We have had some incredible experiences at schools in Calcutta. One of the private schools was in a beautiful new building and was extremely well organized. I was able to observe a chemistry lesson where the teacher quickly explained bonding and then went into depth on different amounts of electronegativity in various molecules. The highlight of the school was a whole wing devoted to various types of fine arts: western music, Indian music, Indian dance, drums, sitar, tae kwan do, choir, etc. Although the rooms had bare walls, the walls of the hallways were covered with student projects...not individual projects but huge class-wide murals and mosaics. The day was spent in a tightly organized schedule to ensure that we saw all the things the school offered for (what we would call) elementary though high school.
In contrast to the private school, we went to a "suburban" school the next day. I think it was the highlight for many of us. The suburban area turned out to be a village with thatched roofs, lots of cows, and first generation of students attending school. The students were adorable. A few of them even sang some songs for us (not planned) while we waited for the tea. It was very touching when one of the songs a student sang was "We shall overcome". One of our group members brought a polaroid camera and gave the copies she took of the children to the director which was a big hit. She also made big friends with some of the village people (Isn't that a group?) when she took a few pictures and gave it to the families.
There were many other great experiences as well but my computer is running out of charge. (There were also "exciting" adventures that I had related to misplacing (probably mailing home with some of the books I purchased) my airline tickets for the rest of the trip and having to buy new ones at the airport when we were headed to Bhubaneswar today...but I won't bother you with those details.) ;)
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