Last teaching week!

My last week in Udaipur... hard to believe that it's come and will be gone soon.

This is my last week at the school as well - which means I'll have finished a solid month of work with my students. I have mixed feelings about leaving - part of me is ready for a boost of energy and something different - but I've grown attached to these kids in so many ways.
Last week was not the easiest of weeks though - we switched to the summer schedule, which means we are now at school for 4 hours a day, starting from 9:30 am to around 1 pm. Part of that is a 30-45 minute built in play schedule, which has been a trial to bear for us volunteers. Last Wednesday was an absolute nightmare - we spent the whole time fighting the kids off as they grappled to get to our bags and climb on us and take our things. They've since sent in backup coordinators as "bodyguard" support, and that has really improved the situation.
The real issue is that since the schedule switch the attendance rates have sky-rocketed - my class, which was usually around 11 kids, now has an average of 20 every day. We were completely unprepared the first day and had to scramble to improvise and get materials for everyone (which we didn't, anyway). Keeping the attention of 20 seven year olds who speak about 10 words of English is harder than you could ever imagine - there have been days where I'm not sure that anything is getting through to them, and in that case, am I doing anything worthwhile?

Part of our task includes feeding them - which means that we help them wash their hands at the pump and then serve them the food that the government provides for all school-going children. It's not an easy job either - especially when you have 60 kids jostling to get the next plate. The actual teachers just sit back and let us volunteers do the work - just as they let us do the bulk of the teaching work. I am disgusted by the teachers at my school - most of them sit around for hours, occasionally getting up to yell at the classroom they're in charge of, and then sit back down to gossip some more about their classes. In many cases, they don't show up for class, and dozens of students will simply sit quietly in empty classrooms, doing nothing. It's appalling. At those points, I realize how happy I am to be here and be giving my kids some kind of attention, regardless of whether or not they're truly learning something.

So, as I wrap up my last week here, I find myself doing a myriad of errands - most of them involving present shopping and schedule planning for my last two weeks in India - and it's exhausting. I stop at my regular juice stand when I can, and try to go to my favorite sellers and see them. I'm only realizing now how at home I feel here, and how much I will miss this city.

It's been a funny couple of days though - the last 2 or 3 days have been gusty and gray and (dare I say it!) almost verging on chilly (at least in the morning...). A welcome change for me, at least. It rained a couple of times, which was heavenly, but it seems that as of today the sun is back in business. The only problem remaining now is that the area of town we live in has encountered a water shortage, so all of the water pipes have been turned off. Since last night we've had no water coming through, and it sounds like we won't have any until Wednesday. We've been able to procure one bucket of water per room (for the most basic washing, and for flushing our toilets - we have no flushes and have to flush by hand any waste down with extra water) so that's proving to be a little tricky. Some of the girls are getting anxious - I personally wish I'd decided to shower yesterday as opposed to Saturday - but generally, everyone's used to having an extra layer of dirt on their skin, and it's really no big deal.

To stir things up a bit more, the power cuts have been much more frequent and unscheduled as well - though I'm not sure why. I think we're all pretty used to that as well by now, though it's never fun to lose everything you've been working on at the computer when everything switches off.

Oh, India.

So, one more week of this, and then I'm off. It looks like I'll be heading by train to Varanasi (the holiest city in India) and from there going East to Darjeeling (a hill station). I couldn't be more excited - it'll be nice to seem something green after months in the desert. And then, I'll slowly make my way back to Delhi to fly home... But it's too early to think of that.

Miss you all!