Tuesday, May 19, 2009

May is here!!!

Hello! So I know it has been a really long time since I have last posted anything. Things have been going really well here but very busy. I started working not only in the slums school but also in a two different slums in my mega city. Here's a little taste of what I've been up to.

Monday: Language Lesson 9-11am, Study time 11-1 ish (on the days I'm feeling ambitious) then team planing 3-4pm, then leave for ESL class in the slums 4-8:30 pm
Tuesday: Leave for the slums school at 7:00am, arrive at school and teach from 8:30-11:30am, then head from the school to my family in the village's house 12:00-3pm, Head home and get ready for house fellowship, house fellowship 5:00-9:00, SLEEP
Wednesday:Leave for school at 7:00am, arrive at school 8:30-11:30 am, head home and rest :) or go back to the village
Thursday: Language lesson 9 am, Study time 11-1 pm, Team meeting for what's going to happen that day, leave for city slums for ESL class & teach 4- 8:30pm
Friday: Language lesson 9am, catch up on e-mail, head to the village with team for ESL class 1-5pm, shopping for what needs to be bought.
Saturday: DAY OFF :)
Sunday: Big fellowship with nationals and internationals 9am-12pm, Head to the village 12pm-6pm, come home
So thats what a week can look like, there have been many meetings in the last month put in there too. It's been really great to meet with so many people that have ideas and plans for what the team I'm on will be doing. It's been great to be so focused and wiped out at the end of day. I sleep so well now :)

Last week was the last week of school for the slum school so they dismissed for the summer due to the heat. The entier experience in the school was amazing. I made wonderful friendships with my fellow national teachers. The teachers were always so helpful with me learning Hindi, it helped to have encouraging women around. The kids were totally cool, I already really miss them. At the school I would arrive in time for morning devotions then head off to my first class room. The I worked with 1st class, they were a group of kids ranging in age from 5-10 years old. The reason the older kids are in there is because they are just now starting school. The 1st class usually had 12 kids in it. They were all so cute and so much fun to teach Bible stories and English to. They were usually excited to learn each day I arrived. When any teacher walks in the room all the kids stand up and say, "GOOD MORNING DEDE" (Dede just means Aunt). Then they all sit down. It's really cute. Some of my best memories of the first class was coloring pictures of how they drew the bible story. They always loved the chance to color. By far the best was when we acted out the "Jesus Calms the Storm" and "David and the Giant". From when I first came to the class there was one little boy that was always sad and never wanted to talk to the other kids, he never wanted to learn, and would sit to one corner of his desk and cry. It was really sad to see such an adorable child so sad and grumpy all the time. Through the weeks that I worked there I had a lot of chances to pour into him and before I knew it we always had a smile on his face. Once he started to smile he started to learn, he started to play with the other kids, and he loved gettin to help tell the bible stories and learn his new Enlgish vocab. The 1st class also had more amazing kids in it too. They were all really exciting to work with and to invest in.

After 1st class I would head to 3rd class, the age group was 10-12. They are the most advanced kids in the school. With them we really got to go in depth with stories and form more complex sentences. My best memories with them was at lunch time. 3rd class had 7 kids in it, 3 of them had younger brothers and sisters in the school. So during lunch they would all take out their lunches. The great thing about their lunches is one person would bring the rice, another the rotti (like tortillas), another kids would bring the cooked veggies, and one would top it off with another random food. Once they all took their food out they would go get their little siblings and bring them in the room. Then after everyone had food they would eat and some times even offer some to me. It was so sweet because the parents didnt make those lunches the kids made most of the meal. They brought so much joy to my heart!

2nd class was my crazy fun class. Those kids were always ready to joke around, be loud, and just have fun. They were the most creative bunch! When we made story pictures they were the most creative. They loved to sing be the christain songs they knew in English and the songs they knew in Hindi. The most fun was one about Jesus having Super powers.

During lunch times I would practice my Hindi. A few months ago I bought some American children books at a local book store. I picked three books that I grew up on. My language tutor and I translated the stories into Hindi and then I would read the stories in Hindi. The kids were funny and would quote the book all the time. On top of reading children books I would also test the new bible stroies I learned in Hindi with the school teachers. The teachers are all believers so thats been nice, they knew the stories and helped me tell them. Besides being able to use my language with them I also formed great frienships with all 4 of the teachers. One teacher is my language tutor's niece, another is a good friend of a friend I made in the city.
Thats the school in a not so small nut shell.

Thia week a group of 4 girls from Liberty University (in Virginia) are here. They are four amazing sisters in the Lord. They are such go-getters. They bring tons of energy and new eyes to South Asia. Two or staying in the apartment my roommate and I have and the other two are staying with our other teammate. All four girls bring something special and unique to the table, they all have these amazing stories of how the Lord is working in their lives. Having them here has been a great refreshed and has made me feel truly blessed. They are teaching VBS in the morning to immigrants from the country above us. In the evenings they are teaching ESL to the parents and other people. It's been amazing! Please be kneeling for them they are going strong but fighting off jet lag. They are with us for two weeks. I know I have to take full advantage of the friendships while they are here.
Okay well it's late i need to go but wanted to say HELLO!

3 comments:

Eileen Hamilton said...

Hi Sarah,

Your kids sound great! So what are you doing now that the schools have shut down for summer? Nathaniel and Teal are both looking forward to June 4th (their last day of school). Teal is so ready to be out of high school (I'm sure you can remember what that's like.

I was sad to hear that you won't be able to come to Grandma's memorial service, but not $2000 sad. We should arrange something so you can call us when the service is going on and participate that way.

Unknown said...

Hey Sarah,
I am still waiting on my Sari. I have checked my front door every day to see if I received a package from you...but still no Sari. :(

I was reading your blog and noticed that all these years I have called Aunt Dede by her name I was saying Aunt Aunt...I was thinking I can call her Dede Dede from now on...that's a lot of De's. :) Love ya and keep up the good work.

-Eric

Sarah said...

Hey, Aunt Eileen. Awww Teal's free from school in like a week! It's crazy! I was so happy to be done with high school, I hope college is great for her. College was everything high school wasnt, I made some really amazing freinds and got to go some really amazing place. It was a blessing. Yeah thats a ton of money, i knew it would be some crazy amount. Keep me in the loop I'd love to do what I can or at least listen to the service.

Eric.
What! you didn get it? Man I sent that things months ago! It's bright purple and has flowers in sparkles all over it with matching bangles. Stupid Indian customs, they take so long! I'm sure if will break free one of these days.....keep checking daily. As for Aunt Dede, now we know! She's our auntie auntie.