This morning during yoga, I noticed that the honking horns and crows screaming overhead did not bother me. Then why does the kickboxing class next to my yoga class at the gym bother me? And why is it that everyone honks at each other all day, but no one curses at each other nor do they show the middle finger. They just drive along on their motorcycles or in rickshaws and cars with a non-expressive face. Fascinating!
I would like to think that this is part of the way of the culture here. The rules in this country are so clear that people almost don't even have to discuss roles and responsibilities - they are known. For instance, today at SEAM, Linda's and my role was to help the mason. The defined role of the mason was as follows: put mortar on the brick and place the brick in in its proper position. Our roles were 1) to get the sand so our other helper could mix the concrete; and 2) to line up the bricks so the mason did not have to reach far for them. There were no arguments or hurt feelings, just a grunt when they called on us to do our next task and a game of charades to show us what to do. I wonder - If corporate America applied the defining roles and responsibilities strategy more effectively, would we be more happy and peaceful at work? Or maybe we all need to apply the principle of acceptance. Or both.
While the pollution here is terrible (i.e., I wore a mask on our 45-minute drive to a dance because I am starting to taste the pollution in the back of my throat), we have a thing or two to learn about saving water from the Indians. Showering consists of two buckets - a medium and small one. One could use a shower head but the water pressure is not very good. I am able to take a full-body shower with a half bucket of water. I found the best way to avoid the shock of the cold water is to wipe off with a wet washcloth and then douse my body with the water. It is actually quite refreshing. I am guessing that in the States, we average about 30 buckets of water per shower.
You may wonder why Indian women have such great hair. The nuns told me it is coconut oil! They wash their hair once per week, or twice for a special occasion. Then, they apply the coconut oil - I believe they said everyday. Good-bye frizzy hair!
Before I sign off, I must say that today was a hard day of teaching computers at SEAM. I am now tutoring John and Siva. Knowing that this will be the only week they will get one-on-one computer lessons, I wonder how much they will retain because who knows when the next time will be for them to get such an opportunity. I am noticing that their retention levels are not yet what I had hoped.
Each of us here with Global Volunteers are all facing this. Within one of the schools we go to, students from multiple grades are taught in one room by one teacher! It appears that the kids are split up only when there are volunteers here to help out! Thank goodness there is a team of us here. We debrief 3 times a day and share thoughts, learnings, and hardships so that we can both deal with the challenges and apply new teaching methods that we have brainstormed.
This experience has given me a whole new respect for teachers (and the hardships faced here in this country). So a big THANK YOU goes out to those teachers and mentors who helped me with the wealth of knowledge I have do date. And I finally understand why we did so many drills in class! I am witnessing the impact of not doing them.
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