Tag: volunteering

Extra Classes

Posted on by Lark

Extra classes started this week, and the kids aren’t any happier about it than I am. Jenrika asked them if they had a good break, and they all just stared at us and then grumbled. When she asked if anyone did anything fun, they all said no and “we only had a week!”. Eek. I don’t blame them though. I thought that they had a week off, two weeks of extra classes, and another week off, but I was wrong. They had just that one week off and now have THREE weeks of extra classes before the “holiday” is over. Yeah, they definitely have a right to grumble. Everyone else in the school gets a month off, and they get a week. Brutal.

I thought it was hard teaching on a normal school day, but the extra classes are even worse because it’s THREE hours of the same class. If I didn’t have Jenrika to split the time with me, I would be losing my mind. Even so, by the end of each school day (noon), I just want to collapse into my bed and sleep until morning.

We were with class 10 for the first three days and used the time to tackle Julius Caesar. Shakespeare is hard enough for students when English is their first language… so we knew that we had some struggles ahead of us. The first day was a total nightmare. It’s like the technology gods were conspiring against us. We wanted to show the movie first so that the kids could be introduced to the plot that way, and we would fill in the gaps and details later.

The “conference room” where the kids pretend they’re not falling asleep because its dimly lit and I sweat excessively from the heat of the projector.

The video file refused to play on the smartboards, so we eventually stopped trying and relocated to the chapel to play it on the projector there. Okay, great! We got it to play… but the sound didn’t work. I got my bluetooth speaker and connected it to my computer (since we didn’t have the cable to connect the chapel computer directly to the speaker), and we tried to press play at the exact same time on both computers so that the sound and video would match. So the chapel computer was playing the video on the projector, and my computer was playing the sound on my bluetooth speaker. Ideal, right? If you’re thinking that’s the end of the struggle, think again.

With about 40 minutes left, the power went out… which means the projector stopped running. At that point, I was determined to finish the stupid movie. I just wanted to get it over with so that we could move on and never have to deal with the video file again. My horrible solution? I held up my tiny computer and had the kids crowd around for the rest of the movie (but what other choice was there?). I chimed in whenever something important happened to explain it, and we somehow managed to slog our way through. It didn’t quite go as we had hoped, but a horrible first day meant that things couldn’t get worse.

The other two days went quite well actually, and I’m not just saying that because I’m comparing them to the first day. I think that we’ve mastered the story teaching technique. This is how it goes:

  • Introduce the story and give any important historical context, etc
  • Talk about where in the world the story is taking place. Show a map.
  • Introduce the main characters and give the most important information about them.
  • Define the most important vocabulary words… the ones that, without understanding their definitions, the kids won’t understand the story (for Julius Caesar, examples would be: assassinate, betray, democracy, dictator, etc).
  • Give a brief but thorough plot summary.

If you’re thinking, “Wow! That’s a long process, and you haven’t even started reading the story yet!”, you are correct. Okay, continuing on:

  • Read the story, pausing every few lines to explain in different words what is happening.
  • Ask questions about what happened in the story, walking the kids through the plot again.
  • Show a video that summarizes the story again.
  • Talk about the character traits.
  • Have the kids answer some questions in the textbook about the story.
  • Write out a plot summary for the kids to copy into their notebooks.

In case you weren’t counting, that’s about five times that you go over what happens in the story. FIVE TIMES. At least I finally figured out what works, just in time for me to leave. Jenrika said that she likes my strategy though, so maybe it will live on in my absence.

Post-school relaxation swing… on the roof!

By the end of the third day, they were doing a satisfactory job of answering our questions about the story, how the characters must have felt, and why different people decided to act the way they did. It only took 9 hours of class, but we did it! That’s nothing short of a miracle. I also learned a lot because I never read Julius Caesar in school, so I had to learn the whole story along with the students. Thank you, sparknotes! Though I will admit, understanding Shakespeare was surprisingly easier to do now than it was back in high school. I guess I have learned something over the last… 8 years…

Next up, three fun-filled (said with much sarcasm) days with class 9! I have my fingers crossed for a pain-free experience.

Spider Roommate

Posted on by Lark

Lizard roommates are now the least of my unwanted roommate concerns. Last night, I encountered a horrifying… spider roommate. I know what you’re thinking, “Come on, Lara. That’s so lame of you to be scared of a spider,” and yes, normally, I would agree with you. This, however, this was not just any spider.

I got back to my room after dinner, and as I stepped into the darkness, I had a feeling that I wasn’t alone and should turn the light on before going much farther. Believe me or not, but I’m telling you, I felt that prickle on the back of my neck, and I listened to it. The instant I switched the light on, I heard a clicking, like the sound of fingernails on a desk, coming from the middle of the floor, and I turned my head just in time to see a blur disappearing under the fridge. Okay, no need to panic… but also no need to get to close to the fridge without seeing if whatever it was would come out on its own first.

Ugh just looking at him gives me the creeps. At the time, I thought it would be a good idea to take a picture in case he was missing when Neha and I got back to the room so that she wouldn’t think I had imagined it.

I waited maybe 30 seconds before a shape crawled out from underneath the fridge and started scurrying up the wall. A spider. The biggest spider I have EVER seen, aside from maybe at the zoo. Its body was probably at least an inch in diameter, and with its legs it was at least six. Probably more. I’m still the world’s worst estimator. I stared at it, unmoving, and plotted my next move.

Doing nothing was not an option because there was a zero percent chance of me going to sleep with that THING in my room. I tried to decide if it was reasonable for me to call for reinforcements. I don’t know what the spiders are like here… maybe people see ones that big all the time. I didn’t want to sound like a child. Also though, I know nothing about spiders. I know that the ones at home are nothing to worry about and won’t kill you, but what if this was a killer spider in my room?! I know that’s dramatic, but like I said, I know nothing about spiders and even less about Indian spiders. Death by spider bite? No, thank you!

I finally decided that I would go ask Neha (the girl who helps Ruth with cooking, kids, and cleaning) for help. I ran downstairs, scared the daylights out of her since she’s not used to seeing me again after dinner, and showed her the picture. Her eyes got wide… I guess those spiders aren’t normal around here… and she said, “I will kill it.” She’s much braver than I am. She grabbed a broom and some insect spray, and off we went.

Thankfully, when we got back to my room, it had barely moved. As soon as Neha started getting close, it sprinted across the wall until it was right over my bed. That thing moved FAST. She climbed onto the mattress and gave it a big smack with her broom, knocking it off the wall and eliminating at least one leg. But no, it was not dead. We couldn’t find it, and I started panicking that it was going to run across the floor and onto my foot and up my leg before I could even blink. With that, I did what any sane person would do, and I leapt onto the closest chair.

Like I said, Neha is much braver than I am. She started looking for the body, poking around under the bed, pulling off the sheets, moving the mattress… until finally she found it hiding in the corner.

Neha, ready to pounce. The spider is just a speck, up in the corner where the orange wall meets the white beam.

“He’s very smart,” she said, as she picked up the insect spray. She blasted him with it, and when he ran, she gave him another whack with the broom. Dead, at last. And also leg-less. I still haven’t found any of his legs yet, but if I’m being completely honest, I haven’t looked that hard. As she swept the body out of the room, a roach flew into the wall and she whacked that too. What the heck is going on in this room?

I barely slept last night. I just kept imagining its creepy long legs and the click click click they made as they tapped on the ground. I would rather wake up with a lizard in my mouth than a spider on my face. I was a wreck. Every sound made my heart stop. I slept with the light on.

At 3AM, I woke up to go to the bathroom, and I saw a dark shape run across the floor. Another roach. If it was a different night, I might have let it live. Not last night. I smashed it and flushed it down the toilet before going back to bed.

In conclusion, I hate spiders, especially ones as big as my face. I have an overactive imagination that is very unhelpful in situations such as these. Neha is an assassin when it comes to insects and arachnids. Still missing: 8 spider legs.

I’ve been on high alert all day with no other spider sightings. Hopefully that means I’ll be able to convince myself to sleep tonight.

Bhutan

Posted on by Lark
Look at how clean this street is! AND there’s a sidewalk!!

Jenrika and I met up earlier this week to get ready for the extra classes we have to teach, and I learned something VERY exciting. I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that Jaigaon is right on the border of India and Bhutan. It’s very easy for Bhutanese and Indian people to cross between the two countries. It’s complicated and expensive for most other people to get into Bhutan because they’re trying to minimize Western influences in the country (“high value, low volume” tourism… people have high-quality experiences, but it’s expensive so the country isn’t overrun). I had pretty much accepted the fact that even though I’m right here and can see Bhutan from my window, I would never get the chance to cross the border.

Just a reminder of where Bhutan is…
Buddhist temple in one of the parks

Here’s the exciting part… I met Jenrika at the Bhutan Gate, and she started walking like we were going to go into Bhutan. I said that I didn’t think I was allowed. She said she thought I was. Sure enough, she asked the guard, and anyone is allowed to go into Phuentsholing, the city on the border!! They check your documentation if you try to go farther into the country, but no matter… I went to Bhutan!!!

Bhutan is an interesting country. It’s very small, recently (2008) changed from being an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, and Mahayana Buddhism is the country’s official religion (it’s around 75% Buddhist and the rest Hindu). India gives them a lot of money and military support because as it was explained to me “if India doesn’t, China will”. India and Bhutan have had special treaties for years because Bhutan is like the buffer zone between India and China, and India doesn’t want the Chinese army camping out right on its border. The main export is hydroelectric power, and much of the money for that development has come from India. The rest of the economy is built mostly on tourism and agriculture.

The details are amazing!

Most of the country covered in forests, and the government has made a strong commitment to preserving and protecting the environment. There’s a big push for electrical cars, and between the hydroelectric power and forest cover, the country is carbon neutral. The government has committed to keeping 40% of the country’s area as national parks and protected areas and 60% covered by forests. That’s pretty awesome!

It is considered a very happy country and attempts to measure its “Gross National Happiness” level. The pursuit of gross national happiness is even included in its 2008 constitution. The caveat to this is that happiness is hard to measure because it’s subjective, and just because people say they’re happy doesn’t mean that there’s no more work to be done. Many people are financially poor (about 30% live below the poverty line), and about 70% don’t have access to electricity.

It’s interesting walking from India into Bhutan because there are some differences that are immediately clear. The biggest one – trash. Bhutan is impeccably clean. There are trash cans everywhere. In India, the street, forest, river, etc. is your trash can. The second biggest one – rule following. In Bhutan, people use crosswalks. They wear helmets on their motorcycles and don’t put 15 people on one. No one is sitting on the roof of the buses in Bhutan. In India, especially outside of the big cities, don’t expect any of those things to be true. When I saw a park and no trash on the ground, I almost cried. I wish I knew about the whole entry situation earlier because I would have been taking weekly mental health trips across the border!

We went to a café, I drank strawberry lemonade and ate a chocolate lava cake, and we threw some plans together for classes this week. It was like being in a wonderful alternate reality.

So many buildings have painted details that make it obvious that you’re in a different country.
Even this pedestrian bridge is painted!
A soccer field! That is made of grass instead of dirt, trash, and poop! And those mountains don’t hurt either.

A Little Homesickness

Posted on by Lark

It’s amazing that it’s taken this long, but I finally got hit with a little wave of culture shock/homesickness. The trip to Darjeeling is definitely what triggered it. Four straight days with a combination of not much “me” time, lots of people not speaking in English, being in an unfamiliar place, constant miscommunications and misunderstandings, and limited contact with friends and family back home added up to me having a VERY grumpy couple of days.

Most of the time, I don’t mind not being able to understand anything. Sometimes I treat it like a (lame) game because even when people are speaking in Hindi or Nepali, they say some words in English, either because there’s no translation or just because that’s how everyone says it. Usually, I think it’s fun to try to piece together the sporadic English words and people’s hand motions and imagine what the conversation is about (the conversations that I imagine are probably way more fun than what’s actually being said). It’s good because then I’m paying attention to what’s happening, and people don’t feel like I’m bored or ignoring them (instead, they often think that I understand since I look so engaged… but that’s a whole different problem).

As you read about grumpy Lara, enjoy these pictures from Darjeeling of pretty flowers.

Anyway, as I said, most of the time, I don’t mind, but I learned that even I have my limits. This was DAYS of never knowing what was happening, and any translations were either an afterthought or because I begged someone to tell me what was going on. As a result, I never knew what the plan was, and on the rare occasion when someone did tell me something, it usually changed and then the new plan was never communicated. Kind of exhausting.

I also got especially frustrated when I heard someone say my name, so I knew that they were saying something about me, but then no one translated. I’m sure that no one was ever saying something mean; that’s not the issue. It just gets old very quickly, and it starts making you feel a bit like a child and a bit isolated… as if I didn’t already feel a little of that ALL the time.

Combine that language isolation with the feeling of separation that comes from being a guest who isn’t asked to do anything, and you’re like a forgotten island. Like imagine that all of the other women are in the kitchen helping to make dinner, but you’re not allowed to help because you’re a guest… so they’re all laughing and having fun working together, and you’re left on your own. It’s nice that they don’t want to make their guest work, but in that moment, you would do anything just to feel included (hence me forcing my way in on momo-making night).

Another thing that starts to get tiring is the politeness of people always telling you to sit or come or this or that. This really threw me off during my first couple of weeks in India when the school coordinator would summon me and tell me to sit in her office. I’d go and sit, thinking that I was in trouble or that she had to talk to me, but then she’d leave the room and never come back. I finally realized that she was just being polite and trying to give me somewhere to go. This happens everywhere though… every house you visit, every public bench that you happen upon, etc. I’m going to give a bold, 100% guarantee that the person you’re with will suggest you take a seat. Sometimes I just want to stand, and when I say that, I get these looks like, “You should really sit. Your legs must be tired. You should sit. Just sit. SIT!” And I’m looking back like, “PLEASE JUST LET ME STAND. I WANT TO STAND. PLEASE. PLEASE. I WANT TO STAND.” And then it’s a… wait for it… stand-off. Hahahahahaha that was great. I’m hilarious.

People are also always asking me if I’m bored or tired. It’s fine sometimes, but then it will happen when I think it makes literally zero sense to ask. For example, when we were walking around the zoo, someone asked me if I was bored. Huh??? No! I love the zoo! Do we have a different understanding of what that word means? Is this just how they teach “small talk” in India? Or if not, how much stimulation do people think I need to feel interested?? I’m very rarely bored, actually. Of all the people in the world, I’d venture to say that I’m up there with the most easily entertained. Put me and babies right next to each other.

So those things started adding up, and you know how once you’re annoyed, EVERYTHING annoys you? That’s pretty much what happened. My irritation level grew and grew until the slightest thing made me want to snap. I knew that it was ridiculous, but sometimes it’s hard to control how you feel. Then, there were ENDLESS pictures and selfies which made it all worse because 1) I don’t love being in pictures anyway, 2) the selfies felt excessive and that annoyed me as well, and 3) I felt like I should smile because that’s what you do in pictures, but I was SO unhappy that my smiling just felt like a lie. That made me definitely not want to be in any pictures (to avoid the risk of my grumpy face breaking the camera), and when you’re already annoyed and people are still trying to take pictures even after you’ve said “NO!”… anyway, it just wasn’t very good.

Thankfully, after a couple of days of being back in a familiar place and self-imposed solitary confinement, I managed to get my head on straight. I’m okay now, but I’m not going to let myself forget that feeling. It all stemmed from me feeling isolated, and that’s a good reminder to always be thinking about making people feel welcome and included in situations where they don’t necessarily fit in.

Related Posts

Darjeeling – explore the mountain town of Darjeeling, India… without the risk of homesickness

Road to Sonada – join me on the trek across West Bengal, India from “home” in Jaigaon to Sonada, a town near our vacation destination of Darjeeling. Always an adventure!

So Many Languages – what makes India lingustically even more confusing/stressful than other countries? Learn about my language discoveries as I tried to make my way as an English Literature teacher in Jaigaon, India.

India Friends! – come along on some adventures with the friends I finally managed to find in India who made me feel like a normal human instead of an alien

Bath – want more flower pictures? Fly on over to Bath, England to visit the botanical garden… and a few other sites along the way

Pastor Daniel and Ruth’s story

Posted on by Lark

Since my time here is more than halfway finished, I feel like it’s past time for me to tell you a little more about Pastor Daniel and Ruth’s story, how they ended up here, and what work they’ve been doing in the community.

Me and Ruth

They met when they were studying at two different Bible colleges. I’m not sure about the details, but that’s not super important. Neither of them wanted to get married before finishing their studies, so they didn’t. Over the next five years, they studied, they graduated, Ruth got a job, Pastor Daniel went to school again, he graduated for the last time, and finally the wedding was arranged.

Now, both of them had been doing some thinking and praying about where God wanted them. Pastor Daniel felt very strongly that he was getting called to Bhutan. To put this in context, he and Ruth are both from South India. Bhutan borders India to the north, so going there would be a huge move that would take both of them far away from their families. At the time, the area of India near Bhutan had almost no Christians, and Bhutan itself is a Buddhist country (it still is). There was, and is, a lot of need in the area, socially, morally, and economically.

Back to what I was saying… Pastor Daniel was confident that he was being called to serve Bhutan. Meanwhile, Ruth had a friend from Bhutan, and the more she talked to her and prayed, the more and more confident she became that she was being called to serve Bhutan. At this point, neither of them had said anything to the other, but finally, Pastor Daniel knew that he needed to tell Ruth before they got married.

He told her, “God is calling me to Bhutan,” and he asked if she would go with him.

She looked at him. “God is calling ME to Bhutan.”

The view from the Bible school never gets old. Say “hi!” to Bhutan! Those mountains are all in Bhutan.

That’s how, two months after their wedding, they ended up packing up and moving to the border town of Jaigaon with only 10,000 rupees (about US$150) to start their new life. Ruth had a school connection who lived here, so the extent of their plan was to move, stay with him, and figure things out.

When they arrived, they realized that they need to rethink their plan, and quickly. The guy who they were supposed to stay with was having some family trouble and was not really able to host them. They were staying in a hallway in the guy’s house that also functioned as a church (a small house church), and they sat awake all night praying and wondering what they were going to do.

The next day, they found a one-room apartment with a shared bathroom. They had nothing to put in it, so they took what little money they had and bought only the essentials: a stove top, two plates, two cups, two bowls, a sleeping mat, etc. For the next 6 months or so, they got settled in the community and were doing some random ministry work, but they weren’t sure what the next big step was going to be.

They used to do prayer walks through the city, and Ruth said that they used to see tons of kids in the streets. They asked if they were in school, and the kids said no. They started giving free lessons and ended up with hundreds of kids coming, just through word-of-mouth. It was way more than they could handle, but they just kept working. Ruth also taught Sunday school in churches all over the city, and Pastor Daniel did ministry work in the towns around Jaigaon.

 

Assembly time!

Finally, there was a turning point. Ruth had another connection from college who had a plot of land in Jaigaon, and he wanted it to be used for some ministry purpose. He asked them if that was something they would be interested in taking on, and they said yes, but they didn’t have any money.

 

He said, “That’s not what I asked,” and just like that, it was settled! In the time that the land had been sitting unused, squatters had moved in, and people were trying to re-sell the land. The guy fought it and finally got the squatters removed and the land returned to him. He signed the deed over to them and fundraised enough money for them to build the first two floors of what is now the church/house building.

At first, it was school/church on the first floor and house on the second floor, but as the school grew, it expanded onto the second floor as well. They were living in just one room, they had a baby, and they were running out of space.

So. Many. Floors.

Never fear, though! God was still working things out for them, and they connected with another couple who believed in their ministry and managed to raise funding for a third floor. Even more amazingly, the lot across the street was for sale, and the couple bought and gave them the land to build a proper school. The school was built one floor at a time, started with just kindergarten, and grew as the first class of kids grew.

Now, they have up to class 10 and are hoping to add “+2” (11 and 12) in the future. The school has almost 400 students and is regarded as one of the best schools in the area. The families pay what they’re able, and most of the kids are at least partially on scholarship. They still run free basic classes for street kids, and the promising ones are given scholarships to school.

Ruth said that when they first started the school, most girls didn’t go to school. Girls are expensive to marry off, so why spend even more money on them to give them an education? One of her big missions is to teach people that daughters are a wonderful gift and it’s worth keeping AND educating them. I’ve been so encouraged by the way that women are treated in the school and the church. It’s so clear that women are incredibly respected and are seen as being just as valuable and capable as the men.

I love these mountains!

Besides the work that Pastor Daniel and Ruth have done to teach parents that their daughters are worthwhile and worth educating, they’ve also worked to take away some of the additional challenges that often hinder the education of girls. One of the biggest of those challenges is a lack of access to affordable and hygienic feminine products, so when girls are on their period, they don’t go to school. That means they’re missing 1 out of every 4 weeks of school! How is it even possible to be successful under those circumstances?

The is somehow the best picture I have of the Bible school… I’ll need to work on that.

To combat this issue in their school, they bought a machine and materials to make thousands and thousands of pads. They’ve educated the girls in the school about what is happening to their bodies and how to manage it, and the girls can buy a pad for just a couple rupees (like 5 cents). This is a huge problem in developing countries across the world, and it’s super encouraging to see it being addressed here! In addition, the pads are made by women in one of the nearby communities, so they’re also creating jobs for women. Is this not the most awesome thing??

One of the small community centers/churches that they built in one of the communities near Jaigaon. This one has a farm too.

In conclusion, Pastor Daniel and Ruth have the coolest and most inspiring story. They went from 10,000 rupees and homeless to running a grade school, a church, a Bible college, a pad “factory”, and more, thanks to their complete trust in God, some divinely orchestrated relationships, and their many skills and gifts. I feel like I find out about another thing that they’re involved with every day. Talk about a power couple! I could ramble on about how awesome they are for a VERY long time, but I think I’ll stop it here because I’ve given you enough to mull over for now.

Last Day of School

Posted on by Lark

Happy summer break!!! Today was the last day of school before a month-long break, so as you might expect, not much was accomplished. The whole day was a little weird for me because even though I still have 2-1/2 weeks left here, there are a lot of people who I’m not going to see again. Honestly, I prefer it this way because now I’ll have a much easier time sneaking out. I don’t like making a big deal over goodbyes and would much rather focus my energy on saying goodbye to the people who I actually built relationships with. If school was still in session when I was leaving, they would have said something at assembly, and I probably would have had to give a speech again. Since I’m not leaving yet, nothing was even mentioned to the kids. Perfect!

I think I would be in much worse shape emotionally if there weren’t summer classes with the class 9 and 10 kids. They’re the ones who I’ve spent the most time with, and I get to see all of them again (for better or worse). That means I’ll get a chance to say goodbye to them without the whole school around, so it can be simple and lowkey.

Each day, a different class is in charge of leading assembly. It’s cool because all of the kids get used to talking in front of a crowd and speaking into a microphone. The younger ones are so bold! They get up there and shout out whatever they have to say with no fear. The absolute best is when the upper kindergarten class leads. The kids are 4ish years old and are leading prayers and songs in English in front of the whole school like it’s nothing.

The class 10 boys leading the assembly, along with one of the teachers on guitar.

Anyway, today, the class 10 boys took the lead. It was so much fun watching them lead the little kids in the songs and dances. I felt like a proud mother watching them. They got so into it too! The day was also fun because the kids got to wear normal clothes to school, and the girls didn’t have to wear their hair in braids (usually their hair has to be in two braids, and they have to be tied with ribbons in their house color). It’s crazy how different people can look with different clothes and hairstyles! I loved seeing how at ease they were in their normal clothes, and it made me feel like I was getting to see their true personalities.

Assembly went a little long… if “a little” is 50 additional minutes (it’s usually 40 minutes long). That means first and second periods were both shot. That left me with class 9 English during 3rd and class 8 science during 4th. I spent a lot of time thinking about what we should do on the last day, and finally, I decided that we should play a game. Let’s be real – no one wants to do actual work on the last day before a holiday break, and any attempts on my part to make that happen would just lead to frustration. I wasn’t interested in that, so instead, we played Pictionary in both classes.

I eventually realized that even though I thought we were just playing a game to kill time, it’s actually really good for improving the kids’ vocabularies. I had to be very strategic about which words I gave to which kids because at the very least, the drawing kid has to know what the thing is. Mostly, I used animals and random objects. I made the mistake of giving one kid “doctor”, and he stood motionless at the board for at least 2 full minutes before refusing to even try and sitting down.

At lunch, the kids headed back into the chapel to eat all together. It was cool to see them sharing with each other and offering to share with the teachers too. I turned everything down except for this little cheeto-looking thing that was forced on me… and that almost burned my tongue off it was so spicy… which is precisely why I said no to everything else.

Pictionary is also good for developing creativity and critical thinking skills, which is probably why so many of the kids were so bad at it. They couldn’t seem to grasp the fact that they didn’t need to draw perfect pictures. They just had to be good enough for someone to guess the right thing. One kid panicked about the word “cow”, and I went up and told him to start drawing a four-legged animal, and someone would guess it. Sure enough, it worked. They’re so used to trying to get everything “right” rather than just trying their best and seeing how it goes.

Me with some of my teacher friends! People here love to take pictures at every opportunity, so this is our “the kids are eating lunch” group shot because that clearly cannot be allowed to pass without documentation.

In Science class, I mixed things up by adding in words like “global warming”, “acid rain”, and “eutrophication”. The girl who drew eutrophication did an incredible job… I should have taken a picture. The kids knew exactly what she was drawing but couldn’t remember the word (of course).

All in all, I would count the day as a big success. For the first time, I had the attention of every kid in both classes! I know that sounds like a lame thing to celebrate, but kids who haven’t participated AT ALL for the last 5 weeks were engaged! It felt like a huge win, especially after I convinced myself that they were learning, and we weren’t just killing time.

Now, I’m going to enjoy my one week of class-free time and get to work on my architecture project!

Lark-itect

Posted on by Lark

 

I have a new project to work on! Since we’re off school today, Pastor Daniel took me to the Bible college in the morning to check out the construction work they’re doing. There are four buildings on the campus, and they’re currently adding a second floor onto one of them. The first floor is a big assembly hall, and now the second floor is going to have a conference room and some classrooms.

Work in progress… the part I’m supposed to be designing would be on the top of this building.

My task is to make a plan for the third floor. One of the ways they’re considering using the space is by creating mini-apartments that can be rented out to people who are travelling to Bhutan. Since we’re right on the border, hotels and short-term housing are in high demand, and this could be an easy way to generate some revenue for the school and the ministry.

That means I get to play architect again! I’ll probably give some lighting recommendations too, but I’m sure they’ll do whatever they were going to do anyway. I think it’s funny that whenever I say I’m an architectural engineer, it’s like people get bored and stop listening after I say the “architect” part.

Me: I’m an architectural engineer.

Person: Oh, you’re an architect!

Me: Well… not really. I’m an engineer specializing in lighting and electrical systems in buildings.

Person: Oh, you’re an architect!

Me: Yes.

The construction site. Not quite what you’d see in the States, but this definitely isn’t the States so it’s about what I expected. Watch your step!

Luckily, we did take some architecture classes, so I usually know enough to be able to satisfy whatever thoughts they have about what I can do. Plus, I DO have a minor in Architecture which is basically the same thing as a bachelor’s, right? (By the way, the answer to that is no, not even close.) Anyway, usually I’m fine. This task, for example, is simple. It’s not like they’re asking me to design the structure or anything (which is something that everyone assumes an architect can do on the spot… but like, there are structural engineers for that). I don’t have to tell them how to build it. The local builders know, much better than I do, how to build things here. What they want from me is more like the solution to a puzzle or a logic problem than a true architectural question: fit as many comfortably sized rooms as possible in this predetermined space.

 

Roof with a view! These roofs are my blank canvas. Imagine the possibilities!

Once again, I’m comforted by knowing what the alternative to me doing this would be. Like in the school, the alternative to me being the English Lit teacher was no one being the English Lit teacher. Here, the alternative to me designing the layout is someone with literally zero training just making something up. I can at least do better than that.

 

*Note: I know the title is dumb, but I think it’s funny so that’s all that matters.

Holiday Eve

Posted on by Lark

I can’t believe it’s already the last week of school before the holiday! Part of me always thinks it’s kind of stupid when people say that. Like what, do you not understand how time works? Do you not remember living through all of the days and weeks that got you to this point? Then why should it be unbelievable? The other part of me, clearly, thinks it makes perfect sense.

Well, believe it or not, here I am. Tomorrow is a school holiday, so that means only two more days of classes until the “rainy season” holiday break. I don’t think I ever explained this, but the schools here are confusing. Every school has different breaks and different beginning and end dates for the school year. To give you an idea of just how different they can be, this school starts the school year at the end of March. Myra, little sister #1, goes to boarding school in the south, and her school year starts in mid-June. She’s been home since mid-April when their last school year ended… three weeks AFTER the new school year had already started for the kids here.

This rainy season break is the first of two month-long breaks they’ll get during the school year. Well, the younger kids get a month-long break. Classes 9 and 10 have extra classes! They all have a week off and then for the following two weeks, they have class from 9-12 each day. Jenrika and I have the class 10 kids for three days of three hour English classes on Monday-Wednesday and the class 9 kids on Thursday-Saturday of the first week. We’re currently trying to decide how we should spend that time, but I’m just happy that I don’t have to do it alone!

Tomorrow’s holiday is Buddha Purnima, a Buddhist holiday (obviously). It commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Gautama Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama). Buddhism was formed based on his teachings, so as you can imagine, it’s kind of a big deal festival day. As far as I know, people usually go to the temple to recite verses and listen to talks. It will be interesting to see if it’s obvious from the sounds of the city that it’s a holiday. Either way, I’m happy for a day off from school!

Random fun fact of the day: Light switches are done much differently here. At home, you’ll have one light switch that controls a bunch of lights. Here, there’s one light switch for each light, each fan, etc. As you might imagine, that makes for A LOT of switches. These are some of the switches for the chapel (the bottom ones are to control the fan speed and the top 3 rows are all on/off for the lights and the fans), but since the room is big, there’s another bank of switches halfway back from the front. You also might be thinking that this seems like a lot of switches to remember which controls what… and the answer to that is yes. No one knows what switch is for what, so anytime someone has to turn something on or off, they stand there switching things on and off until they eventually get to the right one. You can see that someone tried to label some of these, but the labelling doesn’t make any sense (at least as far as I could tell), and it still takes everyone an eternity to find the right switch. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone pick the right switch in one of these ridiculous switch boxes a single time.

Saturday Surprises and Arts and Crafts

Posted on by Lark

Sorry I kind of fell off the map! It’s been an internet struggle-filled couple of days! The power was out for 5+ hours on both Friday and Saturday, and the internet has been wacky ever since.

Saturday was full of more surprises at school. I feel a little better though because I’m starting to realize that even though I probably know what’s going on the least out of everyone, no one ever really knows what’s happening. In general, there’s one person who knows what the plan is, and it’s the person who made the plan. Everyone else finds things out at the last second.

Communication and planning are two nearly nonexistent concepts here. A couple weeks ago, Jenrika was telling me a story about something that happened, and I was baffled by it.

“I’m confused,” I said. “Isn’t that something that would have been planned out?”

She looked at me and laughed, “This is India. There’s no such thing as ‘planning’.”

Oh… I see. She explained that things are usually somewhat “planned” (using that word in a much looser sense than you’re thinking), but then, someone will change things at the last second and not tell anyone until the moment when it’s happening. So even if you think you know what to expect, there’s a good chance that it’s going to get changed without you knowing. That means I’m not the only one who gets stuck doing surprise speeches and taking on last-minute responsibilities.

Jenrika and I, along with one of the other teachers, have been working together to plan the chapel program for the kids each Saturday. I’ve been placed in charge of storytelling every week which doesn’t completely make sense to me considering the kids don’t understand a word I say, but that’s beside the point. The point is, this week, we all thought chapel was happening, so we made a “plan” (as in, a loose plan but one requiring us to prepare a bit before Saturday). We all found out that chapel wasn’t happening during the assembly on Saturday morning. Helpful, right? No. The answer is no. Helpful would have been finding out before I spent any time getting ready, but that’s just the way things go here.

We also found out that the kids had a dictation test (spelling test) that morning, but since neither Jenrika or I knew about it and we’re the English teachers for classes 9 and 10 (because why bother telling the English teachers about an English test?), we hadn’t prepared anything. We quickly threw together a list of words from the story we read last week, and I went to give the class 10 kids the test.

You may be wondering, shouldn’t the kids know the words ahead of time for a dictation test? That was precisely my question. It was then explained to me that yes, normally that would be the case, but this was just a practice test. The kids were grading each other’s papers (and I was warned that they would try to change their friends’ answers to help them out while grading. I’m shocked… not), and I spent at least 5 minutes trying to understand if I was supposed to collect the papers and record the scores or if the kids were supposed to keep them. (I still don’t know the answer, but I decided to just collect them to be safe.)

There were 80 minutes allotted for a 20-word dictation test and answer review. Yes, that’s way more than necessary. After the test, Jenrika came into the class to help, and we spent the rest of the time playing boys against girls hangman where the theme was “Whatever Big Word Pops into Lara’s Head First”.

Here are the baskets. We made the little ones because they were waaay easier to manage than the bigger ones. All of the teachers were really into them too and have insisted that I teach them how to make them. Gotta love arts and crafts! You’re never too old for crafting.

After period 2 ended, Jenrika and I found out that there wasn’t a plan for class 10 for the last two periods of the day. Luckily, I had pulled together a newspaper craft just in case (things I learned abroad: you never know when you’ll need a good craft idea, so it’s best to keep a few in the back of your head), so I spent the next hour and a half attempting to teach the kids (and Jenrika) how to make a newspaper basket. It was quite the adventure, but it actually turned out much better than I expected. Some of the girls even stayed after the bell rang to finish their baskets! You know that a kid is enjoying herself when she stays at school even a second longer than she has to.

For a day of making things up on the spot, I’d say we did pretty well. I was very much encouraged by the fact that Jenrika and I were both completely in the dark about the plans for the day. For once, I didn’t feel like I was the only one making things up as I went along.

Surprise!

Posted on by Lark

Out of all of the surprises and “wait, no one told you?” moments I’ve had since I’ve been here, today definitely wins the award for catching me off guard. The only reason the surprise even surfaced was because I was chatting with Jenrika during lunch about the things that classes 9 and 10 need to work on in English and how the curriculum for the younger kids might need to change based on what we’re seeing in the older kids.

Totally typical conversation for us… until she said, “Well now that we have an extra week with them during the holiday, we can work on some of those things.” Wait. Pause. WHAT? I must have given her an extremely confused look because she said, “Wait, no one told you?” I shook my head (please, of course no one told me. That’s how this works). APPARENTLY, there’s a proposal in the works to have a week of classes during the upcoming month-long holiday, just for the class 9 and 10 kids. This news was released at a teacher’s meeting and my name was listed as one of the teachers who would be participating. Oh, okay.

Random roof view! But these mountains don’t get old (especially on the days when you can actually see them because the rain has cleared the smog).

I know I should be happy about having more time to work with the kids… but like I’ve said before, I don’t know that this teaching thing is really for me. I have been counting down the days to the holiday like my life depends on it. I was excited to have some time during the break to help out with projects that don’t include me trying to entertain 20 teenagers. You know, maybe even a project where I don’t have to interact with any people at all.

Okay, I’ll admit that’s an extreme. This teaching has really been wiping me out though. I’m an introvert, and by the time class is over each day, I just want to sit alone in my room and release my feelings. That probably doesn’t make any sense, but when I’m feeling overwhelmed, I have a super strong urge to create things. That’s the only way I can clear my head and calm myself down (if I don’t, my brain starts feeling twitchy). Sometimes that’s me journaling, sometimes it’s drawing… and currently those are really my only two options because I don’t have paint or glue or scissors bigger that children’s safety scissors with me here.

Sorry, MAJOR sidetrack. But yeah, so that’s the surprise of the day. An extra week of school! We have school Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday next week (there’s a Buddhist holiday on Wednesday), and then the break starts on Saturday. We’ll have a week off before the bonus week, so at least that’s something. I pitched the idea to Jenrika about working together to plan and teach the classes that week, and she seemed like she might be into it. I have my fingers crossed! It would be so much better to have a partner… better for getting the kids interested and involved, and better for my mental health. Plus, I think we would work really well together.

A very small part of the school’s potted plant collection.

Random fun fact of the day: There are potted plants all over the school as part of the gardening classes the kids have on Saturdays. Today, each kid was supposed to bring two potted plants to contribute to the school’s collection. Obviously, everyone didn’t bring them, but I was very interested in what the plan was if everyone DID. There are almost 400 kids in the school… what on earth would they do with 800 POTTED PLANTS? Am I the only one who thinks that sounds completely insane? And potted plants take effort. Maybe I’m just baffled by this because of my complete lack of plant-growing skills (and abundance of plant-killing skills), but I think it sounds ridiculous no matter what. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s awesome. Just also insane.