This is my first report about my volunteering in India 2018-19 and I will describe my first impressions of India, my normal days, my experiences and challenges so far.

My stay in India started with a bus ride from the airport in Mangalore to the FSL-India Training  Centre, where all the volunteers had a “preparation week”. The vehicle was smaller than the buses we were used to, mostly because all of the luggage, which was inside of the bus. Anyway, we reached our destination faster than I expected, with some first impressions of the Indian streets. From time to time, the bus played loud Indian charts music.  The stereotype I had in mind, that every street in India has to be busy, was proofed wrong and many of us took a little nap (sleeping at the airport in Mangalore at night was not very comfortable, nor long). A cliché that seemed to be true were the cows – suddenly our bus stopped and let one cross the street.

At the FSL-India Training Centre, we met some more volunteers from a different sending organisation, most of them were German and staying for 6 or 11 months. First, it took some time until the people from the different organisations mixed up, but as the time passed, we became closer with each other. The next day, our preparation started and we were welcomed with a traditional ritual, which contained some oil candles, jasmine flowers and red points on our foreheads.

The following days were filled with presentations about Indian culture, some language lessons in the local language Kannada and Tamil, talks about our expectations and fears and one little trip to the nearby city “Kundapur”. Furthermore, some host families and former volunteers came to answer all our questions. But not only did they listen to all our concerns, also every FSL-India worker was caring and explained about Indian habits and further helped us with information about the programme for the whole duration.

Then I came to my host family. They live in a little village “Anagalli” next to Kundapur and they hosted already many volunteers. They have a red house, with a nice coconut garden next to the river. There are living my host brother “Kishu”, my host sister “Bharathi”, their parents, their uncle and their grandmother. Sometimes, the parents are going to another city where my host father has a banana plantation. Furthermore, the uncle works as a fisherman and the whole family loves fish. Every day (except Thursday and Saturday), we eat fish for dinner. Bharathi even owns one parrot fish called “Dorry”. In and around the house there live some more animals like a cat, some chickens and two little, cute puppies.

The house has 2 floors and on the second (smaller) floor, there is my room, with a huge bed and a little desk. Upstairs, I have much privacy and I’m really happy about that place where I can be on my own, when I want to. Having some privacy isn’t self-understanding, some volunteers wish they would have more of it.

Bharathi and Kishu speak English very well, so that I can talk to them about everything. Moreover, they really care for me and they give their very best to make me feel comfortable and “at home”. The rest of the family speaks only “Kannada”, that means that the communication is restricted to very simple topics. But that doesn’t mean that they’re not friendly. They are incredibly lovely!

The most important sentence from everybody in Karnataka: “Have you had food?” “Oota aytha?”. This phrase is also used for the question “How are you?”, therefore you hear it very often. I am trying to learn Kannada, but so far, I’m not very good and I still repeat the basics. Kannada vocabulary is very close to English, but the structure of the language is completely different. I hope I can learn it properly by the end of my stay.

Now I’ll describe a typical day in my host family. At 7.30 am, I get up and dress in a so-called “kurta”, a long blouse. After that, I brush my teeth and go to the toilet, which is in a little house in the garden and not like a western toilet, but only a bowl on the floor level. In addition, there is no toilet paper and you use water and your left hand to clean everything. That’s also the reason why Indians see the left hand as impure.

Then, there is breakfast, sometimes it’s rice, sometimes grains with coconut, sometimes “rice flour pancakes”. It’s never like in Germany, but always tasty and not very spicy. After that, I wash my clothes by hand, on a stone in front of the house, and then I go to school. At 4 pm, I come home from school and we drink some chai tea and eat some biscuits. The next hours are free and I can relax, read, watch movies, Skype with my family and friends or go to Kundapur to purchase some needed stuff.

At 6 pm, I have to be at home, so there is only limited time to spend outside. After that, my family watches TV, Bharathi says some prayers and everybody takes a shower. At 9 o’clock, we eat dinner, which is rice with fish or vegetable sauce. In the evening, I go to bed, always looking forward to my next day at school.

My way to school is very short, therefore I only walk 2 minutes. From Monday to Saturday, school starts at 9.30 am, then the kids sing a school prayer and the national anthem. After that, there are normal classes in subjects like Maths, Kannada, Social Studies and English, which are the subjects I teach to them. The name of the school is “Government Higher Primary School Anagalli”, about 50 kids from 1^st-7th grade are going to school there. 1^st, 2^nd and 3rd grade are called “Nallikalli” and they are taught in one classroom, the next grades have their own classrooms and contain from 4-9 children each.

he first 2 months I taught English with the help of their books and in October, I started a project about the story of “The Rainbow Fish”. Moreover, they had to write some exams in October so we repeated grammar topics. The English knowledge is quite good and there is always at least one girl or boy who knows enough English to help me and translate sometimes to Kannada.

In Nallikalli, the communication is more difficult (due to a lower English level), so in the English class I’m singing more songs and playing games with them. From Monday to Friday, school ends at 3.30 pm. Between the lessons, I have always some free time to prepare the next classes. Besides, the children teach me some Kannada, which is very funny. On Saturdays, school is only one half day long, so everybody eats lunch at home. The other days everybody gets one vegetarian meal at school. That, and the school uniforms are free for the children, due to the fact that it is a public school. The teachers – 3 women (Vanitha, Latha and Reshma) and the director (Chandrashekhar) of the primary school speak English quite well. They are extremely friendly and I can always ask them for advice. That is also the reason why I am so happy in India, everybody is really caring and helping – always!

Furthermore, there are several functions celebrated at school, then I wear a saree and bangles. The kids sing songs, hold little speeches and get some bonbons.

In October the children had 2 weeks of holidays, so all the volunteers had to work 1 week in a different place, and the second week was free for travelling. The first week I worked with 6 other volunteers on an organic farm, and the second week we went to Mysore for a famous festival called “Dussehra” that contains a procession with elephants, that’s why many people are coming to see it.

There, we met some more volunteers and a coordinator from Mysore. My own coordinator is visiting my project every month and I can always write him a message when I need help or have some questions. Next week, a “Quarterly Evaluation Meeting” will take place, and I will meet all the other volunteers and coordinators again. In addition, everybody will recapitulate the first 3 months and discuss about the experiences and challenges.

So far I can say that there are some challenging experiences. For example, the completely new language Kannada, Nallikalli’s low English level, the (in my eyes) early time when I have to be home, or the decent clothing. All these are small aspects which are not very easy to accept, but I become better and better with it.

Finally, the positive experiences are much stronger than the challenges. Visiting some temples with my host family, taking part in religious rituals, eating foreign food, living next to coconut trees, listening to Indian music, wearing different jewellery and clothes including “bindis”(points between the eyebrows), going to a wedding and so much more…

As a conclusion I can say that I am totally happy in my new environment and very glad to experience the Indian lifestyle and culture.