a new song

hello again! it's been a while. in case you were starting to forget what i look like with soft focus great lighting and sunglasses in an auto-rickshaw, here's a recent selfie:

seems every time i go to write a new blog post, i have no idea where to begin. and it gets even worse when i haven't posted anything in a while. how to account for all that unblogged about time?!! well, the last few weeks have been an absolute blur, with eleven of my students about to leave for their home country -- all on the same day --  and i wanted to send them off with their very own kala brand music makala dolphin ukulele. and to get that beautiful ukulele they had to earn it.

here's what they had to be able to play to earn their ukulele:

1) tu pyaar ka saagar -- chords and melody

2) kuch kuch hota hai -- chords only, but the timing is tricky!

3) survivor girl ukulele band song in hindi -- also tricky timing

4) c major scale -- forwards and backwards and be able to name all the notes

in addition:

5) each girl had to write an original song and perform it.

before we get any further with this post, here is one of the new songs:

[audio http://theworkingdraft.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/guitar-teacher-song.m4a]

and then we planned out a program to play for the home before they left, and they practiced and practiced!

but it wasn't all on the girls. on my end, i had to think about what materials to send with them so they could easily review and continue to work on their music. this whole project was an experiment, and i started from scratch. plus, i didn't have a printer. so for two months i had been teaching mainly with this one sheet of paper:

here's the other side. it got a lot of use!!

but then i finally sprung for a nice little printer. wheee!! and now we're working off sheets that look like this:

and believe me, these took hours and hours.

i also purchased some clear sleeves and some folders for the girls in which to keep their music and chord charts.

here's one more song, not to be missed:

[audio http://theworkingdraft.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/train-station-song-16may2013-2.m4a]

requiring the girls to write an original song turned out to be so amazing. many of these young women cannot read or write. one uses her thumbprint as her signature. and none of them had ever written a song before. but they are learning how to learn. more than that, they are creating and expressing themselves through music. the range of feelings and the ideas that come out in these songs -- well, i wish you could see and hear what i have witnessed in the past weeks. it is such an honor and privilege to be here with these dear sweet traumatized hurting intelligent loving and hopeful young women.

the survivor girl ukulele band project is truly impacting these girls' lives in a positive way. thank you, friends and family for your support and encouragement. you are part of this, too!

where i live

would y'all like to know a little bit about where i live and who else i hang out with besides the girls at the protective home? ok! well, i'd be happy to tell you all about it. a man named cini happens to be a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend from my days volunteering at freedom firm. and cini, who knows just about everyone in town, connected me with a place called the maharashtra fellowship for the deaf -- otherwise known as the mfd. and the mfd is just down the road from the protective home. still with me?

and the mfd had a couple of rooms in the upstairs of a big house that they weren't using. and that is where i now live. it really is a blessing, because it is safe, has wifi, and also because it is so close to rescue foundation that i can walk there. i usually catch an auto rickshaw, but it is just a 5 - 10 rupee fair (10 - 20 cents). whee!!

here's a photo of the big house where i live.

my rooms are on the second floor behind that staircase that you see on the left side of the building. if you squint, you can see the door to my outer room is slightly ajar. i also have access to the roof, which is a pretty cool place to do exercises in the morning if i can get up before the sun gets too hot.

and here is the room where i spend most of my time when i am home.

most of the linens from an american family who have been in pune for five years and are now headed back to the states. thank you, dear janet!!

mfd is a boarding school for over 100 boys and girls who are deaf, and one of the cool things about living at mfd is that i never ever ever have to cook. at around 8 pm i just listen for the banging of metal bowls and ladles plates and cups -- i thought mfd would be a really quiet place to live, but it isn't!! --  and then i look out the window and down below to make sure they haven't started without me, and then i scurry downstairs and outside to the girls' dining area. and then one of the girls signs to me, asking if i want to have food, and i sign back and say yes, and when the buckets of food are toted over from the huge outdoor kitchen, one or two girls from each table pop up and get the rice and curry, and when it is all doled out, i get a plateful.

here is the dining area where we eat. it looks a little gloomy at night, but it is always fascinating.

i love it here and am learning some sign language, too. it's also very handy that i learned the american sign language alphabet years ago.

here's two of the 10th standard girls who are always so nice.

and here is a short video of sarubai, who is asking me if i want breakfast. this is the last breakfast of the school year for 9th standard and below.

[wpvideo 6LVCj6RM]

and that is my post for today. i hope you are having a fabulous week!!