A Good Week

Today is the end of our first official week as Global Volunteers in Chennai, India and what a week it has been.  The culture that seemed so overwhelming when we first arrived is starting to feel like the norm. The group working at Assisi School successfully taught the children hand washing and are working on the ABC’s,  hoping in will start to sink in next week. The children are getting to know us and we are greeted with hugs and kisses when we come through the gate each morning. The group working at Christ King School worked on sentence structure and identifying nouns, verbs and adjectives. The students each put together a book from a story they wrote and decorated it with seeds. They also did a science expariment with seeds in rubber gloves hoping to sprout tomatoes and radishes. They will be eager to see what sprouts await them when they return on monday. We went into the city in the afternoon and browsed the local fair trade market. Artisan work from all over India including wood carvings, silk paintings and hand painted elephants. The evening was again spent at Seams orphanage where we had game night and after some schedule conflicts and computer glitches we had out first computer lesson! All of the children seem to be becoming more comfortable with the volunteers and light up each time we arrive. On our walk home we purchases coconuts from the woman with the cart who sits outside the gates of Seams school. Staying hydrated is very important here in Chennai and we are all grateful to try something new. We also bought flowers from the local vendor we pass nightly,  sweet jasmine, which fills the Guest House with a wonderful fragrance. We are all getting more comfortable with each other and our surroundings and the Guest House where we hang out hats at the end of each day is feeling more like home. Our hosts Stephen and Sheeba have been so gracious in helping us navigate through the Indian culture and the busy city that surrounds us, and fill our bellies with amazing Indian cuisine daily! Tomorrow we head out bright and early for a weekend excursion to Kanchipuram, the location of some of the oldest temples in all of India. Then down to Pondicherry, an old French Colony along the southern Coast of India. It is sure to be a great adventure with wonderful companions. It is hard to believe our first week here in India is over but anxiously await to see what next week has in store!

Erica