Use the bathroom beforehand, this might take a while....

Jan. 21

            So I went “running” this morning. That’s right! I actually got my butt out of bed at 5:50am, put on every possible layer I had (as it was, my hands and nose still froze before I reached the lake) and headed out for my 3.5 - 4 mile adventure. Armed with my headlamp in one hand, and a sizeable rock in the other, I cranked up my “running playlist” on my iPod and left. The headlamp was more of a flashlight since it really doesn’t get light here until 6:15ish, and the rock was for the dogs that I have heard so much about from other staff members. Apparently a big reason why people have quit running around the lake in the morning is the dogs that live in that area. I assumed it was the packs of stray dogs that I hear howling at every possible hour in the night, but it’s actually the pet dogs of people who live around the lake that are the problem. They feel like you’re encroaching on their territory when you go past, and have been known to chase after runners, nipping at their heels…. Awesome. As if running doesn’t suck enough, let’s add in the possibility of rabies shots! Well apparently I was sucking wind so hard that I wasn’t even seen as a viable threat to their territory, because I didn’t see a single dog this morning. Jeeze, I was pathetic looking though. A 4-mile run, which granted I haven’t done for a while, has never been so painful. I was ready to walk before I was even 5 minutes in. In the end, my time was pretty bad and I may as well have run a 50k for how much I felt it throughout the day! It was only later tonight after dinner when I re-realized that Kodaikanal is approximately 3,700 feet higher in elevation than Missoula… So that made me feel a little less pitiful.

            Although the higher altitude is not a total excuse, I know now that expecting the same time/effort here, as a run at home is just not feasible. If I end up going again tomorrow, I’ll definitely try to take it slower, walking a bit more and running a more consistent but slower pace. Eventually I do want to make it a habit to get up and run though. I mean, If I don’t do something to burn a few more calories, I’m going to come home far rounder than when I left thanks to all this awesome Indian food. Luckily, even if I end up sleeping in tomorrow, I have swing and salsa dance class to look forward to in the evening!

Jan. 22

So the definite highlight of today was finally going SCARF SHOPPING! I don’t know if I’ll be able to express how happy I was to do this… first, let’s set the scene by saying that I only brought one scarf to India because I knew that I would want to buy more. That means I have been wearing this ONE scarf everyday for the last 19 days. Why not give the poor thing a break you say? Well scarves are not only a great way to make outfits conservative here (I already get looked at enough, I can’t even imagine the unwanted attention I would acquire if I showed more skin), they are also very useful in the mornings when trying to keep warm against the cold and fog. So not only are they gorgeous, they’re super useful! I love scarves…ah, I should write an ode or something. Anyways, Mariah and I were able to each buy 3 new scarves at this wonderful Tibetan market by the lake (where we go our blankets), and now I feel like I have an entirely new wardrobe.

The close second to favorite part of my day, was dancing! This was the staff dance class that happens every Wednesday from 7:00-9:15ish. Usually the first hour is swing dance and the second hour is salsa. But today Ms Leah was sick, so it ended up being a bit of a free for all. We reviewed eastcoast swing, we reviewed the salsa steps for a while, and then it kind of went crazy! We learned prachathe, we learned merengue (my favorite), and Mariah and I even lead a line dance to Cotton Eye Joe. Oh man, I just love it! I look forward to Wednesdays every week because I know how much fun I’m going to have….. you need to youtube “merengue” and tell me that it doesn’t look like a blast!

Jan. 24

Alright, so today….somehow this morning I was able to get my butt out of bed and go for a "run". Mariah hadn't slept well, so again I was going by myself. Honestly, that's how I prefer to run, but I was still entering my run this morning expecting a fairly miserable time (dying cardio-wise, possible dogs, the constant stares from the locals, etc.). Well it turned out that this run was infinitely better than the one on Tuesday! I'm not saying that I didn't DIE again, but I knew what to expect and was able to pace myself far better. I ended up running a majority of the time (slower than before but more consistently) and actually cut a couple of minutes off my time.

But the best part came about 1/3 of the way through my run, during this kind of sketchy place. I say “sketchy” because it was an unlit section of the path, it was very residential (so I was expecting dogs here), and there were no other runners/walkers on the path so I was totally alone. Well I’m running, clutching my rock in one hand and my headlamp in the other, and I totally had a God moment. I thought to myself “it’s pretty incredible that I haven’t seen or heard even a single dog yet on my runs” and immediately I get this feeling like someone saying “Well, duh!”. And it occurs to me that it’s totally a God thing that I haven’t had any problems with the dogs. It sounds kind of silly, but I’ve been praying for motivation to get up and run in the morning. I know establishing this routine would make me feel better about being in Kodai, and I know it would make me feel better about myself. Well I have been so afraid of the dogs, and so uneasy being outside that early in the morning by myself that it has kept me from running. So in this moment I feel God saying, “You asked for motivation. You’ll still have to get up and go, but I’m going to take away that fear that has been keeping you. I’m giving you some peace of mind.” And it was SO COOL! It totally influenced my run and my attitude, because now it feels so doable to get up and go. I feel so much more confident (not in my stamina, or my ability to run the whole thing… yet) but just in stepping out that door and going. And I know that there may come a morning where I do encounter a dog, but this idea no longer terrifies me. I know that somehow it’ll still be ok… my mother may not feel the same confidence I’m experiencing :) but I’m loving this feeling!

            All in all, today may be one of the best days I’ve had since being in India. Not only was the run way better than I expected, but it’s Friday, and it’s Day 6 (the school operates on a 5-day school week, but a 6-day cycle….yeah, I don’t know why) which means that there was special staff snack today during tea time. There were banana brownies, peanut butter shortbread bars, and TWO kinds of cake from a local bakery (thank God I ran this morning).  Today after school, there are apparently school pictures (I have a feeling I’ll be known as the frizzy-haired white-girl after this), then I head to main campus to help the swing dance club, and later Mariah and I have plans of going shopping for some local Indian outfits to wear this Sunday on “Republic Day”. This is a big holiday celebrating the introduction of the Indian constitution in 1950. Everyone dresses in their most festive outfits, and the day is full of fireworks and dancing. Finally, after all of this is done today, Mariah and I go home, set our alarms for 6:00am and try to get some semblance of sleep (however unlikely that is, remember the fireworks?) before waking up and chaperoning a 7-hour hike tomorrow with 20 middle-schoolers. If you haven’t been keeping me in your thoughts and prayers, now would be a great time to start…. Thanks.

            Phew…. That was long post! Well done for making it to the end. For that, you get to see the view that I came back to this morning after my run. This is taken right in the front yard of our house. It overlooks all of the plains, which the locals call “The Jewelbox” because on those rare, clear evenings, you can see all the lights of the cities below. It used to be the best view in Kodai before they built that dreadful observatory place… oh well. It’s still a great scene to wake up to. 

This is looking to the left, down a pathway called Coaker's Walk. On the weekend this place is flooded with tourists!

This is looking straight ahead. That's the sun coming up over the clouds covering the Plains.

And this is that observatory place just a little farther to the right. It was only built a year or so ago, and everyone living in the compound I'm at was furious about the construction.

"Vanacome"

That is definitely NOT the correct spelling, but it is how you say "good morning" in Tamil, the language most people speak in Kodaikanal. So, it's been a while since my last real post. I'm happy to report that this last week was very good :) I was able to teach, hang out with even more staff members, partake in a couple awesome afterschool activities, and I survived Pongal.... let's start there first, shall we?

So Pongal is a 3-day holiday that celebrates the beginning of the harvest season in India. This is not a small holiday. People (everyone but KIS because it's an international school) get these days off from school and work. The first day is dedicated for worshiping the sun god and eating lots of food. The second day is for giving thanks to cows because they plow the fields. Finally, the third day is where people visit family and friends and take time to just be together in the community. Ultimately all this meant for Mariah and myself was WAY more people in Kodai that aren't used to seeing Americans, and trying sugar cane for the first time.

Sugar cane.... the weirdest thing I've ever eaten. Once a year, they bus raw sugar cane stalks from the plains up to Kodai. The kids in my class LOVE this stuff! Like at lunch, they had 3 stalks of sugar cane and a small scoop of rice.... that's it. Anyways, eating sugar cane was bizarre! First of all, you have to peel the black bark stuff off using your teeth. This exposes the actual "meat" of the stalk. From here you have to gnaw off chunks (picture a dog chewing a bone) which you then chew and suck the juices out of, and spit out the rest. It was so weird!! So, so weird! It wasn't as sweet as I was expecting, and way juicier. It actually reminded me of eating an apple a little bit. Point of the story: I'm glad I did it, but won't be doing it again anytime soon! (it is supposed to be very good for your teeth though)

So after sugar cane, and Pongal things quieted down (sort of). It's never really quiet here, ever! But there were so many buses and people from the plains who were spending their holiday in Kodai to escape the crazy hot weather for a few days. Apparently that was nothing compared to "tourist season" in April. The other staff members were saying that there are so many people trying to get away from the 110 degree weather of the plains that the entire road up to Kodai is just a giant traffic jam... have I mentioned how much I am NOT looking forward to that?

Ugh these posts always take more time than I think they will, so I never get to say as much as I want. So very quickly let me just say that this last week I was able to teach 3 full lessons by myself, and then stepped in to co-teach with Ms Nandini multiple times throughout the day. It has been so good this week to finally get the structure of school back in my schedule. This entire last week has been all "up" days which has been so encouraging after my first week here. So much of that has to do with the fact that my official student teaching time is counting down.... only 15 weeks to go! But I think it also has to do with some of the activities I've done this last week that were outside of school. For instance, on Wednesday Mariah and I went to a staff dance class :) It was such a blast!! 2.5 hours of eastcoast swing and salsa dancing lessons! I am so looking forward to Wednesdays now! Also, we went to a women's bible study at my university supervisors house on Thursday that gave me the opportunity to socialize with some of the other staff members that I hadn't yet had the chance to.

Alright, it's officially dark out, and it's starting to get very cold! Someday I will be better at this blogging stuff and actually post one that has all the details, but apparently today is not that day! Hopefully I'll post again before next weekend, but if not, I'll make sure to include many more details! Thanks for the continual thoughts and prayers, they're well-recieved. Miss you all!

Pictures?

So...

I know that some of you checking up on me don't have Facebook, but are probably wanting to see some pictures all the same. I tried posting the link to my album on Facebook but was informed that you still have to have a Facebook account to see them. So instead, I'll just deal and add the same pictures here :) I'm going to try and add a slideshow of sorts... so cross your fingers!

India sucks...but today was a good day.

Alright peeps,

So first of all, I want you to notice the box to the right of this post that says “Follow by email”. If you enter your email address here, you will be notified every time I post something new. This means that you won’t have to keeping checking back here to see if I’ve added anything. Instead, you’ll receive a lovely little email notification telling you when I do.

Alright, now that we have that taken care of… today was the first day of my official 16 weeks of student teaching. One Monday down, 15 to go. It actually feels really great to finally have the clock counting down, and to be able to start thinking like a teacher rather than just an observer. Although that’s what I’m still doing, and probably will be doing for a while, I chatted with my cooperating teacher today about what exactly I’m expecting from these next 16 weeks. I was able to ask her a ton of questions regarding the fine details of how the 5^th grade curriculum is organized, and therefore taught at the school.

Because it’s an international school, everything is ENTIRELY different from what I’ve had experience with so far in Montana. They don’t use the same standards that I’ve grown accustomed to, they don’t use the same strategies for teaching, and I don’t think anyone creates full lesson plans. That being said, I’m really excited to start embracing this new way of teaching, and becoming a more well-rounded teacher. I expressed to Nandini today that although I definitely don’t want to step on her toes, or take class time away from here, I really want to get to the point where I can solo plan and teach a good portion of a unit. This means I would be planning and teaching every lesson for 4 weeks or so. She seemed more than receptive to the idea, and let me know that whenever I was ready I should feel free to jump in with any ideas or complete lesson plans.

YAY!!!! SO MUCH YAY!!!

After hearing this, and then getting a lot of my questions answered, I felt truly excited for the teaching experience I’m going to have here. This is the first time I’ve felt this way since arriving. It’s just so reassuring! It was such a complete switch from how I’ve been feeling these past couple of days…

Culture shock has definitely hit. And it sucks... so much about India sucks. There isn’t a single thing that is familiar, and I can’t even describe the level of depression that brings about sometimes. I knew going in to this adventure that there would definitely be times like this… but no one ever tells you what an emotional wreck you’ll be. I don’t even know what sets it off sometimes! It’s just so overwhelming to be 4 months out from anything that feels natural. People say don’t think of it in months, just take it one day at a time… EXCUSE ME! Do you know how long a day is?! There have been so many times already where the length of a day feels like an eternity! 24 hours stuck in a secluded town in southern India. Walking the streets everyone stares, everyone calls out, you don’t even know how to go buy groceries for yourself, and all night long all you can hear is the stray dogs and blaring Indian music. I’m not going to lie to you all, this is so much harder than I expected it to be, and it’s made me question whether or not I can actually handle 4 months here.

BUT!

Remember, I’m a roller coaster right now. With every “low” there has been some sort of an “up”, and today was my biggest “up” yet. So before my grandmother calls the Embassy to haul my butt home, I’ll remind you that today was a good day. And I know that even though there are going to be so many more days where India is going to suck, I know that I will be a better teacher and a better person because of this experience. I can totally do this!

So it’s officially 6:55pm, and Mariah and I have dinner plans with a fellow staff member at 7:00. So although this wasn’t nearly as thorough as I wanted it to be, it’s going to have to suffice for right now. I’ll leave you all with the incredible fact that I have managed to get a sun burn in January :) That’s right! I’m talking pink cheeks, nose peeling, looking awesome (sarcasm) sunburn.

I miss you! I’ll post again soon, until then…

Stay Tuned!

I promise a blog post, and hopefully pictures, are on their way within the next day. We still don't have internet at the house, so I'll write it up tonight, and then upload it all tomorrow. Tomorrow is the first real day of school. This means that the 16 official weeks of my student teaching starts tomorrow.

Today, Mariah and I fought off the hoards of tourists that have come up from the plains (we found out that it's some sort of holiday this next week, so that's why it's been annoyingly hectic) and took a stroll around the lake. Definitely a lot of staring and calling out to us on our walk (which is about 5km), but we kept our heads down and carried on. It actually ended quite nicely with both of us buying these very big, very soft blankets from the Tibetan market that is set-up around that lake. Now maybe we won't freeze in our house!

Today was a better day than yesterday. I think the culture shock is really starting to take it's toll.... more on that tomorrow. What you should all know right now, is that church today was SO GOOD!, I have a giant new blanket to snuggle with, and a meeting with my university supervisor tomorrow to set up a schedule for the rest of my time here. Today has been good. Now I'm off to dinner. I miss you all, and I promise a more in-depth post by tomorrow.

Alright Folks! Sorry for the late post, but here's a lengthy one to make up for it....

So...

 

ok, where to even start? So Mariah and I left Mumbai (I can't even begin to describe the traffic... think New York but without any rules) to head for the domestic airport, which was far more nerve-wracking than any of the other airport experiences thus far. It was just a very different feel... there was a lot of staring, and men and women were split-up when going through customs. But it was fine for the rest of it... the next flight, from Chennai to Madurai was also good. It was by far the tiniest plane I have ever been on though! Like, it had propellers, and 60 people MAX! From there, we met our driver at the airport (did I mention Mariah and I were both in jackets and jeans while it was a ridiculously humid 82 degrees) and we started our 3 hour drive to Kodaikanal.

 

Alright, so this unimaginable drive... again, you should see how Indians drive!! They follow no discernible traffic rules unless it is a highway or something, and even then they drive like angry adrenaline junkies! They swerve, they speed, they get unbelievably close to other cars and people, and they honk at every possible moment. I took videos. My plan is to post them to my blog tomorrow. So this was only the beginning though... we got on a highway within 15 minutes or so and didn't reach that terrible mountain until we were an hour and a half in. Oh my God, that mountain. I thought the first part of the trip was crazy, but it was nothing compared to the second half! I should mention that where I was going is up 7,000 ft in the mountains, and you can only get there via one road.

 

I didn't ever know roads like this existed except when going to hell. The fact that I didn't puke means I should be knighted, or at least be given some gaudy medal. It was so much worse than I was expecting. It is literally unfathomable until you have to drive it. When the previous student teachers said it was winding and horrible, I thought I understood....but I didn't. There is not a straight part of this road the entire time. This is not an exaggeration! There is NO straight part to this road the ENTIRE FREAKING TIME!! Within the first 10 minutes all I could do was laugh because I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was going to puke in our driver's car. The road was barely 2 cars wide with a mountain on one side, and a cliff on the other. Every 2 seconds brought another blind corner, a barrage of honking, and a silent prayer that you would just make it around the bend. And the crazy part (ok, one of the crazy parts) was that this road was neither un-used nor uninhabited. We passed so many other vehicles along the way; dump trucks, public buses, cars, trucks, motorcycles. And every 10 minutes or so we would see another random town. The word town is way too big to describe these things, but I don't know what else to call them. Sometimes is was literally 5 shoeless people selling coconuts out of a cardboard box, other times is was an actual tiny town that somehow balanced precariously on this cliff, and apparently was able to make some amount of money.

 

The best though, was the one time that we stopped while going up this thing. With 40km left to go until Kodai (which meant about another hour) our driver had us stop at this scenic outlook. I have no idea what he called it or what it meant, but it overlooked the entire valley. You could see the lake and the mountains; Madurai and other little towns below. Our taxi driver explained that all the land in the valley was used for farming, mostly of mangoes, coconuts, and rice. The view was incredible! At this widening of the road there were also 2-3 stands selling fruit. Probably 10 people and a couple kids who ventured 30 minutes up this mountain everyday to try and sell fruit to any of the idiots travelling the road. While the adults chatted, and probably made jokes about us white people ("gringos" maybe?) the kids chased away the MONKEYS!!! I kid you not there was a band of monkeys living in this tree by the stands that acted just like the squirrels on campus do, or pigeons in New York. They were completely unafraid of humans, and were often seen stealing fruit from the stands and packing it up the tree...I repeat, crazy! Oh, last final note just to help really paint the picture of this road. As Mariah and I were getting back in the taxi, and bus comes down the mountain, and as it rounded the corner, 2 passengers lost their lunch out the window...

 

Ok, it's starting to get late here, so I'm going to speed things up and give you the full version later. Mariah and I are staying off campus (about 5 minutes walking) away from the school. And that's to the high school mind you. The primary school is called Gunga, that's where I am at, and is another 10 minutes walking away from the high school, or 3ish minutes by taxi. We are staying in a house that is attached to the house of the principal, and my cooperating teacher is also our neighbor :) It's way bigger than we were expecting, and very old. But it gets the job done. I'll post pictures or videos of that too.

 

Everyday, we will walk down to the high school campus, and I will either take the bus or walk down to Gunga for the school day. School goes from 8:15-4:00, Monday through Friday. We have the option of eating every meal at the school, or eating dinner at least at a local restraint in Kodai. They have everything from Subway, to Dominoes, to very very Indian.

 

Fun facts about Kodai: there are apparently wild dogs, bison, and monkeys as local pests. Although I've only seen/heard the first, I am told the latter are also very pesky. Kodai is also very cold compared to the rest of India. There is no humidity up here, and it is about 55 degrees max. right now. Kodai also experiences a tourist season in April-May where cars are lined up for multiple kilometers down that horrible road, trying to get up here.... not looking forward to that.

 

Before leaving, let me again remind my nervous family that Kodai is very safe! I will obviously not be walking by myself in the dark, or even by myself much at all if I can manage it. There are already many staff members at the school who are more than willing to help me out, and it's just going to take a little time to acclimate to everything. It's now 5:30pm here, and I'm feeling the jet-lag so I'm going to log off and head home. Although where we are staying does not have Wi-Fi, I now know where the school computer lab is! :) Mariah and I also have a phone that was left for us too, so we'll hopefully get that up and running within the next day.

Mumbai!

Made it! It's hot and humid here with tons of people. I only have a few minutes of internet left, so this is all you guys get until I reach Kodaikanal on Monday afternoon. Miss you all!

Two down, one to go!!

After that last flight - which was 9 hours, NOT 7 - and with the impending 7 hour flight to Mumbai in just about half an hour, I'm starting to feel like my head isn't quite connected to my body. My internal clock is also quietly cursing in the corner. Although that last flight was very nice (free unlimited movies, pillows and blankets provided, and both dinner AND breakfast) it was rather bizarre to be served breakfast at 12:45 Missoula-time because it was actually 8:45am local time. Like I've told my family, thoughts and prayers to the students I'll be teaching when the jet lag finally hits!

So this next flight is 7 hours from Frankfurt to Mumbai, India. From there, Mariah and I have arranged for a taxi and hotel room to try and get adjusted to the time. We stay there until Monday morning, before heading back to the airport to board yet another plane, and fly to Madurai, a town at the southern tip of India. The next, and final leg of our journey takes us up the winding side of a mountain. For 3 hours Mariah and I will attempt to keep it together as our taxi driver rounds blind corners, climbing about 7000 feet in the process....prayers here too! If we can successfully do all this, we are rewarded with the experience of a lifetime, student teaching at the Kodaikanal International School until the beginning of May.

One down, two to go!

Sitting at the Denver airport, waiting for boarding to begin for the flight to Frankfurt, Germany. We're talking over 7 hours of sitting on this next flight, people. Upside, this is by far the biggest plane I have EVER been on! It's one of those double decker things that you really shouldn't look at before take-off, because there's just no way that massive piece of metal should ever get off the ground... oh! There they go! Boarding has begun. Next stop Frankfurt, then straight onto Mumbai!