This week was our (meaning the music department) first week of really having class. It was great to actually start ensembles and lessons and meet some of my students. Most of the kids I have for lessons seem to be very dedicated (with a couple exceptions…). In fact I even have three students coming in before and after school to have lessons and practice because they can’t fit it into their schedule otherwise! And when I had each kid write down some goals they had for the semester, almost all of them said that they wanted to work on scales! I even hated practicing scales in college (sorry Bruce). Anyway, it seems like they are willing to work hard. All of the students taking lessons have three other practice periods scheduled into their school week – so unless they are messing around in the practice rooms, they should be improving every week…
Today is Indian Independence Day. India broke free from Britain 61 years ago. Today we did not have school; instead we had a ceremony outside the high school and then an awesome lunch in the quad (where the middle school and elementary school are located). Everyone was supposed to dress up in Indian dress – so both Megan and I wore our new saris. Although saris are very complicated to tie (they basically consist of an underskirt (petticoat), a short blouse (that really only comes down to the middle of your ribcage) and then a very long piece of fabric (I think this can be anywhere from 4 to 7 meters long- mine seemed REALLY long!)). Fortunately, one of the librarians (also the wife of the head of the music department) Esther offered to help us tie our saris today. Megan and I went over to her house at about 8:30 this morning and she took time with each one of us to get ready. From what I understand, you have to put on your blouse and petticoat and then you tie a knot into one end of the sari. Then you tuck that into the side of the petticoat and wrap the fabric around your waist once. Then you tuck it in again at the same place and wrap it around one more time (but this time you are going to leave a bunch loose at the front to put in pleats). On this time when you’re wrapping it, you go around your front (with the loose part) and then the back and then bring up the rest of the material across your chest and throw it over your left shoulder. You adjust the length of the shoulder piece and then find out how much material you have, to do pleats with in the front of the skirt part. You fold the pleats with the extra fabric and then tuck it into the front of your petticoat. I think that’s about it… It seems pretty confusing at the time, I just tried doing it myself right now (with a t-shirt and pants on) to make sure I was describing it correctly. Hopefully sometime soon I will be able to do it myself and have it look decent enough!
Once Esther tied our saris for us, Megan and I went up to school and then at 9:30 we had a ceremony in front of the flag pole at the high school. The elementary school children we seated in front on the ground, while the staff sat in chairs on the side. The rest of the kids were standing all around the rest of the courtyard. Aloke, the Indian music teacher, led an Indian staff choir that sang some national songs. The orchestra also played the national anthem and everyone sang along. I only know the end of it, where the words repeat over and over again - I’m working on learning the rest… The principal said a few words and they also had a speaker who talked a little bit about freedom.
After the ceremony was over, the younger students went down to the quad for food, while the high schoolers hung around and did some dancing in the auditorium. It was really cool to see everyone dressed up in national clothes. Most people were in Indian clothes, but it is also the Korean Independence Day, so a lot of the Korean students were in their national dress. Megan was disappointed that she didn’t bring her hanbok (just kidding). By the time I made it down the quad for food, it was pretty packed. They had different stations set up outside with options for food. I had some momos (veg and mutton), dosa and one other thing that I don’t know it’s name. There were a few other things that I didn’t try, mostly because I didn’t want to wait in more lines and I was full. The momos are kind of like dumplings with vegetables or meat inside. They can be fried or steamed. They are served with sauce that is usually very spicy. The dosas are kind of like a big really flat pancake and then they are folded and have a mixture of potatoes and spices inside. They are served with a kind of soup, red chutney (spicy) and coconut chutney (which is my favorite chutney so far!). Dosas are actually a south Indian food, and apparently they are much better in the south than here in the north. But I’ve never had “authentic” south Indian dosas, so I thought it tasted just fine! The other food that I tried was some kind of little fried potato patty and then mint chutney, white and red sauces were poured over it. It was good and a little spicy. To drink there was water and of course chai!
During the festivities today, someone told me that the new phy ed teacher (who just arrived yesterday) played rugby. While I was eating I had a chance to meet her and talk for a bit. She said she was having three rugby balls sent here and she wants to start a 7’s side. There is also a new dorm parent who played rugby in Indiana who was really excited to start a team. After being here for a few weeks I was sure that I would not be playing rugby for at least two years, but now it sounds like we are going to try to get a team started!!! Amanda, the phy ed teacher, said we should try to get some of the high school girls involved too and maybe we could do some inter-school matches! I might be sending home for a package of cleats, rugby shorts and a mouth guard soon…
Today is Indian Independence Day. India broke free from Britain 61 years ago. Today we did not have school; instead we had a ceremony outside the high school and then an awesome lunch in the quad (where the middle school and elementary school are located). Everyone was supposed to dress up in Indian dress – so both Megan and I wore our new saris. Although saris are very complicated to tie (they basically consist of an underskirt (petticoat), a short blouse (that really only comes down to the middle of your ribcage) and then a very long piece of fabric (I think this can be anywhere from 4 to 7 meters long- mine seemed REALLY long!)). Fortunately, one of the librarians (also the wife of the head of the music department) Esther offered to help us tie our saris today. Megan and I went over to her house at about 8:30 this morning and she took time with each one of us to get ready. From what I understand, you have to put on your blouse and petticoat and then you tie a knot into one end of the sari. Then you tuck that into the side of the petticoat and wrap the fabric around your waist once. Then you tuck it in again at the same place and wrap it around one more time (but this time you are going to leave a bunch loose at the front to put in pleats). On this time when you’re wrapping it, you go around your front (with the loose part) and then the back and then bring up the rest of the material across your chest and throw it over your left shoulder. You adjust the length of the shoulder piece and then find out how much material you have, to do pleats with in the front of the skirt part. You fold the pleats with the extra fabric and then tuck it into the front of your petticoat. I think that’s about it… It seems pretty confusing at the time, I just tried doing it myself right now (with a t-shirt and pants on) to make sure I was describing it correctly. Hopefully sometime soon I will be able to do it myself and have it look decent enough!
Once Esther tied our saris for us, Megan and I went up to school and then at 9:30 we had a ceremony in front of the flag pole at the high school. The elementary school children we seated in front on the ground, while the staff sat in chairs on the side. The rest of the kids were standing all around the rest of the courtyard. Aloke, the Indian music teacher, led an Indian staff choir that sang some national songs. The orchestra also played the national anthem and everyone sang along. I only know the end of it, where the words repeat over and over again - I’m working on learning the rest… The principal said a few words and they also had a speaker who talked a little bit about freedom.
After the ceremony was over, the younger students went down to the quad for food, while the high schoolers hung around and did some dancing in the auditorium. It was really cool to see everyone dressed up in national clothes. Most people were in Indian clothes, but it is also the Korean Independence Day, so a lot of the Korean students were in their national dress. Megan was disappointed that she didn’t bring her hanbok (just kidding). By the time I made it down the quad for food, it was pretty packed. They had different stations set up outside with options for food. I had some momos (veg and mutton), dosa and one other thing that I don’t know it’s name. There were a few other things that I didn’t try, mostly because I didn’t want to wait in more lines and I was full. The momos are kind of like dumplings with vegetables or meat inside. They can be fried or steamed. They are served with sauce that is usually very spicy. The dosas are kind of like a big really flat pancake and then they are folded and have a mixture of potatoes and spices inside. They are served with a kind of soup, red chutney (spicy) and coconut chutney (which is my favorite chutney so far!). Dosas are actually a south Indian food, and apparently they are much better in the south than here in the north. But I’ve never had “authentic” south Indian dosas, so I thought it tasted just fine! The other food that I tried was some kind of little fried potato patty and then mint chutney, white and red sauces were poured over it. It was good and a little spicy. To drink there was water and of course chai!
During the festivities today, someone told me that the new phy ed teacher (who just arrived yesterday) played rugby. While I was eating I had a chance to meet her and talk for a bit. She said she was having three rugby balls sent here and she wants to start a 7’s side. There is also a new dorm parent who played rugby in Indiana who was really excited to start a team. After being here for a few weeks I was sure that I would not be playing rugby for at least two years, but now it sounds like we are going to try to get a team started!!! Amanda, the phy ed teacher, said we should try to get some of the high school girls involved too and maybe we could do some inter-school matches! I might be sending home for a package of cleats, rugby shorts and a mouth guard soon…
1 comment:
Love the pictures, you guys look so pretty in your saris!! I think I have actually had dosas before (there is a veg Indian restaurant my dad likes to go to called Nala Pak, and they always give you these potato things, though I never knew what they were called) and I like them! Also, that's really cool about the rugby stuff; good luck as you try to get teams, equipment, and everything together!
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