The support of Nuala and Caitlin has really helped me to feel ready to continue with my project alone. As strange as it may seem, I look back on their departure with fond memories. We left Tangutur over three hours before their train (its a half an hour journey to Ongole) and soon realised we were running some 'errands', which involved Ramana and his son Raja running around in the dark in search of plants for the house - so entertaining to watch! We then stopped off at an Indian takeaway, in which Ramana bought enough food to feed a small army. However it soon became clear that our van did not want to start. So we all piled into an already full Rickshaw, seven of us in total as well as Nuala and Caitlin's bags and the takeaway and sped off towards the station. When the train finally arrived Nuala, who had just hugged me goodbye, got caught up in the moment and tried to hug Ramana whilst saying thank you. Big cultural nono and he quickly pushed her away! The sight of Nuala sat in her berth on the train head in hands, mortified, still makes me giggle!
That evening was probably the best evening of my time in India so far. I sat downstairs with the family, and for the first time ate with them, food on laps, in front of the TV. It was strangely comforting, perhaps because it was the first time I truly felt like part of the family. I am now beginning to see the benefits of being 'alone' and am realising how lucky I am to be able to sit on my balcony helping Raja with his (ridiculously hard) maths homework, discuss the Adventures of Robin Hood with Ramana or watch Telugu TV with the family, which I'm slowly becoming addicted to!
It's not just with the family where there have been changes. The students in Class Ten, whose classroom is next to my room, are always popping round to say hi and ask me questions (as well as using my toilet), and I find myself beginning to ask them questions too, testing their English and seeing how far our conversations can go. Hopefully one day they will let me sit down and help them with their English pronunciation! The same can be said of the teachers, who are always chatting and have even offered to do Mehndi on my arm! I feel like I am trying a lot harder to engage with the people around me, no matter how poor their English, because I have to. Every day I try to push myself more to start conversations, how ever small or basic they may be. At the same time, the teachers and children have been teaching me little bits of Telugu so hopefully soon I can string a few sentences together!
That evening was probably the best evening of my time in India so far. I sat downstairs with the family, and for the first time ate with them, food on laps, in front of the TV. It was strangely comforting, perhaps because it was the first time I truly felt like part of the family. I am now beginning to see the benefits of being 'alone' and am realising how lucky I am to be able to sit on my balcony helping Raja with his (ridiculously hard) maths homework, discuss the Adventures of Robin Hood with Ramana or watch Telugu TV with the family, which I'm slowly becoming addicted to!
It's not just with the family where there have been changes. The students in Class Ten, whose classroom is next to my room, are always popping round to say hi and ask me questions (as well as using my toilet), and I find myself beginning to ask them questions too, testing their English and seeing how far our conversations can go. Hopefully one day they will let me sit down and help them with their English pronunciation! The same can be said of the teachers, who are always chatting and have even offered to do Mehndi on my arm! I feel like I am trying a lot harder to engage with the people around me, no matter how poor their English, because I have to. Every day I try to push myself more to start conversations, how ever small or basic they may be. At the same time, the teachers and children have been teaching me little bits of Telugu so hopefully soon I can string a few sentences together!
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