Once again, sorry we haven't been writing. It is perhaps a sign of our immense enjoyment, or utter exhaustion from the heat wave, missing our Amajii who has left for the States, and determined efforts to hide from the 4th grade.
Honestly, our students are great, except for maybe the 4th grade, which has decided that to show their love, they will insist on shaking hands for the entire class, running away when we try to enforce order, and enforcing the less than charming habit of kissing on the cheeks when saying hello and goodbye. Yep, we definitely put an end to that one. There is, of course, the 2nd grade, which was bored with our dances and songs and instead regaled us for about 15 minutes with song after song in hindi, english and screaming. Or the 8th grade, for whom every lesson ends logically in a dance off between the two inept westerners and the Bollywood born and bred dance machines. Or the first grade, whose attempt at learning "head-shoulders-knees-and-toes"turned into an excuse to beat their neighbor in those particular regions.
Children, my dears. I recall a quote by Fran Lebowitz, to the order of...
"Not all of God's children are beautiful. Most of God's children, in fact, are barely presentable."
Our children are wonderful, but their talents seem to run to the order of tiring us out, screaming questions in hindi when we don't understand the first time (we assume they want to go to the bathroom, and it works about 20% of the time) nor the second, and fixing our dance moves when we try to pull out the stuff we saw in our latest movie.
This next week we have our last two days of teaching, and then my honorable mother is coming for a dose of life on the indian side. Some activities we have planned include...
1) Henna tattoos! Super fun, super cheap, and only really problematic when you can't shove people as effectively to get through low moving crowds.
2) Bollywood film! There is a truly dreadful looking film about a ferrari that came out, and then another one about how a woman keeps reincarnating in order to find her true love. The key to finding a good movie has nothing to do with plot, cute actors or subtle filming. We just need dancing. And crazy music. (EXCEPTION: Vicky Donor, about a indian sperm donor's quest for true love, was the best film I've yet to largely not understand but still adore).
3) Lassis! Pekora (not for Jacqui, more for me!)! Indian delicacies! We shall regale Mama with yummy foods and eat whatever we can lay our hands on.
4) Crazy transportation, and the ensuing admiration of our abilities to argue, navigate and politely reject all attempts at kidnapping, forced purchases, marriage, signing autographs and taking photos with strangers, and autorickshaw rides, while managing to cross the street.
Honestly, our students are great, except for maybe the 4th grade, which has decided that to show their love, they will insist on shaking hands for the entire class, running away when we try to enforce order, and enforcing the less than charming habit of kissing on the cheeks when saying hello and goodbye. Yep, we definitely put an end to that one. There is, of course, the 2nd grade, which was bored with our dances and songs and instead regaled us for about 15 minutes with song after song in hindi, english and screaming. Or the 8th grade, for whom every lesson ends logically in a dance off between the two inept westerners and the Bollywood born and bred dance machines. Or the first grade, whose attempt at learning "head-shoulders-knees-and-toes"turned into an excuse to beat their neighbor in those particular regions.
Children, my dears. I recall a quote by Fran Lebowitz, to the order of...
"Not all of God's children are beautiful. Most of God's children, in fact, are barely presentable."
Our children are wonderful, but their talents seem to run to the order of tiring us out, screaming questions in hindi when we don't understand the first time (we assume they want to go to the bathroom, and it works about 20% of the time) nor the second, and fixing our dance moves when we try to pull out the stuff we saw in our latest movie.
This next week we have our last two days of teaching, and then my honorable mother is coming for a dose of life on the indian side. Some activities we have planned include...
1) Henna tattoos! Super fun, super cheap, and only really problematic when you can't shove people as effectively to get through low moving crowds.
2) Bollywood film! There is a truly dreadful looking film about a ferrari that came out, and then another one about how a woman keeps reincarnating in order to find her true love. The key to finding a good movie has nothing to do with plot, cute actors or subtle filming. We just need dancing. And crazy music. (EXCEPTION: Vicky Donor, about a indian sperm donor's quest for true love, was the best film I've yet to largely not understand but still adore).
3) Lassis! Pekora (not for Jacqui, more for me!)! Indian delicacies! We shall regale Mama with yummy foods and eat whatever we can lay our hands on.
4) Crazy transportation, and the ensuing admiration of our abilities to argue, navigate and politely reject all attempts at kidnapping, forced purchases, marriage, signing autographs and taking photos with strangers, and autorickshaw rides, while managing to cross the street.
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