..a day of information gathering..

so today there is no slum visit, no community visit, no youth meetings, today is the day we (Susanne and i) have been waiting for, a day that will turn out to be much better than we could even imagine..one thing that you need know, if you have never done trainings for other people, that is, you can prepare as much as you want to, but it is really the first couple of minutes of that particular training that will decide how the overall outcome will be, it is here where you set the tone for the whole day(s), where you get the team to be interactive, participate, laugh, smile and share... - or it is here where you loose all of the above! needless to say that any trainer stepping into a session with a group of people he / she has never met before is one thing, but stepping into a group that is soo incredible different from your own culture as Sweden / Denmark and India is, is a completely diffferent thing, to do that, that is stressful, that is very tense, and it is some challenge, so add on top of that, the fact that we were suppose to start at 10.30, we arrived at 10.45, and nobody was there, the room was locked, and we stood on the stairwell, waiting for 15 min, then waited additional 15 - 20 min once we came into the room.. - all in all not the kinda start that you dream of as a trainer, it is actually one of your worst nightmares.. - if not THE worse one! So finally we manage to get started, it is all or nothing, oh one more thing we are working through a translator that makes it even more fun, so we kick it off, and i am happy to say that within 2 min, Susanne and i have their full attention, you can see how much they are trying to catch all the words we are saying in English, hoping that will understand at least something, then waiting impatiently to get it translated into Tamil, only to reflect and do the woppel, it feels great to finally be working with them, it feels great to have their attention, i am so more relaxed now, and i am getting into my "zone" i am reminded a couple of time by Prija (our translator) that she needs time also to translate, she is smiling and can see my excitement for finally working with the team here - so Susanne and i have really never working together before, but i have to admit, i feel like i know her working style so well, and seemingly she knows mine, so we ping pong over thoughts, questions, input, feedback, left, right, up and down around the group, it is dynamic, it is fast, it is full of stories, experience, conversations, and thoughts and ideas..and the team seems to enjoy it a great deal, they are some much more active that i dared hope for, they are sharing their problems, and their ideas, suggestions, and we address a lot of relevant items, and then it happens........ - electricity goes down, fanes are off, and it is 35 degrees and we are right in the sun, i feel it coming, within 5 min my shirt is wet, and i am dripping from my forehead, i am struggling to a balance between coaching, training and drinking enough water to ensure that i will not collapse. I manage to take down almost 2 ltr of water in less than 60 min. and still i am forcing myself to drink more, one thing i have learned by now is that water bottles are key to success in india, you need to have water with you all the time, otherwise good luck...

After continuing without electricity we reach the point of having a short lunch break, and this is where it gets even more interesting, the chairs are being taken away and one lady comes with some paper sheets, they kinda look like normal A-4 sheets, just green, she comes with a huuuug pot of rice, literally enough for a small army, another pot with sauce, and then she starts to serve to +20 people, fried rice, sauce and fried boiled eggs (which is really delicious, imagine boiled eggs, then fried) it is absolutely perfect, of course we are eating with our right hand, i am actually getting the hang on this - i really enjoy eating with my hand (not sure it would go well in Slovakia...), the first portion is done, and automatically i am getting served another one, i didnt even manage to say yes or no, she just serves as a reflex, so we ask her if she made it all herself, and she answers that she got up early to prepare for all of us and that she is very happy that we are eating her food, and that it is a privellige for her to be allowed to cook for us - wow, i mean honestly i feel it as a privellige that somebody can be bothered cooking for me, that doesnt happy to often.. so i eat this portion and i am full, it was great - by fare the best food i have had in Chennai till now... and then i start to hear berbing sounds from some to the women, and cant help to ask if it is accepted, they answer something funny "a berp is the stomach that tell you, you are full".. i find it funny, and sweet - again i am not sure it would be accepted in restaurants in Europe.. :-)) so lunch is almost over and we are about to get up, oh did i forget to tell you - the lunch was served on the floor in the room we are having the training in - you have to love India .... and so, slowly but sure that is what i am starting to do - fall in love with India, almost like love at first sight..

Lunch is over, stomachs are full, heads are spinning with thoughts and ideas, and it is time for us to get some excitement going, so susanne kicks off the session with a game, and they are loving it is - they are laughing and sincerely having fun, we again didnt know what to expect with having them do a game, but now we know - they love games (mental note - this team really loves sweets and games, add more of this on the next training :-) after the game, we go into group conversations, and the conversations are flying around the room, if we had dynamics before, we now see fireworks (maybe because Diwali is soo close by..) they are discussing, talking, listening, asking, writing, laughing and smiling.. - and i couldnt be more happy than i am right now, it is running perfect. After some 40 min of having them doing group exercises they are asked to come and present to the others in the group, they do so with great pride, which is wonderful, we all discuss what we found, and how to move from there, we work through the hours like ice in the sun, and then our afternoon caj is coming, more water, more work, more translation, more conversations, discussions, more sharing, more feedback, more input ... but above all, more interaction - i almost dont believe my own eyes, they are seemingly only getting in 3rd gear, and now they warmed up, and then all of a sudden it is time to summarize and close off this first session with them - it is already after 17 and many of them have a long way home - it seems like nobody really want to finish the session, least of all me ... - i am so happy, so excited, and soo proud of our team, and i share that with them, i ask them to give us 1 thing the got out of this session, and we hear a lot of great things, i hear my name in Tamil several times (and this makes me go red - i swear, you can ask Susanne about it ...) one man even tells me that he sees my energy and dynamics as great and that i use my body language very good (i will others judge me on that one - for those of you who really know me, know that i am not good in taking compliments..) - i take this as an opportunity to of course thank him, but also to ask him why he thinks that i use my body language so much as i do - he answers "because you love what you do, it is your passion and it excites you, and this rubs off on people" ... i ask him if he will do that one he trains, he answers "aboslutely"

... Today was a wonderful day ... - a long day, a great day, a day of new information, a day of new faces, a day of new ideas and thoughts, a day of excitement, a day of energy, a day of dynamics, a day of fireworks, a day of passion .. but most important, today was the first day of what i believe will be many more great days with this wonderful team of people ...