Back In The Saddle. By Cate, 12/6

Today started with eating breakfast with our new little friends, the turkeys and the goose, the turtle and the fish. They wait for our arrival each morning and for the monotonous breakfast music to begin – indicating that feeding time is about to begin.  Hollie and I discussed over breakfast our plan of attack for today’s teachings, while we sacrificed our warm toast to the creatures staring at us.

Our creativity is waning, we feel we have pulled all the rabbits out of our hat and are a little at a loss as to where we go from here. We have been teaching 6^th and 7^th classes for the two and a half weeks that we have been here.  This is good in that we are really getting to know the children well, and we love them completely. It is particularly challenging since we are not teachers, we do not have a lesson plan…or one provided us, so we have to do the dog and pony show and hope they stay with us for the 2 ½ hours we are with them, with no break in order to gather our thoughts, let alone breath. But, every time we get to school, the children inspire us and we come up with something fun and exciting that keeps them interested, they are so bright and so willing to learn from us.  The Malayalam language is proving to be a difficult one to pick up on. So far, Hollie and I can say Ana (elephant) and Ama (mother)…not sure how far that will get us, but it’s a start!

So, today after our butt breaking ride, with a few side shows along the way, we arrived at school.  We were prepared for our 6^th and 7^th grade classes when the head mistress told us today we will have 4^th and 5^th grade! CRAP. We were completely blind sided by this one.  All I could think was, this is India, the minute you think you have figured out the rules of the game they get changed.  Ahhhhh, flexibility.  Breath.  (I think this is where the Indians came up with all their different breathing techniques – it’s a survival tool here). So, for the first time they put Hollie and me together and we looked at each other like, now what??  The 4^th and 5^th grade do not have nearly the capacity to speak as the 6^th and 7^th grade, but they are oh so willing – all 24 at a time!  Hollie and I quickly realized “team teaching” was not the tactic here and quickly divided up the class.  Ahhhh, the struggles……….we struggled……we sweat…..we worked to explain what “how old are you” meant.  I didn’t know I had so many gestures for that question and still they stared at me with that blank stare, and I struggled….and I sweat…..and I laughed inwardly at how stupid I must look trying to get my point across…..and no, there is not a happy ending here. Eventually the head mistress came in, and I just had to ask why NO ONE understands the question “how old are you?”  She said, they can’t understand you in English, you must write it on the board, then they can see it and understand it.  Ahhhh, there is a key to every lock and an answer to every question…who is really learning here anyway??

By the end of the class Hollie and I came back together and I let her finish the class up with the tricks she had left, because I sure didn’t have any. We still had 15 minutes…15 minutes!!  Do you know how long that is in Malayalam time??  Hollie and I looked at each other and just broke down laughing, there was no hope, we were done…….we were out of options.  As a last resort I pulled out my iphone and started frantically searching for photos of home and explaining what the names of all 30 of our animals were, oh yes, and their colors of course. 

Well, we did it. One more day under our belt.  As we rode home on that bumpy ass road, we had to stop every few minutes to take pictures with the locals. Word got out (as it does around here – no phones or computers necessary….they have a system better than face book!) that we had a camera and they could pose with us and then immediately see themselves in the camera…so, all the elders of the village would stop us, yelling something in Malayalam, so we would do what we thought they wanted and posed with them. The local preschool had our number as well and there was no passing them without a greeting (which is an everyday occurrence on the way to and from school) and a picture.

As we headed home, exhausted from the days activities, and bumping down the rutted dirt road, we both simultaneously keeled over laughing, (I think I peed my pants), it’s all just too much to wrap your head around – never in my life have I experienced life like this – it’s so beautiful, so real, and so overwhelming.  We are so lucky.