Life in McLeod

We've been in McLeod for a week and I can say without hesitation that we are loving it. I still can't quite believe this is India. A few kilometres down the hill, and you in Dharamsala. There's no question that that's India. It strikes me as a fairly uninteresting town that I have no desire to explore. We have stopped there to pick up some shopping, assuming that it's cheaper than McLeod due to the lack of tourists, but it's not. The few people I have encountered there did nothing to endear themselves to me.

Then you drive ten minutes back up the hill and you are surrounded by Tibetans and a very real sense of peace. You can't help but feel completely chilled out here. No one hassles you to buy anything, or even look at stuff. They seem content to earn nothing more than a greeting and a smile, as you walk on buy.

Martha charms everyone, even today when she had her first public tantrum (-I wouldn't buy her a Kitkat because she didn't eat her breakfast.) People were coming out of their shops to smile and say,"Arh! Baby, don't cry," as she stamped her way up the road. In the end, two gorgeous Tibetan grandmothers sat down with her on the steps of a cafe and talked in such soothing tones, that even though she couldn't understand what they were saying, she grasped their intention, and stopped crying. Throughout the encounter, the older of the two women never stopped spinning her prayer wheel.

We have now sussed out our favourite eateries and know the best dishes in each. We're all feeling very at home here. The kids can now come and go on their own. Freya walked home today alone and I am quite happy to let them go to the shops by themselves (obviously without Martha in tow!)

We've all settled into our roles at school. For me, teaching at St Mary's is an absolute dream, no planning, no paperwork, no assessment, no targets, just the simple pleasure of imparting knowledge. I've also established with Sister Jancy how I can introduce the concept of environmental education and set out a programme of training with the staff. They have absolutely no idea about Climate Change and its implications. I tried to talk to the children about the melting ice caps but they have no knowledge of the Arctic. No one knew what a polar bear was. So often I want to reach for the computer to show them something on the internet, but of course, there isn't one.

None of the pupils have ever seen the sea. Such a lot of ground to cover! I have also noticed that they are not the independent learners I am so used to working with. They are completely reliant on the teacher directing all that they do. When you write something on the board they all say it out loud then they copy down exactly what they see. I was teaching a class to use connectives. I wrote some sentences on the board that the children had to finish. Out of a class of 45, I think three were confident enough to do what I asked. The rest of them simply wrote out a page of half finished sentences! There's no risk taking going on here. 

But then when I hear about Fergus' first Hindi lesson, I can understand why. Apparently, the teacher walked around the room checking what they were doing. If a boy made a mistake, she would pull their ear and slap their face. The girls got off more lightly with a sharp yank of their plaits. Unbelievable!

The kids have settled in amazingly well. Fergus is so keen to improve his handwriting, to be like the kids here, that he has been practising at home...UNHEARD OF! They are surrounded by friends at playtime and are both really happy to go school each day.

Last night, as we walked home after dinner, two men were squatting on the side of the road, watching the world go by, laughing and joking. "Hey, Happy Family!" they shouted, "Good night. Sweet dreams!"

And you know what, you do have sweet dreams. Several times I am woken in the night by one of the kids, and I never have one of those desperately annoying thoughts about something I need to do, or some stress at work, that so often keeps me awake. I am utterly peaceful. How lucky I am. But how long can this last?