Work is Worship

Heylo my little chickens!

Well I am writing this on word at the moment because I am cheap and the internet costs money lol! So I am not exactly sure where I left off last time.

The week has been long; I spent Mon, Tues and Wed in Zakira and Thurs and Fri in Mayapuri. Generally we get boys in the morning and girls in the afternoon – 13 calsses a week. I remember writing in 2006 in my journal that Kalkaji was oddly beautiful, both through spirit and even physically in some ways. I haven’t been into the slum at Zakira yet, but I get the same feeling from it. However, the same can not be said about Mayapuri. It is set in an industrial area and holds the biggest scrap market in Delhi. So the thin veneer of dust that covers most of India is turned into a black layer which even permeates the air. John finds it very hard to sit outside because of the unclean air – you really can taste the pollution. It is one of the most horrible places I could ever imagine living in and I feel – like Fiona said once – that I am in the geography textbook at the section on poverty. It affected me more than ever, which was weird to me.

“work is worship” – written on one of the kids textbooks…However, all five classes of kids seem willing to learn and are good fun! Even when we cant remember their names – we both even thought that one girl in Zakira was a boy until we tried to say larka (boy) at her instead of larki (girl). The girls shouted at us until we realised…that was embarrassing…Fun is being had, and we are keeping the lessons active I think – sometimes just making random noises for the hell of it. The kids are very good at repeating and copying, however, after their first test we have realised that some are much better than others already. It could be about to get tricky…Though the copious amounts of sweet, spiced tea that the women give us certainly do help!

We saw the funeral of a lady who was 105 in Zakira on Wed too – the procession was full of colour and noise – typically Hindu I believe – and was quite a spectacle. There are also some small girls in Mayapuri who come in to find us now during lunch and bring us outside to play games. And she is so cute! She always wants to hold our hands and has quite taken to “What’s the time mr wolf?” – it relaxes you so much but it’s going to be awful going round the slum later and seeing the conditions that she has to live in.
So it has been a week and I feel quite normal living in India. Jon and I were even so surprised to see a white person as we walked back from the market, that we had to stop and cross the street to say hello, in a most untactful fashion “It’s so cool to see a white person!” HA! anyway – we have met some great people, Paul, Felix, Krishna, Rakesh etc etc and tonight we go to Freddy’s with the Southampton team for dinner – can’t wait! We haven’t starved but we have got 5 cans of baked beans in the house:P Freddy has been great, couldn’t survive without him. Anyway, must dash – hope you all are good back home. It’s weird to be here cause it doesn’t seem so far away (still cold!) but I’m very glad I am!

Peace out. talk soon!

G

PS thanks to everyone who has emailed me! keep them coming! i_know_where_you_live_mate@hotmail.com