A low day

Today I don't have much exciting to share. Unfortunately, I was sick last night. It felt like food poisoning, but it seems to be going through the volunteers, so it's tough to tell exactly what's going on. My roommate was sick, and then the next night, I was sick. I am feeling better, but really tired right now. I mostly stayed at the hostel today, and on top of everything, the air conditioning went out, so it is really hot. At least we have the fans. And luckily, I am feeling better now. I guess this is India, right? I'm looking forward to tomorrow and feeling well enough to be back at the school.

Success!

One of the things that has been the most difficult for me is the way that students in India are taught. Everything is rote memorization and copying. Because of this, they see no problem with copying work from one another, and writing is very difficult because it requires them to think of things themselves. I get lots of whining when I require my 7th and 8th standard English classes to write more than a couple of sentences, which I do every day at the beginning of class. In 1st standard, the idea that writing could be used to communicate and express their own thoughts is completely foreign. They only think of writing as copying sentences as words provided by the teacher to practice letter formation. So, I have been trying to get them to sound out and write words - invented spelling is fine, I just want them to make the sound-symbol connection and record something original. Today, I went back to early kindergarten and had them draw a picture and label it. And it worked! I had pictures of ice cream, cats, suns, dogs, lions, tigers, dinosaurs, fish, and many more. The kids drew and labeled their pictures, mostly by sounding them out. It was really great to see their success and their excitement, and I think the message was at least partly received that writing is not copying - it is communicating.

Life Dance Video take 2

Okay, my attempt at linking the video didn't work, so try checking it out here:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2064297899686&oid=103449216362829&comments

Life Dance Video

Dear Friends and Family:
Check out this video of Life Dance. It was created by one of my roommates.

A list that I will undoubtedly add to

Things I like about India:
Chudidars - so comfortable in the hot weather that it is like wearing your pajamas all day
Fresh mangos - we are in the middle of a mango grove, and I never knew I loved mangos until I got here
Rising Star kids - they are affectionate and fun
Other volunteers - I am with a great group!
Indian food - I've had some great food, including this fantastic pineapple and cashew rice pudding that I really want the recipe for

Things I don't like about India:
Heat - I am melting
Fresh papayas - I didn't know it, but I really don't like this fruit
Indian food - Some of the things are not to my taste, like this fish curry that we had last week, with huge pieces of fish including bones and eyeballs - thank goodness for peanut butter

New chapel in progress in Chennai

Church in Chennai