"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who pointsout how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
-Theodore Roosevelt

Thursday, November 1, 2012

On November 13 I fly from SeaTac to Inchon Int'l Airport in Seoul, then to Mumbai, Kolkota (Calcutta), and finally arrive in Guwahati about 2 days later. The headmaster of the Parijat Academy, Uttam Terron, will pick me up at the airport.

I plan to teach English and volunteer my time and energy in whatever ways the school sees fit for 4 months, until mid-March 2013. They have graciously agreed to give me room and board. I am most excited to work with children and try to communicate in the regional dialect of the state of Assam, Assamese (not awesomese). I am least excited for diarrhea. Between mid-march April 2 when my Indian employment visa expires, I plan to travel west and see the sights of India. Currently fielding suggestions...

I will arrive in Kathmandu before April 1 for orientation of a pay-to-volunteer program run through International Volunteer Headquarters. I will then be placed somewhere in Nepal to teach for 6 weeks, after which I am free to roam and trek until I return home for a friend's wedding. The return flight is currently scheduled for June 1, but I can change that date for free.

This blog is for my family and for anyone else interested so that when I return, perhaps, I will not have to describe 6 months of my life into 30 second snippets using words like "good" "nice people" and "mountains" quite as often. Enjoy!
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownJuly 10, 2013 at 7:54 AM

    Dear Shaffer,

    First of all, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Joaquín, and I'm a 29 years old Spanish guy who is planning to go to Parijat Academy this August.

    I was reading your blog, and I have to say that it is amazing, exactly what I was looking for, to know more or less what can I expect in Parijat.

    I would really appreciate if you could give me an email address, so I can contact you to ask you any adittional question, that could be very helpful for me.

    My email address is: makaoasis@hotmail.com

    Looking forward to hearing form you,

    Thank you very much!

    ReplyDelete

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