Settling

It's official...we're finally settling. Tonight when I got ready for bed, I felt like I had a routine. Our morning routine is pretty set. We're getting to know lots more names, we're both in our offices and getting (slowly for me, quick for Chris!) to work...and our house is starting to feel kind of homey. It feels SO good!

I've realized some things about myself during this transition. First, I'm less internally adventurous than I imagine myself to be. I LOVE having a cozy home, having certain comforts, having stable relationships and routines that I can count on day-to-day. Second, I think those "grounding" elements of life are what allow me to become adventurous! At first I felt a little frustrated with myself that I couldn't totally adapt to this new culture completely (we got a washer/dryer instead of going to a dhobi, I'm not totally sold on the clothes, I can't get used to not making eye contact with people I pass...), but as things get more and more solid at our new "home", I'm more and more able to embrace the cultural differences that surround us.

Tomorrow some friends and I are hiking (almost all the way) to the nearest "big" town: Dehra Dun. It's the place people go to do bigger shopping when they don't want to go all the way to Delhi. Most people are taking taxis (which, of course, would probably be much smarter!), but a few of us felt like hiking, so we're heading out at 6 AM. Good morning India!

We'll actually end up hiking to Rajpur, which is a village that has a leprosy colony in/near it. Apparently, they weave BEAUTIFUL rugs and fabrics, so I'm really excited to make this trip. When I first heard of the colony I felt some shock...leprosy still exists?! It's a really good reminder of all the things that we as Americans take for granted. Polio, leprosy, typhoid, rabies...things that we don't give a second thought to in the states are all very real threats here. (don't worry mom, we're being really careful!)

And after Rajpur we'll head in to Dehra Dun and hit some fun places. :) YAY!

My Shopping List:

- LOTS of rugs!
- LOTS of fabric (for curtains, shower curtain, table clothes, table runners...
makes the house cozy)
- 4-5 Lamps
- 3 Paper lanters (to cover the ugly hanging bulbs!)
- Curtain Rods
- Hangable shelving
- Baskets
- Shelf Liner (we'll see if this is actually available!)
- Wall Hangings/Art
- Mix 'n' Match Outfits
- 1 Sari
- Cleaning Supplies
- Scented Candles
- Air Freshener
- 2 Hot Water Bottles
- Needle/Thread
- Hammer/Nails
- Tape Measure
- Drain Plug
- Soap holders
- Space Heater
- Wireless Internet Service

It'll be interesting to see if we actually make it to our destination...I'll let you know how the day goes!

Dreamers...butterfly chasers...star gazers

Today was an interesting day. This evening our first "home-maker" items came (some curtains I had made were delivered!), and we had a GREAT dessert-fest with all the people that live close to us. BUT, my day was consumed with an ADHD All-Day Presentation.

Although it was long and (at times) boring, the information was of special interest to me. At my last job I had a boy who became very dear to my heart, who was diagnosed with ADHD. His quirky actions and the way his mind just raced ended up being really neat, so I would say I now have a soft spot for students with this diagnosis. There were some fun things I wanted to share from the workshop!

First: Funny Quotes/Sayings (these have nothing to do with the lecture content, I just thought they were funny!)
1. Go suck a toffee
2. They lose things like pencils and rubbers
3. They seem allergic to chairs
4. Hormonal dancing
5. He's a complex cocktail
6. Dreamer, butterfly chaser, star gazer
7. Made window gazing an art

Second: Favorite Things I Will Take Away
1. PQ = Playfulness Quotient. MUCH more important than IQ! Definitely a goal to have a high PQ as this school year begins. :)
2. "It is not that he did not have the focus...it's that we couldn't give him a worthy cause to focus on." This was written in an apology letter to Michael Phelps from one of his middle school teachers. He was apologizing for not recognizing and helping to focus his amazing focus back then...instead, he classified him as lazy and unmotivated. HA!

Third: Personal Reflections
There were three areas of impairment that a student diagnosed with ADHD has to have:
1. Attention
2. Hyperactivity
3. Impulsivity

After hearing the definitions of each term, I'm fairly certain that I don't have attention of hyperactivity impairments. However, I DEFINITELY have issues with impulsivity! Here are some actions identified in persons with an impulsivity impairment.

- Not good at waiting
- Wants things now
- 2 kinds of time: Now or Not Now
- Lots of excitement: not much "stick-to-itiveness"
- Respond first, think later
- Talk before you think
- Easily bored/frustrated
- Gravitates towards high risk behavior

I felt like EVERY one of those bullets describes me to a T. Hmm...wonder what that means?!

Fourth: Personality Reflections
They presented some studies on different "intelligences" (kind of like Gardner's multiple intelligent theories, but a little wider range), and I thought it was interesting! Each of the following areas should be numbered from 1-10, (1=skill is non-existent, 10=perfectly skilled). These things are to me...not really sure where I'd put myself!

1. Attention
2. Memory
3. Language
4. Spatial
5. Sequential
6. Motor
7. Higher-Thinking
8. Social-Thinking
9. Naturalist
10. Bodily Kinesthetic
11. Mathetmatical
12. Intrapersonal
13. Interpersonal
14. Musical
15. Verbal

Fifth: The Flawed System
Like most things in life, the educational system is flawed. The group got into a really interesting debate toward the end of the day when medication was brought up. We spent the ENTIRE day talking about how bright these students are, how they're "sparkling", and "brilliant", they'll be the Einsteins of the world, and how we shouldn't "pigeon-hole" them. THEN, they started talking about what medications were available to these students so that they could function more "normally." Itwas a very frustrating paradox.

The discussion basically outlined that, since we teach in a flawed system, it may be (unfortunately), necessary to put some students on medication. As a last result...and after everything else has been tried...but if they're to succeed in this world, they may just need to be medicated! It felt frustrating to come to that conclusion, and I think a good group of us left feeling very passionately about providing opportunities to students with attention disorders.

<>>

___________________________________________________________

FUN TIMES:
***At supper tonight I met 2 girls that will be in my 5th grade general music class. And, we had so much fun! They were excited to come to class, and I'm excited to teach them in class!

***As of today, I am the new Varsity Girls Cross-Country Coach! I'm SUPER excited about it, although I quickly realized that I'd better start doing some hard-core working out, if I'm going to be able to coach without feeling like a hypocrite. Hmmm....should be interesting!

Pics by Rachel

This isn't about India (and is the 2nd blog today!), but these pictures haven't made it yet, and they definitely need to. :) Rachel took cute couple pictures of us 3 days before we left...and they're awesome! Thanks Rach!

About Work

So, work has officially begun. I'm beginning to understand (or at least recognize) that there will definitely be a pull between my "kid side" wanting to trek all over the mountainside, and my "adult side" loving to teach (and of course, all the responsibilities that come with that!).

This week has been/is filled with meetings about the upcoming year. All are necessary and important, but unfortunately, the "all" takes up most of our time! My official teaching assignment is Elementary (K-5) General Music, Middle School Choir, and Piano Lessons. I feel totally fine about piano lessons and middle school choir, but general music makes me NERVOUS!

I think I've at least outlined the VERY basic focuses that I want to use throughout the year, so now I'm breaking it down into smaller units and activities. I KNOW it'll be fun when I get it, but I feel confused ALL THE TIME about what I'm doing! Thankfully, my office is now MUCH more manageable. I'd even say it's kind of cute. :)

On a "fun", "personal" note, the painter guy came today! I picked out paint colors, and by this time next week, 4 of our rooms will have colors. YAY! Definitely excited for a little pick-me-up in the house!

The Little Things...in India!

I decided that since my blog was titled, "The Little Things", I should share some of the little things about our lives that are different, now that we're in India. :)

How we get clean water!

Hanging lightbulbs are everywhere.

Voltage regulator, on major appliances and other things you don't want to blow up!

Our broom!

Our stove/oven put together

Shingles!

Coolies...a.k.a. delivery men (w/o a truck!)

We got a washer, which ROCKS! But, it's semi-automatic...spin cycle is separate.

Hot water heater for our shower.

How the doors shut. How ALL the doors shut.

Shelf liner = last week's paper

Plugs and light switches. :)

Our First Fun hike!

These are all out of order, but some of the pictures that I took on first group hike! Chris wasn't feeling well this day (sad...he's all better now!), so he didn't end up going, but we took a 10km hike down the road, and kind of got our bearings as to what's around us. Here you go!

Me and Laura...a real sweetie. :)

Crazy Dave...he grew up on a dairy farm, and apparently loves cows!

Steve and Laura eating PB and J when we stopped for lunch

Just a fun picture...we stopped for lunch at a Chai shop on the side of the road, and there was a milk man that lived next door.

Love doors. :)

Laundry hanging out to dry...so colorful!

We were hanging out at the Chai shop, and a big group of high schoolers from Ireland walk up out of this valley! They'd been staying on Woodstock property, and doing community service at some villages around. It was a really fun moment. :)

No one lived here any more, but this is a typical house that someone would live in.

There are pumps all along the road for people to drink from. They couldn't get it working...but we couldn't have drank from it anyway. :)

A beautiful view. :)
This is actually taken of the valleys on the other side of our hill...on a clear day,
you can see the snow-covered Himalayans!

A Hindu temple along the side of the road.

Our hiking partners!

The group. :)

A small cantonment (settlement) along the way.

We liked this sign..."Caution, Woodstock School". Probably not what your original impression makes you think, but we thought it was funny. Yay for new friends and fun hikes!

Cute Kiddies...

Now that the overall "this is our life" posts are done with, I'm happy to announce that I'll be starting to blog our regular daily lives! And can I just say, our lives here have been AWESOME so far. This place lends itself to being physically active, and every day so far I've done something to try and acclimate myself to the new altitude and climate more quickly. This last Wednesday, we decided to play ultimate frisbee!

Just so you know, the only "field" is at the VERY BOTTOM of the campus, so we had to trek. And when we got there, no one else showed up. :( UNTIL...

KIDS! About 15 employee kids just randomly started migrating toward the loud noises, and before we knew it, we had a great game going! (Note: "staff" refers to the salaried, more academic workers, and "employee" here refers to janitors, food workers, etc.). So, under normal circumstances we won't have much interaction with these kids. This day, though, we definitely did!

With our new friends Laura and Steve. :)

#3 of 3: Our New Home!

This is a shorter post, and I decided to not include the people we've met or the school yet, since I have yet to really understand what our lives will look like on a daily basis. SO, here are some pictures of our house! We were a tad big "underwhelmed" when we first saw it, but it's growing on us, and we'll soon make it much cuter. :)



Our bathroom

Bedroom...a hard bed, but it's a bed!

Our kitchen! It also doubles as a bowling alley on Friday nights. :)

The school set out the basic necessities that we'd need for when we came. Very welcoming!

One side of our living room

We have a screened-in porch!

The "guest bedroom"...not so cute yet, but it'll get there!

Another view of our living room, looking out to the guest room/porch.

The main part of the living room.

#2 of 3: India

Wow, India. One of the first thing people said when they found out we were going to India was, "You know what India stands for, don't you? I'd Never Do It Again." After being here for a week, I guess I can understand how they'd say that! Let me clarify: how they'd say that on first impression. After you get over the sensory overload and culture shock, you realize that India is a BEAUTIFUL culture, filled with depth and rich experiences and wisdom. Instead of journaling about India, I'm just going to give you some sensory experiences we've had so far.

Sight

1. Our first experience of the Indian culture were the stewardesses, who all wear matching saris as their official dress. Beautiful!

2. We quickly observed that Indian people dress up to travel. We felt a little out of place in our sweatpants and t-shirts!

3. My first visual overload in the actual country of India came in the form of trash...and trash, and trash, and more trash! There's no such thing as a garbage can, and it doesn't seem to faze anyone!

4. The power lines. A picture says a thousand words.

5. A shocking site was seeing all the naked kids in Delhi. I saw one little naked boy (probably around 3 years old) running down the median of a 6-lane highway...no parent in site.

6. Monkeys are EVERYWHERE! It's actually kind of scary, because they've been known to attack people...one of them actually ran after our friend Laura. The key is indifference, don't look them in the eye (which is why there are no pictures yet!)

7. The homeless or less fortunate people just lay anywhere they can, and no one pays them any mind. It was a shock to us, but the locals didn't bat an eye.

8. The women's outfits are BEAUTIFUL! So many colors, so ornate, so pretty. Even very poor women have a beautiful outfit. They may only have one, but it's beautiful!

9. The view on our walk to school is SPECTACULAR. Truly breathtaking!

10. It's totally normal to see a cow walking down the middle of the street, surrounded by cars and motorcycles.

Smell
1. You would be surprised by how gross a place can smell when it's chronically moldy.

2. There is monkey poop and cow poop and dog poop everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE (including the cuff of my pant leg!).

3. The Delhi airport SMELLED! The Delhi streets SMELLED! The Centaur Hotel SMELLED! But once you get past the initial shock, you realize that the smells aren't necessarily bad. One person commended that they felt they had never really used their sense of smell before coming here...the smells here are so rich!

4. You quickly learn to carry deodorant with you, and forgive body odor smells from your colleagues. We just all sweat, multiple times during the day from the walks at school!

5. The air around Woodstock is that crisp, clean mountain air...like an air freshener, but real!

Taste

1. The Indian food is really different, but actually really good! We found that there are many different types of curry, so even though all the food is spicy it's not all the same taste.

2. We went to a Pizza Hut in Dehran Dun, and a cute coffee shop in Mussoorie. I'm a little shocked at the things that are available here, I didn't quite expect it.

3. Mutton is goat in India (and used often), and the milk is definitely not cow milk...we haven't dared ask.

4. All fresh fruits and vegetables are OFF LIMITS if you can't peel them. Once we get settled we'll be able to eat more fresh produce...but only AFTER soaking them in water filled with potassium crystals.

5. Mango...need I say more?!

Touch

1. First, everything is HOT in Delhi. You sweat through your clothes sitting in the taxi, your pants stick to your legs, and your hair quickly goes into a ponytail.

2. Second, everything is WET in Mussoorie. There's something special about crawling into damp sheets or putting on a damp shirt. And, monsoons have barely begun! It pours every night, but our days have been surprisingly rain free. Not for long!

3. My favorite touch so far has been the hugs I've gotten from our new friends, which came when I decided to break down and cry after breakfast on Monday. Good touches!

4. This isn't a "me" touch, but we quickly noticed men holding hands or walking with their arms around each others waists. Apparently, it's completely normal for men to show their affection to friends in this physical way. Different than the West!

Sound

1. The horns in India are a language unto their own. We quickly discovered that honking is actually a kindness....if someone doesn't see you in their blind spot, it's your fault because you didn't honk to let them know you were there!

2. I was reading my Bible on our porch yesterday morning, and heard what sounded like human footsteps running across our tin roof. A few seconds later, a languor monkey crawled onto our gutter, not 3 feet away from where I was sitting. Since then, I don't wonder what's on the roof...I know it's the monkey pacing back and forth.

3. Every night there are big, thundering rainstorms! It's very exciting, and has helped to fill the jet lagged sleepless hours.

4. The accents here have been quite difficult at times...I have to ask people to repeat their names three or four times, "very slowly please!"

5. The locusts here are deafening!

6. We keep hearing these "horror" stories of people falling off the road, and of seeing big scorpions and spiders...I've decided I can wait to have those experiences!

Other Experiences

1. Tuesday morning we had 2 ayahs, 2 phones calls, a fellow Woodstock worker and the bread guy stop by before 8:30 Am. Definitely different than living in Iowa!

2. Laundry is proving to be quite a quandary here. Since it's so humid, NOTHING DRIES! And, washer/dryers are considered luxury items, definitely not normal. I hand-washed some clothes two days ago, and they're still WET...not damp, WET!

3. Ayahs are maid-servants that most of the staff hire to do household chores. It's been confusing, but we'll probably hire someone to do general cleaning and laundry/ironing...probably for two days a week.

4. The Bazaar was SUCH an interesting experience! The shops are all connected, and are often little more than a hole in the wall. We saw cobblers, tailors, electricians, grocers, hotels, restaurants, a Hindu temple, you name it! The most interesting part is that there is NO order to the chaos in these stores. Basically, you just rummage around the shelves until you find something you want.

5. To get clothes is a very interesting process. You can buy things at bigger stores that are pre-made, but not in Mussoorie...so if we want to get some shirts or pants, we go to a fabric guy, pick out the fabric you want, and bring it to the tailor. You explain what you want, he draws a pictures, and it's ready in a week and a half or so. It's actually really neat, everything is so personal, and ou get to know people really fast!

6. The Bread Guy: is SO cool! He knocked on our door Monday morning and invited us to see his "box" of breads...he had probably 20 loaves of freshly baked bread, and bags of all different kinds of cookies. We bought a loaf of bread for 30 rupees (about 75 cents!), and a bag of cookies for 40 rupees. He also let us know that we can special order cinnamon bread, cinnamon buns, garlic bread, etc. etc. whenever we want. How cool!

Neat Pictures

(cows along our train ride...the cows here are holy, so they can go wherever they want, but no one really takes care of them, so their ribs are always showing)

(a man picking up garbage on the train tracks...lots of little jobs to keep people employed)

(a sweet looking old dude!)

(a sign on the train station...I felt thankful that I had someone taking us to Woodstock!)

(from January to April, a certain religion sends it's young men on a pilgrimmage to pick up water from it's holy river. This is what the men carried to bring the water home...and there would be hundreds of them in a row! It was really neat)

(a beggar sitting on a public bench)

(women walking right next to our train...dressed beautifully as always!)

(the VERY crazy traffic in Delhi)

(a guy sleeping at the train station...surrounded by men working and lots of activity)

(an all around sweet picture!)