Greetings! With a full week under my belt at this point I've got a nice little routine going. Tea and yoga in the morning followed by a hike. Every day we've gone farther and higher so god only knows where I'll end up in six weeks. We work with the kids from 10:30 to 12:30 which is getting better because you get to know their personalities more and more, but it's still hard because I wish I could give them so much more than I'm able to. Thankfully the full time teacher that will be working with them in their new school will start on Monday, so she'll be able to provide us with a lot more guidance and we'll hopefully be a lot more productive.
We went to see their new school the other day and it's just beautiful. It's huge (by Dharamsala standards) and beautifully painted with all up-to-date fixtures. Apparently it used to belong to one of the Dalai Lama's sisters. It's seven rooms, two bathrooms, and they're paying $750 a month in rent (wildly expensive by Dharamsala standards). The landlord has agreed to let us paint murals on the walls, so that process begins Monday. Considering my artistic abilities are less than stellar we're hoping some of the more creative volunteers can get us started with stencils and sketches and then we can tackle the painting. I'm excited to get started. Seeing as I'm not able to work with these kids the same way a special ed. teacher will be able to, I feel like this is my chance to give these kids something truly lasting in the best way I know how.
Yesterday we went up to McLeod Ganj which is where the Dalai Lama lives and is considerably more touristy than Dharamsala. I probably saw two Indian people the entire time, the majority were Tibetans or western backpackers. A few of us were strolling along when we were approached by two Tibetan monks who asked if we taught English. We chatted with them for a bit and they asked us to come back and teach them, so they gave us their number (it's more common to see a monk texting or talking on a cell phone than not) and we said we'd call them next time we were around. Wild. There's also another really cool place in McLeod called the Hope Center, and it's a place where every day from 4:30 - 5:30 Tibetan monks and refugees come to work on their conversational English. Anyone can just show up to chat with however many Tibetans are there, so I'm really looking forward to that.
Everything is pretty par for the course, whatever that means while you're in India, and I'm really looking forward to the rest of my time here.
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3 comments:
Hi Rach -
Tibetan monks doing text messaging on mobile phones - all they lack are Blackberries. I am sure they have them. Talk about globalization.
I started (a long time ago) reading a book called Shantaram. It is about a guy who supposedly, in real life, was in prison in Australia for murder, escaped and made his way to Mumbai where he blended into the slums to ensure anonymity. He becomes quite a folk hero in the slums as he has some basic first aiding skills. I haven't got any fartther. By any chance have you heard of the book?
Is there a way to post pictures on a blog (excuse my ignorance, but if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even know what a blog is)? If so, try to post some.
Sounds like things are still going great for you and I am sure they will continue to do so.
Now that I get the hang of this, I will try to be in touch more often.
Best of luck and be SAFE..
Love, Uncle Doug
Dear Rachael,
What a way to bring the world-family and friends-together. Your work is wonderful and means so much to the kids you are serving but it is also life expanding-soak it all up!! I am glad you have heard from Papaw and Uncle Doug plus all of your friends. I expect more postings soon from other family. We love what you are doing. Keep safe. Keep up the heart felt good work. And Know-above all else-WE LOVE YOU! Mom and Dad
Hi Rache,
After sending your blog URL to everyone, I am finally getting around to using it. I must say, young lady, you appear to have a real future in some form of journalism, no doubt e-journalism. Your reports are quite professional and wonderfully capture the flavor of where you are, who you are working with, and what you are doing. As I've told you many times, you are quite a kid and your old Grandpa could not be more proud of you. You're doing good work and your heart obviously is in the right place. I love you much, miss you greatly, and am tickled that I'm actually going to see you -at least the blur going into or out of the front door - in July. Keep posting, have a great time, and BE CAREFUL.
Much, much love,
Grandpa
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