Reflections on the past few weeks...

I am sure you all have been wondering when I would write another blog entry, and I apologize for being so long in writing this – I have been quite busy and we also had some issues with the internet connection.
I am officially teaching the Standard VII and VIII classes for their English, English Grammar and Computer subjects and I am assisting in the Standard I class for General Science. I am thoroughly enjoying the experience, even when my students occasionally decide to misbehave! Seriously, I never imagined that I would ever teach in a classroom setting; rather, I figured I would just teach in churches or something. But, I have been discovering that I enjoy teaching in the classroom, and who knows, perhaps I will end up teaching Bible and Religion classes at a Christian school or something.
A little about my students: they are always doing something to make me laugh – it is so hard to be serious (those of you who know me well know that I laugh about everything, so I am sure you are thinking – ummm…yeah, we did not guess that at all)! But, really, they say and do the most outrageous things and they are not afraid to tease me! Here are a few stories that I have from various points throughout the last few weeks:

Standard VII Class:
Me: *writing on the whiteboard in order to illustrate the necessity of using pronouns* “Jessica flew to Canada and then Jessica flew to another country.”
Students: “Ma’am, how did you fly? Do you have wings?”
Me: “Unfortunately, no. I do not have wings.” *corrects sentence to say “Jessica flew in an airplane…and then she…”*

Girls: “Ma’am, have you ever worn a sari?”
Me: “Yes, I have. Once.”
Girls: “You must wear a sari to school one day!”
Me: “When my sari is finished, I will.”
Boys: “No, ma’am! You must wear jeans!”
*An argument ensued between the girls and the boys over whether I should wear a sari or jeans to class.*

*After discovering that the Standard VIII students were beginning to teach me the Odia alphabet*
Student: “Ma’am, you cannot do that! It will be too difficult – there are 48 [or something like that] letters in the Odia alphabet!”
Me: “Well, I know the English alphabet, the Greek alphabet and the Spanish alphabet (or did at one time), so I would not say that it is too difficult”
Student: “You know the Greek alphabet!?!?”
Me: “Yes, I do” *proceeded to write several words in Greek*

Standard VIII Class:
*attempting to teach me some words in Odia*
Student: *writing word* “Ma’am, say this.”
Me: *pronounces word completely wrong*
Class: *laughing*
Student: “No, ma’am, it’s pronounced like this…”
Apparently, instead of saying “happy,” I had said “dog” or something like that. It has become quite the joke.

A few days later…
Me: *reading textbook*…umm, I am not going to pronounce that word…”
Students: “Ma’am, just say the words”
Me: “Are you joking?!? We all know what happens when I try to pronounce Indian names and words!”
Students: *laughing* *pronounced words slowly and had me say them.*

These are just a few of my favorite stories from teaching…

In addition to teaching, I have been continuing to play badminton and volleyball with the children who live in the orphanage/hostel in the evenings as well as to teach them English songs on the weekends. They are such a joy and I absolutely love spending time with them!

Some of my Indian brothers and sisters.

Me and more of my Indian brothers and sisters

Me with some of the boys.

Posing for another photo...

A little glimpse of what the scenery here looks like...

A mountain...



In my next blog post, I hope to share some of my observations on church and culture in India, so be looking for that!

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