ONE MONTH

Exactly one month ago I left Helena, MT to come to my next big adventure and life experience in Kodaikanal, India; a place that has been called on many occasions “India Light”. The town is now beginning to get more and more crowded with tourists and lately I have been seeing a lot of white people. I am starting to get to know the town a bit better and venturing into new places, stores, and restaurants. I am starting to get anxious for a little adventure and soon there will be one.

Last week was great and I had a few new and fun things happen to me. I have met more new people. There are these two girls from the East of US that we had dinner with on Thursday night at “Tibs” (a Tibetan place). One of the girls is staying for only three weeks and the other, Kate, is staying all the way to end of May. They aren’t here with the school but doing something with an organization that runs preschools around town and a few other projects. I am excited to get to know the girl who is staying longer because soon she will be living up the road from us. It amazes all the type of people that I have met since being here. There is so much life experiences within each of the people met either by living in multiple countries for a long period of time or people who has lived here for 25 years teaching at the school.

On Friday night I got the chance to hang out with some of my coworkers and friends. A few of us went to a great restaurant and got one of my favorite Indian dishes, dosas. I think I could eat four of those if someone let me. After dinner we headed to my neighbors house and we had snack food and margaritas (well not me-too strong). After some great conversation that was held between old and young, we all circled around a hilarious game of Balderdash. I can’t believe how hard everyone was laughing around me. I mean we were ALL crying about the words that were being used and the definitions that were created. One of my favorites was the word popple, which was defined as “the Pope’s private chambers.” After a long evening of laughter I walked across the porch into my door and crawled right into bed.

The next day was Saturday and I am always nervous that I won’t have anything to do on this day but thankfully I was asked to help chaperone another trip that the National Honor Society was going to take. We left in the morning to go to an orphanage to paint the outside walls. The reason was to freshen up the compound before a big benefit dinner that the owner of the organization of the orphanage is putting on. I had some great conversation with a few of my students about studying abroad, different cultures, working with the orphans, and other things. This is why I am so happy to teach high school age students because I am able to have these deeper conversations. The rest of the day I spent outside in the nice weather talking to my neighbors and relaxing at home reading a book.

On Sunday, I started my day early with talking to my mom and prepping for my first classroom observation. I got most of my work done before church started at 10:30 am. The church I go to is on campus and run by the school. It’s a very interesting mix between many different denominations. There are influences of Methodist, Catholic, and the contemporary church. We sing hymnals but then worship to contemporary music and we have the readings from the Bible just like the Catholic Church (Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel). I really enjoy being at this church and being there with my coworkers and students. Sometimes I get the chance to talk with my students about was learned during service or other spiritual topics.

The rest of my Sunday consisted of going to a different adult Bible Study, shopping around town for groceries, going to the market, grading tests, and reading my book. I am recently reading four different books: Bible, Killing Jesus, Boundaries, and The Railway Bazaar: Trains Throughout Asia.

I have begun teaching full time my own Math class for 10^th grade. This means that I am enjoying my days more and more at the school but have more things to think about/worry about. I have been enjoying staying in touch with friends and family since being here. I have also been busy planning my trip with my dad in March. This weekend I am looking forward to going down to the plains to the city called Coimbatore. I will be going with friends and we will be shopping! I can’t wait to show you all of my Indian outfits! I hope you all have a great week!