Threading a needle
I have.
On Friday afternoon, Fawn and I departed on a weekend adventure. We replaced responsibility and lesson planning with the beach and fruit smoothies. After school we hopped in a tuk-tuk and headed to Enakulum station. Now, Melbourne Central is pretty crazy at peak hour, but nothing could have prepared me for the hustle and bustle of Friday afternoon at an Indian train station. There were lines, here, there, for tickets, for information. Notice boards informed us of the types of concession: widow, girls and boys scouts. People crossed the tracks haphazardly to get to their platform. Everyone was going somewhere, and nobody was still.
We got in a line. Please can I have two first class seats to Varkala? No. Standard only. Ummm... ok? We parted with roughly a dollar a piece and joined another line to find out what platform we had to wait at. 4.
As we sat there trains came and went, people came and went. The trains here are giants. The huge metal carriages almost lop toward the platform, jolting to a stop. The engine rumbles as dozens of people jump on and off. Push and shove. Never a sorry, thank you, excuse me, just an assumption that you need to go, and so do I and the quicker the better. A crazy system, but it works.
Our train arrives. We jump on. We find a seat and smush on. My bottom is only 3/4 on, and its hot. The fans go full blast and everyone stares. But with time the heat feels normal and people stop staring. Hours pass and the sun falls to the horizon, a bright amber ball against the smoggy sky as smoke rises from the burning of garbage. We cross rice fields, past cows as they craze and rivers flowing. People come and go and eventually we move to a window seat and welcome the breeze of the cooler evening air.
Chai! Chai! Chai! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Dosa masala! Dosa masala! Dosa masala! Food vendors roam the aisles with various goods. The chai is amazing (I should know- I had 4), and dosa masala filling.
A young man comes and sits next to me. He is inquisitive, do you have a boyfriend? Do you like Indian guys? Can I draw you? All the while he is basically sitting on my leg. I scooch closer to Fawn, he rests his elbow on my hip while chatting about cricket with Fawn. They joke, Australia is good at cricket, India too, who won? Australia of course.
I'm writing letters and at one point I hear him tell Fawn she looks like Ricky Ponting (the Australian cricket captain). I nearly die of laughter, not long after he tells her he likes her face. Finally arrive to our destination. Following our instructions we take a tuk-tuk to our hotel, Little Tibet (great basic, friendly accommodation if you are ever in the area!). Ironically the tuk-tuk ride, all of 10 minutes costs the same as out 4.5 hour train trip.
We arrive, collapse on our giant bed, and the next morning wake to the sound of the sea. After a traditional Tibetan breakfast we head to the beach (there is a huge northern Indian population in Varkala, these people look Tibetan and have similar mannerisms). Fawn sun bakes as I hide under an umbrella.
The waves are strong but the water is that perfect temperature. Enough to cool your skin as the day's heat builds, but warm enough to welcome you as you dive in. Its the Arabian sea, and being in the ocean again makes me calm and still. I feel at home again.
Fawn treats us to a nice massage, manicure and pedicure. 7 oils are rubbed everywhere and I giggle and relax. We again crash into bed. And this morning, woke to the sound of the sea. It was hotter today, and we roamed the shops and after a delightful lunch made our way to the train station.
Today's train ride home was just as enjoyable. We found a seat and as time went on worked our way to a window seat. A family came and sat with us, two girls and a mother. One of the girls turned 12 today. Fawn shared stories and photos of loved ones from home. This is my mother, this is my nefew. They showed us photos of their brother and their goat. We bid farewell at their stop. Happy birthday!
I wrote letters and sewed (a little project I've been meaning to do). Its not easy to sew (accurately at least) on a moving train, let alone while food vendors stalk the aisle as you sit half on half off of a sold semi-cusioned seat, sweating in the heat. But if ever asked, yes, I have threaded a needle while on a train... in India.
The time passed quickly as Fawn and I shared a little seat by the window. We arrived at Enakulum, got a tuk-tuk back to Fort Kochi, and just now I planned my lessons for tomorrow.
Thank you to Fawn for such a lovely weekend away. It was nice to get to know you a little better, share stories and jokes. You are really, the most Australian person I've ever met, and a delight to share my first Indian train journey experience with. Keep it real Fawney. If you ever forget, you look at your toe ring ok?
Back to school.
We are going to start our day with the daily routine and a brief english lesson on the letter C. What words do you know that start with the letter C? What words do you know that include the letter C?
On Friday I started another little routine to encourage spelling practice and taking pride in the way your writing looks. Now in front of each of my 6 kids is taped an A4 colourful, lined, laminated sheet for them to practice their writing. And each lesson I hand out a labelled (and colour coded to their coloured sheet) pencil- explaining that its best to write in pencil to practice, ruler- best to underline important things like the date and title of each task and board marker- to practice writing on their own personalised little laminated writing boards!
And at the end of each lesson I collect in these three from each kid, to show that respect for teaching materials is important. And they LOVE it. They love the routine. They love their little laminated sheets. They love their board markers. They love the fact that its all labelled and colour coded.
What do we do after verb of the day? WORD OF THE DAY! they say in perfect, enthusiastic unison. What happens after lunch? READING TIME! again in unison.
And the concentration on their faces as they use their sheets to practice spelling caterpillar a dozen times is just precious. And no joke, their handwriting is looking better, they are writing more slowly and carefully and they are chewing threw new vocabulary.
So tomorrow, Monday, the beginning of my final week, I am going to take them on a scientific adventure. We are going to grow our own plants. We are going to plant our seeds, put some in good conditions, others in bad, and see what happens. Its an excuse to get out of the stuffy classroom which we share with the other 17 Manipur kids and their GVI volunteer teachers, and a class of roughly 40 little 7 year old local kids and their local teacher.
Its a chance to teach them about things they see everyday and about the joys of seeing something change and grow.
So, wish me luck. I hope as a class we can nurture these little green bean seeds to life, and in doing so nurture these kids love and appreciation for nature and learning.
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