Summer 2008!

I can't believe I'm at the TAJ!

2008-08-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

It's worth the hype! It's huge and beautiful, especially at sunrise. A symbol of love. Built by one of the Mughal kings, Shah Jahan, as a memorial to his favorite wife who bore him 14 children. She died during childbirth. What a woman! Both the king and his queen are buried at the Taj and is made of white marble with carvings and precious stone mosaics. Very impressive. Even though no battles were fought or festivals celebrated here, it is still a masterpiece to see that has survived over 400 years.I know, it looks fake.

I just had too...

Hee hee...

Can you believe they had snow globes of the Taj?

Our group!

Jaipur

2008-08-03T03:50:00.001-07:00

City of precious gems. I'm afraid to buy any because I don't trust myself, but they're fun to look at and try on. I got to try on a $10,000 ruby necklace. Not my kind of necklace. No way. I keep with my turquoise one, thanks.

This city is also the 2nd most visited by tourists next to Mumbai. And we've seen them all over our hotel. We're staying at another Taj Hotel, but this one was formerly a palace. It has the usual pool and spa, but also a running track, giant outdoor chess set, and huge gardens. They have free cooking demonstrations by the head chef every night, so that's the even plan for most of us. I hope I can video tape it so I can repeat the recipe.

Rickshaws in Jaipur have backseats!!
One of the largest sundials built in the 1700's. It's accurate to the millisecond!!
The Wind Palace.
Sarees getting stamped by gold paint and wooden stamps.
Elephants!!! They really know how to get tourists excited and pay lots of money to ride on. We just couldn't resist since the walk up to Amar Fort is about a 1.5 mile climb up a steep road with no shade. It's over 100 degrees and I woke up sweating. I'll take the elephant ride.

On the elephant!
It's steeper than it looks. And the ride wasn't ver smooth. I almost fell off more than a few times. That would've been bad.
The fort was gorgeous!!
Beautiful mirrored mosaics and marble carvings.
And of course, snake charmers to entertain us. That cobra looks fake, but believe me it was real.

Visiting our last school tomorrow. Then we're off to our last city, Agra, to see the Taj Mahal. This trip is quickly coming to an end, so I hope to savor every moment.

Train ride to Jaipur

2008-08-03T03:35:00.000-07:00

So on the same day we're about to board a train to Jaipur, we heard there was a 7 car train fire that left from Hyderabad. They don't know how the fire started, but it happened in the middle of the night while everyone was sleeping. Over 30 people died. Hmm...this was just a fluke and it won't happen to us...right? I couldn't help thinking about this the entire bus ride to the train station, but by the time we got there, I calmed down. Riding the overnight train is probably on my top-ten fav memories of this trip. It as sooooooo fun.

Waiting for the train. They said today wasn't really crowded. You think?!
Vartika is one of the USEFI administrators that read our applications. She's super fun and made sure we had an 'authentic' Indian train ride experience.
Sleeping on the top tier.

We were in an AC-3 tier car. This is considered 2nd class. First class has only 2 tier bunks and curtains between them. Ours didn't have curtains, and I had about a foot and a half of space from the bunk to the ceiling. It was pretty comfy. Third class has no AC and fourth class has no AC and no bunks. Didn't sleep as much as I would have liked to, but it was better than sitting up for 8 hours with no AC.
Arrived at Jaipur at 5am. When we got off the train, there were dozens of families sleeping on the concrete train platforms waiting for their trains. We tried our best not to step on any of them,
Our train leaving for the next stop.

More from Ahmedabad

2008-08-03T02:54:00.000-07:00

At the Sun Temple dedicated to Surya, the sun god. It's full of intricately carved stone pillars, floors and ceilings. I'm standing in front of the sacred pool just before entering the temple.
One of the many pillars.
Front of a Jain temple. Jain's believe in nonviolence living. So they're vegetarian and constantly sweep the ground they walk to avoid stepping on any insect that might crawl in your path. This temple was beautifully painted with idols all over. Different from the other Jain temple I saw in Kolkata where there was all glass mosaics.
We were so lucky to visit a family who does Patola weaving, an almost lost style of textile-making. They painstakingly dye each silk thread by tying knots. When the threads are woven together, a beautiful, intentional pattern emerges as one piece of fabric. Also, all the dyes they use are natural (mostly vegetable) dyes that they also make by hand. These guys are crazy!!! Their work is so highly valued and wanted that there is a 6-year waiting list to get a custom Patola sari made. I just bought a set of notecard for the memory.
This work of art is selling for 7,000,000 rupees (43 rupees = $1). Mucho expensivo.

This insect carcus is used as one of the many natural dyes. They also use spinach, tumeric, indigo and beets. I think I heard the weaver say this insect is found in Mexico eating cactus plants. He has a Hindi name for it, but I didn't catch that either.
Here's a close-up of the insects.
He dropped one insect into a cup of water. As it dissolved, it turned the water a pinkish-red.
This is a 7-story downward well that was built in the 1000's. The multistory wells were meant for travelers to get water and stay on the terraces. Each level had a different price since the closer you were to the water, the cooler it was.
More intricate carvings at this well site.
Supposedly there are 100s of these well sites all over Ahmedabad, but many have yet to be unearthed.

Scenes from Ahmedabad

2008-07-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

Arrived safely in Ahmedabad last night. The city is packed with military and police check points since there were 7 bombs that went off here 5 days ago. I don't feel at unsafe here because this city's on high alert. We're staying away from crowded areas and markets. The attacks have not been tourist or American related, so I'm too worried.

Today we went to a school that's on 25 acres of land! It has amazing facilities, but I was disappointed to see the same sort of teaching we've seen all over. After the school, we went to Guandi's ashram and home. That was amazing!

Interactive Periodic Table at the school visit.

Each element square spins and shows different information

such as electron configuration, isotopes, oxidation numbers, etc.

I want one!!

Super cute kids at the preschool.

I can't get enough of the Indian children!!!

They are sooooo cute!

Story time in a half outdoor/indoor classroom.

High school students meditating during their morning assembly.

I love Gaundi.

This has got to be my favorite picture of him.

Chillin' at Guandi's house.

His room is to the left of us and the kitchen is through that doorway.

The view we were looking at is of the river and Old Ahmedabad.

Guandi's room with his personal desk,

spinning wheel, and staff (in the corner).

It was so crazy and unreal to be standing in his room

where he was planning the Salt March and other protests against British rule.

On his desk is a figurine of 3 monkeys.

One monkey is covering his mouth, the other is covering his eyes,

and the last is covering his ears. The guide said it was a gift from one

of Guandi's visitors from Japan. The saying of the monkeys goes:

"Say no evil, see no evil, hear no evil."

I'm seeing these monkeys everywhere in India and now I know why they're so popular.

Just outside Guandi's room, there was a man demonstrating how to spin cotton as Guandi did/taught Indians in the 1920's/30's. He started the movement against foreign cloth by empowering the common people to spin their own cotton and weave their own cloth. I don't know much about Guandi's life so now I'm inspired to read his books.

Only 30 rupees (60 cents) here in India!

Hike in Pune

2008-07-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

For our Sunday off from Fulbrighting, Jessica found an local ad for hiking trips outside of Pune. Only 750 rupees (less than $20) for transportation, breakfast, lunch, water, and tea. We couldn't beat the price and it was a great opportunity to hang out with local Punites.

In the car on our way up the rural area of Pune.

We had more than a few close calls with trucks in the passing lane.

Here one comes.

There it goes...

We cleared it without any scratches.

I was tempted to put my hand out the window and feel the side

of the truck, but Barbara said it was a bad idea.

While on the hike, we saw a bunch of goats.

Here's my favorite pic.

We hiked down this really cool natural rock staircase.

It started raining so the staircase turned into a waterfall.

I have a great video of it, but it's too big to post.

Pretty banks near rice patties.

Squatting in rice patties. Saying "heee-eeyyy!" to my Chinese roots.

Fellow hikers.

Most of these guys are computer science engineers.

A typical Indian meal. Soooooo good.

Vivek, a social butterfly, wanted to be in every "snap" with us.

On the top of the "mountain", really a hill.

The white behind us are the clouds.

This is one of the best hikes I've ever been on.

Shots from Pune

2008-07-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

We went on cultural visits through Pune. I'm getting tired of seeing the same old forts and temples. Here are the unique places and faces (I think) of Pune:

This temple was carved out of a single pit of rock.

This woman is praying in the stone temple.

Super cute Indian kid playing at the temple.

Giant Meter-wave Radio Telescope.

There are 30 total telescopes in a 50km diameter.

Pretty cool. It reminded me of the movie Contact except

Jodi Foster wasn't there and we weren't in New Mexico at the Very Large Array

trying to contact extraterrestrials...

Go SETI!!!

An Indian "Einstein" trying to explain how the

telescopes worked. He was very patient.

Seeing More Great Teaching in Pune (Poona)

2008-07-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

Crazy, physics, demo dude.

Wind chime of radio broadcasting.

When we left for the Institute of Astrophysics and Astronomy, I wasn’t expecting to meet India’s Mr. Wizard! This guy was a crack up. He speaks a mile a minute and is so enthusiastic about making physics demos and activities out of junk. I was sitting in the front seat and got splashed by water and pieces of straw flung at me. This guy was the most interactive presenter we’ve had. The place he works for is awesome. They’re a nonprofit that tries to make as many science experiments from materials easily found in villages and towns. They’ve visited over 1000 different village schools and brought a ton of hands-on curriculum to them. They’ve also done workshops for urban schools, but they say that very few teachers have time to implement these activities in their classes. Their biggest cliental are villagers. Go figure. The villagers are probably going to make better innovative scientists than the elite urban kids.

We also visited another NGO that is trying to help village schools learn better spoken English. Most of these schools teach in their mother tongues (in this case, Marathi) so very few of these students will ever go to higher education since all Indian universities are taught in English. Also, any technical or professional job requires spoken English. So this NGO is trying to help by broadcasting radio programs with 20 minute English lessons. They’ve seen a vast improvement in confidence and accuracy with schools listening to these lessons. This was another fascinating place!

Last, but not least, we visited another elite school for the gifted. Really great place encouraging social development of students. One unique requirement of each student is that they must spend 70 out of 310 days outside of the school, teaching village children, interning in industry, or volunteering at a place of their choice. This is the first school we’ve seen make learning outside of the school mandatory.

Chennai Cultural Visits

2008-07-23T05:14:00.000-07:00

Women in sarees walking towards the Shore Temple.

Side view of the Shore Temple.

A god in both the male and female form.

Me in front of a monolith (single stone) model of a temple.
They would carve many life-size models so the king could choose
the best one to be built as a temple.

Cows in the road.

Carvings of gods and animal scenes in the side of a huge rock.

Barbara and I showing off our freshly piped henna.

Food!!
A typical South Indian plate of goodness.

A bunch of school girls wanted my autograph
and begged me to get another henna design.

My beautiful hand.
It's a peacock.
Head on my thumb and feathers on my fingers.
The henna lady did this in less than 2 minutes!

Video of men chasing their cows down the road.

St. Thomas’ Tomb, Conservation, Biotech, IITs and Tsunami Survivor.s

2008-07-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

No need to explain.

St. Thomas' digit bone in the center of this cross.

Baby mangrove plants.

Fishing village.

Chennai Fishermen.

Selling fish.

Had a great day! Saw where Thomas, one of Jesus’ apostles, is buried and they displayed a digit of one of his fingers in the center of a golden cross. Click on the pic to enlarge it to take a closer look. That was a trip!

Then, we went to MSSRF, an agriculture conservation and research institute. Fascinating place. They have a ton of projects at this site, some that I can incorporate easily into the Bio AC curriculum. Their Mangrove Project tries to conserve and restore mangrove forests that were taken out for resort developments. Studies show that mangroves prevent 90% of beach erosion and protected the inland from the tsunami in 2004. They are classifying all native mangrove species, cloning them and growing them at the institute. One pic above is of baby mangrove trees in pots. Other projects are about making and growing salt-tolerant and drought-tolerant rice crops. Freshwater in India is quickly depleting so they’re projecting a need to water their main crop, rice, with seawater. Another project is biofortifying crops that produce more iron in their tissues so anemia in children and women decrease. I was loving this place. It was so up my alley.

We also got to see 1 of 7 IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) campuses and talk to the Admissions Director of Chennai. Getting into an IIT is CRAZY! There are 300,000 students applying for only 6500 seats/year. Admission is almost solely based on an IIT 6-hour exam on math, physics and chemistry. The top 7000 students get asked for an interview until 6500 students are chosen. We saw the IIT exam given last year, and of course, there’s stuff in it that goes beyond AP classes in the U.S. Students spend 2 years preparing just for this exam. They take private coaching classes that start at 7:30am-10:30pm 4-6days/wk. When do students have time to go to their normal Class 11/12 classes to graduate? Don’t know. The Admissions Director says these coaching classes are “pure evil” and he said the system needs to change, but he doesn’t know how. Every year there are multiple suicides in the paper if students don’t get into IITs. The pressure can be super high. The worst thing is that after taking the IIT exam, students are ranked from 1-6500 on their website, so you know exactly how you compare to the rest of Indians your age. Student #1 gets his/her first choice of major and campus location, then Student #2, Student #3, etc. Student #6500 gets to write down 126 different major/location combo-preferences, but will most likely not get any of his/her preferences because, too bad, he’s at the bottom. And I though U.S. colleges were impacted. We’re not at 1.3 billion people yet…

The last thing we did was go to fishing village on the beach. So cool. Their boats were all lined up on the shoreline, nets carefully bundled in organized piles, and the women were selling fish at the roadside. We talked to one fisherman who saw the tsunami. He said that the water level was as tall as the red/white striped building (see the pic above). He was on land, high enough to see the water levels rise. There wasn’t a wall of water, but a quick rise in water, 10 meters in less than 5 minutes. Other fishermen that were in their boats, but near the shore said they could see the water rise above buildings from the sea, but they didn’t feel anything. Fishermen that were further out to see didn’t even notice the tsunami until they came back to shore. Chennai only recorded 200 deaths, but there could have been many more victims without family survivors or were homeless. Shaun got to visit a hostel that houses orphaned children from the tsunami. It’s a non-profit and is almost totally run on donations. Once kids are finished with Class 12, they have to find work and other housing. She said that about 56 kids live in the hostel of all ages. Pretty cool place. Tomorrow we’re going on a heritage tour visiting temples and more beaches with our guide that talks like Dr. Evil. All Indians feel like they have to slow their speech to us Americans so we can understand them. He’s gone a bit overboard, but no one has the heart to tell him. I’m waiting for him to put his pinky up to the corner of his mouth and bust out a line with “1 bill-ion rupees!” I’ll try to get it on video if I can J.

Awesome School in Chennai

2008-07-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

Principal of the school, such a sweetheart!

Immaculate drawing of a microscope in his lab notebook.

Bio lab preparing slides of their cheek cells.

Padma Seshadri Bala Bahram Senior Secondary High School. Another inspiring principal doing great things in India. She started this school many years back in her home with 13 students. They had most of their lessons under trees and now the school has, as they say, a “strength” of 8,000 students. She got her PhD at age 70 (unheard of in India, and probably the U.S. too) and now she’s 83. She’s a sweet-looking brilliant woman. When we visited labs, the students were actually doing inquiry!! The teacher said she never tells them what they will find. They must do the experiment and figure out what the problem is and hypothesize how to solve it. It was cool and the students were really into it. In the physics lab, they had to observe the weight of an object when dipped in distilled water vs. salt water. If there is a difference, they have to figure out why there is a difference. Super cool.

The rest of the day was spent shopping at a nearby mall. Most of us are out of shampoo, laundry detergent and deodorant. I’ve been washing my essentials in the sink every night because a load of laundry at the hotel can cost $75.

Arrived in Chennai

2008-07-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

Family at the beach getting wet in their sarees.
No bikinis in India?

This thing is heavier than it looks.
The traditional dancer, balances this copper ball
on his head while kicking his legs.

This little girl dancer had gorgeously decorated hands.

Another beautiful Taj Hotel with garden courtyards and infinity swimming pools. We were greeted, again, with fresh fruit juice at the door and a huge buffet lunch. No matter how much exercise I get, the food is so rich and plentiful here, I won’t be losing weight from Delhi belly.

In the afternoon, we ventured out by ourselves to the beach and soaked our feet in the Bay of Bengal. Quite warm and relaxing and, of course, no bikinis at this beach. There were a scattering of Indian families, lots of boys in black briefs wading in the water, and a few girls in colorful sarees taking a dip. The shape of this beach was unlike I’d ever seen. From the parking lot to the edge of the water, it was about 400-500 meters (1/4 of a mile). A really large, “deep” beach and long. I couldn’t see the ends of the beach in either direction.

Our evening performance was from a dance troupe taught by a Fulbrighter alumna. She went from Chennai to San Francisco and taught performance art management at Golden Gate University. Her Indian troupe was fabulous and performed many different types of tribal and traditional dances. The hand, eye, and arm movements are so exact, rhythmic and emotional that it was easy to infer the stories that were told. We also got little lessons about what each hand gesture and movement meant and how they expressed each emotion.

Later that night, some of us went back to the beach because we heard it comes alive at night. Not really. There were a few more people at the parking lot eating vendor food and families having picnics. But, there was a full moon and there was hardly anyone at the water’s edge. There was a slight warm sea breeze. It was quiet. And we just watched and listen to the waves crash against the sand. Super peaceful night. We couldn’t hear any honking or people chattering. Just the waves. It reminded me of a Friday night at Half Moon Bay J.

Last Day in Hyderabad

2008-07-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

Getting a bindi on your head is a VIP welcome gift at schools.

A general science lab class learning about solutions, suspensions and colloids.

The super cute girls that gave us bindis.

Went to a pretty amazing school called Merdian High. Their principal is one of the most inspiring and motivating I’ve met. She has the awesome philosophy about teaching students to compete with themselves rather than with others. She feels that giving students life skills to cope with anything in life is more important than academics. This is completely different from all of the other schools and speakers that we’ve heard from the past 2 weeks. Completely abnormal from the picture we’ve been painted. This principal cares more about the wellbeing and happiness of each student. Ratings and scores mean nothing to her. In addition, her staff has built-in collaboration time 2hrs/week planning lessons and exchanging ideas. There are also workshops for parents on how to be supportive parents at home. Every Friday morning assembly, students mediate and are given a mini-lesson on confidence, peer pressure, or self esteem to build character. Pretty cool school. I was disappointed, though, to see classes taught the same way as other classes with ‘fill in the blank’ lectures, minimal to no wait time, and students furiously writing notes while the teacher asks, “Is it clear?” and no one answers the second after she asks, so she moves on. The overall philosophy of the school seems fabulous though. I hope their teaching methods change with the philosophy. If/when it does, what out world, Indians will be ruling us. Their dedication, work ethic and sense of nationalism if coupled with innovating teaching strategies would certainly make India the next superpower (I’d bet over China).

I didn’t feel like I got to know Hyderabad that much as a city. I saw very little outside what was planned. My sense is that it has large Muslim population and is moving towards becoming much more Western as the IT businesses move in. I hear the nickname is “Cyberabad.” We even met a bunch of Americans that just graduated from college that live in Hyderabad as Call Center employees that are teaching American accents. Perhaps Cyberabad will be the next Silicon Valley.

Rote Learning Creates Successful Engineers and Scientists?

2008-07-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

One of many gods painted on a rock.

Chaundra in front of a temple at the top of the Fort.

This girl has aerobic talent!
She gave herself a bindi with her big toe!

Her costume is amazing!

More pretty traditional dancers.

Men dancers.

Different outfits, same girls.

This is the question we’ve been asking ourselves as we explore the education system in India. Despite the national government’s pedagogy change from rote to inquiry-based learning, the system is resisting to this change. According to Dr. Usha Vyasulu Reddi, a director of ASCI (a private “think tank” dissecting education policies and practice in India), “India is a bundle of contradictions.” This phrase isn’t new to us, but she, finally an educator in India, admits that the question (title above) that we’ve been asking, they've also been asking. It was refreshing to hear all of the issues and concerns Dr. Reddi and others had. Ironically, the issues about Indian education, U.S. education also probably had some 30-40 years ago. Educators, like Dr. Reddi, who are outside of the system are able to see their education system objectively. Some issues she brought up are:

- Core subjects taught are good, but the way they are taught needs to be revised.

- Schooling has become a “fashion statement” where families are choosing schools that have the words “concept” or “techno.”

- Access to education is mostly determined by class, poverty, lack of transportation, poor health, a need to tend to siblings so parents can work.

- There are many 1^st generation learners in schools, and most of them drop out before taking the Class 6 board exam.

- She metaphorically said that the “base of the pyramid is weak” and cannot support a strong top of the pyramid.

- Passing national board exams does not equate to understanding/learning, which leads to a mismatch between qualification and actually learning skills.

- Administrators are putting more demands on teachers and empowering them less.

Many issues she discussed mirror what’s going on in the U.S, some perhaps, to a lesser extent. This lecture was excellent. As another Fulbrighter put it, we’ve been seeing different pieces of India’s education system like a jigsaw puzzle and Dr. Reddi has put all of the pieces together so we can see the big picture, good and concerns.

We’re splitting up into 4 different groups to see 4 different schools in Hyderabad tomorrow. These trips have been the best part of this experience.

Today we got to see a 14^th century fort, a museum with collections from all over the world and got an introduction to folklore dancing from the Telugu-speaking culture (indigenous to this state of India). All were spectacular. At the end of the folk dancing performance, they made us all dance with them and sing the Star Spangled Banner followed by India’s anthem. Super fun. I also got a chance to practice yoga at a local yoga studio with a great guru. It was totally what I needed to clear my brain. There’s been so much trapped in my head that I’ve been having a hard time sleeping. Today was the first time I felt like my brain stopped analyzing! Jessica and I are going to try to make it to another class tomorrow. Namaste.

Wanna ride a rickshaw? 100 rupees please.

2008-07-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

This ride was one of the most entertaining. Not death-defying, like in Delhi. I think we figured out how to probably request a destination for a rickshaw. "We're meeting friends at ...." Otherwise, instead of getting to a fruit market, we take an extra-long route to a destination known as "Cottage Emporium" a.ka. tourist handicraft shop with fruit market on the side (peddler cart with limes). Fun times!

Mosques, Burkhas and Shopping Malls (?!) in Hyderabad

2008-07-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

Our Taj Hotel is right in the heart of westernized Hyderabad. Across the street is a 5-story, air-conditioned mall decked out with a new McDonalds, Chuck-E-Cheese, Adidas, and Reebock. We ate at the top of the mall that had Tex-Mex and Indian Pizza? We had a taste of the Tikki Paneer and Tandori Chicken Masala pizzas. Quite tasty! This city is such a contrast to our visits to Delhi and Kolkata. We hear that there are also western parts of those cities, but more on the outskirts. It seems like Hyderabad is building more and more of these western malls between 14^th century mosques. It’s sad.

There are also so many more Muslims than what I’ve seen in other cities. Most women are in full on burkhas with a pantsuit underneath. They’re riding in rickshaws, on motorcycles and walking alone or in groups through marketplaces. We’re going to a few schools in this city and I hope to see a school that has a Biotech course. In Kolkata, we visited the Birla School for Boys, a privately funded school that offered Biotech as an elective for Class 11 and 12. They showed me their textbook/syllabus and it was pretty comprehensive. That day, they were drawing blood from students who volunteered!!! No parent permission slips, waiver forms, nor latex gloves. Just rolled up the sleeve, flicked the syringe and took a sample. That wouldn’t go well at Gunn… They were going to isolate this student’s DNA and run it through a gel. It was crazy. I’m going to pick up a copy of their textbook. So far Hyderabad is just as cool as Kolkata, minus the shopping malls. P.S. Rickshaws in Hyderabad are scarier than in Delhi.

Last Days in Kolkata

2008-07-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful city! The past 2 days I was able to visit 5 different temples. Most worship the Kali god, sacrifice goats (25-40 goats/day), feed the goats to the poor, and ranged from majestic/ornate to simple shrines. All had people giving offerings of flowers and/or money with huge lines to see the Kali idol. We only had one incident where we actually got to see the statue of one of the temples. This temple was packed with people and they were fighting to offer their basket of flowers to Kali. It was loud, people were screaming and pushing us left and right. We had no intention of seeing the idol because it was a mob and the lines were 3hrs long. But then came a priest. The priest said he could get us in front of the line and he would give us a private tour. He cleared the path and shoed people away. There were tons of people in front of Kali, so he pried between 2 people’s waists and pushed each of our heads between the worshipers. “Did you see the image!?” he screamed. “Yes” nod, nod. Stamp! After each “yes”, he stamped our foreheads with an orange bindi and rushed us out of the mosh pit. It was cool! Being in that scene. Getting to experience the worshiping day of a Hindu living in Kolkata.

This next part is sketchy. He showed us the alter where goats are sacrificed and then quickly walked us to a large swimming-sized pool of water with stairs disappearing into it. “This is our holy bath.” Really?! Two guys were brushing their teeth and swimming in it. Next, he pointed to a statue of Shiva that was about 100 feet away and handed us each a handful of fresh hibiscus flowers from a string. “We will offer to Shiva,” he commanded. But one at a time. We could see the first person in our group walking over to Shiva, bowing, tossing the flowers on her and then writing in a book. What’s going on over there? They wouldn’t let her come back to us and they were about to send another person in our group to go worship. Then, we see our friend who’s over by Shiva hop over the railing and quickly walk over to us. “They asked me to write down 4000 rupees, but I only wrote 500. Let’s get out of here.” What a scam! We quickly walked out and the priests weren’t very happy with us. My friend said in the book other people wrote 30,000 rupees, 40,000 rupees. That’s an expensive visit.

The other temples were NOT like that and were actually very peaceful. Families walked around the campuses, made offerings and there were no priests leading tours for tourists. I don’t have many pictures because cameras weren’t allowed in the temples. All of them were really interesting. Tomorrow, we’re flying away to Hyderabad. We’ll be staying in a very Western, posh area. Very different from this hotel. We here there is a 5-story air-conditioned mall across the street. What the?! That’s not the India I know.

Morning Bath, Prayers, and Inner-city Slums

2008-07-12T09:53:00.000-07:00

My roommate, Shaun, has a knack for finding the most non-touristy parts of town. She woke up this morning at 6 and asked if I wanted to go on a ferry ride across the Hugli River (an small branch of the Ganges). Sure! So we get 2 other guys from our program, grab a cab. He, at first, tries to take up to a dock where tourists supposedly go, but Shaun points to a specific place she wants to go. It ends up that this ferry is a local ferry that mainly men take to go back and forth between 2 Hindi temples and ghats (ghats, I think, are places on riverbanks where people bathe, have religious ceremonies, and sometimes drop off their dead to float down the river). The ghats on the Hugli are usually only for bathing and religious ceremonies and some are these wide stairs that go down to the river’s edge. It was so fascinating. We took the ferry back and forth and got to see a small part of daily life. We saw Hindi priests “anointing” practitioners with holy water, men bathing their children and brushing their teeth with Neem Tree branches, many Hindus praying to their gods, and even a wedding ritual. I asked Shaun how she found out about this place, and she said she just asked where the locals go. In the last 5 days, she’s ended up at orphanages, a women’s embroidery factory, and a school for the needy all because she wakes up early in the morning and asks where the locals are.

Today, we also went to Sir Syed Schools, a privately funded, volunteer-run school for children living in a slum of Kolkata. Another fascinating experience! This whole trip, we’ve only got to see the poor on busy streets and from bus windows, but this time we had the opportunity to see where they live. Narrow, 2-feet wide brick wall paths are lined with doorways covered by a hanging cloth or battered wooden door. Saris, kurtas, and T-shirts hang on strings throughout. Water spouts near the ground are used for washing plates, feet, clothes and hair. 4’ x 5’ rooms house families of up to 10 people. Courtyards with trash and broken bricks are where children play paddle tennis. The school is in this neighborhood. Finally, a school that is not for the elite. There are people that are teaching this population. It’s not funded by the government even though they have asked repeatedly for money. There is not enough money to educate all children born in India. They rely on private donations and volunteer teachers to run their schools. Some teachers volunteer at Sir Syed from 8am-noon, then take a 2^nd shift job at a government school from 1-6pm and teach night classes from 7-9pm! As we talked about the problems they have in their schools, they seemed very similar to U.S. students who typically don’t succeed in our system. There is little parent support because parents either aren’t educated, do not know how to help their children do homework, can only speak their mother tongue (Yurtu, not even Bangali or Hindi), do not have a space for the child to do homework, and/or need the child to care for other children or help run the family business (usually selling a homemade food product). Most of the children that go to Sir Syed school dropout before Class 10. We plan on keeping in contact with this school and finding out more of what they need. Many of us were moved by this neighborhood and the workings of this community. It’s amazing that this school survives.

Trash to Tomatoes

2008-07-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

One unique aspect about Kolkata is that one of their municipal dumping grounds is run by a group of “rag pickers.” They pick through and separate inorganic trash from organic. The inorganic waste gets piled up in a “landhill” and the organic waste is made into compost! At first they were just planting little gardens outside the dumping ground, but the community has grown so large that they plant fields of crops to sell at village markets. It’s a pretty amazing set-up! We heard this dumping ground is a model for other urban areas of India.

At the end of the day, we stopped by the Missionaries of Charity Mother House, the home of Mother Theresa! She spent most of her life and died in this house and has a small tomb. Lots of people from all over the world were there bringing their sick babies and elderly. The sisters were gracious and gentle. I felt shivers down my spine when we saw the room where Mother Theresa passed. It had the tiniest twin bed, a small wooden desk, a crucifix and an alarm clock. On one of the walls was a sticker or sign that read “Love is my Vocation.” The house felt like there was a definite presence there. Hard to explain. A warm, welcoming presence. I didn’t know her house was in Kolkata. It was a nice surprise.

Kolkata is Beautiful!

2008-07-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

As we flew here to Kolkata, we could see the Himalayas and Mt. Everest peeking through the clouds! It was amazing! You’ll have to look pretty close at the picture of the clouds to make out the peaks on the horizon. The view was breath-taking!

As we drove from the airport to the hotel, the buildings looked as if we were in Paris. French windows with wooden shutters and intricate wrought iron along roofs and sills. Even though the buildings were stained with soot, you could tell this place was a beautifully romantic city. It still kind of is. The poverty is still the same as in Delhi with the rich and poor sharing the same foot of space, but there’s something different about Kolkata. I feel like I’m on vacation here. It’s less stuffy. No more diplomat houses and capitol buildings. Part of my immediate affinity to Kolkata is probably due to just being used to a typical urban Indian city. The architecture is pretty spectacular here. We’ll be going on a city tour tomorrow, so I’ll post better pics soon.

The teacher and student panels were really interesting. Most of the teachers feel Indian education needs to change to add more application techniques in the classroom. Students also said there is immense pressure to go to an IIT school or go abroad to an Ivy League, MIT, or Stanford. Many students spend an additional 6 hr/day preparing for IIT exams and neglect their 11/12 grade classes just so they have a chance in getting good marks. This is really different from the students in Delhi who said they had no pressures and neither did their friends. We’ll be visiting another school in the next few days, so I hope to get another slice of student life.

Last Day in Delhi

2008-07-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

I met with my Indian partner teacher to discuss everything we’ve learned so far about their education system. She gave me new insights as to why things are the way they are. Most of their curriculum is driven by the expectations of Indian Universities (ex. IITs and New Delhi University) which teach a lot of theory and less application. In order for students to be successful at these universities, the primary and secondary schools must teach in that same manner. The government is aware that students are not able to apply their knowledge as well as they should so they have changed their textbooks to have more activities and application problems. They want to move more towards an inquiry/constructivist approach, but they also feel they are time-bound by the short class periods. At first I was opposed to a lot of the pedagogy in India, but I’m beginning to understand why it is the way it is and the ways they are intending to improve their system. I feel the way we teach isn’t perfect. We’ve moved away from memorizing facts and more towards processing information. Is this the best method of teaching/learning? Indian students can solve the most difficult math problems, way beyond most U.S. college students/graduates. Most Indian students who have applied to U.S. colleges said our SAT math problems are easy and they scored 790-800. And if we look at Indians who come to the U.S. to work in industry, they are extremely successful. Direct teaching and rote learning can still have very successful outcomes (if success means going to college and finding a good job). Isn’t there a shortage of U.S. engineers?

Another Fulbrighter commented that in U.S. math classes, he’s noticing students are losing “number sense”. He feels there is too much emphasized on inquiry and not enough on straight up memorizing number tables and basic arithmetic. Students are too comfortable using a calculator and they can’t add simple fractions. Do I see this in science? Not so much at Gunn. I think our science department does a pretty good job and mixing up the rote learning of facts with applying to real life situations. And as far as I can tell with math, students in accelerated and honors classes have good number sense. I don’t know about the other classes. Are students too dependent on using technology (i.e. computers, calculators)?

As we go to other cities of India, we’ll be asking more questions to get a better sense of education as a whole here. So far the students in Delhi are happy, not pressured, feel what they are learning is important, want to get good jobs and will try to stay in India if they can have a good life. It’ll be interesting to see if the same is happening in the other schools we visit. Off to Kolkata tomorrow.

How Cow, NOW I’m in India

2008-07-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

Have I seen it all? After driving through the streets of Delhi, it was easy to realize this land “opposites.” Large upper-middle class colonies (apartment complexes and gated communities) bordered by make-shift tents with cots and laundry lines. A McDonalds guarded by armed services next to a rundown building used as a public urinal. Rusty auto rickshaws (green open “buggies”) driving next to a shiny, red BMW. One minute you smell an open sewage line, the next minute, a blooming jasmine tree. You get my point? Everywhere I’ve been so far, I’ve seen, smelled and touched the disparity. It’s all around you.

If you’re not a teacher nor interested in the education system in India, then stop reading here!

Today, I had the pleasure of visiting my partner teacher’s school, Kendriya Vidyalaya in AGCR Colony. It’s a typical government-run public school with 2500 students per shift; 2 shifts (7-noon & 1-6pm). There is 1 principal for both shifts, but 2 of everything else 2 vice principals, 2 main office clerks, 2 sets of teachers, etc.). All grades (1-12) are taught at this school and it was really quite remarkable. They have this crazy morning assembly where the students are in lines by class. Attendance is done by someone yelling “1”, and student #1 from each class raises his/her hand and steps to the left of their class line. “2” is yelled, each student #2 from class 1-12 does the same. All numbers up to “65” were called. 65! There is one class with 65 students. An optimal class size is 40 for class 1-12, but an average class size is closer to 55. The classrooms are about 1/3 the size of my classroom at Gunn. The morning assembly wasn’t over after attendance. There was a prayer to their god(s), the pledge of India, student announcements about international and national news, student poems and editorials, a school song, and ended with the national anthem. This is all to drums, various wind instruments and 2 bagpipes. Of course, they introduce me and I had to go up on stage (this was not expected or explained to me when I got there!), was given a gift of a ginormous flower arrangement and a bindi, shook hands with everyone on stage, and was asked to comment about America and America’s education compared to India on the spot. Yikes! I don’t quite remember what I said, but everyone clapped and I was marched off stage and into the principal’s office for tea and treats while 1^st period started. This was only the 1^st 30 minutes of my visit, so you can imagine what the rest of the day was like. I could write pages and pages of everything that happened and the thoughts running in my head. Instead, just ask me later. My mind is spinning.

Some thoughts I wrote in my notes:

- cameras in all classrooms and televised in principal’s office TV

- swimming pool, squash court, roller-skating rink, basketball courts, many sports teams

- parent meetings for every parent/family conducted all year round. 98% of parents come to discuss issues about home/school

- Biology class: students bring in a water sample for somewhere near their home and look for microorganisms in microscopes

- Chemistry class: “wait time” doesn’t exist in a 35 minute teaching period. Teacher writes on board and recites: “Rate = K[A]¹is a 1^st order reaction. Is this clear? [No pause. Students take notes, head down.] Rate = K[A]²is a 2^nd order reaction. Is this clear? [No pause. Students take notes; head down.]” etc., etc.

- Class 1 (1^st grade) Teacher: “Class, what type of house did the first pig build? A house made of?” All students: “straw.” Teacher: “Yes, a house made of?” All students: “straw.” Teacher: “Yes, a house made of?” All students: “straw.” Teacher: “Class, what type of house did the second pig build? A house made of?” You get the deal. Fascinating!

- Students from India (outside of class) act just like students in America. Giggly girls and boys in hallways.

- Students love (not like, LOVE) their teachers. Like respected mentors, second parents.

- Two computer rooms with 20-25 computers each.

- “What’s your favorite music?” Student: “Avryl Lavine” Student: “TuPac” Student: some Indian singer that I tried to write the name of, but the passing bell rang.

- Most students wanted to shake my hand and say “good morning, ma’am”. Some were super interested in having discussions about America.

This school visit has been the best part of the trip so far. I’ve never been treated so well as a visitor. The hospitality and curiosity was unexpected. The amount of information I learned about Indian education in just a 4 hour visit was also unexpected. The only thing is I wish I had more time to interact with students individually to ask them about their lives. We have 16 other school that we’ll be visiting as a group, so I hope I can go off by myself and pull some students aside. Super start to getting a glimpse of real Indian life!

On Indian (Science) Education

2008-07-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

For the last 2 days, we’ve had some really interesting speakers and panelists giving us background and insights about the education system in India. We’re finding lots of similarities to the U.S., but there are also a ton of differences. As we try to dissect the differences (in order to better understand Indian education), we’re finding it difficult because of deeply rooted cultural differences between Indian and American values, philosophy and ways of life.

Some statistics/quotes that struck me, sort of:

- 52% drop out of school during class 1-6

- only 7% of students get a post secondary education, this includes trade schools

- Q: What happens to the drop-outs? A: They just live. Don’t ask how.

- student go to school 6 days/wk, 6hrs/day for 210 days/yr.

- for class 11-12, students must choose 1 out of 4 “streams” based on an exam taken after class 10: science, medical or science, engineering or commerce or humanities.

- the top scoring students are expected to choose a science stream

- if students don’t score well enough to enter a science stream, they can leave the public school and go to a private school where they will be taught science. Many students decide to go this route.

- India has a 7.8% divorce rate in urban areas; almost 0% in rural areas. Way less than U.S. stats!

- no school teaches personal development (i.e. the “whole” child)

- Q: Many students in America have self-esteem, anxiety and/or family issues. When do you begin to teach social development in school? [pause, pause. panelists consult each other] A: We don’t know what you are referring to. [After much explaining, they still did not know what we were referring to.]

- exams drive most of the curriculum

- the entrance exam for an IIT school is the hardest in the world. I didn’t catch the stat, but another Fulbrighter said this exam is tougher than Japanese school placement tests.

- if a student wants even a chance at earning a high score for IIT, they enroll in private tutoring classes. 1-2 hours/day, 6 days/wk.

We’re going out tomorrow to explore Delhi. It’s been tough sitting in lectures while getting over jetlag and adjusting to the humidity. I’m excited to finally see firsthand the "city of opposites."

Arrived in New Delhi safe!

2008-07-05T00:53:00.000-07:00

Right as I got off the plane, my nose was overpowered by a familiar city-scent. Dusty-diesel air. Similar to the smell of Hong Kong, if you’ve ever been, except a little spicier. Sarah McDonald, author of Holy Cow, describes New Delhi’s air as a “noxious cloud of smog and dirty diesel fumes.” I think it’s rather homey. Reminds me of visiting relatives in China.

After customs, we were automatically greeted by our USEFI hosts and tour guides. They brought each of us a bouquet of flowers that immediately wilted once we exited the air conditioned airport. It was about 90 degrees at 2am. We heard yesterday was also 90, but felt like 120 with the added humidity. Can’t wait to wake up in the morning!

Our hotel (Taj Mahal Hotel) is immaculate. We were welcomed by many people opening doors and taking our bags. Then a woman dressed in a beautiful pink gown dotted our foreheads with pink, powdery bindi for our “health and prosperity”. They gave us a variety of fresh fruit juices and bottle of water for tooth brushing. I think I can get used to this rock-star treatment.

We have a packed schedule for the next 5 days. My biggest worry right now is sleep, so I’m off to bed. Let this adventure begin!

Last day in Austin

2008-07-05T00:43:00.000-07:00

After a wonderful, thorough, and overwhelming 2-day conference in Austin, we celebrated Texan-style at Ruby’s BBQ. Spicy, tangy sauce on mouthwatering brisket. I finally caught up on sleep and felt coherent enough to have meaningful conversations with other Fulbrighters. We have a really fun group and I can’t wait to get to know each of them better in the next 5 weeks.

Barbara, our photographer and naturalist, insisted we see the bats of Austin. Apparently, Austin is home to the largest urban bat population in the world. 1.5 million bats (probably more) live under a cement bridge and fly out at dusk to feed on insects. We walked as a group to the infamous bridge and I was surprised to see that we weren’t alone. The bridge and land below was already covered with curious spectators. I stopped at a T-shirt vendor that was selling “Keep Austin Batty” shirts and decided to support the local artist. I love my shirt, especially after seeing these bats take off for their daily meal. It was INCREDIBLE! Right as the sun began to set, you could hear chirping and fluttering of 1.5 million (x 2) wings. And then you see what looks like a cloud of black smoke coming out from under the bridge. No smoke, just lots of bats flying in a deliberate swirly pattern. They flew in flocks across the Austin downtown skyline. It was way cooler than I thought it’d be. Definitely check it out if you’re in Austin. The pics don’t do it justice.

Costa Rica (in short)

2008-07-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting in a hotel in Austin, TX anticipating my flight to India tomorrow and I'm still processing my trip to Costa Rica which only ended 2 days ago.

What an amazing trip! The rain and mosquitoes made it rough at first. Itchy bites, perpetually wet, mildewy clothes, and no turtle sightings (at least for my group). But by the 3rd/4th day, I had the most awe inspiring experiences with nature that were well worth the mosquito scars. We excavated a nest and found about 10 tortugitas (baby turtles) dead only inches away from the surface of the sand. The research assistant, Laura, said the rain had hardened the sand and the roots from the beach morning glories stopped the turtles from a chance at life. But as luck would have it, there were 3 living tortugitas below their deceased brothers and sisters. She pulled each out gently, turned them over, brushed the sand off their carapaces (leathery shells), and laid them on the sand. A small tap on the back, and they awoke. Testing their fins, they opened their eyes and started making their way toward the waves. Further into the nest, the other tortugitas had already been meals for maggots. Some had maggots still feeding inside them. Others had barely recognizable bodies. It was nasty. I posted some pics on flickr under the screen name "tortugitas" and also put up some videos on my Facebook. Check it out!

The best experience on the beach was seeing a mother tortuga come to shore at 12am under the moonlight. She booked up the beach in minutes and tossed sand to make a body pit. With her back flippers, she strategically dipped each flipper, one by one, scooping out handfuls of sand to make her nest. Then, in a trance of soft grunts, she started releasing eggs into the pit. About 35 in total. The last "eggs" were "vanos" which aren't really eggs. They are much smaller white sacs with no embryos, only albumin (egg whites). No one really knows what the vanos are for. Perhaps to trick predators.

Some other cools species we saw were sloths, holler monkeys, white-faced chapuchins, poison dart frogs, cane toads, walking sticks, enormous cicadas and grasshoppers, Jesus lizards, and giant katydids and spiders. All contributing to the crazy sounds of the rain forest. Morning, noon and night, the sounds are both eerie and wonderful! "Sound scapes" as our instructors called them. Tarn described the cicadas calls as "pulsating" through the trees. It's true. If you close your eyes, you hear the heartbeat of the forest. Absolutely amazing.

We ended our trip at a Mountain Lodge where they grow organic coffee beans. So yummy. And we rafted through rain forest canyons down the Pacuare River. Nothing can beat that ending.