My Adventure Begins!

I have been told time and again by my good friend Alysa that I should write a blog. Blogging appeals to me in a romantic sort of way. I think of blogging and I picture myself sitting in a chic café, sipping something posh and delicious while gazing ponderously off into the distance. Of course my words would be profound, witty and poetic. People would look at me and wonder what I was thinking. "lovely", they would say, "just lovely.
Alright. I am painfully aware that this probably won't be the case. If you were to look at my journals you would see that they are inconsistent scribbles and rants. I often go months without writing anything. Large portions of my life are left out. Sometimes I am simply uninspired to write. I assume that my blogs will follow a similar pattern. I must remind myself how much of this world I want to take in and process! I am seeking my own story in the bigger story that I am a part of. I will attempt to channel and focus myself. Maybe some day, my romantic blogger vision will come true.

 

      I also have a good reason to finally be blogging. I am in India! It is no longer easy to have long conversations with people ,so I am hoping to tell you about my life here on the other side of the world.

      In my present location there are no chic cafes, only tea carts. There is nowhere to sit around these tea carts unless I arrange myself and my laptop in a pile of goat dung. It might be comfortable but for now the cafe blogging will have to wait.

     I am in India! This is a fact that still seems surreal to me.  My world has two faces. The first is made up of horns, spices, monkeys, chapatti( unleavened bread), daahl (a lentil dish), garbage, stray animals , 6 am calls to prayer from the neighbouring mosque and lot’s of color and crazy patterns. This India hides it’s face as soon as I enter the Hebron grounds. For those of you who don’t know, Hebron is the international school I am volunteering at, it is located in Ooty, a town in the Nilgiri hills. Ooty is known for it’s cool climates, forest preservation and tea! I bet some of your favourite tea comes from here. I can now confidently recognize a tea plantation. That’s all I see when I look out at the hills. As I was saying, the India that never feels quite comfortable disappears as soon as I enter the Hebron grounds. The security guard nods to me and lifts the gate and I am greeted by lush forest and flowers. This is an unexpected gift and I am extremely grateful every time I walk through the gates. I walk up the drive and am met with British colonial buildings and more trees. I love trees. The paths to and from the classrooms could rival the staircases from Hogwarts. There isn't just one school building, there are several, piled on top of each other, in a very random patttern. I still had to ask where the staff dining room was today even after being here a week.

     Everyone is so kind and everyone knows me even if I don’t know them. It’s sortof like a Rosebud only instead of flat think up and instead of prairies think jungle. Got it? Good. I am still adjusting. There is a lot I have to do. As an international guest my duties include everything from teaching, to admin work and helping with the dorms. I am known around these parts as Miss Kendra. It has a nice ring to it. " Miss Kendra, miss Kendra! " Try and hear that being said with any accent that isn't Canadian. There are very few Canadians here.

 I will blog more, I promise. This will have to suffice as my introduction to the blogging world.  The bell has just rung for lunch. I am going to eat. I have a feeling that it is curry.

 

Until next time!