospital was nice enough to provide ride on toys for the kids while they waited, which they had a blast on. After we say the doctor, Jayapaul took A. Sai to the dermatology department with Amy, Sheila, and I, while Hafeez stayed with all the other kids. It turned out to be a kind of virus that is common in HIV positive patients, which caused us to be a little scared. We all went back to the ambulance and then Jayapaul took Sai to get a blood test done to make sure that he is not positive. We waited in the ambulance for the results for almost 2 hours and everyone fell asleep including Amy and I. We woke up and luckily the results said that he was negative. We headed back to have lunch and we hung out in the room for a while. We had to wait until Dan got home to get into the ground floor where the library is. After Dan got back we worked on the library for a while, seem to get nothing done, but I guess we made a little dent. We are about a 20th of the way done WOOHOO! Well at least we finally started, after talking about it for four months.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Going to Monda Market
January 12, 2009
Today was a pretty good day. I had to wake up a little early because I am handing out medications for the boys at hostel 1 at 7:30 am. I came back and had breakfast at hostel 3. When the bus came, Amy, Marion, and I, all got on. Marion and I got off at the school and Amy stayed on until 2nd hostel to play in the playroom. When Marion and I got off there was over an hour before her first class so we went into the guesthouse to play with the babies. The wire bringing current to the second floor is completely fried, and the computer room just happens to be on the second floor, so I could not teach computers today, but I spent the day getting Marion settled into being a teacher. After the classes we went back to the house to help Lynne with random tasks. When the school bus came Lynne suggested since she was already planning on bringing Dan into the city to buy pearls for various family members, that we all should come too, since Marion and Amy have not seen the city yet. Also, Thanuja came because we were going right near Monda market where she buys all of the vegetables and fruit for the house. On our way we picked up two of the older girls to help carry bags for Thanuja.
We arrived in Monda market and we split up into groups: one to go the pearl shop and the other, which I was in to go with Thanuja around the market picking out vegetables and carrying bags. It was a nice time with just Thanuja and the two hostel 3 girls. We finished before Dan finished picking out all the pearls he needed to get, so Ratnam met us and we went to go buy some test prep books for one of the 10th class girls and a couple English books for Marion to teach out of. We then got some treats from the snack waller that were batter covered green chilies. They were both hot in temperature and quite spicy, but they were really good. After we finished we walked over to the pearl shop, which was perfect timing because they were just finishing. We started heading back to hostel 3 at 9:15. It was a very good outing. Tomorrow, I think we will start to work on the library.
Today was a pretty good day. I had to wake up a little early because I am handing out medications for the boys at hostel 1 at 7:30 am. I came back and had breakfast at hostel 3. When the bus came, Amy, Marion, and I, all got on. Marion and I got off at the school and Amy stayed on until 2nd hostel to play in the playroom. When Marion and I got off there was over an hour before her first class so we went into the guesthouse to play with the babies. The wire bringing current to the second floor is completely fried, and the computer room just happens to be on the second floor, so I could not teach computers today, but I spent the day getting Marion settled into being a teacher. After the classes we went back to the house to help Lynne with random tasks. When the school bus came Lynne suggested since she was already planning on bringing Dan into the city to buy pearls for various family members, that we all should come too, since Marion and Amy have not seen the city yet. Also, Thanuja came because we were going right near Monda market where she buys all of the vegetables and fruit for the house. On our way we picked up two of the older girls to help carry bags for Thanuja.
We arrived in Monda market and we split up into groups: one to go the pearl shop and the other, which I was in to go with Thanuja around the market picking out vegetables and carrying bags. It was a nice time with just Thanuja and the two hostel 3 girls. We finished before Dan finished picking out all the pearls he needed to get, so Ratnam met us and we went to go buy some test prep books for one of the 10th class girls and a couple English books for Marion to teach out of. We then got some treats from the snack waller that were batter covered green chilies. They were both hot in temperature and quite spicy, but they were really good. After we finished we walked over to the pearl shop, which was perfect timing because they were just finishing. We started heading back to hostel 3 at 9:15. It was a very good outing. Tomorrow, I think we will start to work on the library.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Winter Cleaning
January 11, 2009
Friday we went to 2nd hostel to clean the playroom. We went on the school bus and played with the kids for a while until Lynne arrived with the playroom keys. The room was a mess all the bins of toys were all mixed up pieces of games were missing. We spent from 9 in the morning until 1 cleaning. About halfway through Sheila came to help. Marion and I spent at least a half an hour putting clothes on the hundreds of naked Barbies and baby dolls. We found at least 100 battleship pegs in random bins. After we finished sorting all the toys we swept it and washed the floors. At 1 we took a break for lunch. And after lunch we brought the kids in to play in groups of about 8. They all seemed to enjoy it. We then went back on the bus to 3rd hostel. We were all so exhausted we ended up taking a nap. We went down to the kitchen area were Lynne and all the older girls were sitting in huge piles of donated clothes making sure that it was acceptable and the sorting it into hostels. We helped a little bit and then went to have dinner.
Yesterday was “bright and white day” were we spent the day cleaning the school. Only the older boys and girls came. They were split up into pairs and each group tackled one room. Amy, Marion, and I were put on the task of organizing the office and then the storage room. The office was a mess. There were piles of random books in all the corners and old exam papers everywhere. We decided to separate the books by class and put them on the one set of shelves. We ended up with a ton on trash. We then went to the storage area, which we couldn’t even walk into. It was hard to even know were to start. However, by the end you could actually see all that was in there and walk in with room to spare. After we finished with that nightmare we saw what all the kids were doing. It was amazing how much dirt was coming off the floors. After a little while we went over to play with the babies. We didn’t get back to the hostel until 7:30. We brought all the kids even hostel 2 boys and 4 girls to 3rd hostel because we planned in starting family game night. We had actually planned on letting the boys at hostel 1 to have the first chance to play but because the kids worked so hard to day Lynne decided to have just the kids that worked to play. We all had dinner and then went downstairs were Lynne was sorting the cloths the other night and we broke up into 10 groups of 4. We played games like UNO, Life, Rummy, Business which is the Indian version of Monopoly, and other games like that. It was a lot of fun and I think that the kids really enjoyed it. We ended up playing until almost 12. Amy was not feeling well; she had shooting pains in her ears and then she burst an eardrum, so she didn’t end up playing.
Today is very relaxed. Amy still is not feeling much better but I think that she is not in as much pain as last night. We hung out in the room for a while reading and writing. After lunch Lynne and Ratnam arrived and we went over to 1st hostel. We had planned on taking the older boys to 6th hostel to play at the volleyball net outside, but Lynne got started handing out batteries for the Christmas toys but then got side tracked, checking and distributing clothes. While she was doing that Dan, Shiva, Varun, and I played badminton in the boys yard. It got quite intense and Ratnam ended up coming in and it got even more intense. It was quite fun and it was nice to get some exercise.
Friday we went to 2nd hostel to clean the playroom. We went on the school bus and played with the kids for a while until Lynne arrived with the playroom keys. The room was a mess all the bins of toys were all mixed up pieces of games were missing. We spent from 9 in the morning until 1 cleaning. About halfway through Sheila came to help. Marion and I spent at least a half an hour putting clothes on the hundreds of naked Barbies and baby dolls. We found at least 100 battleship pegs in random bins. After we finished sorting all the toys we swept it and washed the floors. At 1 we took a break for lunch. And after lunch we brought the kids in to play in groups of about 8. They all seemed to enjoy it. We then went back on the bus to 3rd hostel. We were all so exhausted we ended up taking a nap. We went down to the kitchen area were Lynne and all the older girls were sitting in huge piles of donated clothes making sure that it was acceptable and the sorting it into hostels. We helped a little bit and then went to have dinner.
Yesterday was “bright and white day” were we spent the day cleaning the school. Only the older boys and girls came. They were split up into pairs and each group tackled one room. Amy, Marion, and I were put on the task of organizing the office and then the storage room. The office was a mess. There were piles of random books in all the corners and old exam papers everywhere. We decided to separate the books by class and put them on the one set of shelves. We ended up with a ton on trash. We then went to the storage area, which we couldn’t even walk into. It was hard to even know were to start. However, by the end you could actually see all that was in there and walk in with room to spare. After we finished with that nightmare we saw what all the kids were doing. It was amazing how much dirt was coming off the floors. After a little while we went over to play with the babies. We didn’t get back to the hostel until 7:30. We brought all the kids even hostel 2 boys and 4 girls to 3rd hostel because we planned in starting family game night. We had actually planned on letting the boys at hostel 1 to have the first chance to play but because the kids worked so hard to day Lynne decided to have just the kids that worked to play. We all had dinner and then went downstairs were Lynne was sorting the cloths the other night and we broke up into 10 groups of 4. We played games like UNO, Life, Rummy, Business which is the Indian version of Monopoly, and other games like that. It was a lot of fun and I think that the kids really enjoyed it. We ended up playing until almost 12. Amy was not feeling well; she had shooting pains in her ears and then she burst an eardrum, so she didn’t end up playing.
Today is very relaxed. Amy still is not feeling much better but I think that she is not in as much pain as last night. We hung out in the room for a while reading and writing. After lunch Lynne and Ratnam arrived and we went over to 1st hostel. We had planned on taking the older boys to 6th hostel to play at the volleyball net outside, but Lynne got started handing out batteries for the Christmas toys but then got side tracked, checking and distributing clothes. While she was doing that Dan, Shiva, Varun, and I played badminton in the boys yard. It got quite intense and Ratnam ended up coming in and it got even more intense. It was quite fun and it was nice to get some exercise.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
India Part 2 Begins
January 6, 2009
So I am sitting in the Heathrow airport on the way back to Hyderabad. It was really nice to see so many of you over this break. I don’t think I could have made it all 7 months without seeing you all. I am going back with two girls: Amy and Marion. Marion is one of my best friends from High School, and Amy is a daughter of a friend of Lynne’s. The first flight was not bad, but it is half as long as the second leg, which is over 11 hours, and will be the real test. I am definitely a little sad to be leaving again but I am really excited to see all the kids.
Also if you ever have any questions or comments feel free to post I love getting them. Hope you all have a great couple of months and I will see you in a few.
January 7, 2009
So we got here without any mishaps, and the flight didn’t actually seem that long since I slept for most of it. We got to the hostel and Lynne told us to sleep for a little while. At around ten we got up and got ready to go. We played with the girls a little while and then went over to have lunch with all the kids that don’t go to school and those that only go in the mornings. Lynne then came to take us to the school to show Marion and Amy and we got to see the babies. Luke and James look older and Sophia is just walking perfectly around at 11 months! It crazy how much they have changed in 3 weeks. Also the new baby is really cute but her hands, arms, legs, and feet look the size of a newborn even though she is supposedly over three months old. There were actually two new babies that came only a couple of days after I left, but the other one passed away on Christmas Day. Lynne was absolutely devastated, but she has seemed to have calmed down a bit. All the Agape kids look the same as when I left, still incredibly cute.
After going to the school we went to visit 2nd and 4th hostels to finish off seeing all the kids. We then came back to 3rd hostel were planned out what we were planning on doing. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Marion is going to be teaching English grammar classes, I am going to be teaching math and computers and Amy is going to be working in the 2nd hostel playroom. We then have various organization activities to do on the other days, so it will be a packed three weeks.
January 8, 2009
So today we got up at around 8 and went downstairs to eat and clean up. We then went over to the office and we all checked our email before Lynne arrived. She put Marion and Amy organizing the bills and from the past year and had me start downloading the software that we are going to be using to catalogue the library. But then Lynne and I decided that we should use one of the computers that isn’t being used at the school so that we can take it and leave it at 3rd hostel where the library is. So Lynne and I went off to the school to pick it up and on the way got some food at the local “super market” we picked up the computer and then headed to hostel 3 to put the food in the fridge were we met up with this woman that had called Lynne this morning about volunteering while she was in Hyderabad with her husband who is working at a consulting job here for the next two weeks they are from Washington State and she seems very nice. She came with us to hostel one where the office is and Amy and Marion were still sorting bills. I tried to set up the computer, but it was not working. So Lynne had to take it back and switch it on her way to showing Sheila, the woman from Seattle, around 2nd hostel.
Amy and Marion took a break from the bills and we went to have lunch with the kids in hostel 1. We played with the kids a while before going back to bills I helped Marion and Amy on a couple of months. We finished them all at around 5:30, which I think is pretty impressive. I thought it was going to take days. The new computer arrived and luckily it worked and I was able to download the software so that we can work on the library tomorrow.
So I am sitting in the Heathrow airport on the way back to Hyderabad. It was really nice to see so many of you over this break. I don’t think I could have made it all 7 months without seeing you all. I am going back with two girls: Amy and Marion. Marion is one of my best friends from High School, and Amy is a daughter of a friend of Lynne’s. The first flight was not bad, but it is half as long as the second leg, which is over 11 hours, and will be the real test. I am definitely a little sad to be leaving again but I am really excited to see all the kids.
Also if you ever have any questions or comments feel free to post I love getting them. Hope you all have a great couple of months and I will see you in a few.
January 7, 2009
So we got here without any mishaps, and the flight didn’t actually seem that long since I slept for most of it. We got to the hostel and Lynne told us to sleep for a little while. At around ten we got up and got ready to go. We played with the girls a little while and then went over to have lunch with all the kids that don’t go to school and those that only go in the mornings. Lynne then came to take us to the school to show Marion and Amy and we got to see the babies. Luke and James look older and Sophia is just walking perfectly around at 11 months! It crazy how much they have changed in 3 weeks. Also the new baby is really cute but her hands, arms, legs, and feet look the size of a newborn even though she is supposedly over three months old. There were actually two new babies that came only a couple of days after I left, but the other one passed away on Christmas Day. Lynne was absolutely devastated, but she has seemed to have calmed down a bit. All the Agape kids look the same as when I left, still incredibly cute.
After going to the school we went to visit 2nd and 4th hostels to finish off seeing all the kids. We then came back to 3rd hostel were planned out what we were planning on doing. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Marion is going to be teaching English grammar classes, I am going to be teaching math and computers and Amy is going to be working in the 2nd hostel playroom. We then have various organization activities to do on the other days, so it will be a packed three weeks.
January 8, 2009
So today we got up at around 8 and went downstairs to eat and clean up. We then went over to the office and we all checked our email before Lynne arrived. She put Marion and Amy organizing the bills and from the past year and had me start downloading the software that we are going to be using to catalogue the library. But then Lynne and I decided that we should use one of the computers that isn’t being used at the school so that we can take it and leave it at 3rd hostel where the library is. So Lynne and I went off to the school to pick it up and on the way got some food at the local “super market” we picked up the computer and then headed to hostel 3 to put the food in the fridge were we met up with this woman that had called Lynne this morning about volunteering while she was in Hyderabad with her husband who is working at a consulting job here for the next two weeks they are from Washington State and she seems very nice. She came with us to hostel one where the office is and Amy and Marion were still sorting bills. I tried to set up the computer, but it was not working. So Lynne had to take it back and switch it on her way to showing Sheila, the woman from Seattle, around 2nd hostel.
Amy and Marion took a break from the bills and we went to have lunch with the kids in hostel 1. We played with the kids a while before going back to bills I helped Marion and Amy on a couple of months. We finished them all at around 5:30, which I think is pretty impressive. I thought it was going to take days. The new computer arrived and luckily it worked and I was able to download the software so that we can work on the library tomorrow.
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