New job, new flat, good life

Isn't it strange how time can feel as if it has gone fast and slow all at once?  Thinking about it now, it seems like there is no way I have been in India for a month.  What a quick month it has been! And yet, at the same time, I also feel as though I have been here for much longer.  I've certainly grown into this country, getting used to customs and getting better at dodging traffic (which is like an endless, forceful river).  I'm starting to realize that before I know it my time here will be over.  Only two weeks (one and a half, actually) until John arrives and I have to say goodbye to Hyderabad.  I'm very excited to travel around and have incredible adventures, but I am not ready to let go of this city and all that it has to offer.  Especially since things seem like they are finally coming together completely.

I started my new job this week and it is exactly what I wanted to be doing the whole time.  I'm working at a school, or more accurately at a group of schools, interacting with children with and without disabilities.  The high school in which I work employs an inclusive education program, which means that kids with special needs are placed in the same classes as their general education peers.  I was very excited to see this type of policy in place because it is something that I strongly believe in.  The children with special needs benefit from the curriculum as well as the ability to learn through social interaction and the other kids gain knowledge about people with disabilities.  This enables them to be more aware and to understand that kids with special needs are just people like everyone else.  If this type of education were to be more widely implemented in India I think that a few generations down the line we would see a lot less shame and embarrassment in families of children with mental or physical disabilities and more acceptance and understanding overall.  

For the first few days, I have been observing the inclusive education in person by sitting in on classes.  Today, however, I went to watch a class in action and all of the children were just sitting around talking.  I asked them where their teacher was (oh, that's another great part about this job, the kids speak English!) and they told me that she was sick.  I asked another teacher if someone would be coming to fill in and she said no.  So I ended up being the science teacher for the day, explaining photosynthesis and how the heart works to two different classes.  It was pretty challenging because the kids were all so excited to see someone different that they didn't pay attention to the lesson.  Different kids kept coming up to shake my hand and ask me questions.  Also, I hosted a discussion with parents of students with disabilities.  The school arranged for them to come in and I asked them questions about their challenges and what they would like to see improved upon.  I think it went very well and I'm looking forward to trying to help achieve some of the goals they laid out.  It's really nice to finally feel like I'm doing something worthwhile here.  And the woman who runs the school is awesome.  She is very friendly and she has a lot of aspirations for the future of disability education in India.  She laid out a plan for me over the next two weeks where I will be interacting more with the kids as well as meeting with government officials and lawyers.  I may actually have a chance to talk to the Minister of the State (akin to our Governor) about disability rights.  I'm drafting a letter right now that will be sent to government leaders as well.  This is going to give me a great experience in advocacy which should go a long way, since I plan on doing that for a career in the future.  I just wish I could have been working for this organization the whole time I've been here.  But oh well, I'll just work extra hard now to make up for lost time.

Another thing that has gone from good to hectic and back to good is my living situation.  When I moved out of my old flat and into the new one there were too many people living here.  AIESEC had placed three Chinese girls in the flat temporarily, not knowing that I was planning on moving in.  Luckily, one of my flatmates, Ben, was away for a few days so I was able to use his space.  After Saturday, however, I was relegated to a mattress on the floor of another room.  Since renovations on another flat took longer than expected, the girls stayed here until Tuesday night.  Finally, last night I was able to assume my rightful place and have a real bed.  Now I've lucked into having a room (and bathroom) all to myself, so it was definitely worth the wait.  My new room even has better lighting than the other rooms (soft, warm lights instead of fluorescents).  I really like this flat because of the expansive terrace.  And my roommates are pretty cool as well.  There is a German guy, Hauke, who I get along with very well and is good to talk to.  Also, Ben from Minnesota.  The three of us have formed a pretty good group over the past few days.  On Sunday we ventured out to Secunderabad, where we were invited for a home-cooked meal by a friend of Hauke's.  The food was really tasty, an experiment by our friend and his father which was rice with different spices as well as cashews and raisins.  There was also some delicious tomato soup that we could pour on top of the rice as well as one of the sweetest mangoes I've eaten since I got here.  It was a Begampalli mango, which is a variety that has edible skin, like an apple.  

After lunch we had a nice discussion about politics, through which I learned a lot about Indian history.  Then we watched a totally strange Korean movie.  It seems almost comical that I have been in India for so long, wanting to see a Bollywood movie, and I've seen "Monsters vs. Aliens", "Angels & Demons", and "Oldboy".  I never thought I would see a Korean movie in India before I saw a Hindi movie.  After the movie we went up on the roof of our host's apartment complex and looked out at Hyderabad.  We could even see Golconda Fort off in the distance.  It was weird to have climbed so many steps to reach the top of Golconda and then to be on the same level as it just by walking up one flight of stairs in someones home.  We also encountered a group of kids on the roof who were playing cricket so we joined them for a while.  It was a lot of fun and overall a great day (check out pictures on Facebook).  When we got back to our flat we played chess and listened to jazz on the terrace.  As it turns out, I'm living with a couple of Bobby Fischers...but without all the eccentricities and anti-Semitic remarks...just the prodigal chess master part.  I have yet to beat either of them and I am not fully convinced that I will before I leave.  To put it in chess terms, you could say they are queens and I am a pawn (or maybe a rook, if I give myself some credit). 

Now I'll go get some dinner and maybe try my hand at another chess match.  Tomorrow I will spend the whole day at the "Special School", which is for the more severely disabled students.  I will try to identify some of the things that the parents mentioned to me and see if I can improve them, or at least bring them to the attention of the administrators.  Should be a productive and fun day.  I hope yours will be too.