HOLIDAY!!

The weather this morning was unbearably cold and foggy. Even with multiple layers, I was still freezing my ass off. And then you have the kids who essentially just wear a sweatshirt over their t-shirt and gloves - some don't even wear socks. 

Because of the insane cold, the teachers decided to give the kids a holiday. This meant that they didn't have to do their morning prayer and were given permission to watch a movie on the TV. They ended up choosing 'Winner,' which is originally a Telugu Sundeep Kishan film (i.e. 'A1 Express') that the kids watched in Hindi. 

The kids supposedly watched this film 4-5 times already. I was shook! They also were shocked when they learned that I watch Hindi and Telugu films because when they learned that I grew up in the U.S., they assumed that I only listen to and watch English songs and movies. This experience has taught me that I've taken a lot of things for granted. For example, watching a movie in a movie theatre with the recliners and the popcorn in my hands is not something that these boys have access to. 

I also taught another English class today. It was a bit of a struggle because I could see that the kids were restless, so I didn't want to lecture them and take more energy out of them. Thus, since they were all mesmerized by my laptop, I played an English cartoon for them and paused after every major sentence and made them explain the meaning to me. Then, they all begged me to play a Hindi cartoon, so I complied as this is my last English class. After that class, I had greater appreciation for elementary school teachers. They must have a ton of patience and social energy to ensure that every child is paying attention and gaining the most out of the class. 

During the boys' play time today, I beat two of the older kids in Badminton and boasted about it to all the other kids 😎. I now have bets with multiple children for Badminton challenges tomorrow, so I better not lose my dignity and win at all costs. 

After play time, I attended the meditation and chatted more with a few of the older kids. They attempted to translate the teacher's Hindi to English for me as I attempted to translate my English to Hindi for them. Being surrounded by people who I can't easily communicate with is a bit of a struggle and I found that it does drain me a lot more easily because my brain is always on trying to interpret what the boys are telling me. 

After meditation, I was dragged to the children's computer class, where they learned how to use the Microsoft paint feature, which they are amused by. After that 10 minute lecture and demonstration, the teacher played 2 cartoons on the projector and then class was over! 

During dinner, I stood with a plate of food as I heard 'Didi! Didi! Didi! Didi!' from all different directions of the dining hall. A bunch of the boys were yelling at me and pointing to the seat next to them, signaling me to come sit next to them. I enjoyed that 1 minute of attention and loved that I'm able to connect with these children 🙈

Tomorrow, I have a lot planned for the boys surrounding emotional wellbeing. I am both excited and nervous to execute these ideas because I don't know which method would be the most beneficial and how the language barrier would impact the objectives. Overall, day 3 was super fun and wholesome. I got closer with many of the boys and I am still astonished with the amount of love they have to give 🥺