Late last night Group 1 (my medical group) decided that Nathan finally needed a haircut. I must say that Tanner, Tyler, Eric, and I did quite a good job (checkout the pictures below). We gave him an American mullet just in time for his visit to the Taj Mahal tomorrow!
I woke up to an empty room today since my roomates (Stephanie, Sam, and Nadya) left for the weekend trip to Delhi and Agra! It was nice to sleep in though. I headed to the school and Tanner and I added the dental screening results to the kids' electronic medical files - we did it super fast! So then we got to help out with the eye screenings for the kids. It took about 3 hours, but we got to see all of the students! In between I got to help Brenen tutor Barash in math - we helped him learn how to do "averages".
In the afternoon I hung out with Sam ("Dance Master Sam") who is here for a month to teach the kids dance. We bonded over our experience here at RSO and started watching a movie. However, after Derek informed us that there was an hour meditation session with the kids, we bolted there ASAP. I was surprised that over 50 kids turned out for this weekly voluntary meditation session held in the cafeteria! Of course I was expecting a laid back meditation session, but this was quite the opposite. I found myself in quite uncomfortable and challenging poses, but was overjoyed that I had 2 teachers ("Pooji" and "Makalakshmi") to help me through the hour! They were so excited to instruct me and were incredibly encouraging. I learned from them the importance of releasing your right foot first from a pose and that you should open your eyes when you are doing meditation because its "healthy for the eyes and psyche" among many other things. It was so much fun, and I'm so glad that I had them to guide me! In the middle of our meditation session, Lola (the mountain sheep that is RSO's official pet) bolted through the cafeteria and was chasing a little girl (lovingly, of course). It was pretty funny. The boys had a rough time removing her from the cafeteria. I'm pretty sure she wanted to participate in meditation, too!
During playtime I found myself pushing all of the swings for the kids and refereeing a basketball game. It was so hot today! Not to mention that since all of the other volunteers are in Delhi, the kids are constantly clamoring for my attention. We then had a laid-back dinner on the rooftop and headed to "family time". I brought Sam with me to "family time" and she loved it! For some reason the boys were having trouble falling asleep tonight so I sang for about 30 minutes! Gandimathy also shared some gossip with us which was fun and surprising. We're excited to go back to "family time" on Sunday.
In the evening I hung out with Brenen and Sam and watched a movie with the other coordinators/volunteers and updated my pictures and blog (which I hope you are all enjoying!) I'm so sad that my time here at RSO is coming to a close. But I'm excited to return to the US and see what I can do there to make a difference.
I woke up to an empty room today since my roomates (Stephanie, Sam, and Nadya) left for the weekend trip to Delhi and Agra! It was nice to sleep in though. I headed to the school and Tanner and I added the dental screening results to the kids' electronic medical files - we did it super fast! So then we got to help out with the eye screenings for the kids. It took about 3 hours, but we got to see all of the students! In between I got to help Brenen tutor Barash in math - we helped him learn how to do "averages".
In the afternoon I hung out with Sam ("Dance Master Sam") who is here for a month to teach the kids dance. We bonded over our experience here at RSO and started watching a movie. However, after Derek informed us that there was an hour meditation session with the kids, we bolted there ASAP. I was surprised that over 50 kids turned out for this weekly voluntary meditation session held in the cafeteria! Of course I was expecting a laid back meditation session, but this was quite the opposite. I found myself in quite uncomfortable and challenging poses, but was overjoyed that I had 2 teachers ("Pooji" and "Makalakshmi") to help me through the hour! They were so excited to instruct me and were incredibly encouraging. I learned from them the importance of releasing your right foot first from a pose and that you should open your eyes when you are doing meditation because its "healthy for the eyes and psyche" among many other things. It was so much fun, and I'm so glad that I had them to guide me! In the middle of our meditation session, Lola (the mountain sheep that is RSO's official pet) bolted through the cafeteria and was chasing a little girl (lovingly, of course). It was pretty funny. The boys had a rough time removing her from the cafeteria. I'm pretty sure she wanted to participate in meditation, too!
During playtime I found myself pushing all of the swings for the kids and refereeing a basketball game. It was so hot today! Not to mention that since all of the other volunteers are in Delhi, the kids are constantly clamoring for my attention. We then had a laid-back dinner on the rooftop and headed to "family time". I brought Sam with me to "family time" and she loved it! For some reason the boys were having trouble falling asleep tonight so I sang for about 30 minutes! Gandimathy also shared some gossip with us which was fun and surprising. We're excited to go back to "family time" on Sunday.
In the evening I hung out with Brenen and Sam and watched a movie with the other coordinators/volunteers and updated my pictures and blog (which I hope you are all enjoying!) I'm so sad that my time here at RSO is coming to a close. But I'm excited to return to the US and see what I can do there to make a difference.
Cutting Nathan's hair! Didn't I do a great job?
The final product. Check out that smoldering facial expression.
Family time isn't the same without Uncle Eric!
(and Aunty Lisa, of course...but she'll be back on Sunday!)
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