Lessons learned by them..and us. By Hollie, 11/28

I’ve come to learn that each day is a little gift just waiting to be unwrapped. Each hour, and each minute, is something new and unexpected. Working at the school is something that is rewarding with even the smallest of gestures. 

Every one of these children obtain a presence of such great beauty that I have never encountered. Each face has a story or something to teach you of their culture and lifestyle that none of us Americans could ever imagine. The way of learning here is so different, each student comes to school like its their temple, their place to indulge in everything beyond their own little village. It seems as if in the US, traveling is so foreign to many because we are afraid to reach out of our own little worlds. Until I came to India I didn’t realize how Novato is so miniscule in size compared to what this world has to offer; its scary at first but when you find a rhythm, you start to realize what these amazing places have to offer!

We arrive at the school sore, but ready to work!

Today, we took our normal route with Shagzil to the school in the afternoon. It was almost like slalom racing around each puddle but I still managed to be completely covered in red mud by the time we reached the school, not to mention the added fact that of my unshaven legs, that have given me the impression of grizzly bear. We met the teachers in their office to talk in the morning and we made nametags for the children, to make it .5% easier to pronounce and remember their names. Each of them wore it proudly with the brightest of smiles. 

Our class (with name-tags)

Today was much better with the teaching, and I was not as much of a deer in the headlights as last time. Mom and I shared a class of 7^th graders, which made it easier to think of ideas between the both of us. We continued the day with English lessons which consisted of “The Very Quiet Cricket” and “Where is my Mother?.” The class was delighted with all of the pictures and were quite proud in telling us each word in Malayalam...instead of English. Surprisingly the “simple” words did not stick with us and I honestly don’t see us remembering any.. seeing as I, for example, cant learn a language in a course of 6 years other than the word “hola.”

Cheeseburger in Paradise?
If only....

At the end of the school day we headed back to the hotel for a quick lunch and the realization that our cravings for American food has become quite severe (i.e. fudge, Christmas cookies, A THANKSGIVING DINNER, steak, CHEESEBURGERS, the list goes on and on.) I’ve never eaten fast food but this would be a time where I would do anything for it. Anyway, tomorrow we are staying in because of a strike in Kerala. One of the major dams to the East, near Periyar, is beginning to leak because of the sudden rainfall. The people in the region are slightly agitated as the opposition party has made them feel that the Government is indifferent to the safety of the people and inactive at a time of serious threat to the Dam. To highlight the issue to the attention of the Government, the people in the region are on strike and Cochin/Aleppey and Kottayam (Kumarakom is part of it) are joining the strike tomorrow. (as written by Renuka, our guide, we had no other way of explaining it!) More tomorrow!