Days 54-65

Day 54:

Got to sleep in till 8 am today! Got to Google+ with Celsea after I got ready. Had 6^th 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 3^rd standard and they were very good as usual. Only 3 people showed up for 10^th standard dance class. 7^th 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 6^th 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.