First Days in India

Stepping onto my 14.5 hour Air India flight felt like actually entering India. The smells, red and
yellow fabrics with diamond stitching, the bustle. There, I met Pyl (?), from Rochester Hills, MI, who was visiting her ill grandfather. She gave me advice on places to see (Agra, New Delhi) and how to look out for swindlers. She also taught me how to eat the breakfast by ripping off a piece of bread to grab the food. Many people straight up eat with their hands!

At immigration, I met a K-12 special education teacher who was getting her yoga instructor certification-so cool! Indian people have generally been very helpful and hospitable. And it helps that most know or understand English.

My room in India

Most has gone smoothly with only a couple faux pas:

1. Telling people I was going to Vadadora. It's like being on a flight to Washington, DC and telling people you have a connecting flight to Grand Rapids. I should have said the region, Gujarat, since not everyone is familiar with every city in India, but they know the general state or region.

2. Worrying about how my supervisor and I will recognize each other in a sea of travelers when we've never met. Duh, I was the only Caucasian on the flight. Problem solved.

3. My roommate and I had to Google how to use the toilet. We have the #2 option listed in case anyone is wondering.

 I love Indian food. Everything we've had so far has been homemade and freshly prepared. Rarely do you see food that is frozen, processed, canned or even packaged. They have a prohibition on alcohol in this region because, as my host family explained, Gandhi was from here and he was against it. Indians also eat mostly vegetarian because they do not like to harm animals.

Yesterday we walked around Akota Garden, a large, lush park where many people go to walk, exercise and gather in clubs and for social activities. Rashmi, my host mom had to drop something off to her husband, Sudheer during his laughing class. Yes, laughing class. My roommate seemed less than amused, but I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen! A bunch of old men sitting around telling jokes and doing arm movements. The best part--in true "dad" fashion, Sudheer donned a sweatband. I was in stitches.

3rd grade science class

Today was my first full day of school. It was great, but the cultural and language barriers seem slightly overwhelming to overcome. Though it's an English-speaking school, it's difficult to understand the students' and teachers' accents. And many of the things teachers referred to in their lessons-certain plants, animals, etc.-were specific to India. I have so much to learn! Especially the roster of 41 student names (which I don't know how to pronounce) in my 3rd grade class! Sunu, my cooperating teacher is the kindest, most patient woman. She's extremely intelligent and I am excited to plan and learn from her.

The way classes are set up in India is a bit different. Students have a different subject teacher for each class starting in 3rd grade. So in order for me to stay with the same 3rd grade class, I have to observe and plan with several other teachers in addition to Sunu, who teaches several sections of primary environmental science.

I expected there to be more technology, but I found each classroom had chalkboards and students mostly copied assignments into their notebooks. This is quite the change of pace for me, as I'm used to distributing all work online and having access to a projector in the classroom. I will have to get creative in my presentation of material.

Students were very well behaved and formed straight lines and found their classes without being asked. They are very respectful and rise from their seats when teachers enter the room. They referred to teachers as "ma'am". They were so curious and I was bombarded all day by students asking, "Where are you from? What is your language? What is your name?" One girl offered to share her snack with me and another gave me a rose! Sweeties.

I read this quote in GoGirl: Tales of Woe and Whoa. It's by one of the woman travelers and contributors, Nathalie Couet: "I want you to fall in love with the vastness of the outdoors, with the movements, and most all, fall in love with your own strength, even if you haven't discovered it yet."

Wow! I know I will be challenged in my 2.5 months here, so this spoke to me about having confidence! Until next time!