Our Last Week Teaching at Manasarovar...

Wow... did I blink? Can it really be our LAST week already? We've been volunteer teaching at Manasarovar Academy for 5 weeks now, and are truly savoring the experience. Editing grant proposals, creating a school blog and website, proof-reading test papers, and typing for the teachers has kept us in front of a computer screen much more than we imagined... but we also get to teach plenty of classes. Karen has taught mostly English and "GK" (general knowledge), and initiated a story-telling workshop for the oldest students (class 5; 10-13 yr. olds). They'll present their personally created stories and legends to the younger students on Friday. Paul has been covering several classes each day, primarily Science, Math & English... This last week he's been cramming the students into a tiny sweaty "television room" to share power-point presentations on the USA, California, Yosemite, etc... The students have also begging for more information and discussion on a wide range of topics, from great white sharks & volcanic eruptions, to the origin of the universe, giant squid, and World War 2. When I say begging, I mean literally begging... pulling on my arm as I walk down the hall crying "please Sir Paul, please can you tell me how is formed the planet Earth!?" ...or physically blocking me in the doorway as I try to leave, hands folded & shaking over their hearts in the "namaste position," saying "oh Sir Paul don't go to other class, don't go! Take our next class please, we need you tell us how did human come from monkey is it true? Also tell me what is Berlin Wall?!"

Their genuine hunger for knowledge, and the earnest intensity of their desire to learn, is both heart-warming and inspiring! Of course some classrooms are loud and chaotic, certain students are really disruptive, and it's difficult not to lose my voice every day... but some of these kids, WOW... If I could just take 10 or 15 them, and find a quiet space, they would be super focused sponges, asking great questions & soaking up every morsel of information that I could possibly share! What do you say to a kid who follows you down the hall asking "Oh Paul sir, can you quickly answer me this question of what means by Theory of Evolution?" How can I give them complete and reasonable answers in just minutes, when what I really need is a nice quiet hour with a whiteboard and a fast internet connection? Anyway, I am loving these students! It will be really sad to say goodbye in a few days...
Our girls are feeling a huge mix of emotions for the "end" of school. They have been stressed out at times with the workload of Tibetan, Nepali, math, science, GK, etc., while also trying to keep up with home-school assignments from California. They were very shy at first, dreading school some days and watching the clock... But as new friendships have blossomed, and they have settled into the routines and expectations of a radically different school system, every day is better than the last. They are excited and relieved for the end of this school experience (and the start of trekking & rafting), but also quite sad and depressed that their daily contact with friends will suddenly come to a close...
I'm also a huge bag of emotions right now. I hope to write more on this soon! For now, I'll post a bunch of photos...