The Hindu : Life & Style / Metroplus : When they met

We made the India national daily paper!! Here's the article:

The Hindu : Life & Style / Metroplus : When they met

Home, Sweet Home

Sunday's travel was much better. Got to Abu Dhabi airport and off to Munich on time. We ate dinner in Munich and it was fantastic! I had braised beef! Others had duck, which was good too. Then, I bought a bunch of German Chocolate, some German beer and some Jagermeister at the Duty Free store in the Munich airport. I was impressed, I only spent $50! Our flight from Munich to Chicago boarded a little late, but we arrived on time in Chicago!! It's so nice to be home, but dang it's cold! Today the "feels like" here in Iowa City was 3* ... only about 80* colder than Madurai.

I'm planning to share my India adventure with a few groups of people back home in Chariton, and possibly here in Iowa City too, if the opportunity arises. I'll also be keeping in touch with the teachers I worked with in Madurai. I'm excited to be able to share my experiences and use the things I learned in my classes and my future classroom, as well as the classrooms I'm volunteering in now!!

Thanks to everyone for reading while I was on my adventure!! I hope you enjoyed my play-by-play. Never hesitate to ask questions about my trip!

Love to all...

Eventful Travels

The bus trip from Madurai to Chennai was fairly uneventful, but the flight from Chennai to Abu Dhabi was a nightmare! We got to Chennai and unloaded the charter bus at Blossoms, the hotel we stayed at the first day. Several of us went shopping and I somehow got separated from the group in this huge shopping center called a Bizaar. The place is 5 stories with stairs on both ends and in the middle. While I was looking for my group, they were looking for me, but we never met up. I ended up walking back to the hotel alone, but it worked out... no troubles.
Then, 12 of us left for the Chennai airport at 11 pm. Dana was scheduled to leave at 2, and the rest of us at 4 am. Dana got off fine, as far as I know, but the rest of us ran into major difficulty. Apparently, the burning from Pongal festival was causing a heavy fog in Chennai, causing only our flight and one other to get delayed (I don't believe this excuse for one second!) We waited in line for almost 6 hours to talk to someone about switching our flights, and to get checked in. It was completely ridiculous! No one ever told the huge crowd of people waiting to check in that the flight had been delayed. We only knew becaused we'd been there since 11 so we were at the front of the line. Then, once they started rescheduling people for a later flight, the whole process really got out of hand. The airport staff had us move lines 3 times and it also took the guy forever to get one ticket changed and printed (and bag checked). Most of us had been up a full 24 hours by the time we had our boarding passes. Sadly, Miranda wasn't able to get her flight chnged, so she went back to the hotel, scheduled to go on the same flight we had originally been scheduled for, only for tomorrow. She will still arrive in Chicago before us.
The only option available to us was to reroute through Munich, Germany tomorrow and arrive in Chicago a full 27 hours later than originally planned. The worst part about the whole ordeal was that the guy trying to "help" us was practically sleeping (or high) on the job. Alyssa and I stood at the counter for a few minutes with him just looking around. We were like "uh... can you check us in now, we've been waiting for 5 hours!!" He says, "oh, you haven't checked in yet?" It was such a joke! I tried to stay in good spirits the whole time, but there were squatty potty toilets and very little food near by. There were no benches, so some people slept on the floor.
Once we finally got to Abu Dhabi things started looking up. They couldn't get us on an earlier flight, but the hotel being provided to us is fabulous! I'll post photos soon, but it has a swim up bar, a kids aea and a couple good restaurants. They're feeding us well and the rooms are so nice. I can't wait to crawl into my bed ! Speaking of... until next time...best of love.

Presentation day... goodbye Madurai

Today is our last day in Madurai. It's a little bittersweet. I met so many amazing people here! The Indian women we've been working with have been so wonderful and I've really learned a lot from them. I have their e-mail addresses and will definitely keep in touch! I'm actually planning to try to get a penpal program going with one of the classes here and a classroom back home.
We got together with our group and some of the Indian teachers to do presentations on something we learned or something that interests us about education. We basically had free reign to talk about whatever we wanted. I chose to make comparisons between schools I've observed in the US and schools I observed here in Madurai. I think it went pretty well, even though I went over the suggested time limit... oops! After our presentations, we went out to lunch with the founder of the school and a group of educators from Delhi who started a school for street children. They are all pretty phenomenal people and the lunch was delicious!
Tonight, most of us got dressed up in our sarees for the Pongal festival at the Residential school. It was such a nice way to end the trip. We got to see how Indians celebrate Pongal (kind of like Thanksgiving) and we had one last chance to see all our new friends from the schools before heading back to Iowa.
I successfully got my suitcase packed with all my new goodies and despite how much I love India, I'm ready to come home. Mostly, I can't wait to have quick access to my phone, eat beef (steak dinner is on the agenda) and see all my family and friends (not necessarily in that order). :-)
The bus leaves for Chennai at 8 am. It's about an 8 hour bus ride, then a little shopping, maybe a nap and head to the airport. I'm not sure I'll be able to update again before I get home, but there won't be much going on aside from traveling anyway! :-)
Love to all...

PS - I totally called the weather BS! When I got to India I said "I'll bet Iowa has gorgeous weather while we're gone and cold and snow as soon as we get back." Sure enough, I got on Facebook tonight and found many posts about snow & cold in Iowa! Just my luck...

Napping, Shopping, & school work...

We had a work day today, so there's not much to report. I mostly napped all morning because I had a headache, but then a bunch of us went back to the Meenakshi temple area to shop this afternoon. We ended up being there for 5 hours, but I got some more gifts bought and picked up a couple things for myself too. We also bought gifts for the Indian teachers we've been working closely with during our time here.
Tonight I've mainly been procrastinating and trying to decide how I want to approach my presentation. I've changed it 3 times in the past few hours, but I think I finally have something worked out. I need to get the details hashed out, so this is just a short update. Just wanted you all to know I'm doing well and ready to come home. I love India, but as I said yesterday, I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. Love to all...

K.K. Nagar Campus

This week, we visited the last of the 4 Mahatma Schools. K.K. Nagar campus is located in another part of town, but still fairly close to our hotel and the Baba/CBSE campus. The school is nestled in a residential neighborhood, so it's atmosphere is a little different than the other 2 sites, where the campus is separate from the hustle and bustle of town. The campus is still lovely and I was just as impressed with their school and students as I have been at the other sites.
We started the day with a ceremonial welcome. KKN school provided a military salute and band welcome, as well as beautiful little girls all dressed up to give us our gifts - flowers, bindi paint and a fire blessing (they just waft smoke at you from a flaming tray). Then we went to the morning assembly, where the Monday ritual is universal prayer. This means they say readings from the Q'uran, the Bible and the Hindu holy book and sing songs from Christianity, Hindu and Islam. It is still so interesting to see the secular prayer and worship in the schools since that's something that doesn't occur in the states, but there are just the 3 main religions here, so it's easier to accommodate everyone.
This year, the Mahatma schools are celebrating the "Year of Patriotism" so in the 9th grade, we heard a patriotic song (a Tamil state song) and were introduced to important patriots, such as influential Indian authors and politicians. Then, the students demonstrated a debate on whether all Indians are patriotic. I continue to be impressed by the students' poise and knowledge in these debates. I think debate is a skill many schools overlook in the U.S. While it may not seem like the most important skill to teach, it certainly develops critical thinking skills and public speaking practice.
Next, we went to grade 3, where the children are learning about birds. KKN school uses the same format the other schools use, where students are introduced to the topic with a story, are taught the lesson, sing songs or some other verbal method of learning and do a hands on activity or craft to further the lesson. The school also uses tongue twisters a lot. I can't really remember doing tongue twisters in school. These schools have one on every chalkboard.
Something I really admire about this school system is how diverse the curriculum is. The students are doing so many different things like debate, cooking, dancing, yoga, mahendi (henna), instrumental and vocal music and many more. The students seem so happy to be in school and I attribute that happiness to the variety of activities they are participating in each day. The school is really focusing on teaching life skills rather than just teaching students to pass the tests.
One of my favorite parts of day 1 at KKN campus was dance class. 4 of the girls in our group, myself included, joined their grade 4 dance class, learning the steps to a traditional Indian dance form! It was fun!
The second day in the KKN school (today) was much the same... observing classes where students are participating in a variety of learning methods. But, the morning assembly was a shocker and one of my favorite parts of the whole trip! A band made up of 7-9th grade boys performed Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie". I was so not expecting it and had a great time. The boys on guitar and drums were great and the rapper was the biggest shock! He was quite impressive. I'm going to try to upload video onto YouTube, but I haven't had much luck with video here, so it may have to wait until I'm back in the states!
One of my favorite parts of today was visiting the KG (kindergarten) classes. For one, the kids are so stinking cute! For two, this is a Montessori school, which means the students are learning by using manipulatives (hands on tools). The upper KG students (4-5 year olds) showed us the "gifts" (tools) they use for learning. I rarely hear adults use the word "differentiate" but I heard a 4 year old say it today. He said "I use wooden blocks to differentiate sounds made by different density woods" or something along those lines. Regardless, he used advanced vocabulary in the proper context! I was impressed. In one of the KG rooms, we were greeted by children dressed as Hindu gods and goddesses... it was adorable! Then the children of that class sang for us in English, Hindi and Tamil! I am so envious of their multi-lingual education!
We toured the art department this afternoon. It was amazing! I saw drawings done by first graders that are better than almost any college drawings I saw in my art class this year! The students just love when we enter their classroom to view their work. And, they are so polite when thanking us for coming in or in response to praise of their work! They are always calling us "miss" or "ma'am" ... it sometimes catches me off guard but it's very nice to be respected in such a way. In the higher grades' art class, the students explained how they made several of their recent projects, including paper mache masks, stained glass paintings and book marks. Then, the girls did more mahendi on us! I now have the palm of my left hand (from Baba school) and the back of my right hand (from KK Nagar school). It's so beautiful!
We ended the school day with more cultural programs performed by the students. There was instrumental music and dance. Bri, Calley and I tried one of the traditional dances at the end, but Bri was the only one who really got it, but she's a dance minor and he mom is a dance professor at Augustana so I'm not giving myself too hard a time for not catching on. :-)
After school, we went back to CBSE/Baba Campus to talk with all the teachers from all 4 schools. Each of us from our group (Americans & Indian teachers) talked about our observations and some of us shared some thoughts on things we saw that could use improvement. All of us agreed that this past 8 days of observing has been incredible, and these schools are doing an amazing job of producing intelligent, well rounded citizens. We were presented with gifts - a shoulder bag, a shirt, earrings and a necklace.
It really was a wonderful experience and I love the school system here. I talked with a few of the principals about doing my student teaching here, but we'll see. I did get the e-mail addresses of Shakila and Narayani, the two administrators that I got to know really well from our group. Shakila even calls me Kiki now, since I told her about my nieces and nephews calling me that! :-)
Now that our observations are done, we'll have tomorrow to work on our presentations, then do our presentations for the group on Thursday, and have a banquet at the Residential school Thursday night.
We head back to Chennai on Friday and leave at 4 am Saturday morning. I'll continue blogging this week, but I had to mention how close I am to coming home. It's gone by really fast, but I think I'm ready to come home. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed and eat BEEF! For now, I plan to fully enjoy the next fews days, my last few in India for this trip!

Kodaikanal: Weekend in the Mountains

We spent the weekend in the mountain town of Kodaikanal. It was beautiful there. On the way up the mountain we stopped at a couple scenic overlooks and took pictures of waterfalls. One is the tallest fall in India. It was so pretty, and provided the backdrop for an even more impressive valley veiw below. Once we got to Kodaikanal and checked into the resort, we visited a lake that offered shopping, horseback riding, boating and biking. I rode a horse around the lake and did a lot of shopping. I got some really awesome souveniers for people! I can't wait to deliver them! Lauren and I rented a 4 person peddle boat with 2 other girls from the hospital group for a half hour. However, once we got out to the middle of the boating area, our boat starting taking on water. Unfortunately, the bulk of it was in my seat and under my feet! I was soaked! Since we were in the mountains, it was much cooler up there and I was in for a very chilly and unconfortable night! We ended up heading back to the dock having only used up about 15 minutes of our time. We got some fun picture though. :-)
Saturday night, we had a bonfire at the hotel with a huge buffet and music. It was a really nice break from the busy, noisy city of Madurai, and all three groups (education, social work and microfinance) were there. I got a chance to get to know some of the other people outside the education group. We left early Sunday morning so we could make several stops on the way down the mountain. Most of the places offered the same kinds of tourist shops, but there were a couple stops that ended up being quite eventful! We stopped at a scenic overlook, and there were monkeys everywhere!! We had a couple people get growled at by monkeys and one person even got their package of cookies stolen right out of their hand! The monkeys were all over our vans. I even saw one pulling at the door handle! They have definitely figured out how to scavange the tourist vehicles! When our van was loaded and waiting for the others to get loaded, a couple monkeys climbed up on the roof of our van and were playing with us, tapping on the windows and hanging over the edge. Sentil, our driver, shooed them away with a stick.
At the next stop, we had a half hour to walk around in a wooded area. I wasn't really sure who thought it would be a good idea to walk around in the woods for a half hour, but it was a very beautiful place. Unfortunately, it was still teaming with monkeys. Since there weren't vendors/food stands at this sight, there were fewer monkeys, but they were just as naughty. When we first arrived, as the last few people were getting out of the van, a monkey climbed through an open window and scared the daylights out of the people still waiting to get out! The van drivers came to the rescue again and got the monkey out quickly, but a few of the people were pretty shaken up by the event! Then, I was walking with a few others, including the other Kari, and a monkey came charging at Kari, growling. We all scattered and it kept after Kari. She yelled "NO!" at it, but it kept growling and eyeing her purse. Bupender, the T.A. for the social work group, ran at the monkey with a stick and was throwing sticks and pine cones and it went away. It was one of those moments where I was thankful it wasn't me, worried for Kari and seriously wishing I'd been filming! lol.
As we continued down the mountain, we stopped for shopping a couple more times, and stopped for lunch. Several of us headed straight for the pizza parlor! I think we were just in need of some American food. I know I was. I love the Indian food, but it's not really something you want to eat 3 meals a day. After lunch, we were supposed to descend the mountain without stopping, but it didn't exactly work out that way for my van. About 60 km from Madurai (still about 1/2 way up the mountain) our brakes overheated and we were coasting down the mountain road because we weren't able to stop the van. A few people were freaking out, but I was just sitting back, enjoying the ride. I figured it wouldn't do any good to freak out, and would probably just distract Sentil from getting us to safety. At one point, the driver of another van (the one 2 of the professors were in) went ahead of us and stopped up the road, got out of his van and started sprinting along side our van with a big rock. He tried to throw it under the tire to stop us but we just kept going. Then, because we were moving so slow, the monkeys got upset and a whole troop of monkeys started chasing our van, growling at us and showing their teeth (a sign of aggression). Eventually they gave up chase and Sentil found a spot in the road that leveled out, then went slightly uphill. There was also a rock quarry right at the end of the uphill slope, so he headed for that. Luckily, the van stopped on the level part. We waited on the roadside (monkey trouble free) for about 30 minutes so the breaks could cool down. Apparently this happens frequently and Sentil knew what he was doing (although he had limited English to convey this to us). The rest of the trip, once we got going again, was uneventful. I was exhausted when I got back to the hotel, so I skipped the blog and went straight to bed!

Mahatma Residential School - Grades 10, 11, & 12

Today we went to the residential school. The school houses grades 5-12, but only the 10, 11 & 12th grade students are back from break (because they are writing their exams this year). The other students will return after the Pongal festival on Jan. 14th. Pongal is kind of like our Thanksgiving, where people feast and give thanks to their gods for the good things in their lives.
Anyway, we were once again greeted with the morning assembly, this time complete with an elaborate puppet show, singing and miming. They played the U.S. National Anthem, which was a first since we've been here. It was a nice taste of home! :-)
We spent the morning hiking up the mountain behind the school. I was warned that we'd be hiking today, but I didn't really pack for that so I just hoped for the best and hiked in my flip flops! It worked out ok, but my feet are a little sore from all the rocks. The good news is it was well worth it! The veiw of the school was absolutely beautiful from where we hiked to. My student guides (Charles, Ahmed, Venilla and Jenathai) said we'd gone about 3 km up the mountain. It was a really beautiful hike. On the way back down, we collected materials (mostly leaves and flowers) and the students fashioned them into a bouquet (Miss America style) for me when we got back.
We observed a couple classes and had lunch, then got to play some traditional Indian games with a few students. It was fun and I was good at it! One of the games is kind of like jacks, but instead of bouncing the ball and picking up jacks, you have 5 rocks spread out within a circle playing area. You toss one rock into the air, grab another rock from the floor and catch the tossed rock before it hits the ground. You continue doing this (tossing only one rock, not all that you've collected) until you have picked up all the rocks. Then you spread them all out again and try to pick up 2 rocks while the tossed rock is in the air. If you drop one or don't get one picked up, you're out. It was fun... I excelled at this game! lol Another one was kind of like the game Sorry! Their dice are little gold bars that are marked with the circle indents like you see on dice, so there are only 4 sides. The game could be played with dice too, and is sometimes played with shells (you toss the shells out and count the number that land with the rounded side up). We also played hopscotch. A game played by boys was probably my favorite, though. you have 2 wooden sticks, one long and cylindrical, the other short with rounded points on either end. You lay the short stick on the ground and hit one end with the long stick to make the short stick spin up into the air, then if you get it up in the air, you hit it with the long stick again. It's kind of like tossing a baseball to yourself. I was good at this one too... my mentors were quite impressed when I hit it about 30 feet or so on my first try! It was a really fun afternoon.
We finished the day watching a debate and a cultural program put on by the students. It's interesting how much these schools emphasize debate, miming and dance. We've seen many examples of each of these art forms and I feel like these aren't really things that are valued in the states. I certainly wasn't as versed in debate as these students are, and I can't recall ever doing miming or dancing in school. I think it really adds to the students' confidence and communication skills to be performing these things regularly. I like that it's part of their school curriculum.
It was a pretty long day today. Since it's a residential campus, the students live right next to the school in dorms, so there wasn't any rush to keep on schedule. We didn't even leave the school until close to 6:30 pm. and there were students still in the school working on homework when we left.
Tomorrow we are headed to the mountains for a weekend adventure, so I won't be updating until Sunday. I should have plenty of exciting things to report from the weekend. Rumor has it there are tons of activities to do at the mountain resort we're headed to, like horse back riding, kayaking, and biking!
Have a great weekend, love to all! :-)

Baba School: Day 2 - the details

Ok, let me try to give a more detailed description of yesterday's events; hopefully without the computer stealing it this time!
The morning assembly was a silent meditation day, followed by the school song and mass P.T. (kind of like karate moves and yoga). I think its a nice way to start the school day, getting the students focused and limbered up.
The basketball game was fun and interesting. It's apparent that sports are not taken as seriously as they are for high schoolers back in the states. The level of play by these 10th grade girls was more on par with what you might see in middle school level games. After 20 minutes the score was only 10-2! The match was between the Baba school and the Kakander School (the one we haven't been to yet). Baba school won the game and then challenged us to a game. Its been about 10 years since I played full court basketball, and most of our team never played basketball, so we were pretty proud when Team USA only lost 8-6.
We observed kindergarten next and it was fun and amazing! Their kindergarten is ages 3-5 and organized so that students experience many different things and do many hands on activities. The kids seem so much more advanced than this age children in the U.S. I met a 4 year old gifted student that can read the newspaper and spell almost any word you give him! I was told that this boy Vishnav Jai, was a very special child, but all of the children were at least partially reading and writing (with amazing penmenship) and very well spoken. The Kindergarteners took me on a nature walk and collected plant debri that they'll use for hand-crafts later in the day.
Mitch wanted some time with the Indian teachers, so they brought in a couple 9th grade girls to design mahendi (henna-like) tattoos on all of us. It's pretty awesome and there's pictures over on facebook. Everyone's is different and unique and completely amazing! The school has a mahendi contest and one of these girls was the winner this year. She was phenomenal, they both were!
The students put on a cultural program of dance, song, and instrumental music to close out our day. They are always exposing us to their culture and traditions! It has been so wonderful to conclude each day with a cultural experience! :-)
The shopping trip wasn't much, but like I said in the quick post yesterday, I got a churhida (a blouse, pants, scarf set). The most exciting part of the shopping trip was my very first rickshaw ride! It was quite an experience. One minute you're zooming past a bus that 10 times the size of the rickshaw and the next you're going by a cow close enough to touch it! If I thought the traffic was crazy when viewed from our hotel vans or buses, the traffic is downright insane from the rickshaw! Oddly, I kind of enjoyed it! We had 8 of us stuffed in there too!

Baba School: Day 2

I had a really fun, elaborate, detailed description of todays events typed out and my computer acted up and deleted it. I'm irritated, so here's the quick & dirty run down...
We played basketball with high school girls and lost 8-6.
We observed kindergarten.. it was fun and amazing! I met a 4 year old that can read the newspaper and spell almost any word you give him!
9th grade girls designed henna (although it's not called that) tattoos on all of us. It's pretty awesome and there's pictures over on facebook.
The students put on a cultural program of dance, song, and instrumental music.

We went shopping and I got a churidha, the other outfits worn by women when they're not wearing sarees.

Hiking the hills by the residential school tomorrow.

Day 3: Baba Campus, Day 1

Today we were at Baba Campus of the Mahatma Schools. It is on the same property as the school we've been at for the last two days, but a different part. Baba also has K-12 students. Once again I felt like royalty. We were welcomed with a military salute, more flowers and another great morning assembly. It was high school students welcoming us today and they performed skits and held a debate. Prof Kelly addressed the students briefly too. It's always nice to hear what he has to say!
The principal, Ms. Jackie, shared with us a portfolio slideshow of the school's activities and again I was amazed by how well rounded the curriculum is here. The students take part in so many wonderful hands on and interactive activities to supplement their learning and observe special events and holidays/festivals. The costumes are quite elaborate and definitely beautiful! Each day I am completely amazed by the detail and effort the students put into every event.
We spent most of the rest of the day visiting classrooms, observing teachers and talking with students. Grade two students have a class on animals and I talked with two adorable little boys about what they've learned about chimpanzees and foxes. The students at Baba Campus are also very well behaved and studious, just like those we saw before. One of the interesting things I learned today was that the students in Mahatma schools have an assigned classroom, and the teachers move from class to class. Most of the schools I've seen in the US assign a teacher to the classroom and send the students on the move. I'm not sure which, if either, is more beneficial, but it seems an odd way of doing things (probably just because it's different than I'm used to).
One of the things I saw today that I really liked was co-teaching. A 3rd grade class was split into 3 sections with one learning science, one English and one math. This isn't a new concept, but certainly one I like. The teachers are sticking to their expertise and the students benefit greatly, in my opinion.
We had a wonderful opportunity to leave campus for lunch today and travel to a local restaurant owned by a dear friend of the founder of Mahatma Schools. She had visited us yesterday at the school and wanted to provide us lunch at her restaurant. The food was amazing, but it was quite a spread and I wanted to try everything so I ended up eating way too much! She did serve us a few things I wasn't particularly fond of, including some kind of treat that is supposed to aid digestion. It was some kind of mixture contained within rolled leaves. I spit it out as soon as it hit my tongue! I thought it tasted like the smell of that sand stuff they use to clean up vomit in the school! YUCK! Most of the other dishes were wonderful though, and she served coffee after. I've come to really love Indian coffee, a shock because I don't even like coffee, but theirs is much sweeter.
This experience continues to be amazing!! Thanks for all the comments and well wishes!

Oh, and happy birthday to Grandma Ruby (yesterday), Olyvia (tomorrow) and Gunnar!! With the time change its difficult to remember what day it is there! :-)

Day 2 at Mahatma

It was a very, very long day those of us in the education group, but a good one! We spent the day in the Mahatma schools again, observing classes. We got to see several different classes. One of the things I like best about this school is how much they incorporate different styles of learning. Every class that we've visited has multiple layers to a lesson... a story that introduces the topic, the lesson, a craft and a presentation of what the students learned. The students' work is phenomenal! There are kindergarteners here that have better penmenship than me! And their craft projects are of competition caliber every time! I took some photos of finished products and I'll post them to facebook later. The other thing that is so amazing (and different from the US) is that students complete these projects in one class period! They work so hard, there's very little gossiping or off-task behavior and the finish product is beyond satisfactory!
My favorite part of the day was visiting the co-curricular classes. I think I mentioned before that the school incorporates art, health, fitness and interests into the school day rather than offering them as "extra" curricular activities. We got to visit several co-curricular classes including singing, instruments (Indian stringed instrument called a Vina, violin, drums, keyboard), art, chess, martial arts and dance. The students choose which activities they want to participate in.
I also go to play criquet!! Well, I got to bat... they didn't really explain the game and I definitely have no clue how it's supposed to be played! Our group is going to watch some youtube videos and read up about it online so we can offer the school's team a game toward the end of our visit!
We have been treated like royalty at the school and this day was no different. Part of the curriculum here is preparing the students to be confident public speakers, so they have the students present their works to large audiences (at assemblies, in class and at large events). The students are also fully in charge of setting up events and planning. They put on a show for us that included a really elaborate puppet show with live music and hand-made puppets, a traditional dance show staring several students and groups of students and a violin solo. Oh, and a couple students also did tongue twisters... then passed the mic to us to try! I tried one, and I think I did pretty good even though it was one I've never heard before! It was such a fun day!
We got a short break back at the hotel to freshen up, then went back to the school with the other 2 sections (health & social work students) for a special show starring an internationally recognized dancer of traditional Indian dance. This guy is a really big deal here in India and has been invited to hundreds of events and festivals around the world (including a stint as a guest lecturer in the dance department at Iowa)! He performed before an audience of Mahatma school students and their parents and our group of about 60 American students. It was a fun evening. I really like the dancing here! He's going to be back in Iowa City in April if anyone wants to check him out!
We have another exciting day ahead of us! We'll be visiting another campus of the Mahatma Schools (there's 4). Love to all... until later...

1st day in the schools

Today was the first day for working in the schools. Our little group of 9 went to the Mahatma Montessori Private school. The welcome was beyond anything I expected. We were greeted at the entrance with an elaborately decorated table and a group of students dressed in fancy traditional clothes. Each of us was given a bindi mark (the dot on the forehead), and hand made garlan in the country flag colors, and a woven hat (like a sailors cap). The hat signifies what Raj called India's 99% movement. Back in the 1940s, Indians had to ship their materials to the U.K. to be woven into fabric. India didn't like this method so they fought for the right to weave their own fabrics. The hat we were given is a symbol of that revolution.
Each morning, all of the students gather at an assembly for morning prayers. Today, we got to observe this ritual. I had no idea religion played such a key role in the schooling here and it's very interesting to see how it's incorporated into the school day since it's separated in the U.S. Hindu, Muslim and Christianity are given equal importance in the school.
After assembly, the students went to classes and we went to a meeting with school administrators. We were given coffee and cookies and flowers for our hair by the other teachers. The headmasters of the 4 schools talked about their school system, buildings and staff for awhile and then Prof. Kelly introduced our group. This was the first time I'd really heard Prof Kelly speak, and he is phenominal! I was left wishing I had been able to take Edu Psych with him! I can see why he's won so many awards and why he is so popular among students at Iowa. After our introduction, we were given buttermilk - a traditional gift to guests to keep you cool. It tasted like drinking sour cream with chives. I didn't really care for it so I just took it like a shot! lol
The rest of the day, we spent time in 4 different classrooms. First, we visited a first grade class. The students participated in a story about a mouse and a pencil. They responded to the teacher, properly filling in the teacher's pauses. The school uses stories to introduce each topic, then incorporates activities and crafts to activate learning of the topic. I really like this method - the students seemed very engaged and created wonderful products. We were given some of their work as gifts.
Next, we visited a kindergarten class. The students performed a play of the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus and sang songs to us. They sang songs in English, Tamil (their regional language), Hindi (the national language) and Sanskrit (the traditional state language). These children all receive instruction in English, Tamil and Hindi. I have always thought it beneficial and impressive to learn multiple languages, so I'm thoroughly impressed with the school's chioce to produce students fluent in 3 languages. One of the most impressive things I noticed in this room was the penmenship. These 3-5 year olds had better penmenship than most adults I know! I asked the teacher if the work book pages had been written by the teacher or a parent, but she assured me it was the students' writing.
The third class we saw today was a 3-4th grade math class. The school is trying to work it's way through the 21st century by providing smart board technology in the classrooms. This class was using the smart board video to learn about fractions. The students were seated on the floor and fully engaged in the lesson. They were eager to answer the teacher! It's really interesting to think of all the things that could go wrong using technology in the classroom, especially in a country where power outages are frequent (there was one during our time there today).
The final class we visited today was 9-10th grade. All of the students in grades 9-10 assembled in the hall where we heard morning prayers and were allowed to ask us questions. Many of the questions asked us about comparisons between their school and our schools in the U.S. It was fun to hear what the students were curious about in terms of U.S. schools.
Overall, I was really impressed with what I saw today and I look forward to seeing and experiencing more over the next couple of weeks. For now, I'm exhausted again, so I'm headed to bed. Good night from India (9:45 pm) and good day to y'all back home (10:10 a.m.).

Sunday Funday in India

I had a very eventful New Years Day here in Madurai!! Everyone from all 3 sections boarded vans to travel to another temple!! Along the way we saw a lot of very cool things... like monkeys, shanty towns, a college and the residential school operated by the same people running the schools I'll be working in for the next two weeks.
During the bus ride, we drove by the snake temple... this is the temple we can see the back of from our hotel. I photographed it from the hotel balcony on the first day here, and I finally got to see it up close and from the front. It's pretty awesome! We didn't actually go inside and I didn't learn what it's purpose is, but it's a giant cobra with a couple gods sitting on the snake's coiled body. We also got to see a lot of the country side and many, many small communities along the main road. It's still a bit of a shock to ride in their traffic. There are people and animals walking everywhere and cars, trucks, wagons, rickshaws, and bikes sharing the road. It amazes me that they're able to get by with so few accidents (I have yet to see a serious accident, and fender benders are brushed off as if they never happened). These things would NEVER happen in the U.S. I've seen people get upset about someone leaning on their car in the states. One of our vans hit a car head on while pulling out of a parking spot yesterday and the guy just waved .. no yelling, gesturing or anything! It's remarkable! The honking is something I'm not used to... they use their horns as sort of a turn signal and a "hey I'm coming up behind you" warning, but people just move out of the way and even help other drivers to get by. I can guaruntee there would be f'bombs dropping all over the place if people used their horns and cut other drivers off like they do here!!
The drive to the residential school was probably around 30 minutes (although I can't be sure because my concept of time is completely off here - I didn't bring a watch). The school grounds are easily the most beautiful land I've set foot on! The residential school is part of the Mahatma Montessori Private School system, but the students live on campus and the tuition is quite a bit more than the private schools in town that we are observing in. They were all founded by the same woman and we got to meet her on our visit. The students were gone on winter holiday. The grounds have dorms for the students, the school building, a temple and acres of gardens and recreation space. I've posted some pictures over on my Facebook page. It was stunning! We all got a fresh from the tree coconut -- we drank the juice through a straw, then the Indian men cut them open for us to eat the fresh coconut inside. It didn't taste like coconut we are used to in the U.S. This was very bland. I think the juice would have been better if it was cold, but the men literally took the coconuts off the trees and cut them open for us with a machete! It was quite an experience!! The head principal (and founder) invited us out to the school for dinner sometime later in our trip and wants to have the students share their winter festival dances. I'm looking forward to that so hopefully we'll be able to work it into our schedule.
After our coconut juice break at the school, we continued into the country hills to visit another temple. This temple is built around a waterfall. As the Hindu story goes, the water here is pure mineral water that has been running down this mountain for 3000 years, but no one knows where the water comes from. Indians come to this temple to bathe in the water or just to splash some on their faces. I also saw many people filling large water containers from the falls. Usually, only the faithful are allowed in the temple, but Raj arranged for us to be able to enter. We each got to wash our faces in the falls. It was pretty cool. Some people even drank the water, but I decided to play it safe! There were tons of monkeys around the temple and in the towns and hills leading up to it. I got several pictures of monkeys just hanging out on the side of the road, sometimes in the middle of the road and anywhere and everywhere you looked!
As many amazing things as I got to see on this trip, it was still probably the most stressful situation I've ever been in. For anyone who knows about my biggest fears, you'll understand why. When we pulled up to the temple there were hundred of huge bats flying around!! I didn't even want to get out of the van! I HATE bats more than anything else in this world! They are disgusting creatures and they completely freak me out! And most of that fear comes from the bats we have back home... the ones whose bodies are the size of mice and have wingspan of maybe 6-7 inches. These bats were the size of small dogs and had a wingspan of a couple feet! Or at least that's how it seemed to me! They were HUGE! And there were hundreds of them flying overhead in broad daylight! My heart was racing and I felt like I could vomit! I was in my own personal episode of fear factor, but I overcame it, got out of the van and visited the temple! The stress of the situation was exhausting though!
By the time we made it back to town it was nightfall and we went to the Tirumilai Naik Palace for a sound and light show. It sounds like something that might be cool, but to be honest, it was nap time for me. It was a story projected over a loud speaker while lights lit up different parts of the palace at random. I think the palace itself might have been cool, but we didn't really get to see much besides the small parts that were illuminated for brief parts of the story.
Afterwards we went to a different hotel to eat a buffet dinner. It was ok, nothing seriously impressive. I was definitely ready for bed!