wait.....Im a PE teacher?

Let me just start off by saying, my sincerest apologies for not updating this blog more regularly. You see the events of my life within the past week are such that need a lengthy blog to give them justice. I've had many oppourtunities to write short blogs, but I knew that a short blog would only be a cop-out for everything going on in my life. So I hope your ready because this is about to be a very long blog! So last Tue I was walking to the grocery and I passed by St. Joesephs School...for some reason I felt led to go in. But it was 7p and starting to get dark and I knew that I needed to just head home. The next day (wed) I went to tea with Vanessa (the Irish lady that I met on the walking tour of Bangalore) and we started talking about NGO work. I asked her how she originally got involved and she replied that she just walked into a school one day asking if they needed volunteers--now I dont think it is mere coincidence that the day before I somehow felt drawn to St. Joesephs. So after tea I headed straight for St. Joesephs. I found my way to the principles office and talked to the Sister in charge. She seemed delighted by me, and maybe its my imagination, but slightly entertained by me. She told me that the PE teacher had recently gone for maternity leave and the school couldn't afford a new PE teacher. She asked if I would be interested in teaching the PE classes. Now let me pause to say that its funny how Gods will seems to work like a silver thread--weaving in and out of sight but somehow divinely linking seperate events of our lives together to create a beautiful quilt of our lives. I don't think that this summer was by any chance coincidence-the fact that I learned how to teach and coach pretty much every sport possible and that I will now use what I learned this summer 8 months later. From the middle of Nowhere, Arkansas, with extremly wealthy children, to the 3rd largest city in India with the least wealthy children there is no way that I can look at the events of my life and consider it merely coincidence. It makes me wonder how God is going to tie in this 4 months into the rest of my life--is He preparing me to live in India for the rest of my life? Or just teach me through this experience to help guide me in endeavors in America?
So anyways we agreed to times that I would be working (teaching 2 periods of PE everyday from 2p-4p) and then going to the connected orphanage to help the girls with their homework and share tea time and recreation time with them until 7 (when it gets dark and I need to walk home) So some quick facts about St. Joesephs: its an all-girls school for mostly underprivilaged girls who are sponsored to come to school (there are a few who are wealthy enough to attend without help), it is run by a bunch of nuns (who don't look like nuns because they wear orange saris and rosarys to indicate they are nuns), it has a connected orphanage/boarding house that 120 girls live (most of them have one working parent, but that parent cannot care for them) The sisters are strict but seem to be extremly fascinated by me (asking me to teach them American dances, games, and songs.)
So Thursday was my first day of work--I arrived a bit late because class went over, and Sister S. wanted to give me a tour of the campus so I didn't end up teaching PE that day. I did however, go to the orphanage that day and have tea time and study time and play time with the girls. I felt awkward because all the girls didn't know how to treat me--whether I would be strict as the sisters and they needed to be wary or if they could love on me like family. Tea time is half an hour, study time is 2 hours, and play time is half an hour. I didn't get to prove myself until playtime when the girls saw that I was just there to love on them. To laugh with them, hold them, compliment them, and just be there for them. Thats when they started calling me "Akka" which in the local language translates to 'big sister' (not like what they call the nuns but a term of endearment) Which if you all know me well enough you know that the girls calling me Akka thrilled me (when I learned what it meant.) You see the sisters are very strict and won't let the girls sit on their laps, or hold their hands or anything but these girls don't ever see their famlies and I believe that children need physical love as well as emotional love so I now know my purpose at the orphanage. I found myself torn--between playing with all the little ones (4yrs-10yrs) and hanging out with the older high school girls. At one point I was completly surrounded by highschool girls asking me a million questions about America. How I got my skin to be white? How American girls were so thin? Why was I not wearing a more skanky outfit? If my arm hair was naturally blonde? crazy questions that I would never have even thought about before. The girls were asking that if they came to America if their skin would turn white. It was cute. I think every aspect of my physical being was complimented--"your hair is lovely", "your eyes are lovely", "you have beautiful skin", etc. What they don't realize is that I think they are a thousand times more beautiful with their chocolate brown eyes, mahogany skin, and bright white smiles. I got to witness prayer time which was very interesting--the girls sit meditation style, closing their eyes--at the end they all say "Ohhmmm" like in meditation (which means peace) Its so interesting to see how people of the world worship in different ways and learn that the way that you worship is not the only way. 7p rolled around and I headed home-promising all of the girls that I would be back Fri.
Friday I went to the school at 1030a (I dont have college class on Fri) and taught PE all day. I taught tag, freeze tag, tug of war, sharks and minos, farkle tag (summer camp game), elbow tag, and several others. The girls at the school loved playing games and participating and I found myself playing all of the games with them. By the time 4p rolled around I was exhausted! I had tea with the girls, but left before study and play time. I came back and fell asleep for a few hours until going out that night with some girls from the hostel. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe which was fun, but the girls kept commenting on my red face...I felt really hot too, but not sick. After the Hard Rock I came home and went to bed. Saturday I headed over to Andrews about 12p to do some reading on the roof--the 3 minute walk from my place to his EXHAUSTED me and I couldnt understand why. I love to sit in the sun and read but I just did not feel like sitting in the sun, so I went inside his house and fell asleep. Andrew woke me up about 30 minutes later for lunch and commented again on my red face. I told him I was really hot, and he felt my forehead and was like "Wow, you def. have a fever!" He gave me a thermometer and sure enough I had a 100 degree temp. So I headed home (which again exhausted me) and fell asleep for 5 hours. I woke up later and opted out of meeting up with the gang to just rest a little bit. Later, around 10p I decided I was going to head to the nearby coffee shop and grab some Chai and just take it easy. I ended up running into Mayank, a friend that I had met the weekend before at Marias birthday party. He asked if I would mind if he joined me for coffee, and so we had some coffee. After that he told me that some friends of ours (also from marias party) were coming over to his house to just hang out for a little and invited me to come along. I didnt feel feverish so I agreed--but just for a little while.....4am rolls around and Mayank finally dropped me off. The night was good and low-key--just a few of us in a circle with two guys playing guitar and all of us singing songs by Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson, etc etc.
Sunday was kind of early getting up because I told Shrutti that I would go to church with her and her family. We went to church at 815 which began with bible study, then the church service (which was 2 hours) and then fellowship which was about an hour. It was interesting because its a 'breathern' denominational church--which means they take the bible pretty littearlly. All the women had to cover their heads during church, and the men and women were seperated on either side of the church during service. It was a good service though! Pretty much church is an all-day affair. Shruttis family hired a van for the afternoon and invited a whole bunch of people back for lunch. It was fun just getting to know people and being in a family atmosphere with little ones running every direction. After lunch I again walked home and felt exhausted. I checked my temp and sure enough my face was bright red and a small temp of 99 degrees. I fell asleep until at 7 when Andrew called me and invited me to try a new resteraunt with him called Sea Land (which was surprisingly very good!)
After talking to Mrs. Kutty about my fever and fatigue she diagnosed me telling me that I was suffering from heat exhaustion. Which makes perfect sense because it all began Fri when I spent the entire day outdoors, playing tag with kids and neglecting to drink a lot of water. It explained why I felt so exhausted everytime I walked 3 minutes in the heat. So I've started making myself drink a whole lot more and havn't felt feverish or fatigued since.
Yesterday I taught PE--teaching Red Rover, and Sharks and minos to 8th grade girls. It was fun and after the school let out I was bombarded by about a thousand girls asking me if I would teach their PE class too--one girl came up after class and was like "Im so glad you taught our class today, the other grades were bragging about how they got you for a teacher and we were really jealous" It was very sweet. After school I walked into the orphanage to hear a chorus of "AKKA! AKKA!" and found myself completly surrounded by new loves--fighting to hold my hand and stand near me. I have to say yesterday I was tired and not wanting to go to work, but its amazing how even a few smiles can change my attitude. Im so glad that I went! Yesterday was 'panty check' in which all the youngest girls (grades Kindergarten-5th) have to bring their underware to be counted to make sure they havn't lost any. Apparently the young children have tendancies to loose their underware so there is a monthly count. It just blew my mind....there were about three girls how had 6 pairs of underware, and all the rest had either 2 or 3 pairs. (the girls with only 2 pair, would hold one pair, because they were wearing their second pair) It was quite a humbling experience....knowing that in my hostel sat more pairs of underware then probablly all of these girls combined--not to mention that there are more at home (I tend to overpack underware...doesn't everyone?) Thats when I decided that at the end of my trip Im donating all of my tshirts, bras and underware to the girls at this school. I dont have enough items of clothes for all the older girls (I need 53--one for each girl) So Im going around and asking my friends if they have a tshirt or shorts to donate. And I think for the younger girl I will give each of them a pencil or something--the pencils that they use are little nubs and they even fight over these--its amazing how little they have!
There is so much more going on in my life--so many more thoughts, feelings, experiences, and everything else that I just don't have time to talk about right now....one of these days Im gonna find a time to just sit for like 4 hours and ATTEMPT to communicate all of my experiences on here. But until then I hope this little ammount of information is sufficient (I say little amount because in comparison to the grand scheme of everything *all my thoughts/feelings/observations* it is just a small proportion) .
I love and miss you, and cannot beleive that in 5 days I will have been here for a month! Its going faster than I wish and Im afraid that in no time I will be coming home not having been able to soak everything up, comprehend it all, or even process what I've experienced. I think about you often and pray for you!
with all my love
rebecca ann