(and unfortunately, we can't do like Nelly and "take off all our clothes"... don't worry, Mom, it's a song!)
Today was another great day, although it is gettin' reallllyyy hot... just when I thought it really couldn't get any hotter. Hilda told me the heat was even "unbearable for the sisters," that's when you know it's bad. Apparently this time last year, there was much more rain, which alleviated some of the heat. No luck this year! But no worries, we will make it (although I might be living in the bucket bath for a while).
The school day was great; all of the kids seemed really happy to see me and Hilda said they had been talking about me and were really excited for my classes (you have no idea how great this made me feel... you should see me teaching; it's like a constant game of charades and me acting out words and giving absurd examples, quite humorous/to an outsider, I'd seem like a crazy person). Something I noticed in class... when I'm grading their in-class assignments, I put stars with my red pen (super offish) on the top of the pages. (I had to explain that a star=a check.) Once they knew that, they smiled SO BIG and SO PROUD at their "star" work. And really, almost all of them complete perfect work, it's really amazing, hardly anything to correct. I also assigned my first homework assignments! It felt really funny and kind of weird, but unlike American kids, these kids were eager and anxious for some homework, listening intently to the instructions and making notes in their notebooks, unlike in the U.S. where the entire classroom would have sighed. I'm currently trying to figure out how to make worksheets for the kids without a printer or copier... I need to find a copier in town, that is my next goal!
Also, apparently I have been unaware about a little (okay, not so little) roommate living with me. That's right, a lizard, about the size of my hand, and his little baby lizard friend have inhabited my room, or maybe I've inhabited their room, who knows. It's nice to have some company, I guess, even if they are just lizard friends. And lizards are harmless... right? What should I name him?
But anyways, after my first class, Hilda, Florence and I went to the grocery store to grab some groceries for my meal I'm making tomorrow! They don't believe me, because like I said, it's really hard for me to eat a lot between the extremely different food and the heat, but I told them I LOVED to cook and was the biggest foodie. So we decided Sunday (tomorrow) I would make dinner! I was going to try pizzas, but after last night, one of the nuns made these homemade tortilla-esque things (I had two and could have eaten 10) so that gave me the idea to make quesadillas. Unfortunately, cheese is a little hard to come by around here, but luckily I found some "pizza chesezza" at Reliance and after sauteeing some veggies in garlic (yum!) and throwing them on top of these fantastic tortillas (I forget their actual name, I'll update later), these quesadillas should be pretty bomb, methinks. I'll keep you posted.
And, I have decided my favorite part of the day is around 5 p.m. where all of the children do their homework. A bunch of them sit (boys in one area, girls in the other) on the patio/courtyard of the convent, so focused and dedicated to their work. This is my favorite time to go outside (despite the extra bugs) and hangout or help the kids with their English homework. They run up to me "aunty aunty" (which after stalking Katelyn's blog I learned this means 'friend'), dying to show me that, alas! THEY HAVE ALREADY FINISHED THEIR HOMEWORK! WHAT?! I couldn't believe it, I had just assigned it a few hours before! And it was perfect as well! I looked over some of them to see if it needed to be corrected but, of course, no mistakes. I smile a lot and clap for them (they love the clapping) and I'm trying to teach them the thumbs up for approval (still hasn't quite caught on) and you can tell how much my approval and happiness in their work means to them, it's really adorable.
This is also a great time for some photo ops, and these kids LOVE to get their photo taken. It's too cute. And a good time to hangout with my best bud, Santhosh (spelled it wrong last time, oops!) Today, he said my name and I felt like a proud mother, haha. I wrote his name in bubble letters on his little mini chalkboard and he carried it around, so proud and smiley, showing his friends like it was a $100 toy, it was just TOO CUTE! I told him I was taking him back to the United States with me, but I don't think he liked that idea too much as he smiled shyly and shook his head.
I ended the day watching racey Indian music videos with the nuns, eating Twizzlers (THEY LIKE THEM TOO!), discovering a keyboard (all those piano lessons just might come in handy, Mom!) and discussing the nuns' first trip to the U.S. (for one of two occasions: my wedding or the opening of my restaurant... I told them they'd probably have to wait 10 years for either).
So all in all! A great day! Lilly and the Colombian sisters are off to Hyderabad until Monday so things are quiet around here. I'll definitely take lots of photos of my cooking experiment tomorrow; pray I don't scar the nuns with bad Mexican/American food!
One of my smartie pants students leading the other students in their daily spelling lesson...
...speaking of pants...
Jared from Subway?? Haha, no, just my new Indian pants, part of a set...just a tad too big. Thank god for the drawstring!
LOTS OF LOVE
Today was another great day, although it is gettin' reallllyyy hot... just when I thought it really couldn't get any hotter. Hilda told me the heat was even "unbearable for the sisters," that's when you know it's bad. Apparently this time last year, there was much more rain, which alleviated some of the heat. No luck this year! But no worries, we will make it (although I might be living in the bucket bath for a while).
The school day was great; all of the kids seemed really happy to see me and Hilda said they had been talking about me and were really excited for my classes (you have no idea how great this made me feel... you should see me teaching; it's like a constant game of charades and me acting out words and giving absurd examples, quite humorous/to an outsider, I'd seem like a crazy person). Something I noticed in class... when I'm grading their in-class assignments, I put stars with my red pen (super offish) on the top of the pages. (I had to explain that a star=a check.) Once they knew that, they smiled SO BIG and SO PROUD at their "star" work. And really, almost all of them complete perfect work, it's really amazing, hardly anything to correct. I also assigned my first homework assignments! It felt really funny and kind of weird, but unlike American kids, these kids were eager and anxious for some homework, listening intently to the instructions and making notes in their notebooks, unlike in the U.S. where the entire classroom would have sighed. I'm currently trying to figure out how to make worksheets for the kids without a printer or copier... I need to find a copier in town, that is my next goal!
Also, apparently I have been unaware about a little (okay, not so little) roommate living with me. That's right, a lizard, about the size of my hand, and his little baby lizard friend have inhabited my room, or maybe I've inhabited their room, who knows. It's nice to have some company, I guess, even if they are just lizard friends. And lizards are harmless... right? What should I name him?
This was the best shot I could get... he goes into hiding every time I move! Smart little guy.
But anyways, after my first class, Hilda, Florence and I went to the grocery store to grab some groceries for my meal I'm making tomorrow! They don't believe me, because like I said, it's really hard for me to eat a lot between the extremely different food and the heat, but I told them I LOVED to cook and was the biggest foodie. So we decided Sunday (tomorrow) I would make dinner! I was going to try pizzas, but after last night, one of the nuns made these homemade tortilla-esque things (I had two and could have eaten 10) so that gave me the idea to make quesadillas. Unfortunately, cheese is a little hard to come by around here, but luckily I found some "pizza chesezza" at Reliance and after sauteeing some veggies in garlic (yum!) and throwing them on top of these fantastic tortillas (I forget their actual name, I'll update later), these quesadillas should be pretty bomb, methinks. I'll keep you posted.
And, I have decided my favorite part of the day is around 5 p.m. where all of the children do their homework. A bunch of them sit (boys in one area, girls in the other) on the patio/courtyard of the convent, so focused and dedicated to their work. This is my favorite time to go outside (despite the extra bugs) and hangout or help the kids with their English homework. They run up to me "aunty aunty" (which after stalking Katelyn's blog I learned this means 'friend'), dying to show me that, alas! THEY HAVE ALREADY FINISHED THEIR HOMEWORK! WHAT?! I couldn't believe it, I had just assigned it a few hours before! And it was perfect as well! I looked over some of them to see if it needed to be corrected but, of course, no mistakes. I smile a lot and clap for them (they love the clapping) and I'm trying to teach them the thumbs up for approval (still hasn't quite caught on) and you can tell how much my approval and happiness in their work means to them, it's really adorable.
My little rockstar Santhosh front and center.
I ended the day watching racey Indian music videos with the nuns, eating Twizzlers (THEY LIKE THEM TOO!), discovering a keyboard (all those piano lessons just might come in handy, Mom!) and discussing the nuns' first trip to the U.S. (for one of two occasions: my wedding or the opening of my restaurant... I told them they'd probably have to wait 10 years for either).
So all in all! A great day! Lilly and the Colombian sisters are off to Hyderabad until Monday so things are quiet around here. I'll definitely take lots of photos of my cooking experiment tomorrow; pray I don't scar the nuns with bad Mexican/American food!
One of my smartie pants students leading the other students in their daily spelling lesson...
...speaking of pants...
Jared from Subway?? Haha, no, just my new Indian pants, part of a set...just a tad too big. Thank god for the drawstring!
LOTS OF LOVE
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