'Tis Eliza
Hey ya.
Well, we are back in Kalimpong. This week the ride down was far less terrifying. In fact, I wasn't scared at all. Definitely getting used to the driving.
I feel like sooooo much has happened since last week.
Well, last Saturday after that entry, we went to the hotel and Jiwan (the manager of Mondochallenge in Kalimpong) wanted to meet us. We had to fill out some form for the registry or something. We had a mini-tour of Kalimpong then went back to Soods.
The next day, we got picked up for another tour from Jiwan's brother, Santa. He has a car... a NICE car with seatbelts and all... and showed us a ton of places. Like a PIZZA place! Legit pizza. We went up to the monastary and to the highest point in Kalimpong. He showed us the hospitals, the banks, etc. Then he drove us back to Kashyem. No jeep ride for us!
The next day was our first day of school. The kids are so cute/great/funny/etc. They have to say "Good morning, sir. Good morning, miss" or "Thank you, sir. Thank you, miss" in response to practically everything.
Our day is like this.... wake up at 6ish. Read/play cards til 7. Get dressed. Have breakfast. Walk to school at about 8:30 with SM's daughter, and 2 neighbors who are SO adorable. I seriously want to keep this little kid Bobel (spelled incorrectly, I'm sure). School starts at 9. We have a class for an hour and fifteen minutes. Then a fifteen minute break when we walk to the store and get a drink. After that, two classes, 45 minutes each. Then a 45 minute lunch break which usually consists of eating lunch and then being dragged to the football (soccer) field against our will. I just watch and Phil "plays." It's better to watch because the little girls come and play with your hair or give you candy.
Then two more classes, 45 minutes each. We leave at 2:15. Walk home. Do whatever til dinner at 7. Sometimes we play with SM's daughter and Bobel (who is always at the house for some reason) and this other boy, who is older. 13 I think. I wish I knew names but they're so hard! Anyway... we were about to watch wrestling last night (they are OBSESSED with the WWF here. And they are convinced it's real! Telling them yesterday that it's pretend was like telling a little kid there's no Santa. They still don't believe it, I think) when the power went out.... so we pretend the blinking light on the headlamp was a strobe light and they did little dances. The CUTEST little dances.... you could never get an American kid to do that. They have all these funny songs with movements. Also, past volunteers have taught them the Beatles and the Spice Girls.
The food situation is much improved. I have pizza to look forward to all week. Also, they have these great noodles which taste just like Ramen. Dinner is a problem. I just can't make myself eat very much rice. I hate it. I have no idea why because it's so bland.... Thinking about it right now is making me ill. Lunch is usually the noodles or crepes (literally French crepes... I think they call them pancakes). Well, I've definitely lost weight already.
Oh I should say the school is split up into 5 grades: KG (kindergarten) is the littlest. We don't have them, sadly, because they don't speak much or any English. Class 1 is 6-8 year olds, Class 2 is 8-9, Class 3 is 9-10, and Class 4 is 10-12. They already so much English, it's hard to figure out what to teach.
I think that's about it.... things are so much better now that we know our routine. The family is REALLY nice, especially SM.
Apparently, there are a bunch of other volunteers in Kalimpong this weekend so we might meet them.
Oh and pets! Ha. No monkeys :( :( :( But those chickens. They are sooooo annoyingggg. And I'm really scared of them. I keep telling Phil "The minute a chicken touches me, I'm going HOME." So far, so good. The family has 2 cats which I have named Ringo and Rooster. Ringo is Rooster's mother and HATES Rooster and it's very sad. Then there is a dog with a huge scar so I named him Scar. Even the daughter is calling him Scar now! Scar is sooo adorable and knows us now. He used to growl when we got home from school and now he runs up to meet us. Sometimes Rooster sleeps on top of Scar. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute.
Woah 2 white people just came in. Legit.
Comment :(
Well, we are back in Kalimpong. This week the ride down was far less terrifying. In fact, I wasn't scared at all. Definitely getting used to the driving.
I feel like sooooo much has happened since last week.
Well, last Saturday after that entry, we went to the hotel and Jiwan (the manager of Mondochallenge in Kalimpong) wanted to meet us. We had to fill out some form for the registry or something. We had a mini-tour of Kalimpong then went back to Soods.
The next day, we got picked up for another tour from Jiwan's brother, Santa. He has a car... a NICE car with seatbelts and all... and showed us a ton of places. Like a PIZZA place! Legit pizza. We went up to the monastary and to the highest point in Kalimpong. He showed us the hospitals, the banks, etc. Then he drove us back to Kashyem. No jeep ride for us!
The next day was our first day of school. The kids are so cute/great/funny/etc. They have to say "Good morning, sir. Good morning, miss" or "Thank you, sir. Thank you, miss" in response to practically everything.
Our day is like this.... wake up at 6ish. Read/play cards til 7. Get dressed. Have breakfast. Walk to school at about 8:30 with SM's daughter, and 2 neighbors who are SO adorable. I seriously want to keep this little kid Bobel (spelled incorrectly, I'm sure). School starts at 9. We have a class for an hour and fifteen minutes. Then a fifteen minute break when we walk to the store and get a drink. After that, two classes, 45 minutes each. Then a 45 minute lunch break which usually consists of eating lunch and then being dragged to the football (soccer) field against our will. I just watch and Phil "plays." It's better to watch because the little girls come and play with your hair or give you candy.
Then two more classes, 45 minutes each. We leave at 2:15. Walk home. Do whatever til dinner at 7. Sometimes we play with SM's daughter and Bobel (who is always at the house for some reason) and this other boy, who is older. 13 I think. I wish I knew names but they're so hard! Anyway... we were about to watch wrestling last night (they are OBSESSED with the WWF here. And they are convinced it's real! Telling them yesterday that it's pretend was like telling a little kid there's no Santa. They still don't believe it, I think) when the power went out.... so we pretend the blinking light on the headlamp was a strobe light and they did little dances. The CUTEST little dances.... you could never get an American kid to do that. They have all these funny songs with movements. Also, past volunteers have taught them the Beatles and the Spice Girls.
The food situation is much improved. I have pizza to look forward to all week. Also, they have these great noodles which taste just like Ramen. Dinner is a problem. I just can't make myself eat very much rice. I hate it. I have no idea why because it's so bland.... Thinking about it right now is making me ill. Lunch is usually the noodles or crepes (literally French crepes... I think they call them pancakes). Well, I've definitely lost weight already.
Oh I should say the school is split up into 5 grades: KG (kindergarten) is the littlest. We don't have them, sadly, because they don't speak much or any English. Class 1 is 6-8 year olds, Class 2 is 8-9, Class 3 is 9-10, and Class 4 is 10-12. They already so much English, it's hard to figure out what to teach.
I think that's about it.... things are so much better now that we know our routine. The family is REALLY nice, especially SM.
Apparently, there are a bunch of other volunteers in Kalimpong this weekend so we might meet them.
Oh and pets! Ha. No monkeys :( :( :( But those chickens. They are sooooo annoyingggg. And I'm really scared of them. I keep telling Phil "The minute a chicken touches me, I'm going HOME." So far, so good. The family has 2 cats which I have named Ringo and Rooster. Ringo is Rooster's mother and HATES Rooster and it's very sad. Then there is a dog with a huge scar so I named him Scar. Even the daughter is calling him Scar now! Scar is sooo adorable and knows us now. He used to growl when we got home from school and now he runs up to meet us. Sometimes Rooster sleeps on top of Scar. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute.
Woah 2 white people just came in. Legit.
Comment :(
posted by Eliza and Phil at 9:32 AM
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