Twisting the Kaleidoscope

This week makes an important juncture in my work like. I have finished my first big contract and am moving on to other things. "What might that be?" you may ask.

First, it will start with a conference which I have been wanting to go to since I heard about it my first year here. Then I will take a weeks vacation before diving into my new work. The best part is the conference and vacation are in Thailand. I head out in a week to a country I have never been to. I am really excited. Let's not lose focus of this post.

What next?

I have decided to not do a large full-time contract. My life needs more flexibility here. I am lining up a series of smaller projects. I am still going to be involved in the same things I was before but am shifting things around. I am looking at this transition like a kaleidoscope---all the same pieces are still there but as I make the transition the pieces are going to be shifted to create something that looks very different.

First on the agenda---The Ashish Centre www.ashishindia.org

This is an early intervention school for "differently abled" students ages 3-14. I have been wanting to do some work with this centre for a few years. Finally, the door has opened. This week I will meet with the director to talk about what my role will look like there.

The timing fits perfectly into my online special education courses. The school has a strong focus on students with autism and I'm entering into my ASD concentration part of my certificate. This is something I decided to do to get my required professional development hours for my teaching certificate. Due to the higher level courses I took in my undergraduate program, I will be able to earn my Masters in Special Education by only taking the certification courses. I remember complaining about how all my education classes were dually master level classes, but I guess it finally paid off! Yes, in addition to working, I'm taking two online classes each semester through December...crazy! This is a great example of the need for more flexibility in my schedule.

I have agreed to organize two networks for my business partner. One will be for consultants like myself. The other will be for home schoolers. The consultant network will be more of a database in order to connect consultants and make better referrals. The home schooling network will help home schoolers collaborate and share resources. We might look into doing special projects, field trips, and/or camps for them depending on the needs we find.

I will be working with Emmanuel Hospital Association (eha-health.org) in Bihar. Yep, the woman who doesn't like hospitals is going to a rural one to work in September. Luckily, I won't have to even go into the actual hospital. I will be teaching English to the nurses in the nursing school. Long term I will be writing an English tutorial program for them. I have never taught English before where it could actually have the ability to save lives. They need a good English tutorial because nurses are making critical mistakes due to having poor English.

That leaves a little room for some tuitions (private tutoring). I have made myself available for tuitions for the students with special needs from the school I am leaving.

I will also be spending more time marketing my business. My website is being polished and a brochure will hopefully be ready to go to print when I return from Thailand. The marketing will focus on the workshops I feel I can offer the schools in this area.

I am also going to endeavor to do something new which I never thought I would do...write. I want to spend some time writing more about my life here. I hope to do most of that here. I will intentionally be going out and capturing some video and pictures and posting them to go with my writings. To make up for the lost income I will be giving baking classes (which has nothing to do with work but with demand and feeding my soul). I will also be picking back up some Hindi tuitions of my own. I will not be bored.

That's all for now.

I'm back...

I am back. Sorry for the long absence. I even just posted the second part of an unfinished post from August! Very ironic since this past week was Mahashivratri, which is the festival to celebrate the other god of the Hindu Trinity. Anyway, I hope to start writing A LOT more in the coming weeks and months. Please stay tuned....

Janmashtami Part 2

In different parts of India, this holiday is celebrated very differently. In the north, it is very solemn and followers fast until midnight when they break the fast by eating a sweet. In the south, it is full of fun and frolic. Huge human pyramids are made to reach high placed clay jars filled with buttermilk or a mixture of Ganga water, milk, ghee, curd, & honey. Some children are known to dress up as Krishna, painting themselves blue while carrying a flute and wearing a peacock feather in their hair.