A visit to the country in India

We spent two nights visiting a feeder school in Issapur. This is as far west as you can go in Delhi. A small, rural farming town where we felt almost at home. The vast countryside reminded me of OK or TX with fields stretching as far as the eye can see. Cattle and sheep graze freely while workers harvest the crops (not sure exactly what that is). The town was very attractive in its own way. The brightly colored homes adorned with decorative gates were stacked on top of one another. In the mornings we'd enjoy a cup of coffee while watching the peacocks fly from rooftop to rooftop and occasional see one of the male birds "dancing". We stayed with a teacher named Antony, along with his wife Shanti and daughter Neci. They are a wonderful family and I can't begin to describe there excessively generous hospitality. Their house is nestled between the PE teacher Raja's apt that he shares with two other teachers and Siri, another teacher.

Pictured left to right: Raja, Siri, me, Antony and Neci in front of the school.

We had a great time singing (taught them deep & wide and bop shoe bop)

and playing games with the students. Cricket was their favorite but we managed to squeeze in a game of football(soccer) and then duck, duck goose with the smaller children. We told a Bible story or two, read some stories and worked some math problems. I believe God has great things planned for all of the Good Samaritan Schools and students. Christ and education working together to change India from the inside. I thank God for this experience and we're already planning another visit.

What's a day like?

When Jake was in Beijing I was always wondering, and people were always asking, what is a normal day like. Well, no one has asked me but I'll tell you anyway. We've been here for one month and have pretty well established a routine, however it does vary. Nothing is set in stone here, times and dates are never definite. School starts at 7:30 but today was the first day of school so we are really just getting started. The two weeks before today was teacher inservice where Daniel and I each led a devotion group of teachers starting at 830. We've been trying to get a run in before this so we'd leave the flat around 630-645 and run 30-40 minutes.

Upon arriving at the flat, below the colored window pictured at left, we shower and eat breakfast. Always pb&j plus two eggs courtesy of Gorilah (pictured in previous blog), the school attendant responsible for our flat. Then its off to school where I teach geography and Daniel music/guitar. When not in class we're working on lesson plans, updating our blogs or just playing with the students. For lunch we've been eating whatever they prepare at the school.

However, that was only during inservice so now we'll have to order or bring our own. School lets out around 2 but Daniel has an after school elective class from 2-3. By this time we need to unwind a bit so we generally pass football or frisbee with some of the students or school staff joining in. Then we head home to work, read or whatever before dinner. Dinner usually consists of pb&j, oatmeal and some fruit. Then we finish our day's work before heading to bed.

Occasionally we will visit a slum area and join in a worship time or visit homes where they always request prayer. Then whenever the opportunity arises we will drop by one of the feeder schools, such as we're doing this weekend. In the morning we leave for Issapur. We will stay until Sat but not sure what we'll be doing. Besides playing games with the children we'll probably sing songs and maybe work on the landscaping, whatever the need. This school is outside Delhi, a very rural area so I'm very excited to experience a different side of India.

Today, Shalini who is pictured above and is a member of one of my geography classes, saw me passing football with some of her guy classmates. She wanted to join in and turned out to be pretty good, out-throwing all of the boys. I was quick to point this out, making fun of the boys the rest of the day. They all went home so Shalini and I spent the next 30 minutes playing catch with a group of the younger students who had gathered to watch.

Then on the walk home I stopped to watch some of the area kids playing a few games of cricket in the grazing field across from our flat. Games start early in the morning then stop for work and school while the cows graze, then pick back up after school.