My first teaching day

I have finally started teaching today! I've met two of my three daily classes so far. One is the class in the picture. They are intermediate English speakers so it was fairly easy to have a conversation. They are smart young men and have interesting stories to tell. We spent the lesson telling the story of each of our lives and having others ask questions. This helped us to come up with a list of topics for future classes. Among our next topics will be using a map of Tibet to learn about cities, towns, river, etc., the philosophy of Buddhism and ONE of the students is studying painting pictures on cloth at the temple. We might even take a "field trip" there to see his work.

My other class today was at the small monastery at the other end of town. The monks there speak almost no English but were very earnest and eager to learn. Our first class was learning to introduce ourselves and say a bit about where we're from and where we live. (Most of them have come from Tibet and are living in India to escape the Chinese government's unjust rule of their land their people.

I will have to name these pictures for you as my latest idea for putting captions on each when I took them from my camera to My Pictures did NOT work. Next time, I will upload one pic at a time and give a blurb about it, not rambling on and on about something else and leaving you confused. My apologies for this cyber-challenged blogger's brain!

Starting from top: Children during morning exercises; My intermediate conversation class of very smart students and another English teacher; construction vehicles (these mules are walked to work each morning right under my guest house window; construction site in town (check out the sandals, bamboo poles to hold up the roof and no hard hats!); the view from the town after this morning's rain (breathtaking, eh?).

Hope you're enjoying these posts and pics. If anyone can clue me in on how to caption pictures as I go, I'd love to be "in the know." Till we meet again...Tashi Delek!

First full day in McLeod Ganj

My first full day in McLeod Ganj was exciting and lively. I met with the director of the VolunteerTibet to learn more about the hardships of the Tibetan people. Life has been difficult for those living in Tibet. They are facing persecution by Communist China. Living here in India has also been hard for them.

Most Tibetans speak little or no English or Hindi (one of the six most common languages spoken in India), so finding work is a challenge. Many people here sell handicrafts and have restaurants to make money. The town had only two buildings fifteen years ago. Today it has completely "grown up" into a bustling hill town. Many Indians come here on holiday, so that is a good way for the Tibetans who live here to earn an income. However, many are very poor anyway. (48 Rupees equals one dollar. A tee shirt, for example, costs 130 Rupees!)

A severe thunderstorm cooled and refreshed the air this afternoon. The mountain tops were shrouded in clouds. I visited a temple and watched people from all over India praying as the monks chanted and played musical instruments. After dinner, there was a concert at the Yongling School by a Tibetan musician playing traditional Tibetan music. He explained that Tibetans have learned play their songs for only five minutes like Indians do. In Tibet, they have to celebrate the New Year for more than one month because each song or dance can last for more than one hour!

Manju Ka Tilla

I arrived in Delhi on Thursday night. Hot, noisy and very alive. My driver brought me to the Tara House in Manju Ka Tilla, a Tibetan community outside of Delhi, where I slept soundly for seven hours. After a breakfast of Vegetable Thukpa (a brothy soup with noodles and veggies) and sweet tea, I walked around this very poor town. Dogs, cows, kids and people were out on the narrow streets selling all kinds of goods. The people were friendly and eager to talk to this American. The stories of their escape from Tibet were amazing. These I will share with you as I figure out how to unload pictures from my camera. Hope you're all enjoying the summer holiday so far. It was over 100 degrees in Delhi yesterday and very hot today, even in the mountains!

My Family

I will miss my family very much while I am in India. This photo was taken Saturday evening after heARTS aligned, a rather eclectic graphic arts/music show at the Bread and Jam Cafe in Cohoes.

This photo will help to keep my nearest and dearest close to my heart while I'm gone. See y'all in August!

Middleburgh Elementary School

Here is the fabulous school where I teach terrific second graders. I hope they will "follow" me as I visit India.

Last Day With My Students from MCS

Today is my last day of school for the year. I will miss my second graders who are ready and raring to go on to third grade. I hope you have a very happy summer and can "visit" with me from time to time to catch up on "Where in India is Ms. London now?" Check out the gorgeous view of Vroman's Nose (I'll miss YOU!) from my backyard in Middleburgh.

Prelude

Fourteen short days until I leave for the sub-continent. It's time to slow down and start packing. I'm finding myself excited, sad, scared and over-anxious. Things like finding the right pair of boots, figuring out the best way to carry money, remembering my passport and not overpacking are weighing me down and keeping me awake at night.

Although the trip to my volunteer community will be long, I look forward to the first leg of my journey halfway around the world when I will have nothing left to do but sit back and enjoy the view! Getting ready to go....:)