SECMOL

We arrived at SECMOL, our home base for the rest of the semester one week ago. SECMOL is a beautiful campus, mud brick buildings built to use passive solar heating to stay warm in the winter, cold in the summer, with large south-facing windows, wood floors, black trim that collects heat. A main building houses the main meeting hall where VIS students and Ladakhi students get together for English conversation in the mornings, and in the evenings the perfect space for hanging out and dancing! Down the hall on the main floor is the VIS office and classroom, where the keyboard James lugged all the way over here is now residing, and James has started giving piano lessons to interested students.

The second floor houses the girl's dorm, VIS students and Ladakhi's, as well as a beautiful sunny library. All the buildings have electricity, thanks to solar electricity and photovoltaic panels. Next door is a small bathhouse, where VIS students will be constructing a solar water heater in the hopes of one day having a hot shower! The next building over houses the dining hall space where we meet for dinner, and the boy's dorm. Just below this building, carved into the hillside down some stairs is the kitchen, and a smaller dining room where we eat breakfast. To the left of the kitchen is a greenhouse bordered on one side by the women teachers' rooms, where I live, and to the right another greenhouse bordered on the hillside by the male teachers' rooms, where James lives.

On the flat plain out front there are two more greenhouses, a garden, and volleyball courts, where Ladakhi students and sometimes VIS students spend evenings playing some very serious volleyball! We're settling into a routine here, with breakfast followed by work hour--everything from chopping vegetables for that night's dinner to small building projects, we'll be starting work on the solar water heater soon. After work hour we have English Conversation, where we partner with grade 10 Ladakhi students and they practice their English in preparation for the infamously difficult Grade 10 exam. Following a tea break, VIS students have Ladakhi Language lesson, taught by Kunzes. We've moved beyond "jul-ley" (the Ladakhi word for hello, goodbye, thank you, etc.) and are tackling the pleasantries like: Timo jimpo rak-le! (Smells good!) and Gongzen chi duk? (What is for dinner?)

Afternoons are flexible with most students starting to work on their projects, the occasional guest speaker, or group meetings and activities. Evening is dinner in the big dining hall followed by someone speaking on life in Ladakh or the U.S., and sometimes evening activity, either a movie or singing & dancing. We're enjoying getting to know Ladakhi students over English conversation, tea time, meals, and volleyball. It's been nice to settle into one place and start making friends here. The other highlight has been getting MAIL!! (and the occasional care package!)

VISpas and Ladakhi students are enjoying a day off today from class, and we're getting ready to attend a wedding on Monday in the nearby town of Shey.
Jul-ley,
Amy