New timetable, new start

Have finally had my timetable reduced from 7 lessons to 6, which is such a relief! However there is a bit of a catch...

Throughout the week I will now be teaching classes 1st A, 1st B, 2nd A, 2nd B, 2nd C, 3rd A, 3rd B, 4th A, 4th B, 5th A, 5th B and 6th class...which has 55 students!

I still can't decide whether my new timetable is any easier, but I'm definitely up for the challenge and hopefully soon the computers will be working so I can teach some computer classes too. I'll let you know how I get on with my twelve classes!

Two is company

Just thought I'd let you all know, that I finally have a partner! I have loved my four months on my own and wouldn't change them for the world, but I have to admit that it is lovely to finally have some company. This week has been tough - adjusting to share a room with someone is a lot harder than adjusting to live on your own - but already I can see positives. Teaching has been exhausting over the last few months and my enthusiasm was beginning to flicker out. Having Jess in the classroom to help with the disciplining and heavy workload has been such a relief and, for the first time in a while, I actually enjoyed teaching. Can't wait for the timetable to be sorted!

In other news, there's been a firetruck at school this week and lots of shouting of "fire fire". Luckily there have been no major disasters, just some firemen in school to teach the staff and children about fire safety. It's really good to see a different kind of education within the school. We even had a practice fire drill...

Travelling Take Two.

Have just returned from my second tour since beginning in India. Seeing as this blog is more about my year teaching than my travelling, I just thought I'd show you all a few photos to let you all know what I've been up to. My new partner arrives on Monday so now I've got to do a quick turn around and lots of cleaning before she arrives!

On the toy train to Ooty after visiting Kannur to see a Theyyam ritual.

One of the many stops on the toy train to take in the beautiful views. The miniature train is pushed up rather than pulled and it's popular with Indian tourists - especially newlyweds so lots of henna-ed hands and feet in our carriage!

Elephants seen from the bus down from Mysore. This sighting made up for the ridiculously windy roads and very fast bus!

Sound and light show at Mysore Palace.

Different powders and kumkum in the market in Mysore

Prayer beads

Bangle heaven

Mysore Palace

"Wishing you a happy happy new year..."

 ..."Same to you!"

"Wishing you a happy happy new year!"

"Same to you!"

"Wishing you a super happy new year!"

"Same to you!" chorused the whole school after Venkayamma madam, me and then the rest of the teachers shouted the 'Happy New Year' wishes. It was after that Haseena madam did something that made all of the children cheer.

But let's do this chronologically. I woke up early on the first morning of 2013 after a firework filled night, took a 'headbath' as is customary, and spent some time getting ready for the busy day ahead: like everyone else I put on my new 'dress', one of the sarees which I'd bought in Hyderabad (had to pin the blouse together because stitching wasn't finished!); to accesorise I used my one gram gold bangles on my mhindi covered hands, a gold coloured chain, a gold coloured saree pin, and a fancy bindi; in my hair I put 25 rupees worth of flowers, which I'd brought from a lady walking past with them on her head, and UK hairclips that my cousin sent me for Christmas (Ali, I let Dharani, one of the children in the family, wear a pair too because she thought they were so super - thank you!); and I even put on some mascara for the special occasion, thanks for that Christmas present mom!

When I arrived at school it was eerily empty, but slowly children filtered in wearing their best dress, hands beautifully decorated and flowers in their hair. I shook everyone's hands wishing them a Happy New Year, until Ramana called for me. We headed off for a different part of Tangutur to present flowers to an important man in the village. It made me laugh to watch the process: the gift givers would walk up to the stage, put flowers around the man's neck and in his hands and pose for a photo, before the flowers were removed and tossed onto a huge pile of already discarded flowers so that the next presentees could take their turn. It was after that that I had my second breakfast of the day, including cake and chai. Absolutely stuffed, walking home in my stiff fancy saree in the heat was a challenge. The only reason I managed to keep up with Ramana and Brahmin (the school's founder) was because everyone kept stopping them to shake their hands and wish them a Happy New Year. I did also overhear Brahmin telling everyone how Indian I look, which was a lovely compliment!
 

As soon as I arrived back at school, I was ushered into a classroom for my third breakfast of the day. Social Subashni madam had cooked a special rice dish, which to my horror contained brown lumps of meat. I tried not to panic and pushed the meat balls to the side of the plate, hoping no one would notice. When the teachers told me to eat them and I explained that I was vegetarian, they all burst out laughing. Turned out it was some kind of meat shaped vegetable! We let the children play and decorate the classrooms, whilst we sat, chatted and accepted cake brought around from all of the other Sections. After a while, we shepherded all of the children into the best decorated classroom. Even with the depleted numbers it was quite a squeeze - there are four classes in our Section - but somehow we managed to organise all of the children so that there was still room for the prized 2.5kg cake in the middle. Then it was a waiting game. I felt like we were torturing the children, making them sit in silence with their hands on their lips looking at the cake. But eventually Venkayamma madam turned up, and that was when Haseena set about on her first piece of mischief. She ran into the classroom spraying fake snow everywhere and on everyone. Soon we couldn't see what we were doing and all of the children had rushed forward from their seats screaming. Chaos ensued. Venkayamma was trying to cut the cake and reach over the children to feed us (the teachers) whilst we frantically tried to avoid Haseena with her snow, which was practially impossible considering the children had trapped us in.Venkayamma came up to me and dotted icing on both of my cheeks saying I was "cute" and that seemed to be a sign because soon teachers seemed to be appearing from everywhere covered in cake!

And now we've arrived back where I started earlier. After that first excitement was over, we all headed down to the courtyard area so that the teachers could wish the students a Happy New Year. Then came Haseena's second act of mischief. She noticed that I'd escaped the majority of the cake smearing, so ran up behind me with the remains of our cake and smeared icing all over my cheeks, nose, lips and chin. The whole school cheered and clapped and even I couldn't help laughing. What an amazing day!

 

 

 

 

A taste of what's to come...

The internet is against me today, so I'll have another attempt at telling you about my very special New Year before I go on holiday. Until then, here's a photo to give you a taste of what's to come in my next post..

...yes, that is cake on my face!

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