Welcome and Silence

Ok.
So, I'm beat and tired now, but I have to focus on the awesome.

I wake up at 3am and fail to get back to sleep. Bad.

Class starts at 3:00, we plan to show up early to get the classroom squared up.

They show up late, the ride over there is *very* exciting and makes me feel both very alive for having survived so many apparent near-deaths and incredibly serene.

Truth time: on the plane in I saw this Bollywood movie. It was about a nice little town that was fine the way it was, but one guy wanted the town to be more popular so they invite this horrible, drunken money-grubbing famous guy who happened to be born there to come and stay to boost the civic profile.

Madcap hilarity ensues until everyone learns their lesson and the fat guy kisses the midwife that help birth him. Yes.

Anyway, the part that struck me was that the town was all vegetarian and did penance every time the fat guy made them get him omeletes and stuff. He drank a lot too. Now, I'm not going to foreswear booze the whole trip. Hell, I'm having a beer now, but I could use a little authentic Indian redemption experience in this posh posh hotel, so I'm laying off the meat for the near future. Maybe I'll try to make it til March and the new year. No promises, just think it would be better for me.

So: flash back to 12 hours ago, we arrive at the job site finally and the whole place is there to greet us in ceremonial garb. The have decorated the lobby with flower petals and give us the whole moxa, rose water, garland and forehead stain. They also gift us with a hat we can wear on the upcoming national holiday.

In all, it was very touching and pleasant. You can see I made a bungle of the iPhone video. Later in the evening (around 2:30am) when our workday was done, the flower arrangement was stil in the lobby. That's am iphone snap of it above.

Oh, and halfway through class the tea wallah showed up, delivering delicious strong coffee.
Later he came by offering us a snack.
It was a like a thick, spicy porrige served on a plate. It was tasty and hot, but I couldn't really eat it and teach.
For evenening meal we went up to the cafeteria: basically a covered open-air area on the roof of the building. The night air was as delicious as the food they served us.
Class was a different bag of fish. The computers weren't set up and the class basically just stared blankly at me for 8 airs and wouldn't even respond when I asked them basic questions. Even deliberately silly ones like: "Who knows what a pirate is?"
I think its a combination of culture, new job, and the presence of their superior in the class that is making them timid. The only response I got was at how badly I mangled their names.
In any case it was a tough day on the teaching front, but what a welcome.