It was beyond difficult leaving them at the end of the day, though it was even harder to say goodbye to my night school students. Since it was our last night with them we got the OK to have an all-out games night. Jocey taught them a fabulous game called “zoom” where everyone take turns saying “zoom” in funny ways, but if anyone shows their teeth they’re out. If you’ve never seen someone try to talk to you without showing their teeth you are really missing out (and yes, that is an invitation to go around for a day without showing your teeth just to see what kind of reactions you’ll get). I taught the kids how to play ninja (thank you to my Texas buds who taught me that haha), and I’m feeling successful as a teacher by imparting my knowledge of speaking without visible teeth and ninja skills. The best lessons are those of practical skills for everyday use, right? At the end all the kids got glow-in-the-dark bracelets and we had a dance party in the dark followed up by ice cream. SO. MUCH. FUN.
I know I’m not supposed to have favorites, but there’s one student at night school whose really captured my heart. His name is Sukesh, and last year I had the opportunity to teach his older brother, Rakesh. Not only is his English better than all of the other students’, but he’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. When I was giving out the glow bracelets for our dance party there was enough for everyone, but there weren’t any left over for me. He knew that my favorite color is pink so he traded his with someone else’s to get a pink bracelet and then gave it to me. One night I had the opportunity to work just one-on-one with him at and we had a “text conversation” practicing his writing where he told me all about his life (no, we did not use text slang that would’ve been somewhat counter-productive). Without going into detail he sacrifices so much to be able to attend school. I think in America education often becomes a drudgery rather than a gift and opportunity. He may be one of the most difficult people for me to leave behind. I included a picture of us together, and I also included a picture of my mini-fanclub of Noorja and Sujata (with the ice cream). They have a tendency to hang on me incessantly and insist that I sit between them every night, which can be annoying in an endearing kind of way. I figured they merited a picture ;)
In conclusion, I’m not glad to be leaving on Monday. Though to be honest it will be nice to have a bed that doesn’t feel like granite again. And I desperately want hot chocolate. They have an excessive amount of tea here: “Do you want tea?” “No.” “Do you want tea?” “No.” “Tea?” “NOOOOOO!!!!” But unfortunately no hot chocolate. So, goodbye India. Hello Swiss Miss.
