Midweek Bustle

Heyyyy;
Soo I got in my frist auto rickshaw accident!!! We were on our way to the City Walk Mall, and we slammed on the breaks and slammed into a auto rickshaw in front of us. Matt, Carol Ann, and me just laugheddddd. If we were in the reciving part of the accident we would have gotten pretty solid whiplash, but we were fine. Then on the way home we got soooo lost the auto driver had no idea of where we lived stopped and asked 4 people how to get home. Evetually i regocnized wehre we were in the Hauz Khas market and was able to tell the taxi driver where to go. We also went to the crafts museam, that was interesting. Showed us old looms and art, and there were dancers there. They were amazing they were all little boys in bright colored suits. Today we are going to the movie theater to see a bollywood movie so that should be interesting, and long. We watched this movie called 3 idiots. Its very popular here and you alwasy hear the songs from it on the radio. It was sooo long and just all over the map. I enjoyed it. We are going to Dharmsala, which is in the Himalayas this weekend. We are going to go to a buddhist temple where they are trying to preserve the culture. They teach young boys to read,write,mediatate. Its suppoed to be really cool. Then we are going to go on a hike to a waterfall, and lastly go to see a tea plantation!! Auntie J, and K i know you would both love to try the tea. Anyways its almost lunch and once agian im starving.

Molly and I on the elephant

Regular scene except usually the mother has tiny baby

floating palace

Part of the amber fort

Chloe Dooey

Jaipur

Hey Ya'll
So Jaipur was AMAZING. Totally kicked Agra's ass. I loved it had so much more culture! When we first arrived in the afternoon after a 6half hr drive there were elephants everywhere!! Some BIG some tiny some with color full painted trunks! Most of them had a wicked case of Vidliago on thier face. We first went to this place called the observatory. The whole place was a HUGE sun dial it was really cool! There it looked like a giant play ground with stairs everywhere. Of course i wanted to climb them. So i did to go take a picture, and i should have known cause no one else was doing it. I got about half way up and whistles started going off and a guard told me to get off. Soooo embarrassing. We went to a textile factory, and it was SO COOL. The whole song and dance of how they make everything, and offered us beer, pop, water. I got a pepsi. I ended getting a pair of silk Ali Babba pants (Diaper Ghandi Pants) Made. I LOVE THEM, so soft billowy, they are green and blue paisley. I also bought a silk duvet, a pillow cover. They are sage bold green. They look amazing and were a little expensive but worth the money. The next day we went to the Amber Fort, which is on top of a mountain! It was so cool to have a change in scenery to see the mountains and green!!! Im so used to brown and dirt in Delhi. When we got to the Amber fort it looked like a wanna be great wall of china, rolling along the hills of the mountains, and was so large it takes 4 photos to get the whole thing in. We rode elephants all the way up to the Amber Fort! it was amazing just beyond what i can explain. Molly and I were on top to the elephant the sun was hot, flutes and drums fill the air from street beggars. In front of us is a mini lake and all around us are green mountains and in between the valleys are small cities. The elephant snot was flying everywhere, with the smell of their crap and pee tingling our noses. When we got to the top i pet my elephant, her name was Jumbia i think, and she was 35!!! The man said she was a senior elephant. When i was petting her she closed her eyes, and enjoyed it. Then was stabbed by a fire poker to get moving. Oh yea sad part all the elephant owners use fire pokers, they are not on fire but the ones we use for fire, to stab behind their ears to get them moving :( The Amber Fort was just amazing to be in the mountains and look at the green was the best part for me. Our Hotel the Tordi Havili was awesome! Free breakfast and 10 bucks a night. We had conjoined rooms via sun deck. So we sat outside on our deck and chilled out for awhile, went to a Hooka bar and called it a night. I woke up at 7am and read my book on the deck while everyone else was still sleeping. Once again in the morning peace/chaos with all the hustle and bustle of Indian's starting thier day, I sat on the deck with the mountian brezze calming rolling by snuggled up in my blankie and book saying to myself, this life is amazing and i'am so blessed to be here. Before we left Jaipur we went to a jewelry shop. Same song and dance, I got to see people shape jewels which was actually really really neat. Then went inside got a free drinks again, looked at a 111$ ring, and ALMOST bought it. It had two diamonds and emeralds on a band. I was going to buy it as a Independence ring for myself, but thought other wise due to withering funds. Well lunch time and husky is VERY hungry.
HJ

School days

 

Mam Ji fixing it Sad baby running on the left hand side

Kashish's pants fell off during dancing!!!!! LOL

Heyyyyy;

So today was like everyday, woke up at 8am to go to school. I'am finding it harder and harder to wake up in the morning. AKA im lazy and children are crazy and hard to keep up with energy wise. Everyday I get dropped off by a driver on the side of the road near a pile of garbage. Then I begin be descend into the slums. I walk a dirt path, which is more like a mud path because this damn extended monsoon season that was supposed to be over 21 days ago!!! On the right hand side is a brick wall and on the left hand side are houses/tiny shops. The shops sell Pann tobacco chew, and little candies. There is this one show off ass hole that parks his car almost every other day on the walking path, who keeps his bollywood music blared while he cleans his car infront of all the people living in the slums.. I dont know what his deal is.  Where that car is the path forks, i veer to the right. Without fail everyday iam walking i hear a ring ring of a bicycle bell, or a beep beep of a motor cycle. Without turning back now because iam so used to it, i get the hell out of the way and move to the side. The curve where the fork is it reeks like rancid urine, so i always put my scarf over my nose. When the path straightens out there is garbage the whole rest of the walk on the left hand side. Sometimes its dusted with white powder (lime). Then on the right hand side right before i get onto the school grounds the puppies which come into our playgrounds every day are sleeping there. Across from them are two goats, both with about a meter and a half of chain to walk around. One is literally tied to the schools gates. When i first get to class the children are listening to this god forsaken cassette of hindi children songs. I almost know all the songs and words. When i step in the children all start yelling and repeating GOOD MORNING MAM GOOD MORNING MAM. MAM MAM GOOD MORNING. They also call Jersey Mam, we try to correct them but this is a lost cause. As we start to right on the white board the letters of the day children are getting dropped off. Most of the children come in with bags that contains a pencil, snack, and bottle of water. Most of which instantly start eating thier snacks the minute they get to class. Then next the criers get dropped off. They get shuffled into the office with Mam Ji. They sit there the WHOLE TIME most days in the dark refusing to play with blocks and just sitting quietly, or crying waiting for thier moms. Then Jersey and I do the days lessons, go outside for a break, come back inside and have dancing time.  This of course is not including everyone hitting each other, children crying, yelling, and eating chalk. Have I not mentioned the chalk situation?? They have chalk boards there, and even the little tykes that are less than1yr year old get one. If I have my back turned to the white board and then turn around, i usually have about 5-6 guilty dark faced children looking at me with a white rims around their mouth. I dont know why they eat it, but they love it. Today I found a new favourite. Sad baby is still #1 but this girl is dead next. She is feisty, fiery, explosive. She has to be less than one, she still teder walks not very stable at doing so. She has little curly hair pulled back into a tiny black pony tail. The other day i went to pick her up and swing her in the air (most kids love the following) Instead she screwed up her face, not like a im scared face, but rather in a how freakin dare you pick me up face!!! Then screamed in my face. then girl standing by who watched all this laughed at this, probably because i looked dumbfounded by this girl's attitude for such a small girl. She is the epitome of a Uncha Bonzo. All day today i heard her screaming. She sits scribbling and eating chalk, but if anyone DARES to interrupt her they are in for a high pitch surprise. Someone touches her water bottle *Scream and dirty looks, someone touches her foot *Scream and dirty look, someone walks over her scribbles on the floor *Scream and dirty looks. She's a firecracker and i love her. She kinda reminds me of someone i know EK. Anyways time for me to go. Enjoy the photos of my class i took today.
Nameste Chloe

He sits in the dark the WHOLE TIME in the "wating for mom postion"  

Firecracker baby sitting in my lap

Im not impressed by you face

Tickling Firecracker Baby

Back to the swing of things

Hello All;
Today we were back to placement! YAY so much more interesting when we are working. Jersey finally came back to work after a week of not begin there because he was sick. So i just held my baby sat back and watched him teach. We were teaching them to draw the ABC's still so every once and awhile i would have to put my baby down and help other people. She would follow me to where ever i went holding onto my legs and wanting to be picked back up. And when I would be playing with other babies she would get jelous and try and sit in my lap. While we were playing skip rope (Aka kids tripping over the rope on the ground) Kashish and Kushi fell because Karen pushed them down. They both started crying, so jersey grabbed Kushi and i grabbed Kashish both held them till they calmed down and yelled at the kid who pushed them. As for the Common Wealth crazyness, it if deffinatly evident that security has been increased. On the way home from work there were way more men with guns and side road blocks. In our market that is two mins from us there are two Army people sitting outside the white people store that we go to to get white grocerys with huge automatic rifels. Super Fun Time India!! YaY. Oh well mabey ill buy a bullet proff vest, they are probably pretty cheap around here. OHHH exciting news, i have decided to buy a Sitar and take lessons while I'am here!! It might run me a hundred or so but iam investing. I want ot add to my string intrusment collection, and lessons over here will be dirt cheap and easy to find. So im thinking twice a week for a hr each time. Iam going to be the new Ravi Shankar?? I think so, kinda like Anoushka Shankar except Japanese and husky.
HJ

Husky life is the life for me

Looking At the Taj Mahal

UGLY SHIT

Common Wealth Terror

Hey guys;
So today I dont have much to blog about because we are on lockdown! Yesterday when we got home we were informed that there was a terrorist attack 20mins from our house. Two men on a motorcycle shot at tourist bus, when two people were taken down a crowd rushed towards them. In this crowd there was a bomb detonated to go off. It didnt go off due to wiring complication thank god. Or eles everyone that ran to go see the tourist that got shot would have been blown up. All of this because of the Common Wealth Games. The target is tourist. This is a blurb from the news.
'A home-grown Indian Islamist group, the Indian Mujahideen, claimed responsibility on Sunday for a gun attack on tourists in New Delhi and threatened the Commonwealth Games, Press Trust of India said.An email sent to the news agency in the name of the Indian Mujahideen was quoted as saying: "In the name of Allah, the attack is a tribute to Atif Amin and Mohammed Sajid."Amin and Sajid were Indian Mujahideen operatives killed by the police after a series of blasts in New Delhi in September 2008.'

Fatipur Sikri

Driving the Rickshaw with LALA

So because of this very scary and real act of terrorism we are stuck in the flat. So in the meantime we just got marshmallow dilverd and we are going to make rice crispies! Yay. We spent all day watching movies and slumping around. We didnt go to placement today because we wernt allowed to so the hours have been crawling by. This whole bomb shooting thing has got me shaken a little bit. I always read about this in the newspaper hear about it on the news but it has never been close to home for me. Now I'am living in Delhi, 10 mins away from the common wealth games and have new friends that live close to there. When i found out about this i couldnt think of what is to come? Security will be increased under trained army men running around with old poorly taken care of guns. Sure we need to worry about the terrorist, but what about the people defending us? Are they really competent enough to fire back in a crowd of people and children at the terrorist? What if one of the children beggars gets hit by accident? These are all very real and possible situations. So please everyone that reads this pray, meditate, send good vibes. The last thing i want is for a innocent bystander to be hurt. Well kids i think after this dark blog entry it will now end it with some photos of the weekend.
Salt

Monkeys, Camels, and Goats OH MY!

Hello;

This weekend his been a long one my friends;
Friday started out with going to a Hooka Bar with Ankit in a different town with the girls. Jersey sat this one out and was sorely disappointed. The girls ordered Pann Salsa, and Double Apple hooka flavors. For those of you who don’t know Hooka is a water pipe with ambers on top and flavored stuff that isnt cigarette tobacco and is totally legal. I didnt smoke of coarse but I did have a kingfisher beer and enjoyed it much. We sat outside, and there was a nice warm breeze rolling through the alley we were in. It was karaoke night, so there wasnt music where we were sitting, just the sound of people belting out Summer of 69 in Hindi accents. We got home around 12, and went to bed at 1am. The next morning we woke up at 4:30am to start our journey to Agra! Many many cows were on the side of the road, on the road, and on the medians. We had to pay road taxes on 3 separate occasions. At one toll people had monkeys on leashes even tho there were hundreds of wild ones walking around by themselves. The one man’s monkey jumped on our car with its baby. So I took a picture and they flash went off. FAIL. Instantly the yellow toothed man was up in my face tapping on the window. MAMM MAMM RUPIE RUPIE. I dropped my camera on the floor and was like why? I didnt take a picture. He started to escalate trying to rip open the doors walking around trying to see if any were unlocked. Thankfully our cab driver came and we pulled away, but not without him staring through the window giving me dirty looks. It ended up that I got two photos of "His" monkeys so suck on that asshole. We also saw a dancing monkey with lipstick and a dress on, this was very sad. We also saw tons of pigs digging through the garbage and running around together. They were cute but defiantly the definition of a pig. Our first stop was Fatehpur Sikri, where camel drawn carriages were in abundance. It was a cool place but all the tombs, and forts are starting to blend together. Red, Big, and Amazing. This one in particular was built by a man who wanted to spoil his three favorite wives *male chauvinist cough cough* One wife was Muslim, another Christian, and lastly a Jew. There were goats everywhere, and not normal goats, goats that look like mystical creatures. Kind of like an Avatar. We were famous there, everyone wanted their picture with us, two women tried to make me hold their babies and they all wanted to shake our hands. The kids there went up to Jennifer and were like " You from South Africa, South Africa?" We got a real kick out of that. When they found out we were Canadian and American they had four things to say over and over again. Michael Jackson was alive now dead, Michael Jordan, Obama, and hockey. They were charming and all way to young to be begging. When we arrived in Agra we went to our hotel. We sat and had lunch on the roof top where there was a pretty good view of the Taj Mahal, considering the hotel was 15$ a night. I sat there and enjoyed a Manjo Lassi (Yogurt, Mango, and Milk) The service was terrible and the waiter tried to rip us off. In our room the water taps were rusty, because for some reason it was salt water coming out of the taps. The door to the washroom door literally had to be dropped kicked shut, no a good hard shove would not do. After unwinding from a 5hr car ride and lunch for 15 mins we took off the Agra Fort. This was our first encounter with Lala the rickshaw driver, for lack of a better word he was bat shit crazy. Came up to about my shoulder and drove like a bat out of hell. He is by far the scariest ride ive ever been on. He let us all drive the rickshaw, which was fun but very scary! There were cows everywhere and traffic was horrible. When we got to the fort he said he would wait for us no charge. We ran around there for about 2hrs with ugly monkeys dangling from the roof tops. I find their pink bottoms, that looks like they have a wicked case of hemorrhoids offensive they should wear a diaper or something. The fort was built by a dude who then later was banished to it for 8 years by this own son. Talk about a ungrateful little turd of a son. After we were done there Lala took us to across the Yumana River for an amazing view of the Taj right when the sun was setting. In order to get to this spot we had to go on a one way bridge the opposite way and had to pay the police officer off to let us through. So that was fun, scary, and cry worthy all at the same time. When we were on the bridge all of us sat quietly anticipating our deaths as the chances of veering off the bridge to avoid on coming traffic were high. We would have been swept up in the chocolate colored river, and ether died of the raw sewage we were swimming in or the undertows. Sounds pleasant doesn’t it? We then went home and parted ways with Lala, or so we thought. When we got back in the room Jennifer informed us that Lala was trying to cop a feel the whole time, as she sat in the front bench with him. Then Carol Ann told us she as hungry and wanted some good ol Mc Donalds. So went outside, and there was faithful Lala waiting to take us somewhere new. I sat in the front with Molly this time, where Lala made the resting spot for his elbows on our boobs. We enjoyed our Mc’s and even got chocolate Sundays! Lala then drove us home in the pouring rain. The next morning we were up at 6:30 to go to the Taj Mahal. I had a horrible sleep as I was woken up with tummy cramps yet again, and the call for prayer blaring through our room at midnight on a outdoor overhead. The Taj was amazing. I don’t even really know what to say except that the photos don’t do it near justice. Its beauty was overwhelming and indescribable. I await going back to it when mother comes. Although it was raining/down pouring almost the whole time we were there, I was still in awe the whole time. Well kids its about that time…
Dotes

Silent White Thunder

SHE SMILED!
One week and 5 days later she smiles. She was sitting on my lap wile I was reading little red riding hood to the older kids at the front of the class. She was sticking out her little hand and waving to the kids on the ground. I could see one kid smiling to her so I cranked my head and looked. It wasn’t a full smile but her lips had parted and I could see some chicklet teeth. She was also more active today clapping and murmuring the children. I was very happy to see this. Today Molly, Carol Ann, and I took a auto rickshaw to the market. We sat there on a bench and just talked about our day and such. They told me this story that made me think of my girl. While CA and ML were sitting in their classroom after lunch a very small child around 4 was sitting beside them. He is always very quite and never plays with the other kids just keeping to himself. While they were sitting there is mother came and started freaking out and smacking him full force, winding up and hitting him across the face x4. ( His head is the size of Carol Ann’s hand) He didn’t cry and just down at the ground. For the rest of the day as per usual he just sat quietly in the corner not interacting. Once again this makes me think, when iam looking into my kids eyes what do those eyes see when iam not around and they are not at school? Carol Ann said while watching this she felt her face start burning and the tears coming. Stuff like that I just cant handle, and its such a norm here. If a mom were to come into a preschool class during lunch and started beating the shit out of her kid in Canada something would be done, and people would stop and stare. The kids in their class didn’t even think twice about it here. Anyways on a not so sad note I officially love India. Just sitting with the girls in the market drinking our Fanta’s, every minute a different vendor walking by trying to sell us something. The smell of fresh samosas lingering through the air, the ground littered with tiny blue cups used for chia that is sold by traveling vendors. Watching men stroll by holding hands, women in beautiful silk saris holding children. Everyone told me ohhh India you are going there so long its so dirty and gross. It may be dirty, but for the sacrifice of having to walk through some garbage and smell some piss of the side of the road every once in awhile is so worth it. The people, the food, the sites are all so beautiful. In our autorickshaw ride home the humid air was wiping me in the face and my hair was going everywhere. The sky was blue and the sun was begging to set, and I thought to myself there is no place I would rather be right now. This weekend I’am going to Agra! To see the Taj Mahal! Iam very excited I cant even imagine how beautiful this building is going to be. I know pictures wont be able to justify the magnitude of its beauty. I have more day of class left then iam off on Saturday morning! OH I forgot to say this! Last night while just getting ready to go to in my bed I heard these loud noise of high pressured water spraying (like hose water on a car noise) I didn’t think much of it until I hear people yelling. I come out to see steam billowing out of the washroom. Our hot water heater that was just “fixed” the day before had exploded! Hot water was flying everywhere and our washroom was so thick with steam out couldn’t see anything. Brandi turned off the power, and Molly and I called the staff. Pawan came and tinkered with it and told us “ Don’t use, we fix tomorrow”. I’am just glad noone was sitting on the toilet at the time as they would have had major burns on them because the hot water heater in above the toilet. Alright ya’ll over and out
Silent White Thunder

Poopey Doopey

Konichiwa!

Today has been a good day so far! I start off every morning by phoning mom on skype. When I do his most of the team is up and sitting around on their computers. I cant have my head phones plugged in while on the computer when its charging because it zapps me. So when mom talks to me everyone can here everything. And on numerous occasions she has called me Poopey Doopey as per usual. So now some of my team members, Carol Ann mostly calls me Poopey Doopey. Its nice it reminds me of home minus her southern accent. Jersey racked up a temp of 104 yesterday and Jennifer layed in bed most of the day sick as well. They are both feeling better today, but are still not going to placement. Today work went well, kids still scream, snot still running down their nose, and tons of hitting and drop kicking are still occurring.Today the little child who threw the rock at the goat cried for the first time. Which i found amazing! He gets rocked every single day the kids loves punching him down, picking him up throwing him. And in turn he gets a real charge out of it. But today i was playing with him wile toating a kid on my hip and he got knocked backwards by another child who shoved him, and he smashed his head on the cement floor. To be honest i was shocked he cried, any white kid at home of course would start balling, but these kids here are tough shit. So i put my one kids down scooped him up and tried to get him to stop. Eventually Mam Di came and made him stop. I have this one girl in my class who is the oldest, Uma she is 6 years old. She is very sweet, and smart!!! I brought a coloring sheet for her to doodle on to keep her busy today, she finished it so fast and neatly that it didn't really even use up any time. I have decided i'am going to do a set of lessons for the little ones and a set for Uma. Jersey and I were just talking about her and he said, " She is so sweet, we cant lose her to poverty i want to adopt her!" Your right Matt we cant she is special and i hope i am wise enough to know what to do with this gift i have been given. Also this other girl that Brandi and I both love i have been thinking about alot today after class. She probably is just about 1. I pack her around all day and her expression never changes and nothing every comes out of her mouth. She just sits on my lap and colapses her body against mine. When I put her down and its time for me to pack up my things her face crumples and she stand at my legs wanting back up but never a peep comes out of her. I have been thinking why is this girl so troubled?? I am scared to ask questions but when i look into her eyes i can see nothing but sadness. I try my best to make her smile but nothing. I literally can make everyone in the class smile except her. I just dont understand. So prayers for her please!! She is breaking my heart every time i have to leave her behind, not knowing what i am leaving her to. We have a lecture again today on women of India today at 3:00 So ill gonna close this one up now. Talk to ya'll later

Jellybean Jumbo Jet

Shes a cutie

the sad baby

Some of my kids

Dancing time

Sickness Spreads.

Evening;

So I gusse the sickness has decided to get the rest in the group. Poor Jersey had to go back to the hospital today leaving me with the class alone! Jennifer followed him with a fever and aches, and now Carol Ann has gone to bed early feeling gross as well. It sucks becasue we are all in such close quaters its almost garunteed you are going to get sick. We are planning to go to Agra this weekend to see the Taj Mahal, but i really dont know how thats going to fly. Today teaching the class by myself went better than i thought. One of the big time trouble makers that is just a shit disturber, i think i got through to him today. He was mocking me while i was reading a 1-10 book. He came up to the front and was just pointing at one object on the page and going 12345678910 really fast tryign to show off. I was like no and took his finger and make him point to each object showing him like these number represent things. See with these kids the memorize everything but dont know how to use them. Brandi's kids know all the days of the week but have no freakin idea what they meabn what so ever. My kids know that B is for BALLLLL they go crazy yelling it eveytime that i bring it out the B flash card hoping ill pull of the almighty ball. today I brought a blue flashlight and a blue balloon. Showing them that B also means these things. They went rank on the blue light. MAM MAM MAM ME ME ME. So i took turns taking the light and putting it on the palm of thier hand saying blue, then flipping over thier hand and saying brown haha. When the light would hit thier palm they would all go silent and stare intensly at thier hand that just turned blue. Then id find a child wearing blue clothing and say blue. The little tiny boy that ive talked about before that all the children love holding and pushing around,  the same one who threw the rock at the goat. I shined the blue light on his head moving it around and making the light cast all over his head and then in one concentrated spot. He loved it, laughing and then going dead pan when i moved the light on his arms its as if the light was tickling him becasue he was so delighted. This blue light was so exciting that of corse a crowd gatherd around me. the boys started hard core elbowing the shit out of the girls in order to get the light on them. I felt so bad i was telling them to stop but there was so many kids around me i couldnt control the situation that well. This one girl in a orange dress was just getting rocked so i had to stand up and put a stop to that and yell at the boy. Anyways we had a Prof that came in to lecture us the other day and he talked about India. Im just going to not some things I  found very interesting. North Americans need to realize that just because we are to ignorant to other people cultures and are unfrimular with the Indian culture dosnt make what they do irrational. India is a prisoner of history. 78% of India is Hindu they stopped eating cows becasue they are a such a rich resource (milk, packing, farming crops etc) Old habits die hard.What happens in the present is overwhelmingly influenced by the past. 1% of India is high network millionairs 25% of Indians go to bed hungry 77% of Indias live below the poverty line (2 $ a day) You may be thinking to yourself that those numbers like 1% are inconsequentual but with a population of 1.4billion it make a huge diffrence... you do math. Today we had aanother prof come in a tlak about Hinduisum E i thought of you. It is the 3rd largest religon in the worlds with over 1billion followers. Hinduisum has no single founder, scripture, or place of orgin. The two things mainly concentrated on in the religon are Karma and Nature. The first time yoga was heard of was in the Geeta from the scripture of karmayoga. AnutieJ i knew you be interested about this. I'am not sure if all these words are right, the prof had a thick accent and I would feel stupid to stop the lecture and ask what the hell he was saying. From the Geeta there is also Bhatityoga. All of which boil down to karma. Ladies and Gents if you think Karma is just a simple what goes around comes around, its not. He went on for almost 1hr talking about how Karma works. It was interesting and i have a better understading of what this highly popular words now means. I leanrt about some of the gods as well but i could go on forever. Im done for now.
Nameste

Needles and Nightclubs

Hey Ya'll
Sorry its been awhile. I have been sick sick sick! I'am on 4 different pills right now. It started Thursday night i had really bad tummy cramps then i was to sick to go to work with the kids and it went downnnnn hill from there followed with a fever of 103. They took me to a private hospital where my doctor was a beautiful and kind. She was in her late 40's early 50's wearing a green sari and had salt and pepper hair pulled into a bun. She told me she was going to give me a bottle of water to hydrate me, i thought to myself good casue iam kind of thirsty. Then she told me to get ready to go to the next room to get my drip put in. The second the words came out of her mouth not a word of a lie i started to cry. You know when your not feeling well and you just want your own bed? Well iam no where near my bed! She crumpled up her face and said to me ' Dont worry hunny, we want you to get better and want you to go home well please dont cry" In her light hindi accent. So i walked out of the room and went into the triage room where i continued to cry. They first started off giving me a shot in my bum to get my fever down. I was just sitting there in the fetal position sobbing away all the nurses were looking at me so scared because i was crying pretty loud. Then to put my drip in the doctor came in to hold my hand. She stood there trying to keep my calm wile they truncated my hand and tried to get my viens to pop. The first needle they put in didnt hit the vein right so they had to pull that one out and try again. When i realized that the nurse was doing another go of it on my other vein i started to cry again. The doctor sat there with me and wiped my tears away until they were done. When everyone cleared out i saw Jersey sitting in the waiting chair looking sad for me. He obvs heard my hysterical crying, but i didnt even care i felt so sick. I sat there for about 1hr more waiting for my drip to finish. By the time i left i felt better. Then I went home slept all day and all night and all day agian. Waking up to go to the washroom and hydrate. Iam feeling much better now but still have wicked stomach cramps every once and awhile and not much of a appetite. Today B,M,J,C went to the Red Fort and Jersey,Carol ann, and me stayed behind to chill out. Everyone except Molly and I went to the club last night with my Co-workers nephew Ankit. I was given his number back in Canada just in case i got in any trouble out here, or needed a tour guide. My friends wanted to be taken out by so locals to i called him up and me was more than excited to take them out. they went to a Juggy D concert at Lure club. They had tons of fun made it back safe and sound compliments on Ankit!! Molly and i sat at home and watched friends together. today after laying around all day try to rest my body in prep for the upcoming week with the kids we became hungry. So we went to walk to the market. Good idea? I think not. It started to DOWN POUR like big time. We all got soaked because we didnt have umbrellas, the roads had huge puddles everywhere. But we were all so determined to get come instant noodles we wernt gonna back down. We came back soaking wet threw some towel on our head and ate our delish soup. CB i thought of you because i know you would be sitting right next to me in nothing but your gonchies holding a pair of chopsticks in a heart beat. Anyways its almost dinner time so hopefully ill blog agian tmr after class if iam feeling good!
Chloe

Sweating and Shopping

Shalom;
Today was easier with the kids. Matt and I were more prepared with props and flash cards to help the kids relate to what words they were learning with pictures. I pre organized what i wanted to bring to school that morning and put them beside Matt's backpack so he could put them in there. While we were walking through the slums to get to school Matt asked me why i had only got probs for A and C why not B? I had packed a props for B, it was a blue flashlight. But for some reason he didn't feel like packing that, so we had props for A and C and had to use the damn ball again for a B prop. But the ball is So distracting there is no point in bringing it out.. I let Matt rock it it for pretty much the whole class today. Out of laziness and out of amusement. He does really well with the kids, they listen to him and always watch him. So i sat back to take a couple photos of him and just watched him teach. It was nice because i find i get stressed to fast in the front of class. If feel like i just need to get comfortable with the fact that Matt and I are in charge and what they do is what we have planned. There is no plan B, just Matt and myself. We gave play time a little to early today and so after play time kids were going rank and off the walls hitting each other drop kicks here and there. My little girl today was just beside her self the whole time crying for her mom. So i ditched her and grabbed another. Packed he or she on my hip all day. The child was tweaking before i picked it up. Then i decided to whip out Auntie Kims book. It worked like a charm the kids loved it. Some gathered around to listen to me read. I read it out about 3 times and one tried to read along with me. I was packing my baby on my hip when i saw one jet out the door and try to run away. He was probs 1yrs old cant speak just like random words he knows. Anyways I thought he was going home to get water which all the kids did after play time. So i ran out to make sure he got to his home OK. Instead he picked up a rock and threw it at one of the goats that live outside our schools fence. I grabbed him yelled NO! We dont throw rocks at goats!!! bad bad bad. I swooped him up and smacked him on my other hip and was double fisting kids until i got back to the school and gave him back to Matt. Everyday we have a dog that comes to nurse on the front steps of our school. Why? I have no idea. It sits on the steps and lets the puppies nurse right there. Its so distracting and random that i cant help but laugh because there is a random litter of puppies running around the school yard. Anyways after placement, we went to the market. It was my first AUTO RICKSHAW ride! it wasnt bad it was scary but not bad. I probs almost shit my pants 2 times. We filmed some of it. At the market i scored big time and got some outfits for work. Us girls were having a hay day, and Jersey was just drenched with sweat. All of us were rifling through scarfs while he was pouring out all the liquid in his body via sweating. We tried to find him pants and the shop keeper brought him tight bright womens pants, that i have in purple. Then they brought him white Pj pants those wont work because of the sweat situation so that was a fail. Then we finally found him a good pair of pants. During all this i showed interest in a drum and then i never heard the end of it. He followed me all through the market banging on his drum and saying mam mam i give you good price. He waited for me outside while I went into the other store. I look outside and Carol Ann is looking at me nervous mouthing DRUM DRUM DRUM. Sure enough he was hackling Jennifer about the drum. After Jennifer telling him she didnt want his effing bucket drum and me yelling No to him he left me. So we all got an outfit each, and Matt made it out with a pair of pants and a hankie to sop up his sweat. Today was yett another long one and iam excited for the weekend. Je Suis Tres Exhausted.
Chloe

Totae Oodgaye

Evening all;
The meaning of todays title means, " Parrot Flew" aka noones home, brain dead, dumb ass etc. Which is a great  way to some up everyone on my team at some point and time during the day. Matt and i had our first day of work today. I found it extremely overwhelmming. First thing when we walked in children were crying, yelling, hitting etc. Matt and i sat there waiting for, what we thought was more people to come. it turns out that the teacher was waiting for us to start the lesson. We sat there dumbfounded and underpreaperd for about 10ish minutes trying ot get our shit together. The teacher was telling us to sing songs or poem, but i couldnt remeber any ones. I just about lost it and was on the verge of crying because to much to fast was happening and this child was freaking out right beside me crying for her mother. Matt eventually took the lead and he did very well. The children are like sponges and watch almost everything you do and repeat what they hear and see. Ex. When i was teaching ABC's I kept saying "and" in between each word, so in turn when i pointed to A i would say A and then point to B and say "And B" Then they would repeat " And B". Or when i was teaching body parts i would scratch my head and grab my ear at the same time and say ear. Then they would get confussed and touch thier head and grab thier ear at the same time and say ear. After about 1hr of that we went outside to play games. Some of the kids arnt even able to speak yett that are with me. So typical me i picked the smallest one and toated her on my hip for the rest of the day. She is a stone face, cant get a smile a gurggle, or a change of expression at all. But she does like the play with my fingers. She wears eyeliner, as well as the other smaller kids. its to keep away the flys from thier eyes. She also has two tiny black pig tails on top of her head. I cant wait to hold her agian tommrow. I've missed having babies around (k+r) Anyways now time for the funnies report on my roomates.
Staring us off as per usuall is Jersey Shore (matt) We were sitting in a lecture and the power had gone out for the whole time so no airconditioner. He was slumped over on the couch in a big sweaty mess and looks at us with a complete and totall looks of exasperation and said, " You guys dont even know how wet i'am right now." I dont know what he was thinking and im sure was a little delherious as we all were but he deffo said that the wrong way. Also we were talking about sleeping pills and Matt gets this weird zoned out look on his face and was like " Cella gave me these tiny blue pills..................... Ye....... They were great" Thats good Matt were glad your wet and got enjoyment out of tiny blue pills.
Next up Johnson (jennifer) Today while in Hindi lessons we were learning the word ChaCha which means your fathers younger brother. Jennifer looks up and said " ChaCha is your whos whos what?" Next - i was trying to sound out a word in Hindi and she looks at me and says. " What chu babbling bout now?" And earlier im not sure if i alraedy wrote about this yett, but when we were eating lunch she was sitting there look unsatifyed with the choices infront of her. She then anouced to me that she was gonna " Do some colored people shit" and then proceeded to put butter and sugar on her rice.
Second last is the girl next door miss southrn girl Carol Ann. We were watching youtube viedos of metal music "walls of death" which is when people run into each other at full speed in big crowds. Carol Ann told us shed curl up in a ball and cry if she was in that situation. The next morning she told us she had dreamed about the wall of death. As much as i love Carol Ann i would love to see here in a wall of death situation. Also for lunch yesterday we had fish sticks, and today while we had Hindi lessons she had just noticed 4 days in we had a fish tank at the entrance of the classroom. Then Brandi was like, " Yea where do you think we got the fish sticks from" laughing and just joking around. Then Carol Ann got a real serious look on her face adn was like what fish sticks looking extremely concernd and scared. The last bit from Carol Ann, is that she smokes and when she had just come in from smoking she said " A smoke a day keeps the mosquitos away" If you guys dont think these bits of Carol Ann are funny its because you cant hear her southrn drawl and giggly way of talking. Last up is Miss Molly. There is never much to report about her because she dosnt let things fly liek the rest of us do. But today she decided she was openeing up a one man act here for the Blue man group india style. She had got a new shirt from FabIndia and it bleed everywhere on her and has temp stained her skin. Tottally loving the fact she looks like a smurf. Anyways folks thats about it for today. I dont have much to say about Brandi cause we are both pretty much the same Canadians and does and says stuff that i'm used to. Americans are much more interesting :P
To sir with love
Chloe Doey

Americans are more than fried chicken a grits

Hey Ya'll

Thats a new saying around here, ya'll. As the days pass on and we are all are becoming more comfortable with each other i'am getting to know everyone and where they come from. Each person has quite thier own personality. Today we took our first Hindi lessons. I think out of all of us Carol Ann will struggle to most because her southern accent is quite thick. We were laughing almost doubled over with the sillyness of the lessons. Carol declared to us that she has to learn English before she can learn Hindi. Auntie Jan its kind of like a Derek situation with the Common Taple tu thing. Today right before dinner we sat and talked for hours about each others lives. Everytime we sit down together we are comparing how different our life styles are. Carol Ann showed us pictures of tail gate parties that she goes to all the time during football season. They look like so much fun! She goes to Mississippi Sate, so its pretty much an all around good time there. I was so apprehensive to meet these "americans" but now that iam getting to know them they are just like us except for the southern drawl, and the fact that they could eat grits everyday no problem for the rest of their lives( actual quote from two team members) As for Jersey Shore aka Matt he had a couple other funny things he did today. It was our first day in placement today and before we all got sent to placement we had a meeting of Do's and Donts. One of the top rules is DO NOT DRINK THE WATER. If we are offered it we are supposed to just decline politely. When we sat down at the head office the first thing they did was bring us a round of water. Cella was the first and she took the water but then remembered and put it on the coffee table. Then Brandi, myself, and Lalit all said no. Matt was the last to take the water. He took one sip and i just rolled my eyes and me and Brandi laughed. No less then 10 seconds later he had downed the whole friggen glass of water. After we got out of there we were like Matt what the heck why did you drink the water?? He said he just figured it was bottled water and shrugged it off. Then they brought us tea and cookies which we are allowed to eat. Knowing me i really wanted a cookie but it was on the other side of the table and we were all going around in a circle talking about why we were here and what we wanted to accomplish as volunteers. I Finally decided to go for it and lunged for a cookie across the table. After i had grasped it in my greasy little hands it was my turn to talk. She looked at me, and i totally drew a blank about what we were talking about. She looked and me and was like , "and for you" i answered the question totally wrong made us look like fools, but i did eat the cookie and enjoyed it much. Also today when Jennifer went to her placement Mother Theresa Dying and Destitute, Lalit one of the staff here at CCS got clocked by an old women in the back, a patient got the shit pecked out of her by a peacock and cried, and they called Jennifer, "Johnson" First of Jennifer is not a man, Secondly Johnson? like where the hell did they even get that from. I had a pretty good laugh out of that tho. Tomorrow Matt and i have out first working day. The kids are adorable! but i can tell very mischievous.... Im sure we are going to have our hands full! So prayers for us please i'm sure we are going to need all the help we can get seeing as most of the teachers pull no shows every other day. I'am feeling better today no fever but my cough is still advancing and starting to go through the night time.

P.S READ THIS BLOG it is Jennifer's Blog and its FRIGGEN HALRIOUS. Read the roomates part its bang on and i LOVE IT. she got a couple things wrong about where i volunteered but its still GOLD
.\http://skinnygirlsdonteatsalads.tumblr.com/

Over and Out
Salt

Team Togetherness

Goot day;

So today the rest of my team arrived in totall we have. Brandi- 21 Toronto. Cella- 40ish Spain. Jennifer-22 Denver. Molly-18 Maine. Carol-Ann-23 Alabama and Matt-21 New Jersey. I just got back from dinner and we had a nice after dinner conversation comapring our life styles. We talked about music we prefer to the food we like. The majority of Americans were tlaking about how much they loved grits! And Carol-Ann deffo has a southern drawl. I really like listening when she talks its much diffrent, i was explaing to her today that was i was telling everyone there is a girl from the south and how interested i was in meeting her. I asked her all sorts of silly questions about homecomming, Prom, Prom king and queen. Its so weird they live in the same continent as me and are barley know anything about what life is really like there and All the preconcived notions i had of them were pretty far off. Anyways today we had our first team meeting. Just going over the rules and regulations about CCS. Matt, god bless him is the only boy of our group and today wile we were talking about the rules of no drinking and doing drugs he had a question. I doubt that he even really truly thought about what he was asking but when the staff asked if we had any questions, he replyed with "What about opium tea?" Ahah where he even got this idea from is beyond me and the staff crickled thier faces and didnt really even know what he was talking about. Keep in mind yesterday Matt paid $6.50 for a peice of paper yesterday which is more than some people make in a day here. Anyways Then later on we did this team building thing like Amazing Race. We were split up into groups, then given a lamintated peice of paper saying things we needed to to. Brandi, Jennifer, and Carol Ann had to go to town buy cucumbers, tomatoes, and bread and make 10 sanwhiches and hand them out to locals. Matt, and Cella had to go to all the rickshaws and taxis to ask for prices for trips to Agra for the weekend and go to the train station to see how much tickets were. Then Molly and myself had to go to town and buy Banans, Brown bread, tolite paper, glass pop, news paper, eggs, and bottled water. It was so much fun running through town by ourselves. We had to find our way into town and back to our flats just the two of us. When running in the roads the trick is to haul ass!! Its litteraly like playing human frogger dodging between cars. If your lucky in the middle of the street there is a medal gate about 2 meters long that you can stand by until traffic on the other side has come to a hault. We were given some local tips from our staff here today about traffic in India. 1) All road rules are considerd guide lines only. 2) Roads are considerd useful for getting from one place to another as well as, Drying wheat, chilles, taking a nap, enjoying conversation with a friend, or changing a flat tire. 3) One above all rules is the cow always has the right of way. No one in their right mind would ever hit a cow. If you want to cross a road safley adopt a cow and follow her. Those 3 rules pretty much wrap traffic in India. Anyways tommrow i go to my placement for the first time, and iam very excited for this. I need to get a good sleep tonight becasue last night was not good and this morning i woke up with a fever and felt like i was going to throw up all afternoon. Brandi gave me some pills and i felt better later on, but i'm developing a cough and im starting to bring up stuff with it :( But i took vitiman C , D and omega 369 to try and help out so hopefully ths dosnt turn into what i think it will. Anyways thats it for now!

CA

Chloa The Expolora

Tombs

Yoga Pose

Upper level of tomb

Stairs

Yett another tomb

Chillin At the tomb

Konichiwa

India Gate

One of the Tombs

Lawn Mower Husky Style

I slept for 14 hours today, met two new people from the team, and went site seeing. Jennifer and Matt came. Both of which are cool and we get along great. Places we went to today were Lotus Temple, which is a Bahih temple and was very interesting. It is a huge marble building shaped like a lotus which looks alot like the opera house in Australia. It was raining and we went aloud wearing shoes in there so i left my shoes in the car and walked around with my shoes off in India... I don't know if that was a good idea cause i left my shoes in the car so they wouldn't get stolen and it was about 5min walk to the temple. After that we went to the Humayun Tomb (Profile Pic) it was GIANT we were there for a long time looking at all the tombs. I saw a peacock in a tree! he was huge! and i didnt know they could fly. There were lots of dogs running around inside. Every time i see a dog i feel so sad, i think so two things Sassy, and Lola. I could just imagine poor Sassy walking around in the streets so sad and scared. And then Lola on a spit over a fire because shes so fat and the people would probably eat her because she would be a good supply of meat (Sorry Bon) Anyways in the tomb place it was a amazing! Such interesting architechure. There were Dragon flies masking the sky! It was so magical and really added to the tone of the place you couldn't look up without seeing about 100 of them. After that we went to a market and i bought a sari! Auntie another shop you would have enjoyed! Mom it was just like Morocco. Once we got in the rushed us to sit down and offerd us tea and coke. So we are sitting on these benches and in front of us are walls to the ceiling of colored fabrics and then there is like this platform set up where they do their little show. There were banana silk, potato slik, paper silk, and potato silk saris! I bought ones :) Its a light green with gold designs and the part that wraps around to ly on my shoulder is a wine colored red with gold flecks. I love it and rock it pretty good. It was 14$ a little pricey but i was happy with the buy. Then we went to the India gate. Little side note ive been wearing my Punjab Suit and been talking to the vendors in Punjab and they leave me alone! Its been really nice because people will go up to Matt, Jennifer, Cella, and Brandi asking them if they want all this shit and I just say Naie Shukria and they go away right away. I keep the scarf over my head most of the time and they leave me alone when i say no the first time. So anyways when we get the the India gate there was about a 1yr old playing with a barb wire fence.... Questionable I think so. She was adorable short hair and little earings. When I later came back out she was taking a poop in the ditch with her mom holding her hand so she wouldnt far backwards into it. So then we get to the front of the India gate these people pin flags on Matt Brandi Jenn and Cella and they come to me i was like Naie and they left me alone and walked away. The girls were infront and got asked for money for them and matt was behind me. I waited for him and he came up and was like, " I just got charged 650 Rupes for this" It was a paper flag about the size of the my thumb. He was sad and we all laughed. Iam still waiting for Carol Ann and Molly to arrive this stupid Hurricane is really screwing up the flights. We got back at 3pm from the tour and we ate lunch. I was friggen famished and downed my food and Matt pounded back 4 glasses of pop in less than a couple minutes cause he hadn't dranked anything all day. Now Jennifer is sitting on my bed with me writing in her blog and Brandi is taking a little nap. We are going to the marked later on to buy some baskets to chuck our laundry in. Brandi rolled over and asked me if the markets are going to close early because its sunday I laughed at her and responded this is India i they arnt like us. Anyways im going to try and post a couple pics of today so if i do enjoy!

Namaste
Husky

No Sleep= No Fun

Good afternoon;

So my flights were awesome to heathrow i slept the whole 9 hrs and didn't even get up once to use the washroom or eat. Then when i got to the airport i tried to figure our the calling card. That was a joke. So now im stuck with a useless tit of 100$ calling card. I had some nice USA people stuff money in my pay phone when i was running out of time on my phone call to mom and i only had 1 pound. So that was Nice of them, then they sat on thier phones for the next half hour trying to help me. Then from there i made a freind. It was an 70 yr old lady form New delhi that spoke only Hindi. I asked her how she was and where she was going in Punjabi, then for the rest of the time she thought i spoke fluent Hindi. I had to drag here around the skytrain with me to get to each place and carry her 20lbs bag along with my stuff. Then we got to this HUGE lineup and when we got to the front she misplaced her boarding card and didn't understand what i was saying. I grabbed some young east indian girls to help her out and booked it. It was a kill or be killed situation and there was no way i was gonna lug that bag around any more ( it turned my hands raw). So Jerrica you were right you do make friends while traveling alone, mine just happened to be a bewilders elderly lady who spoke no English. After stretching before getting on my next flight i went to go find my seat and found out that there was noone sitting beside me! So that was lovely. But the confusing thing was i had watched the sun rise twice in like a 14hr period and never completely made it through a whole day anywhere. So on the plane rides i received dinner and breakfast both times. I was annoyed by this. Also someone within a 4 seat perimeter of me had wicked gas and i had to keep putting my blanket over my face because it was asphyxiating me. So I finally made it to india after almost gagging to death for 9hrs. I waited in line forever becasue they are so inefficient at customs then got my bag and went to the pick up area. My people were waiting for me and there were people all over the airport with semi auto rifles. PFT. The car ride from the airport to the flat was interesting to say the least. Its everything the stories say its like. When i arrived at my flat the power was out and has been out 5 times since ive been here and its not even been 24hrs yet. My roommate Brandie is cool we get along really well. We did a walk about outside to try and catch out bearings. It was pointless and i have no idea how to get to and from places. We also went to a high end Sari shop. I found this bad ass raw silk sage color Sari. Its like 200 bucks. So i dont think ill get it. Auntie J you would have loved this shop aside from the business. The colors of the fabric were brilliant and just looked so nice with really nice yellow golds and oranges and greens in particular. So far ive eaten Curry for my past 3 meals. Its good i dont mind it, im so dehirous that ill inhale anything. Iam waiting to go to bed and i'am dying to sleep I havnt slept since Sept 2nd. Brutal I know. I accidentally dosed off while talking to the coordinator with my eyes half open. Anyways im going to drown my head in a tolit to wake up. Mom we will worry about the cards later for now this will have to do.

Dotes

Goodbye Canada Satsriakal India

Hello hello hello hello;

Last post before i go the the airport! I leave my house in less than a hour now. Today I woke up cleaned my room and went to Grandmas and Gramps. We went to wal-mart got some last minute items went for pizza at Me and Eds and said our goodbyes. Gramps told me to buy pepper spray and that there are some people out there tougher than me. I feel pretty calm right now I check into my flight online already, and i have window seats on both flights!! YAY so happy. I also checked out my online entertainment it looks good to me. I was really hoping that Toy Story 3 was going to be on, but it isnt. I'am a little angry at this but there is Iron Man 2, The Backup Plan, Valinties day, Letters To Juliet etc. So i'm sure ill keep busy for my flight from London to India. For my red eye tonight i'm planning to take a couple seditives and hit the hay for the whole 9 hrs. So then when I have my next 9 hr flight i dont need to watch all those movies over agian. Smart right? Ive learned form my past mistakes ( Cuba had to watch the worst movies over and over agian) Well i'am going to go take a little si si nigh nigh for the next 45 so ill be refreshed to cry my face out at the airport. EK is meeting me there im sure that will be fun alogn with DT BT and the Big P. Well hope i didnt forget anything to pack!! The next time i will make a post is in India HOLLER MY NAME.

HJ

1 Day 1Billion things to do

Shalom


 Greetings all, So I leave tomorrow and there are many things to do. I woke up early to do stuff and find myself sitting in my pjs listening to John Mayer wile pecking at the computer. Yesterday was my last day at work at Tim's. It was very bittersweet, i have grown such strong friendships with everyone there and they have become part of my family. One of the dishwashers, Sandeep in particular was very upset to see me go had some watery eyes and maybe even a tear going on. On Monday dinner with the girls was good, we went to Little Saigon unfortunately there was mis-communications and some went to New Saigon and sat there for 40 mins. Not naming names but they were dumb ahahah. Then after we went to Sammy J Peppers, that was a gong show. Our waitress was crap for brains and my supervisor at work got left with 70$ tab to pay cause the waitress forgot to put drinks on peoples tabs. Other than that it was awesome there was 25+ people there including one of my pregnant friend from work whos 7months along!! I have such amazing friends and co-workers my other friend went straight from work instead of going home to be with her 7yr old son and came out to say goodbye! I was so surprised to see so many people there. THEN on top of that all at work yesterday the girls had gifts for me and we got samosa! So thank-you to all who put such efforts into my departure love you guys. Anyways now i must really stop procrastinating and go do everything i need to do. Just a little taste of what that may be?
- Take insurance off car
- Clean Car and Room
- PACK (Thats right havnt started)
-Exchange Money into Euros and Rupees
-Pick up my backpack that had to be reinforced where the metal bars are. complements of S.B and M.W
-Call Telus and put my phone of vacation for 3 months
Yea thats alot of stuff to do and thats to even half! Alright i'm outties

-Silent White Thunder