Day 54:
Got to sleep in till 8 am today! Got to
Google+ with Celsea after I got ready. Had 6th standard
first and they were crazy as usual. Got to FaceTime with the parents
for over an hour and it was nice. After lunch, had 3rd
standard and they were very good as usual. Only 3 people showed up
for 10th standard dance class. 7th standard
after was fairly wild as well. LifeDance went okay. It's hard to have
anyone to vent to about what is going on because I am thee only
person here doing what I am doing. Got emails from missionary friends
that evening and they all said things I needed to hear :) Got to
FaceTime with Kami for a bit and see baby Graham. Watched some
“Recess” with Kaylee and talked. Love that show! Brings me back
to childhood!
Day 55:
Classes went well today. Went to UKG
playtime and helped the cleaning ladies of the Elephant House open
some coconuts we gathered that had fallen off the trees. After dinner
that night, watched part of “New in Town” with volunteers.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed about having to put together a final
performance for all the standards by myself.
Day 56:
After a good run this morning and
making a yummy breakfast, went to medical. I was the only volunteer
who went today because the others are still working on their manuals.
It was just me and the medical squad. On the way to colony we stopped
and visited Udhayabalan, who has leprosy, and received a micro-grant
from RSO and has a little shop where he sells items by the train
station to make money for his family. He is so nice and really funny!
Next we stopped at the nursery and visited all of the little kids
again. They warmed up to me much faster this time and we had a blast
dancing and playing ball and such :) Lastly, we stopped at a sweet
elderly lady's house and brought her medicine and bandages for her
leprosy. Then got to the A.S. Nagar colony. There were only 2
patients. Since I was the only volunteer, I got to help the head
nurse do the dressing and wrapping of the ulcers, so that was really
cool! Fun to have some new adventures today! Lunch and played
Bananagrams with volunteers. Started on making new medical training
videos for future volunteers. Went alright. Filming always takes
longer than people think. LifeDance went pretty well. Helped at night
school, Skyped friends, went to story time, had a long discussion
with my roommate Urvasi.
Day 57:
All of us met at the school at 9 am for
more filming. We set up all the stations and filmed each one and it
went well! Sad I didn't get to go to medical today but we had fun.
Played Bananagrams till lunch. I am helping put together a short
dance for a small event for the birthday of Dr. Susan, the managing
director of the school. I had it choreographed and had my dancers
chosen but hadn't found a time that I could teach it to them yet. On
this day, there was 6 teachers out today because of a cricket
tournament happening (like the Superbowl in the US) so I was able to
go around with the principal and pull those students out that I
needed. I took an hour and a half and taught them the choreography.
Since it's a secret, they were so confused why they were learning
this dance. I just told them it was for someone special. LifeDance
went well today. I am having them teach each other across-the-floor
combos and they came up with some great choreography!
Day 58:
Left for Mammallapuram at 8 am. Had a
really good time! Walked around with Anna, Jamesen, and Kaylee and
did some shopping, found a cute restaurant for lunch, and spent the
last 2 hours at the beach. I love the ocean! Since I did not grow up
around it, it is a bit intimidating, but I also love it! So beautiful
and the water was so warm! We swam, played on the beach, met some
nice people. Right before we left, took a dip in the giant pool they
have there at the resort as well. Went to movie night with the kids.
It was a Tamil movie so didn't stay for long. Came back to Elephant
House and watched “Sixth Sense” and got to FaceTime with a
friend. What a great day!!
Day 59:
Left at 7 am for church. Fast and
testimony meeting was very good. Such dedicated members here! The
primary teacher was absent today, so Kaylee and I took over all of
primary for both hours. Went pretty well. Stopped at two grocery
stores on the way back. Went to play time and hung out with different
groups of kids. Watched “The Little Princess” that night since it
is partly in India. Got to FaceTime with the parents. Good day!
Day 60:
Classes went fairly well. Teaching some
technique this week and discussing the Body, Energy, Space, Time
(BEST) method I have been teaching them. Skyped with Shaun Parry for
an hour and discussed future plans. LifeDance was fine. We had 4
short-term volunteers come today. They are here with “Reading
Horizons” and gave presentations to the teachers about how to
better help the students learn to read. They are really great people
and really enjoyed talking to them! All of us played “Scum” that
night till story time and had a blast! Went to boys' hostel, got
talking to some of the kids, and accidentally stayed 15 minutes later
than I was supposed to so got locked in and had to ask the main
housemother to let me out. Oops!
Day 61:
Ran with both Kaylee and Heidi from
“Reading Horizons” this morning. Had 6th standard and
then got a bunch of logistical stuff done. Met with Dr. Susan and
found out that the final testing time has been changed, so there is
only one date for me to do the final performance, and since there are
no dance classes during testing, there is only one week for me to
prepare them for this performance! So now my ideas have changed. It
will have to be much simpler than planned. You just have to roll with
the punches here in India. Nothing is planned ahead. I am definitely
learning to “go with the flow” here! Had a few more classes that
went okay. Stayed and stretched with two of the students, Mispa and
Priya, till LifeDance. LifeDance went really well today. Played more
“Scum” with the short-term volunteers and chatted with them.
Story time at the girls' hostel with an Indian folk tale book I
picked up at the library.
Day 62:
Said goodbye to the short-term
volunteers from “Reading Horizons.” Wish they could stay longer.
All of my classes were really rough today. Not much focus from
anyone. Went to UKG playtime, then rode to the junction with Anna,
Kaylee, Marissa, and Jamesen right before LifeDance. Rough evening,
feeling overwhelmed, but got to FaceTime with the parents, so that
was good. Helped at night school and went to story time.
Day 63:
Didn't get to go to medical this
weekend either. We did a community service project of painting fences
that go around plants. We listened to music and talked while we
painted. Got splattered green everywhere! It was fun :) Lunch and UKG
playtime. Had lots of fun with the little munchkins :) Had the
long-term volunteer meeting till LifeDance. Played “Nertz” that
night till Marissa had to leave. She was here for 5 weeks, weird to
have her gone. Skyped with friends, story time, watched some “Recess”
with Kaylee.
Day 64:
More painting today. Got even more
splattered with green today :) Kaylee and I made delicious salads for
lunch. Had a rehearsal for Dr. Susan's birthday dance that went
pretty well. Dr. Vigi came and watched it. LifeDance afterwards went
well! Dinner, “Recess,” helped at night school. Talked with
volunteers.
Day 65:
Happy International Women's Day! The
ladies here at RSO are so sweet and they gave all of us girls flowers
and told us all happy women's day. They are so amazing! Left for
Chennai at 8 am. Decided to go to a new shopping area this weekend.
We stopped and saw the place where St. Thomas was martyred and walked
around the church and statues dedicated to him. It was beautiful
there! It was on top of a hill and you could see the whole city! Then
went to Mabalam to shop. One of the guys from the ward who just got
baptized, named Vijay, met us there and helped show us around. So
nice to have a native who could show us around. He is so sweet! It
was really cool to shop more with the locals. It was crazy busy with
people and tons of little shops. I love that busyness for a few
hours! It was exciting and fun :) After, Vijay took us to his
apartment and his sweet mother made us lunch! We ate and talked for a
while. Such a great afternoon! When we got back, Jamesen, Kaylee, and
I made no bake cookies–so good! Went to movie night with the kids.
It was an English movie and not so violent, so stayed for almost the
whole time. Good thing I am flexible, because the girls I was sitting
with split my legs apart and 4 of them sat and snuggled there. They
are so sweet :) Got to hear about their parents' day today that they
had. Chatted with Kaylee.
