Hello everyone! It is Thursday night here in Chennai and I find myself with a few moments to write a new post. The trip is going well so far, I am having a great time! I cannot even begin to describe India and all that I am experiencing. Working with the children here is both challenging and rewarding. I spend my mornings at Assisi Illam, a daycare/orphange for children ages 2-5. I am working mostly with 3 year olds, helping them with their alphabets, numbers, animals, etc. Adorable does not even come close to describing how cute these kids are! They are each so special, with very unique personalities. I will take pictures on my last day and will post them here for you all to see.

My afternoons are spent at Grace School teaching English to 4th and 5th graders. These students are so much fun and make teaching very enjoyable for me. There is one little girl in 4th grade, Deepika, who writes me a note every day telling me how much she loves me being their teacher and how sad she will be when I go home to America. I don't even want to think about saying my goodbyes to the children...

In the evenings we go to SEAMs (South East Asian Missions) to play with/teach the children. Most of these children only have one parent and live at this orphange because the parent cannot afford to keep them. The parents visit the children only once a month. These children have nothing but each other and the clothes on their backs, yet they are some of the happiest and kindest children I have ever met! They are so excited to spend time with us, playing games and practicing the English they learn in school. I found out last night that if Global Volunteers was not in India, these children at SEAMs would be sent back to their families to be put to work. I cannot imagine these little ones working in factories as child labor! It makes me even more grateful for the opportunity to be here with them.

In addition to all of the teaching I have had the opportunity to get out and experience some of Chennai. Yesterday Laura (my team mate) and I went to downtown Chennai to shop. Tomorrow we will be visiting the largest market in all of India. Our weekend will be spent traveling south to see temples, ashrams, a sea-side town called Pondicherry, and some other popular sights. I'm looking forward to seeing more of India on our drive! Next week's activities will include: classical dancing, bollywood film, another market, and dinner with our program host's parents.

Good night!
Meg