Day 26

Allie and I kicked butt yesterday.

We walked into the orphanage confident and with our game faces on, determined to not let our class walk all over us again or allow Jaswant and Cheats to take control. No more smiling and laughing and easy worksheets. No more memory game and definitely no more dominoes. Between the hours of 5 and 7 o'clock, this was OUR class and it was going to remain that way until August fourth.

First we split the kids up into two groups. I took Cheats, Dalu, Pratap, and Savanah for a more advanced lesson and Allie took the rest for a lesson concentrated on the basics. We went to completely different areas of the orphanage where Cheats and Jaswant couldn't even make eye contact. The focused lesson and smaller class size allowed for nothing to get by us. If one kid stole another's pencil, we noticed. If one was acting out, we scolded him in Hindi. Because the boys were being held more responsible for their actions, they were less likely to make jokes more likely to participate in the lesson without complaint. I think we are beginning to earn more of their respect.

… Two more weeks and two more days of lesson planning…. We got this…

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to test whether our method could hold up tonight. The monsoon came again, flooding the orphanage and canceling classes.

For some reason, the monsoon likes to come when Ariana, Allie, and I are on the opposite side of town. Ariana, Allie, and I were just leaving Udai Koti when it started sprinkling. We are fortunate it didn't start raining while we were swimming, but it made for a very wet and muddy ride home. Udai Koti is a hotel on the opposite side of the lake as Hothepole. It has a pool on the roof surrounded my tall carved marble pillars and overlooks the lake. It has white leather cushions to recline in, large fluffy towels, and the most sparkling blue water you can imagine. The staff waited on us hand and foot, bringing us rose water lemonade as a welcome drink, then a lunch and cocktail menu. It was such a hot sunny day, and it felt so good to relax in the cool pool in between classes. We felt refreshed and rejuvenated…. well until the monsoon… Then , we felt grimy and covered in sewage water.

We were in a rickshaw about ten minutes away from home when the monsoon started to intensify. We passed the old naked man who was walking through the rain desperately trying to hold up what little pants he did have. I was on the lucky side of the rickshaw that got the rain blowing directly into my face as well as the water splashing up from the tires of other vehicles. One truck in particular decided to be real nice and spin his tires through the river that was building in the street….

….. You know those amusement park log rides where you can stand on the bridge just as the log reaches the bottom and get splashed by a forty foot wave….

That is what this felt like… only with water from the street people and animals alike defecate on on a daily basis. I could see the brown water headed for my face, but it happened too fast. There was no where to run in the tiny rickshaw…

so I went swimming for a second time today….