Today my adventure with Rising Star began... at 10:00, the vans came and picked us us from Chennai (apparently we're a small group -- only about 13 of us). We headed south, and as we did the city died away. We passed through several small villages where people lived in grass-roof huts with doors/openings not more than 3 feet high. I'm pretty sure the last stretch of road onto campus would normally be classified as 4wd only anywhere else, but not in India. Somehow the vans survive each time.
After getting a little settled, and having orientation, we got to play with the kids for almost 3 hours. It was the coolest thing. They all refer to the guys as 'uncle', and the girls as 'auntie'. The boys are crazy. At least most of them want to get on your shoulders, and then once they're up there, they won't get down. I was also asked by nearly every guy if I would let them take a picture or video with my camera, and then afterwards they always want to see it. It was awesome. I started pushing some of them on the swing set; it was like a full-time job! Once I started pushing another one, someone else would yell, "Uncle, uncle... push me!" By dinnertime I was pretty worn out. Our dinners are served on banana leaves... pretty cool. After dinner, we had "family time"... boys and girls are divided into 4 "families" each, and a couple of us are assigned to a family. I tried to learn some of their names, and so I'll attempt that on some of the pictures I post. I experienced my first bucket shower in India... it's amazingly refreshing after a long, hot day.
This is me being attacked by two "unnamed" kids... at least until I can remember theirs.
If I remember right... this is Gokulraj. If the picture doesn't give it away, he's a pretty funny guy. He's also quite adept at using my camera.
After getting a little settled, and having orientation, we got to play with the kids for almost 3 hours. It was the coolest thing. They all refer to the guys as 'uncle', and the girls as 'auntie'. The boys are crazy. At least most of them want to get on your shoulders, and then once they're up there, they won't get down. I was also asked by nearly every guy if I would let them take a picture or video with my camera, and then afterwards they always want to see it. It was awesome. I started pushing some of them on the swing set; it was like a full-time job! Once I started pushing another one, someone else would yell, "Uncle, uncle... push me!" By dinnertime I was pretty worn out. Our dinners are served on banana leaves... pretty cool. After dinner, we had "family time"... boys and girls are divided into 4 "families" each, and a couple of us are assigned to a family. I tried to learn some of their names, and so I'll attempt that on some of the pictures I post. I experienced my first bucket shower in India... it's amazingly refreshing after a long, hot day.
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