Day Five in Kolkata

We woke up this morning feeling well-rested and made our way down for breakfast at the usual time. We eagerly ate our breakfast while waiting for the exciting day ahead. We are so lucky that Patrick cooks us eggs and toast, as well as a good selection of fruit and cereals, which we are very grateful for.

We split up again into two groups, Therese taking off with Dara, Hannah, Elodie and Sally to the Mary Rice Centre, whilst the remainder stayed behind at St. George's. Today, we were due to teach Science to Class Three, so we prepared a lesson on animals and their habitats. The class went smoothly and ended with a fun board game created by Sophia- the students were so competitive and committed to finishing the game but they also applauded the winners, a sense of teamwork which was lovely to see. We had a lot of fun being silly with the kids by acting out the animals and their sounds...it was a really fun class for all of us. We finished up early today after playing with the kids during their break time. During their break, some of the students taught us how to play a really fun but confusing game called 'Charlie Chaplin'. Needless to say, they beat us every time!!

After lunch, we headed back for a quick pit-stop for a toilet break and to refill our water bottles. We were so grateful to be given a tour of the local area by some of the boys from the older classes. It was lovely to walk around as the boys told us all about their lives here; they very graciously guided us through the crazy streets and were excellent lollipop men when crossing the hectic roads (basically, they saved our lives on multiple occasions and did so with ease!) They seemed like superheroes stopping zooming buses and bikes by just lifting their hand. We still have no idea how they managed to control the traffic themselves, however we still had a few incidents where we were herded and sandwiched together avoiding reversing buses and carts. On our walk, they showed us the Reserve Bank of India which is the biggest bank here in Kolkata. They told us that this is where Rupees are printed and had the building boasted glass chandeliers and specially-trained police officers as guards. It was the most well-kept building we had seen so far, which we thought was ironic.

 On our walking tour, the boys showed us some goats and guys jumping on and off carts as part of their work; we were in awe. When our walk sadly came to an end, we thanked our generous tour guides and headed up for some yummy lunch. We then had a little bit of downtime, playing cards and chilling or napping (someone may have fell asleep on the sofa!) while we waited for the others to come back from the Mary Rice centre and have their lunch. 

Once they returned, we had the exciting opportunity of getting to go see a new controversial Bollywood film in the local cinema. The cinema was very similar to the ones back at home except the chair reclined and there was an interval half way through the movie for food and bathroom breaks. The film itself was called 'Pathaan' and was an action-packed spy movie. We were all extremely entertained by the flamboyant style of the movie and despite it being in Hindi, we all knew pretty much what was happening due the dramatic acting and editing. Every five minutes there was a huge fight scene with Pathaan's exaggerated six-pack being exposed!! We were loving it and so were the other people sitting around us. The local people in the cinema cheered and whistled whenever their favourite actors were introduced, which was so funny for us to observe and made the cinema experience interactive for sure. Apparently, the actor playing Pathaan is the most celebrated actor in Bollywood and the second highest paid actor in the world so when he appeared on the screen everyone began to cheer and whoop. Br. Ronnie proudly announced afterwards, that he was also an ex Christian Brother student! We spent the walk back to the school discussing our new-found love of Bollywood and how we are planning on watching only Bollywood movies on the flight home!

The girls who went to the Mary Rice Centre did the now usual trip, by hopping on the metro to Dum Dum and manoeuvring through the bustling streets. We arrived at 9:30 and had a lovely chat with Brother Charlie and discussed the exciting activities planned for the day. We went down to the classrooms and joined in enthusiastically with the children's dancing. After that, we were split up to work with different groups of students, young and old. We helped by teaching them different parts of the computer, numbers and days of the week. After a quick tea/coffee break, we all took part in some relaxing meditation which really calmed down the kids after their lunch. We, again, split into groups to support the students with colouring, which helps develop their motor skills. We agreed that the insight into how well cared for the students at the Mary Rice Centre are, despite their challenges is touching and we all left feeling the impact of the smiling children for the rest of the day. We finished the action-packed morning with delicious sweet and sour chicken and headed back to St. George's.

To complete the day, we had a reflection session to discuss the events of the day, in which lots of laughs were had. Today, we have completed five days and are half way through our trip. Time flies when we're having fun!