Niamh's Year in India: Dreamworld's just as good as Disneyland

So we’ve just finished our first working week in Bangalore. It’s been quite good actually! Despite constantly worrying about offending someone. We are staying with a family, although we haven’t really worked out who exactly lives here yet, the only two who seem to remain constant are Ryan (a wee boy about 5) and Auntie, his grandmother, we haven’t been told her name so we are assuming that it’s always going to be Auntie.

We had to register our visas at the immigration place in the centre of Bangalore, which takes about an hour depending on the traffic. We were there three days in a row before we were finally done. It was a very painful process made worse by the fact that I don’t like forms, Shobitha wasn’t allowed into the room to help us at all and I found it very hard to understand them. But finally we were all done! And some of the waiting did mean we got to see a really nice Botanical Garden which had some amazing plants and I’m pretty sure there was also a chipmunk..

Because we spent so much time at the Immigration office and in cars we haven’t really had much time at the school. Although yesterday we went to what they call a Resort here called Dream World. It’s quite far out of the town and it’s kind of like a park with some amusements. The kids loved it. It was so lovely to see, they were just so happy the whole day.

After a breakfast, which some of the kids may not have had, they got to play in a park with slides and swings and a climbing frame. So of the kids just had no idea how to climb and that was really sad because that’s something that back home kids would be doing all the time. Then me and Sarah got to teach them some games! So we taught them duck duck goose, which they enjoyed a lot once they understood how to play. They were so funny, although it was really hot and running was really hard. Then we taught them Alice the Camel, which I’m not sure they understood but they enjoyed doing the boom boom boom bit at the end.

There were some kind of ride things that the kids, and us included, really enjoyed playing on. They were just not used to it. There were spiny things, a dragon that went round in circles and a rocking boat thing as well. We also got to ride around the resort in a train thing and then we got to ride in an Ox cart, which was amazing! And also kind of weird. But I really enjoyed it. That’s definitely something I won’t be able to do at home.

After lunch, more stuff we didn’t know, we got to play in a pool! It was just a shallow swimming pool but it was the first time most of the kids have ever seen a swimming pool. They loved it so much. They were just splashing around the whole time. It was really hard because back home we take it for granted that children will go swimming and learn how to swim but even the teachers didn’t know how to swim. But they loved being in the water so much. One of the wee girls even said to Sarah that she felt like she was in heaven. Then we moved onto another water thing. It was a square around a tree with lots of fountains around it and they were playing music so we were all dancing in the water. It was really good. Some of the girls were trying to teach us some Indian dancing but my dancing is awful at best and it didn’t look like Sarah was doing any better! Every time there was a rainbow as well all the kids stopped and crowded round to see it, they are just really cute.

After eventually getting the kids changed they all got to have a dancing show. They are all so good at dancing and even the boys were enjoying themselves. I’m really going to have to get my dancing skills improved if I’m even going to stand a chance next to some of these 6 year olds. Also, the teachers were given a chance to go Zorbing on the pool, so of course I went for a shot in the hamster ball. It’s a lot harder than it looks though. There is almost no way you can stand up, at least not for longer than about a second. Also because there is no air, you really start to get out of breath, which makes the whole thing even harder, you can only last in there for about a minute. Sarah and Shobitha also had a shot, it’s even funnier to watch than it is to do it. We finally headed home and tried to eat our dinner really fast so that we could go to bed earlier.

Today was parent day at the school so there wasn’t really much work to be done. I got to sit in the youngest classes and Sarah was in 2^nd Standard. All of the parents that came were so lovely and they kept asking me questions. Although it is really annoying when they all talk about you right in front of you in a language you can’t understand and they seem to be laughing about it, doesn’t do anything for the confidence! But most of the time someone will translate, although not always. Apparently some of the younger kids have been going home and telling their parents that there are two doll teachers at the school and they’ve been calling us “doll miss” because dolls here are really white and that is what we look like to them! They are so cute.

I have been really confused about why everyone has been asking us if we’ve had breakfast or if we’ve eaten. I’ve never known so many people to be so concerned about my eating habits. It’s taken a few days but Sarah has discovered that it is their way of asking how we are. But it’s really confusing when almost strangers are asking me about my meals.