Blog Notes 3
Well a ton has happened since I last wrote you guys including but not limited to:
Almost 2 weeks of classes (probably more by the time I actually post this)
A weekend hike up to the source of the Ganga (or Gangess) which just so happens to be a huge glacier
Realizing my need for more practice teaching
Lots of asking kids to be quiet
Today was kind of a rough morning of teaching then a nice afternoon sitting on the roof looking at the wonderful mountains and listening to things like Beautiful Day by U2.
I am currently grading a bunch of 7th grade math papers so I know if these kids are ready for their test…too bad if they aren’t I guess….
It just hit me today that I have almost been here for an entire month which means I will only be teaching for another three weeks. I need to really start loving those kids way more!
Today was a rough day in class a bit, but tomorrow I’m giving like 6 tests some of which will surely smoke out the kids who aren’t doing their homework. So needless to say right now I’m am working on creating several tests which will encompass ideas such as cloud formation, long division, algebra, and reflexive pronouns. Fun stuff! Actually it is fun. I just hope I am doing a good job.
I think I need to start dating these little bits of entries so here I go
11/7/08 I think the US needs to change into the day month year date notation as well as the metric system. I am trying as hard as possible during this time to assimilate myself into these systems.
Ok I’m not sure how well I am doing. I certainly failed several students on several different test today. Some of me says “good riddance they don’t listen anyway (some of them don’t” and some of me wants to cry because they aren’t getting it at all!!!!! Well I feel like the system here is a bit rushed but then again I’m only here in the middle of the school year and thus they have learned much of the basics already and should be able to move on now.
Yesterday though was wonderful I went into the next town down the road on the school bus and just relaxed with some good friends from that town. They are such a blessing and we just ate momos (spelling?) and danced to some Indian pop music. I also got to visit a partner organization of Compassion. You have all seen Compassion’s flyers where you can sponsor a child to pay for their education and food and all that. One of my good friends from this town works for them as an accountant. He’s so great and he showed me around. It was wonderful to see this end of the millions of dollars donated! Wow it blew my mind! I also saw a few of the letters that sponsored kids were sending to their sponsors with coloring pictures of Indian people in fantastic dresses. Ah it was unbelievable. Wow. Anyway it was exactly the day I needed to remind me why I am here and how wonderful a place this is.
14/7/08
The school just got the first half of their certification to teach through grade 10! They already have nursery through 8 now in a few months through 10! They still have much to do and one more big certification is needed please keep lifting this up! Hurray this has been a long time coming and it’s so so exciting for the school!!! HORRAY!
Oh I just realized I forgot the mention how the hiking trip was. It went wonderfully. It has been a long time since I’ve gone on a good backpacking trip. How ever short this was it was such a good time to relax and just realize how big the work I’m serving is. Ok for instance, in Colorado the mountains we hiked were usually just below 14,000ft…umm ok 4000 meters. This meant we were on the top and could look for kilometers around! Wonderful view and incredible peaks could usually be seen. Here in the Himalayas at the highest point of our hike we were about that high AND in a huge valley! Hahah wow that’s big my friends. This hight anywhere in the US is almost at the top if not at the top of something or in an airplane! We were in a valley! In this case we were at the foot of one of the largest glaciers in the world too! Oh man! Anyway it was wonderful I went with some really good friends and we just camped out and ate tons of good Indian camp food and drank lots of tea. Ahhhh…. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Indian culture they have tea, what we would call chai tea a lot! We hiked for like 4 hours the first day. Our guide, who just so happened to be a shepherd, grabbed wood and started making chai. Even in the middle of the woods these guys can’t live without chai! It’s crazy wonderful. Chai is like the answer to all things I’m pretty sure and I plan to serve it often when I am home so please come to my new house and get some chai! Those of you who are living with me in that house who are reading this….I may have to charge you….hahaha!
Oh man anyway well that’s a ton of good information so enjoy and I’ll try to write again soon!
14/7/08 Bastille Day!
Well today we celebrated Bastille Day by…ok just kidding we didn’t celebrate a French Holiday. Although I wish I would have gotten the history book I will teach from earlier because that is exactly where my 5th graders are in history. Oh man those fifth graders. They are a crazy bunch. Many of them are too smart for me and get board during my class. Oh man it’s crazy. I just need to remember how much I need to be filled with love. Ok it’s not so easy though. I’m having a hard time being in 4 classrooms throughout the day. I wish I could have my own grade, but that would be silly since I’m only here for 3 more weeks. I want to be able to invest so much in their lives, but I can’t even remember their names. I don’t know if you knew this about me, but I’m horrible with names especially ones like Aushutosh.
Note: India is apparently taking over the world. Please set all your clocks to Indian time to make this assimilation painless….
Check this out. I brought from a friend who came with us last time some tea for the principle and director of this organization, Good Earth tea. Today I was talking with the director and he was asking me if we had the huge Indian conglomerate Tata in the US. Tata is a huge wage earner for India. I said not that I know of except that they just bought Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford. He said “check this out!” He went grabbed one of those tea bags and pointed to the back. It said “A Tata Enterprise” AH!!! It was so funny! Anyway I just thought I would share that with you.
Anyway so another teacher has come whom I have not met. She’s great she’s a former principle herself and just loves to serve in this work. She shared with me some of how he Father has lead her big time! It was wonderful to hear and she and her husband are such an encouragement. Yay!
16/7/2008
Well it is the day before my birthday and I’m getting a little bit of a cold actually more than a little bit.
19/7/08
Well my 22nd birthday came and went and I failed to tell anyone it was my birthday. I was all excited to buy a bunch of good fresh sweets and give them to all the kids and staff, but my plan didn’t work. So I just decided not to tell anyone. But it started out pretty bad. I felt horrible in the morning, but my wonderful family called me up right as I was eating my breakfast and cheered me up big time. So all in all it was a great day.
Ok so it’s Saturday evening. I have just purchased from the market 1.8 kilograms of chocolate because I am about to start a chapter on fractions with two of my classes. And of course what better way to learn about fractions than by breaking up chocolate bars! I’m quite excited to do this I just hope the kids can handle it.
There is one class that I have which is just crazy and cannot follow directions and just constantly talks. There is another class which still can’t follow directions but instead of being very loud they just sit there and don’t answer questions that many of them know the answers to. AHHH!!! Ok don’t get me wrong I think I still want to be a teacher and all but this is so hard. Yet, slowly I am learning the kids names and I am slowly connecting with them more and more. With only 2 more weeks I guess I’d better get going and make these kids learn! The school is wonderful and the teachers are great. The system though is so so different from what I am used to. Some of me wants to just think that the systems used are barbaric and very old fashions, but I know I must curb this perspective if only to allow me to respect the administration and India as a whole.
Yet even in this system this school is a huge light! Today we had a staff meeting and we discussed a bit about a child who was caught cheating. Of course the parents were informed, but the response of the parent was the most amazing. This parent also a teacher and a government school thought there was no call to give the student a zero on a test for cheating. “It wasn’t that big of a deal” she claimed.
I have learned so so much about India psychology and I am slowly understanding many of the different things which are going on in my classroom as well as just on the streets of India. I am such a judger some times though and I keep on comparing India to my image of the West. Hahah its quite a battle in my mind. For instance today I went to town with some people and we wandered around and bought enormous amounts of chocolate. Afterward they took me up to a hill which overlooks the town. On our way in one of my friends mentioned to me how the mountain was falling. I said in my hear “oh man” but not like a huge “oh man!” because there are rocks falling on so many roads here it’s just kind of the way it is. Perceiving my lack of understanding this friend told me how it may not look like a big deal here, but we’ll look at it from a ways off and I’ll show you. So there we are looking at the town. Huge chunks of this mountain are missing and this friend told me how one chunk had fallen and buried a large part of the town knocking over many 5 story buildings. Under the current town…actually, I think were we stayed last time I was here…there are the remains of 5 story buildings. AGH! That’s scary I looked up to the top of the mountain and I see a part missing or at least what looks like all grey rock. My friend points out that that is all cement covering the mountain to hold it together. Millions of rupees have been spent to hold this mountain together and it is still falling apart. Scientists have even said this area, exactly where the city is, should be a buffer zone to allow rocks to fall and keep people safe. But this town is holy and that mountain is holy so people still want to live there. Ok I’ll tell you more about all that when I get back.
Ok so here is my point. We see a bit of the psychology and there is so much more that I didn’t even write. I was like “No way this would happen in the US we are safe!” And then I remembered my geo of US and Canada when we looked at LA. Many people want to live in LA so bad and land is at such a high premium that they live in on the edge of the mountains which are hard core prone to mud slides. And many of them live within 10 meters of a huge fault line where and earthquake will certainly happen soon. Ok so holy city Holly Wood. I guess we aren’t that different after all. Don’t get me wrong there are still many things that are different, but maybe not as much as I thought…
Well Andrew needs to sleep so he can hike up to a little village or two tomorrow to hang out with people there.
21/07/08
Well I had a wonderful time yesterday. I love hiking and when I am away from the town I feel so much freer to think. We went up to two villages with a few of the teachers and several members of the fellowship in the town which we hiked from. Oh man it was wonderful though. The people I was with were just a blast to hike with singing and dancing and all. It was like a Bollywood film at times or what I imagine them like anyway, when they are set in the Himalayas. Hahha Anyway on the way we stopped and has lunch. I swear these people never eat bad food. They all brought wonderful different dishes, that’s right not like sandwiches, but dishes, like rice and curry eggs and all kinds of goodness. Then in the village we were able to lift up many of the believers there just encourage them. All in all it was such a blessing. I’ll show you the pictures when I return.
If you read all that thank you if not…well then thank you…
Please keep lifting me up. I still have a bit of a cold and I just want to reach these kids. I have been reminded time and time again the impact this school has on the community and I am so glad to be a small part of it for a small amount of time. But I need to be a good part of it not just a pretty half white face. I want to have an impact on these kids. They are so wonderful but so different sometimes. So just lift me up in this area if you are able. Also ask the Big Man to show me His will for my life. I know He wants me here now, but what next.
Thank you so much for reading!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
A new one! Classes are about to begin!
Note: I don’t have internet access too often so these are written on my lappy then put online so they are a little bit long and all kind of stuff. Unlike when you post regularly one section at a time these are all in one bunch so the top is actually several days ago and the bottom is the latest issue…
Well I’ve always wanted to know what it would be like to be an administrative assistant and now I am getting that experience. Before the school starts there is (I almost said “much paperwork to do” I need to read some good English literature and help my grammar recover.) a lot of paperwork to plug into a computer. It’s easy though and it’s wonderful to be able to help out.
I also just met one of the teachers who has taught here for only 5 months. He is a great guy and what’s more he is a he! Hahha! Majority of the teachers are women so it’s nice to have another guy around. He seems great and hopefully I can convince him to go on some weekend excursions to random places like the source of the Ganga or something sweet like that.
I walked down to the river yesterday and it was so beautiful down there. I thought I must be in New Zealand or something like that because it was wonderful! There were also several large rocks sticking out from the sand on the beach and the rice fields too. It almost makes me wish I had brought my 5.10s (to those of you not versed in the outdoor world, “rock climbing shoes” and yes there is such a thing) (Corwin if you are reading this hit VE for me!). Anyway all that is to say it was a wonderful refreshing walk. I am so excited to be here! Yay! There is so much wonderful work to be done with students and all kinds of people. I feel so blessed today!
I am writing this not by candle light since the power is no more for this fine evening. Well for a little while at least. ….that and my laptop does give off a certain blue glow (insert Zoolander quote here).
Thank you all for reading and I hope there will be more to add soon. More good stuff that is!
Day number 14! That means two weeks. Well my fly kill count is up to 21 as of this morning so I’m feeling good.
Oh man it is such a blessing to be here in this country and especially in this region. There is so much happening. One crazy thing is that there are tons of youth just pumped for the work here.
Wow! I just walked up an absolutely beautiful mountain trail to meet some wonderful families in a great little farming village. It’s so cool around here like within an hours hike in many directions you can get up to little villages where everything looks like it’s from a postcard or at least a National Geographic. And it’s not like they are simple dumb country bumpkins but that they are hard working wonderful people. And yes, many of them have cell phones. But seriously up there on the way it looked like I was in Dr. Seuss Land with these fabulous greens on the little step rice field and these crazy gnarly trees.
But the best part is up there we were able to lift up some family (The Family) members and just eat and talk and have a good Indian fun time. Also I brought a Frisbee up there and so I busted it out and played with a few kids for a while. They were really good. I taught them how to catch with one hand and they could do it. I couldn’t do that till I was like at least 13 and some of these kids were like 7. Hahha it was wonderful!
It’s hard though to hear about the schools in these areas where the teacher doesn’t show up so they will send in a bad report of her and get her transferred to a town in the valley with more amenities. Ugh! Well maybe someday the organizations here can change that.
It was a tough place though and from the wife of one family we heard about her husband who has been falling back into alcohol abuse and the like. Please lift this woman up in your time with the Big man.
(Next day…)
Today I was able to tutor a few kids in some math. It was so wonderful to be able to help them. The kids at this school will certainly be leaders in this area and all over the nation when they finish school. Wow I love kids and helping them learn. It’s a total adrenalin rush…is that weird? Anyway it was great there was one kid who was really struggling with integers and so I showed him this fabulous method I learned last year with colored tokens! I think he got it! Only tomorrow and time will tell.
School starts in 4 days! Oh man I’m excited.
Your friend (well I hope we are still friends) Andrew Lee
Well I’ve always wanted to know what it would be like to be an administrative assistant and now I am getting that experience. Before the school starts there is (I almost said “much paperwork to do” I need to read some good English literature and help my grammar recover.) a lot of paperwork to plug into a computer. It’s easy though and it’s wonderful to be able to help out.
I also just met one of the teachers who has taught here for only 5 months. He is a great guy and what’s more he is a he! Hahha! Majority of the teachers are women so it’s nice to have another guy around. He seems great and hopefully I can convince him to go on some weekend excursions to random places like the source of the Ganga or something sweet like that.
I walked down to the river yesterday and it was so beautiful down there. I thought I must be in New Zealand or something like that because it was wonderful! There were also several large rocks sticking out from the sand on the beach and the rice fields too. It almost makes me wish I had brought my 5.10s (to those of you not versed in the outdoor world, “rock climbing shoes” and yes there is such a thing) (Corwin if you are reading this hit VE for me!). Anyway all that is to say it was a wonderful refreshing walk. I am so excited to be here! Yay! There is so much wonderful work to be done with students and all kinds of people. I feel so blessed today!
I am writing this not by candle light since the power is no more for this fine evening. Well for a little while at least. ….that and my laptop does give off a certain blue glow (insert Zoolander quote here).
Thank you all for reading and I hope there will be more to add soon. More good stuff that is!
Day number 14! That means two weeks. Well my fly kill count is up to 21 as of this morning so I’m feeling good.
Oh man it is such a blessing to be here in this country and especially in this region. There is so much happening. One crazy thing is that there are tons of youth just pumped for the work here.
Wow! I just walked up an absolutely beautiful mountain trail to meet some wonderful families in a great little farming village. It’s so cool around here like within an hours hike in many directions you can get up to little villages where everything looks like it’s from a postcard or at least a National Geographic. And it’s not like they are simple dumb country bumpkins but that they are hard working wonderful people. And yes, many of them have cell phones. But seriously up there on the way it looked like I was in Dr. Seuss Land with these fabulous greens on the little step rice field and these crazy gnarly trees.
But the best part is up there we were able to lift up some family (The Family) members and just eat and talk and have a good Indian fun time. Also I brought a Frisbee up there and so I busted it out and played with a few kids for a while. They were really good. I taught them how to catch with one hand and they could do it. I couldn’t do that till I was like at least 13 and some of these kids were like 7. Hahha it was wonderful!
It’s hard though to hear about the schools in these areas where the teacher doesn’t show up so they will send in a bad report of her and get her transferred to a town in the valley with more amenities. Ugh! Well maybe someday the organizations here can change that.
It was a tough place though and from the wife of one family we heard about her husband who has been falling back into alcohol abuse and the like. Please lift this woman up in your time with the Big man.
(Next day…)
Today I was able to tutor a few kids in some math. It was so wonderful to be able to help them. The kids at this school will certainly be leaders in this area and all over the nation when they finish school. Wow I love kids and helping them learn. It’s a total adrenalin rush…is that weird? Anyway it was great there was one kid who was really struggling with integers and so I showed him this fabulous method I learned last year with colored tokens! I think he got it! Only tomorrow and time will tell.
School starts in 4 days! Oh man I’m excited.
Your friend (well I hope we are still friends) Andrew Lee
Far off land of India 2.0
Well it’s been a little over a week since I got here to India that fine ridiculously hot late Wednesday (last Wednesday) in Delhi. From there I took a taxi up into the foothills. Man it was way nicer weather there, although it was always raining. I had a wonderful first week just relaxing and learning with some friends there. They are westerners so it was a nice transition from the west to living in the east with westerners. I must say though it is hard to beat Indian food if not Indian culture. It was also great because half the time I couldn’t get things to work like my bank card and my computer so I just had to realize how much I just need to relax and let the big man take care of things here. There is so many crazy cool programs going on in that town and I’m so glad I had a little extra time to get over jet lag and see what is going on there. Oooh and did I mention that I
So as of yesterday (or something depending on when I post this or you read this) I have arrived! I mean NOW I am a big deal. I got the house the job the girl….ok just kidding. I mean I have arrived at my main location where I will spend the next month helping out at a local believing school. I’m really jazzed that I’m here! They have such a wonderful vision for their area and I am so excited to be a part of it.
If you can it would be great if you could lift me up in these areas:
Learning: I need to keep practicing my Hindi and I need to learn the proper way to approach this school thing. Also as I read and hear stories that I would take to heart what is being pounded into my head.
Health: I feel pretty good, but it’s easy for something to go wrong with foods and all I’m not used to. Also that I would get enough sleep. Right now I’m doing very little since classes haven’t started so I’m good but soon it will get a little hectic.
Protection: There is so much going on here on so many levels.
So as of yesterday (or something depending on when I post this or you read this) I have arrived! I mean NOW I am a big deal. I got the house the job the girl….ok just kidding. I mean I have arrived at my main location where I will spend the next month helping out at a local believing school. I’m really jazzed that I’m here! They have such a wonderful vision for their area and I am so excited to be a part of it.
If you can it would be great if you could lift me up in these areas:
Learning: I need to keep practicing my Hindi and I need to learn the proper way to approach this school thing. Also as I read and hear stories that I would take to heart what is being pounded into my head.
Health: I feel pretty good, but it’s easy for something to go wrong with foods and all I’m not used to. Also that I would get enough sleep. Right now I’m doing very little since classes haven’t started so I’m good but soon it will get a little hectic.
Protection: There is so much going on here on so many levels.
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