Out and About

Day 6:
India marches to its own schedule, quite unlike New York. This morning we were in traffic for an hour and a half getting to Pappankalan. Traffic was dead stopped at points, and just when we thought we made it to our site, a road was suddenly under construction and cut in half... forcing our driver to drive within the slum street that are usually set for pedestrians and then off road it over a pile of rubble.

Team teaching with Chantelle is really nice, as we sweat it out in our mini-room with the children. At the end of class, I did voice my frustrations to the director (about the lack of resources and her desire that we teach straight out of worksheets), but doubt much will happen to change her and my expectations. I just know that students from this area greatly struggle with listening and speaking skills and want to focus on building this area; however the east favors copying writing straight from the board (even though many of the children cannot read what they wrote, nor can answer a simple question). Oh, well... I will try to do my best.

The girls and I escaped from the compound today, since the afternoon was free. We explored Delhi... although we need to revisit the Lotus Temple because it was closed. Later we drove to Humayan's Tomb, which was extremely beautiful despite the sweltering heat. We drove around the Delhi Gate, which is a fantastic sight to see. We ended our evening at the Delhi Hut, a large outside market place where I tested my bargaining skills by channeling Neil's thriftyness :) I do wish he was here for this, but he has taught me when, and its been so hot that I couldn't be bothered to buy much (although the prices are really cheap).

Tomorrow evening 6 of us are off to Jaipur (for Fri. night and Sat.) and then Agra (on Sunday to hopefully see the Taj Mahal). It's going to be a worldwind tour, but we hired a cab to guide us for the weekend. Hope to have time to write about more adventure on Monday.