Namaste from India!
We just celebrated our second week in India and have been having a ball!
Our first few days were orientation where we learnt about teaching, Hindi, Udaipur and religion and caste in India. We then ventured into Udaipur on a city tour - I have never seen anything like it!There is one main road, with 5 roundabouts (called circles) along the way. But the only similarity they have with Australian ones are that they are round!
No giving way, no lanes - its a free for all. People get so close you can see the wrinkles on their forehead. Not only do we have to share the road with bikes and overcrowded rickshaws(20 people in a 8 seater - go figure) but there are also cows, horses, elephants, dogs, donkeys and camels. The horn is even worse here. At the end of the road is Old Town. It is a laneway with thin but tall buildings cramped into little space. In all these buildings there are heaps of shops and everyone is trying to get your attention (because we are 4 of about 8 white people in the city, we are screamed at a lot...). To add to the crowd, there are still motorbikes and rickshaws!! The markets are fantastic! There are so many pretty clothes, shoes galore, bags, leather goods and to top it off, a German and French bakery! When a pair of genie pants are 100 rupees ($2.50) it's hard not to buy the whole shop.
Whilst in the city, we also visited Jagdish Temple. The temple is dedicated to Vishnu, the Hindi God. It's stunning. On the walls, there are intricate carvings of elephants, hippos, female and male figures dancing etc etc. We also encountered our first child beggar. She was very cute and very small (up to my thigh) but encouraging begging by buying stuff off them only continues the cycle so we just had to ignore her. So heartbreaking though.
The food here is soooo good! We have 3 meals a day, and they are all delicious. Chappati or Naan are a given, but we have rice, two types of curry and vegies or fruit as well. Living in luxury!
During the orientation, we visited the orphange and day care centres where we will be teaching. The orphange is small and bare, but the boys there are so happy, its really nice to see. Th day care centres are also very basic. Sarah and I teach at Bedla Day Care, Lauren and Shelby teach at Sonariya Day Care. Jack teaches at the school, grades 2-3. All the kids are incredibly cute and usually are really eager to learn :) At Day Care, we teach the alphabet, numbers, body parts etc whilst also doing lots of songs and games. The skill level is varied so we have to make sure we help every kid.
Our day to day schedule goes like this:
Breakfast at 7.
Teaching in the morning for 1 and a half hours
Relax until Lunch at 12.
Afternoon off
Chai time at 5.
Orphange visit for an hour
Dinner at 7.
Night off.
In our first 2 weeks, we have had a few adventures. We went turban hunting down the alleyways of Old Town, had a standoff with a agitated monkey, a party for Ritu's (our co-ordinator) birthday, visited a temple at sunrise, visited Monsoon Palace where we got asked for many photos, and have been soaked in pre-moonsoonal rain. All in all, its been an amazing adventure!!
We can't wait to see what else India has in store for us.
Emily
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