Kindergarten smiles

Wait. Am I the principal here? Of children? In India? It still often occurs to me as a bizarre twist of events!

Elephant rodeo

Oxymoron (noun): single subject photography at Rising Star; the art of taking a picture of only one child at Rising Star, without a myriad of others vying for camera attention

Actually, I did succeed in single shots here, but the others were literally waiting in line for their turn.

Here's Moorthy...


...and Ragu...

...and Vignesh.

Dear Amelia

My eleven-year-old niece, Amelia, is studying a unit on India in school. And she's wondering what tidbits of information I might have for her class. Well, dear Amelia, let me begin with a list of some of the ways life here is different than in Denver.

Our kids...

have never seen snow or been sledding or skiing.
have never been to the mall.
have never been to the grocery store (food is sold on the sidewalk, in little booths, and in kiosks).
have never seen a strawberry.
have never slept in a bed.
have never seen toilet paper.
have never worn a jacket.
have never used a seat belt.
have never owned a swimming suit or been swimming.
have never eaten pizza.
have never blown out birthday candles.
have never used a knife, fork, or spoon.
have never been to the dentist's office.
have never seen broccoli or lettuce.
have never been in a car.


On the other hand, kids in rural southern India get to...

 hang out with monkeys

wash and lay out their clothes

drink water buffalo milk

buy fruit and flowers from vendors like this

use "squatty" toilets

eat with their hands

and sleep on the floor

"Here we suffer from English"

No, this picture is not a joke. This is one of the certificates that a prospective English teacher handed me during his interview this week. I finagled a way into having him wait in the library while I snapped a quick shot.

One of my major challenges is finding proper teachers for our school. All of the interviewees so far have been, let's say, a one out of ten. My favorite was the proud holder of an MA in English who was incapable of reading and explaining to me a page from Arthur and D.W. (that's what I happened to have handy).

We then struck the brilliant idea of visiting a local teachers' college and asking for the names of the top students. When I explained to the staff that I was seeking an excellent English speaker, I was told, "Madam, this is rural. Here we suffer from English."

Just me hugging Gandhi's leg

Just me not hugging Lakshmi the elephant's trunk. I considered it, but in real life those things are hairy, slimy, and smelly!

Thank you, Justin and Dina!

Old Delhi

I tagged along with two other volunteers on a quick weekend trip to Delhi.

It actually began here (see picture below), where I spent the night before the trip. Yes, Virginia, there is a swimming pool in India! Although I was slightly weirded out by the drastic, to say the least, socioeconomic contrast with my usual surroundings. A friend of a friend's house in Chennai; they weren't there so it was just me, the guards, and the maids. 

My travel companions in the autorickshaw:

Not my travel companions:

Scenes from the Spice Market:

I wonder how his mother sends him off to school in the morning. "Good-bye, son, and remember not to fall off the bus!"??

And finally, the one and only, breathtaking, awe-inspiring, knock-your-socks-off Taj Mahal.