More Random thoughts...

Now for some random disconnected thoughts and observations (not related to the educational component of the trip):

*The people in India don’t nod and shake their heads like we do in the US. Instead it is more of a side-to-side motion (kind of move your head like you want to touch your ears to your shoulders but in a quick, subtle way). In the US we would think that it is an “I don’t know” or a “maybe” signal but here is can mean yes or no….which I have found very confusing especially in my pitiful attempts to bargain. Anyway, I have found myself moving my head that way a couple of times.

*Apparently right now is the “off season” for selling rugs. (I wonder if they say that year-round?) Three of us went across the street from the hotel and found an incredible rug in colors that two of us really liked. They kept lowering the price for the 6’ by 8’ rug until it was around half their original offer and included free shipping to the US. I am sure it would go great with my furniture from Target. ;) Alas, my colleagues and I are still rug-less, if only I could buy it in installments...

*This city is supposed to be the place to get a particular type of silk. One of the workers gave us some tips about where to get ripped off for only 15-25% more than the locals instead of the other places where it would be 200-500%. I’ll let you know if I find anything. I must say that in Delhi, there was a shop my cooperating teacher took me to after one of our meetings (where the locals buy their material) and the choices were amazing. Since nothing is stitched ahead of time, any fabric you liked will “fit” because the clothes are made to order. That particular shop had much better prices than other places in Delhi but I hope that the place the hotel guy suggested will have better bargains.

*I am really enjoying India food. However, I have to admit that I was really excited that we did not have a buffet for lunch and could order off the hotel menu. I had spaghetti! Wow! I have to say that it was so cool to have food that I actually knew the name and that tasted familiar.

Varanasi part 2

We are currently still in Varanasi. Today we took a sunrise boat ride (in a huge rowboat) along the Ganges River. There are a series of Ghats or step-like platforms that go down to the river. Above the Ghats are the various old buildings of the town that have been around for hundreds of years. It was very interesting to compare/contrast what our tour books said about the river with what the tour guide was saying.

Our tour book reported that the Ganges had 1.5million ppm of fecal coliform bacteria in it when the max for bathing should be 500 ppm. Part of the contamination was due to several sewage tubes dumping directly into the river. It also said that the river was so contaminated that it was depleted of oxygen and fish couldn’t survive.

Our tour guide explained the religious aspects of “Mother Ganges” and how important it was for the Hindu religion. According to their beliefs, it was promised that the Ganges would not meander (it would stay on the same path), there would be no dangerous animals in it, and ….something else. (I promise I was paying attention but it was around 5am in the morning and there are no Starbucks in India to help me focus.) In addition, the Ganges is seen to be an important place to wash away one’s sins and it is a highly desired place to die and/or be cremated. The tour guide said that the people using it to drink, bathe, and even wash their teeth never get sick. He admitted there was pollution but it was mainly coming from industries along the river. (I’m not sure which industries he meant.)

From the boat ride, the banks of the river were beautiful to see from the water and there was a gorgeous sunrise that we were able to see. The banks were crowded with men and women doing laundry, washing themselves, and meeting with priests. There were even cows and goats at random intervals along the ghats…apparently they enjoyed the view as well. The old buildings above the banks had a lot of character and charm. We did see a tower that was purifying the sewage coming from it but right next to it was sewage coming directly from the town into the river. I guess it takes time to retrofit an old city like Varanasi. The river itself looked pretty normal overall (aside from the dead body we saw…)

After the boat ride, we made our way through the old part of the town with extremely narrow roads lined with shops and temples. Unfortunately I was trying too hard to keep up with group while dodging various types of droppings on the ground (our tour guide jokingly called them “holy cow dung”) to soak in the atmosphere as much as I would have liked to have done. By the way, in case you were wondering, all the guards with big rifles are guarding the mosque…I don’t suggest you try to take its picture unless you want a lot of unwanted attention from the guards (as one member of our group learned.)

Journey to Varanasi

I am finally back on-line after a busy few days. Among other things, we went to an old mosque and walked around. Part of it was in ruins and really cool looking. (Yes, I am sure there are better ways to describe it aside from "cool looking" but I am still tired right now. I thought my mom and her scrapooking buddies might like this photo as a background.

Today we traveled to Varanasi. It has a very different feel to it than Delhi since it is very old...very, very old (especially compared to our "old" cities in the US.) Among ofther thngs, many of the streets are narrow. Driving to the hotel from the airport was quite an adventure since many times cars/buses/bikes/cows were coming strait towards us in our "lane". Somehow the people here know the local traffic patters and we were able to get to the hotel safely. (If I had to drive, I would still be at the airport, paralyzed wth fear from the traffic since I would be concerned I would hit something...or something would hit me.)

The hotel was hosting a wedding last night and it must have been quite the event. The elevators were crowded with men and women in incredible clothes with inricate stiching and beads. My roommate wanted to sneak and see what the ceremony was like but we didn't want to give Americans a bad name of being too snoopy. We were excited with we heard a band (complete with drums) outside the front of the hotel. From our window, we could see a crowd of people gathering to see off the newly married couple. Huge fireworks were set off for the celebration that appeared around right outside our window. We finally saw the crowd start to move and could tell the wedding videographer had a huge light shining on the couple but just as the couple came into view for us, they turned the light off and we could not see them any longer. It looked like the couple was on a camel from our window...but it could have been another animal - like a horse with a really long neck. Oh well, at least we got a small glimpse of the celebration without disturbing the newlyweds.

Other random observations

This picture is not a public safety notice about diseases. STDs are actually phone booths that offer a great bargain on international calls. (Although it still gets giggles from the group when people mention using one.)


Off to a meeting...more to come later

School visits

Yesterday and today we have been conducting some school visits. The students yesterday were so sweet. We actually divided into smaller groups of about 6-8 to get around to the classrooms easier and my group kept getting smaller and smaller as we lost teachers who wanted to stay and visit with the different groups of students along the way. Apparently one was able to participate in a basketball game, another was shown the "secret hiding place" for students wanting to talk out of sight of the teachers, and other one learned a great deal about reptiles from a pair of students. Although I wanted to find out the inside scope from the students, I figured I better make it to the science labs to see what was going on. One thing about the chemistry lab is that (if I understood it correctly) the students had purchased their own lab equipment and lab coats. It was quite impressive to see the 12 grade students all in lab coats doing an analytical chemistry. They were deeply engaged in their lab and didn't seem to mind us watching them in action.

Oops! I better head out to the next school....


Back again...

I just returned from another fabulous time observing a school. Since each of us went to separate schools – alone or in pairs, it was a chance to see a school under more normal conditions…although it was quite humbling when a group of students had prepared a special chant for the two of us that visited the one school. In addition, we were both presented flowers from the school. Apparently we were the first Americans that had visited the school (at least for this school year.) The students were just adorable and so polite. It was fascinating to see how many similarities there were between the schools in both countries (similar content, similar experiences, etc) but also some of the differences (their class sizes were almost twice the size of those in the US and they had some very different perspectives in one of the history classes we saw.) All in all it was a great day.

(Okay…now for the non-educational stuff...)
The other teacher from my program and I were offered some fruit, different breakfast items, and some lemonade. I loved the breakfast items we were served (a yummy fried cheese patty that was slightly sweet and a stuffed bread thing (sorry, I don’t remember the real names of either one of them) along with the spicey chutney. We have been told to not eat fresh fruit while we are in India but since they had cut it up especially for us, it seemed rude to not try it…and it was very good. After the spicey chutney, the lemonade or “lemon blast” was very refreshing. However, when reflecting on it later with my fellow participant we realized that it was most likely tap water when we passed by the room later on and saw only a sink (no signs of bottled water.) So, I have broken the two main rules we were told concerning food in India: I have had fresh fruit and I have had tap water. I am surprisingly calm for realizing that I will most likely have some restless days/nights ahead of me due to “Dehli Belly”. Perhaps I should figure out where I packed those antibiotics…

Misc. info and the cost of things...

We are slowly making our way through the gifts we brought from US for the presenters. We nominated one of the guys to be the official gift giver (Go Kevin!) and to thank the people that have been sharing their time and knowledge with us. Before leaving Chicago we actually each took out the gifts we purchased, spread them out on the hotel lobby (I don't know if the hotel appreciate it), and ensured that all 68+ gift bags had equivalent types of things in them - depending on if they were for schools or presenters.

It is very strange to think about how much things cost here and how that amount would translate into dollars. For example, I turned down a rickshaw that was going to charge me 100R for a trip to the market...$1.50. He then came down to 30R and I still turned him down (75 cents). When he got to 20R, 50 cents, I accepted. On the other hand, I purchased some Gatorade (at a food import store) and it cost 275R...a large chunk of my evening meal allowance. (Many people have bought tunics/tops for less than my Gatorade...although they probably weren't as rehydrated afterwards.) And no, I am still not going to say how much I paid for my "bargain" of clothes earlier in the week especially after all the clothes people have purchased for so much less this week.

Another example of the difference in cost is in the price of textbooks. We visited the National Council of Education Research and Training this week. They are the organization that plans the national framework for all subjects, conducts research, and writes some of the textbooks. We had a session with their leaders that zoomed by because we all had so many questions about each other’s educational systems. We were given the opportunity to visit their bookstore land purchase some of their textbooks. I think all of us were surprised when we entered it. First, there were no books…something I have come to expect when I go to a bookstore…but perhaps that is just me. Instead, the parents go to a counter, tell the employees what books their student needs, and the employee goes back into the warehouse to retrieve the books. (Perhaps we should try this method here since I would save so much money at Barnes and Noble/Borders if I wasn’t tempted by the rest of the books.) The price was the other thing that surprised me. I purchased 6 science textbooks (soft-bound and in color). In the US, I would think that each of them would sell for about $20-25 bucks each based on size and content. However, I paid 445 R for all of them (about $11).

The first real day...

I liked my photo better in the other picture of the group but I figured this picture was better of the rest of the people. Sometimes I amaze myself with my consideration. ;)

After having an incredible breakfast of various types of Indian food (imagine...there is actually food that even *I* don't want to add hot sauce to...Yum!), we headed to UCIFE's headquarters for more background information on India's educational system and culture. Jet lag caught up with many of us again in the afternoon sessions but my notes are much more legible than the day before (I hope that is a good sign that I am getting more adjusted to the time difference.)

At the end of the day, our whole group visited a Sikh temple and a Hindu temple. Outside the temples, we encountered some beggars for the first time since landing in India (at least in that amount). Many people needed time to process that experience.

As for those of you wanting bathroom experiences updates...I have added one of the hotel restrooms to my list of those I don't want to use. However, it is not because of the facilities but because they have an attendant who turns on/off the water, puts the soap in your hands, and even dries your hands for you. I don't think I am ready to have that amount of attention in a restroom.

I'm in India!
After a 15 million hour flight, my group landed safely in India. My "folding footrest" came in handy by helping me to not be as uncomfortable as I might have been...although I imagine the poor guy setting next to me wouldn't realize the benefit of it since I was still very restless overall. (Setting directly in front of one of the bathrooms didn't help.)

Anyway, we loaded up on a bus from the airport and headed to the beautiful hotel. We were escorted to a nice seating area, given a lei (I don't know what the Indian term is for it), handed some refreshing fruit juice, and had a dot put on each of our foreheads.

Even though I was very tired, it was hard to sleep too long with the excitement of being in India. I think everyone was up early the next morning and wanted to take advantage of our "rest time" by going shopping. Although each group started out intending to walk, I believe we all eventually caved to the rickshaw drivers (little green and yellow golf-cart size 3-wheelers) that followed us offering to take us to markets. My group gaved in at the end of the block from the heat and humidity...and realizing the traffic patterns might be a bit different than in the US.

The drivers told us that they would take us to a market for only 10 Rs total...about 25 cents in US money. The market that we wanted to visit was closed so they took us to another one. From what we understand, they get something back from shops when we make purchases. After shopping that morning I realized I am horrible at bargaining! One of our local leaders said that she thought that even the best bargainer in our group still paid too much (needless to say, I didn't offer to share the story of my "deal" I got with her.)

Our first meeting was in the afternoon followed by a reception in the evening. Around 5pm, jetlag hit me like a ton of bricks. Apparently, most of our group had the same experience although I, unfortunately, ended up in the front row. The notes I took from that session are not really legible... After awhile I got a second wind and seemed to be fine with listening to the other sessions. We had a nice reception later that evening and met various educational leaders, Fulbrighters from various fields, and some people from the embassy.

Getting ready to go

Well, it has been a crazy couple of months since finding out I was going to India. All the trip information started coming at the beginning of April which started the excitement of preparing for the trip. There are 3 other people in the DC area that are on the trip as well and the 4 of us were able to meet last week to get our visas approved. It was nice to know a few people before joining the rest of the team (16 of us total) of educators in Chicago this week.

Orientation week has been wonderful - great presenters and a lot of new knowledge. The other educators are all fabulous with incredible backgrounds and experience. We head to the airport in a couple of hours to catch our direct flight (14 hrs and 55 mins) to India. Woohoo!

Here is the group prior to leaving Chicago. Can't you just feel the excitement in the air? =)

I still can't believe I am going to India! (I keep waiting for the coordinators of the trip to contact me and tell me it was a mistake.) ;)

Normally I would have had about 5 travel books about India by this time but finishing a doctorate degree has kept me busy. Even though I would love to focus on India right now, my graduation announcements arrive today so I will have to keep my excitement in check for a little bit longer.

On a positive note, I have been able to make contact with a past Fulbright-Hays summer seminar participant from last year and I will be meeting one of my fellow travelers on Monday! The past participant has been wonderful about sharing information about the trip and Bollywood films I might enjoy. (Thanks, Beth!) The person I am meeting Monday has also been in contact with past participants so we should have lots to share with each other.