Saturday, November 22, 2008

Being honored by the teachers












Today was an incredible day. We were so busy, but it was amazing. We hosted seminars, presented interactive to small groups of teachers, taught lessons to the students, administered Board exams to the students, held discussion Q & A sessions with the students and presented resources that Mercury Mine students and Amy, a former Shadow Mountain High School teacher, donated. It was so rewarding to see the excitement and appreciation from the teachers. They truly embraced us and were thankful for our ideas and resources. It makes such a difference when you get to "see" the person you have helped. Thank you so much students for your donations. It makes such a big difference. I am so proud to teach you.

I was honored by the teachers and presented a beautiful silk Sari. They dressed me up in the Sari and gave me my own Bindi because, "Something so beautiful should be marked and hurt by nothing," as one woman said, and she blessed me and gave me the Bindi for protection from anything that may hurt my "beauty". I cried. It was such a momentous occasion. I was completely speechless and even now, as I type this to all of you, my eyes are tearing once again. It was an unforgettable day.

9 comments:

  1. The movies shown, are those the only updated movies the students had?

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  2. Go ASU!! I like those pictures!

    ~Haley Mauriice

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  3. Did you bring those movies to India, or were they owned by the Indians?

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  4. Do they have Spongebob in India? That be AWESOME!!! I mean like, not just awesome, but like, SUPER AWESOME!!!
    Devon Gomez
    2nd best Spongebob fan
    (best Spongebob fan= Garett Herzog, my best friend)

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  5. Courtney - Yes. Those are the only updated movies the teachers have. They do not even have a library. It is a room with a few things in it, but we're going to help get more items to them.

    Haley - GO ASU!

    Devon - My friend, Amy, donated those movies and I brought them to India for the students.

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  6. Seeing an elephant just blows my mind. I wish you could be back this week, but we woldn't want you to miss any exciting events. How are you going to the bathroom and taking showers? I can't wait to hear back from my pen pal. I miss you lots!!

    ~Kaci

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  7. Can't wait to hear more! I open you blog everyday so I can't wait for more information. After this trip will you ever want to go back to India to visit? "Kissed your FEET????????????????????" Oquward....

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  8. The kids look very excited to receive the letters. Do they like to watch shows like America?
    -Alexander S. Ali

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  9. Kaci - I miss you too! I wish you were all here with me. Well...we are taking bucket baths, which means we boil pots of water, let them cool a bit and then we pour them on ourselves to get wet and wash away soap, conditioner, and shampoo. At first I was not pleased with this idea, but it saves water and there is something freeing about the whole experience. I can't really explain it. We go to the bathroom like normal, but we throw the in a plastic bag and throw it in the trash outside. Paper does not go into the toilets. of the toilets are different, like built into the floor of the house and people squat, but Miss Reynolds has a normal toilet. It does not always work because our water does not always work, but it is better than squatting. The bathroom situation has taken some getting use too, but like anything else, you just have to adapt to your surroundings.

    Alexander - Television and American shows are popular here. For example, they watch all the popular America movies and television shows. They know who Hannah Montana is and all the celebrities that we know in the US. The first movie Miss Reynolds saw when she was in India was The Dark Knight. They also have Bollywood here, which is the same as Hollywood, but it makes more money. It is the famous India Hollywood scene and it is located in Bombay. It is like the LA of India, but we are not staying around there. It is a FEW HOUR PLANE FLIGHT AWAY FROM DELHI.

    When you go to someone's house for dinner, the televisions are always off. That is a time to be together and talk, so there is no outside interference during meals. That is a big difference between here and teh US. Also, when they watch TV, they watch it as a family.

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