Taste and See. (Wednesday, May 26th)

I semi-slept for the first time last night. It was a refreshing change. The wind was bad in class again, but the kids absolutely loved doing scratch art, and couldn’t get enough. Each child did about 3 or 4 of their own. I finally had to stop them so I would have enough for my last class. There is one little girl, Bavani (10 yrs) that I really enjoy. She is one of the quietest in the class, but she is one of the most diligent workers. She doesn’t run on anyone else’s schedule, and she wanted to work an extra day on her collage project. While all the other students are freaking out about scratch art, she stays late to finish her project from the day before until she’s satisfied with it. Something about her softens my heart every day she smiles at me. I can’t help but wonder what her story is. I admire her so much.

In between classes I ran into a group of girls who stopped me to talk. They told me my name was no longer Jessica, and they nick named me “Ramba” after a famous Indian actress. So sweet, but I’m not sure I look anything like her! Haha. Oh, and at another time I left to observe Erin’s class, and one of the girls told me to come close to her, she then took the Bindi off her forehead, and placed it on mine. I felt so honored; it pretty much made my day. I walked a little higher after that.

My last class was a group of 12 year old girls, one of the best classes I’ve had yet. They were way too nice to me, and wouldn’t stop complimenting. It was beyond sweet. They scrutinized over the little details in their artwork, and took their time to do a quality job. Once finished, they gathered around me at the front of the room around my table to talk. They kept calling me “beautiful,” which blows my mind because to me, they are far more stunning. After classes, the students lingered around much longer than they have before, I think they are starting to feel more comfortable having me around. I love every second of it.

At lunch I met a nice woman named Christina, from Estonia. She loves India, and starting in January, she’ll be staying at the Sevalaya for about 6 straight months. A water pipe broke shortly after returning back to my room, very unfortunate. A nice cool shower is the only escape from the heat (seriously India!?). At 5:30 we had another guest lecturer, Dr. Va. Ve. Subramaniam, a retired principal of Vive kananda College. A very brilliant man and great teacher. Although, the 1 hour lecture turned into 2 ½ hours. It was LONG, and interesting, but I have a horrible attention span. I couldn’t stop shifting in my seat and tapping my feet on the ground. However, I had to wonderful opportunity to talk with the Dr.’s wife, a retired chemistry professor, and a very intelligent, outgoing woman. She told me that if I ever returned to India, I could stay with her and she would teach me all kinds of things about Indian culture. I may take her up on that one day.

Nick, the last part of our Children’s Art Village team, showed up today! He arrived a little sick, but hopefully that will change soon. As for the rest of the night, I spent hours cutting paper pallets, and tracing fish and butterfly templates for my next day of classes. That night I dreamt I was swimming underwater with paper fish. It seemed normal until the butterflies entered the picture too.


I have lots of Gecko friends in my room.

"Silky smooth writing!"

Erin after class, rocking her Bindi and Children's Art Village t-shirt

Empty class.



Lots of pictures with the kids today!

Funny snap one of the children took. They love using my camera

:)

My last class of the day



Blurry but cute.

Nithya showcasing her artwork. Precious little girl.

Extreme concentration.