New Beginnings

It's been a little weird being settled in India in a brand-new place. I'm used to traveling and not knowing where I'm going, or I'm used to having everything figured out - my favorite lunch spots, how much items should cost, or where I am.

Nirman uses unorthodox methods for an Indian school, which is to say they focus on imagination and creativity rather than rote memorization. For the past three days I've been going through teacher training with around 30 Indian teachers. The majority are women, ranging in age from early twenties (the majority) to forties. There are some young men and one older man, and everyone has some level of English. A lot of the women want to talk to me, but only a few feel comfortable speaking in English, so two or three have taken to translating for me. Everyone knows my name, since I'm the only white person, but I am overwhelmed at trying to remember 30-plus names!

The training, led by a CMC professor, consists of lots of brainstorming on topics such as, "What is a child?" and "How can we use our imaginations?" It seems elementary to someone who's grown up with excellent teachers in a good educational settings, which I didn't fully realize until seeing that educational models aren't the same everywhere. For example, one of the teachers from last year demonstrated how to read a book to an elementary school class. She held up the book, showed the pictures, and asked questions before she read from the page - all things that I would have done instinctively, but teachers here don't normally read to their classes.

Nirman really encourages teachers to present ideas creatively and let children use their imaginations, and the canteen has books made by the students and examples of their artwork. To me, that's just what school looks like, but normally Indian schoolchildren don't spend their time making art or music or learning how to dance.

Today the teachers split into three groups to present a mini-lesson, on cooking, crafts, or games. I chose the cooking group and learned how to make dokpa, an Indian snack. It's comparable to polenta, except made out of chickpea powder and doused with a chili sauce. it's not too difficult to make, assuming I actually write down the recipe and can find ghee in America. Supposedly it goes with tea, but it's so spicy that I can't imagine how that would work. My fingers are burning from cutting green chilies, because we also made some in the afternoon for the two new interns who arrived today!

I'm Ba-ack

Sorry for the lack of posts, Mom. It turns out going to China took up a lot of time and energy (almost as much as getting a Chinese visa), particularly because it's even more difficult to communicate with people in Chinese than in Hindi! I think the fact that I didn't have any grasp of the numbers or food words before I went really hindered my ability to get my point across. Nevertheless, the Great Wall definitely deserves its spot on the list of seven wonders of the world. It is amazing. The steps are also really steep and slanted.

Beijing has a ton of things to do, good food, a large Western presence, and a fabulous subway (the buses leave something to be desired). I could go back. Generally, I went to developed China, where there was air conditioning, paved roads, and even sidewalks! I had major culture shock, partially because Chinese society really focuses on materialism in a different way than in India.

I stopped in Hong Kong on my way back to Delhi, and met up with Rena, one of my best friends from high school! Hong Kong is a party. We went out to dinner with an unknown family friend, who took us out to dinner. We ate lots of fish and pork and even had the traditional Hong Kong dish of pigeon. Rena and her family and I also went out for Shanghaiese food, which is fabulous. I really like Chinese food and most people in China were surprised at how well I could use chopsticks.

Then I flew back to Delhi, and the next day flew to Varanasi. I had a little bit of culture shock coming back as well -- India is still hot and humid. I've moved into the guest house at Nirman (www.nirman.info), which is where I'll be interning this summer (new address on the top banner -- send me mail!). More info on that later, but basically it is a school focusing on integrating creativity into traditional lesson plans.

Whilst I've been here, I've been busy cheating death: monsoon rains that leave two inch puddles on the school grounds, eating raw mangos using the Indian method (which involves squishing them around inside their skins, then opening a hole and sucking out the pulp) after dousing them in Purell, arguing with the Foreigner's Registration Office (it never ends), and last but not least, riding a motorcycle without a helmet (sorry, Mom and Dad).

Riding the motorcycle through loud, dirty traffic was the most exhilarating thing I've done in a long time. it was less bumpy than I expected, and less dusty, perhaps because I learned how to tie my scarf around my head and face. I assume this will prove to be a useful skill at parties.

Varanasi is the noisiest city I've been in, and is most decidedly an Indian place. However, I am slowly finding the places with air conditioning and hopefully things will pick up when school starts and other interns get here.

Mom - I promise to get back into the swing of things.