Mathru School for the Differently-Abled
Late Monday12/30/2013
I got back to a nice welcome, a nice meal (although I really didn't feel like eating much), and -- finally -- internet access, so I didn't melt down after all. I felt so lousy and tired at the end of my day at the other school that I was at the end of my tether. It's good to be sane again, even if I am sick again.
From the perspective of sanity, today was actually a good day. I only had three students today, ranging in age from 9 to 12, so they were better able to handle the tools, and I had them in the morning and then again after lunch, so they made good progress on their projects. And once again they wanted more time when I announced clean-up time, and asked if I couldn't leave some tools and glue so they could work on their projects between now and Wednesday. l really wished I could.
The stressful part of the day, apart from feeling lousy, was the completely different environment and people. But give me a couple weeks and I'll know the people there and my way around the place better just like I do here.
I wasn't very hungry so didn't eat much lunch today, which seemed to make the staff think I was in danger of perishing from starvation. Muktha brought around a plate of cookies and when I took a small one to be polite she ordered me to take two more. (I took only one more, stuck it in my pocket and later surreptitiously tossed it into the trash can.) The cook came out and asked me what I like to eat, and I told her anything she wanted to make, "but please very very little rice or chappati or xhosas or other breads."
Then she asked me, "I breengpeezsah?"
"I'm sorry, I don't understand," I said apologetically. "Breengpeezah?"
"PEEza."
"Oh, pizza. Oh, no thank you, no need bring pizza,"
"Burrgalar?"
I couldn't help laughing this time, and I understood that she thought I was hungry for American fast food. She was actually prepared to go to the local Domino's Pizza (yes, Domino's has invaded Bangalore) or McDonald's to feed me. "No, no," I said, "I like your food better!"
"No??" I could tell she didn't believe me.
"Really," I said, "your food way better. I not eat today because I don't feel good." I explained that it is true that most Americans do like Domino's and McDonald's, but "it's junk food, not good for you." I have no idea how much of that she understood.
They all speak English here, but the accents are so strong, and the vocabulary is so limited, that for the most part it might as well be a totally foreign language. It really is a struggle for me.
Anyway, after that they asked me if I like fruit, and when I said yes, they brought me a banana. I told them their bananas are way better than the bananas we get in America. They also plied me with hot tea every few minutes, it seemed … they could hear me coughing and sneezing, and could tell my throat was sore, One of the staff even brought me some throat lozenges.
So really … being miffed about lack of internet access does seem rather churlish, doesn't it????
OK, this is all I have energy for, I'm off to bed
Late Monday12/30/2013
I got back to a nice welcome, a nice meal (although I really didn't feel like eating much), and -- finally -- internet access, so I didn't melt down after all. I felt so lousy and tired at the end of my day at the other school that I was at the end of my tether. It's good to be sane again, even if I am sick again.
From the perspective of sanity, today was actually a good day. I only had three students today, ranging in age from 9 to 12, so they were better able to handle the tools, and I had them in the morning and then again after lunch, so they made good progress on their projects. And once again they wanted more time when I announced clean-up time, and asked if I couldn't leave some tools and glue so they could work on their projects between now and Wednesday. l really wished I could.
The stressful part of the day, apart from feeling lousy, was the completely different environment and people. But give me a couple weeks and I'll know the people there and my way around the place better just like I do here.
I wasn't very hungry so didn't eat much lunch today, which seemed to make the staff think I was in danger of perishing from starvation. Muktha brought around a plate of cookies and when I took a small one to be polite she ordered me to take two more. (I took only one more, stuck it in my pocket and later surreptitiously tossed it into the trash can.) The cook came out and asked me what I like to eat, and I told her anything she wanted to make, "but please very very little rice or chappati or xhosas or other breads."
Then she asked me, "I breengpeezsah?"
"I'm sorry, I don't understand," I said apologetically. "Breengpeezah?"
"PEEza."
"Oh, pizza. Oh, no thank you, no need bring pizza,"
"Burrgalar?"
I couldn't help laughing this time, and I understood that she thought I was hungry for American fast food. She was actually prepared to go to the local Domino's Pizza (yes, Domino's has invaded Bangalore) or McDonald's to feed me. "No, no," I said, "I like your food better!"
"No??" I could tell she didn't believe me.
"Really," I said, "your food way better. I not eat today because I don't feel good." I explained that it is true that most Americans do like Domino's and McDonald's, but "it's junk food, not good for you." I have no idea how much of that she understood.
They all speak English here, but the accents are so strong, and the vocabulary is so limited, that for the most part it might as well be a totally foreign language. It really is a struggle for me.
Anyway, after that they asked me if I like fruit, and when I said yes, they brought me a banana. I told them their bananas are way better than the bananas we get in America. They also plied me with hot tea every few minutes, it seemed … they could hear me coughing and sneezing, and could tell my throat was sore, One of the staff even brought me some throat lozenges.
So really … being miffed about lack of internet access does seem rather churlish, doesn't it????
OK, this is all I have energy for, I'm off to bed
RSS Feed