with a tootsie pop

after lunch
students are "cleaning"
i think they are...most of the time all i hear are screaming girls running through the halls and see boys clustered in packs outside.
so yeah. cleaning
i like tootsie pops.
i'm glad i can buy american candy sometimes.
it's bad mostly 'cause i eat it, but i got the pops to offer to anyone who donates to my "India Box" of school supplies.
i am going to India on the 21st of December. the trip was organized by the awesome Lauren, Cory (mainland JETs) and our very own Elvira. It is set up through G.O.M.A.D. (Go out and make a difference) NGO...and is Lauren's baby, as far as i understand it.
The idea caught the attention of several first year JETs, so there are 9 Okinawan JETs going as well a friend of Yasemine's, Reyhan, who is a teacher at a base elementary school.
The bulk of the group will be going to Dehli on the 16th and we will all meet up at the orphanage in West Bengal. The plan is to volunteer our natural ability to speak English and teach it. The orphanage organized a week-long language camp for their kids and for kids from the community. There are 20 volunteers in total (mainlanders as well as Okinawans) and possibly over 200 kids of elementary school age.
After the camp we are on our own until we fly back all together this time to Oki-land on the 4th of January, getting into Naha on the 5th.
I plan on spending the time after the camp exploring West Bengal. I will probably stay in Kolkatta (formerly Calcutta) for a couple of nights.


wow...
i am going to India
trippy

in honor of our trip, a really nice friend of JETs on Okinawa, Shore, organized a dinner party at his parents' house last night.
Shore's parents are originally from Bombay but have been living on Okinawan for over 30 years.
His mother cooked traditional food and made us wonderful coconut dessert. It was great. The dinner guests were very diverse: JETs, military, Okinawans. It truly felt like i was a part of an "internationalization" effort. Although that's what I'm supposed to be providing to the students, I am in fact being internationalized myself more frequently.

here's a pic from a little while ago.
it's a funny one


i thought i'd share it..
kelly got a kid's meal one night at a restaurant..and to play along, Chris suggested that i pretend to feed her.
the pic cracks me up every time.

cheers