Musings....

I'm in Mammallapuram and only have a few minutes left on internet.....I was going to post something long, but it's just too overwhelming at the moment. We're leaving the Children's Home on the 27th or 28th which seems so so so soon. This place is so difficult to capture and the longer I'm here, the more normal it seems. It's my life - it's not some social experiment, or exotic adventure anymore. (though it certainly is an adventure, I suppose). I've been here long enough that I've created my own little world. Not that I won't want to come home or won't be excited to see friends and family back home - but my two lives are becoming increasingly separate. I know it will be easier to blog about my travels because again things will be new, and changing, and not my everyday life. That aside....I can find some things to say about the past few days!

Deepa and I taught our last class at the local school on Wednesday. 6th, 7th, and 8th standards are having exams until he 20th and then holidays begin....so we had to finish up! It was a little sad, but luckily we knew it was coming so w taught every day we could last week and this. We have developed quite an extraordinary rapport with 7th standard. There aren't any UCH kids and that standard, so all our relationships there are completely based on our teaching. That somehow makes telling the really bright students off for always answering more fun, more of a game. in 6th and 8th it's kind of awkward because the UCH girls are simply better educated and we know them better, so we have to worry about not playing favorites. There were still lots of good things going on in those classes, but 7th was our big success. One of our last stories was The Lion King. They were so fantastically excited about it and all shouted, "Nooooo!!!" along with me at the point when Simba yells no at Scar because Scar killed his father. (there had been a similar moment in Pocahontas so they were ready!) One of our star students, Prabu, gave Deepa and I a little Indian sweet as a thank you which was too kind of him, but so thoughtful. I'll miss 7th standard! Deepa and I are going to keep coming sticking around school for the fifteen minutes or so after the UCH kids get there and before the bell rings so we can chat with all our students.

I hope all is well with you!
Love,
~Alice