Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all our fellow AIFers throughout India and to all our friends and family back at home! Thinking of you and wishing you a warm and happy holiday season!

YRG Care Peds Clinic

It's easy to forget the holidays are just around the corner when you live in a tropical predominantly Hindu country. No mad dash to buy presents. No Christmas cookies at work. No drives through the neighborhood to look at lights and decorations. Don't get me wrong though, Christmas does exist in India, just in different ways. There are random Xmas trees at gas stations and in 5 star hotels and pictures of Santa hanging in restaurants alongside adverts for Xmas dinners. But it doesn't really feel like the holidays. Besides a few Xmas tunes from my iPod, the season could almost pass without notice...but one event last weekend reminded me of the true spirit of Christmas--at least the one I prefer to associate with Christmas.



A fellow non-AIF fellow in Chennai works for Y.R.G. Care, an HIV/AIDS clinic and research center. She invited us to visit the pediatric clinic (once in three months). YES, a clinic for children with HIV. Families travel from all over South India for check-ups and medications spending what little money they have on travel, food and staying over in Chennai to help their kids. During the Christmas season YRG Care turns this day of doctors visits, tests and waiting into a Christmas carnival full of dancing, singing, games, popcorn and cotton candy, and even a visit by Santa Claus.


As new visitors (and prospective volunteers) to this clinic, we were unsure what our role could or should be. They seemed to have plenty of people managing all the activities and the kids were happily entertaining everyone with their singing and dancing. We are hopeful that next time around we can be more active participants now that we have made contact with the organizers.
I would guess that most, if not all, of the students are non-Christians, however Santa Claus was there and all the kids were thrilled to dance on stage with Jolly Saint Nick (who was actually a Jolly Saint Nicole!).

This is the true spirit of Christmas: family and friends, fun and togetherness!

Happy Belated Birthday!

Happy Belated Birthday Praveen!!! Hope you're feeling 100% soon! Sorry you couldn't enjoy all the yummy tasty food last night--we'll go again in the New Year!

An MA Graduate...at last!

I started my MA program in April 2006 and after 2.5 years of combined distance and on-campus study, I apparently graduated sometime this week in abstenia. I've completed my first MA! Yes...there might just be one more!

Instead of spending money I don't have for a lot of pomp and circumstance in the UK, my wonderful roommate organized a dinner with our lovely Chennai friends and even ordered a special chocolate cake! The food was also fabulous--appetizers with real mozzarella and fresh basil, salads with more mozzarella, two cheesy delicious pizzas, and four different pasta dishes with not even a hint of Indian spice! Thanks to everyone for coming and making this a memorable celebration!


Next up: Planning my celebratory MA graduation trip to Vietnam with my dad, updating and writing a new resume, looking for jobs for fall 2009 and researching the next MA program!

A Day in the Life of...

I haven't written much if anything about my work here--and I promise to post more work and project-related posts here in the future. However, I have just posted A Day in the Life of... an AIF Service Corps Fellow and information about my work at AID India and specific projects on the AIF Service Corps Fellowship Blog. Instead of re-posting it here just follow the links above if you're interested!

Another update

My roommate and I went to this crazy Western Dance Competition last night with our landlord's son. But I'm too lazy to write....check this out SHOCK 2008.

Recent Events

Haven't been in much of a mood to blog these days...but a long one is on its' way. I might even mention exactly why I'm back in India and what I'm doing here. Seems all I blog about is my extracurricular activities, more on my work coming soon. But for now, this is what I've been up to:

Cooking: Making pancakes, crepes, bread, apple pie like treats and other goodies! It's fun to be in the kitchen and cooking again. I've missed it this last year! I just wish we had an oven...what I would give for an oven!

Went to a concert with Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan, Shivamani, U.Srinivas and Selva Ganesh--some of the best musicians in India! It was extraordinary! Sadly, it was only a 2 hour concert, I could have sat and listend for days.

Thankful for internet at home!

Happy Thanksgiving webcam skype call from college friends in Seattle!

Thank god for technology, for skype, for digital cameras, for laptops, for internet at home, and for POWER!! 10 years ago when I first came to India, email was barely a possibility and international phone calls were not dependable. What will another 10 years bring us?

Thankful!

There are many things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving. The list is long and not comprehensive but includes:

A Dry Safe Place to Live: Due to Cyclone Nisha--the rain and all the flooding, I am thankful for a dry place to live. This morning after our power went out (8-6), we went to Hamsa's family's house to watch live coverage of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. I am thankful both for a loving warm family that has taken me in and thankful to be safe and sound on a day of tragic proportions in India.

A Financially Supported Fellowship: Considering the current economic crisis--loss of jobs, failing banks, high unemployment, etc. I am very thankful and feel very lucky to be a financially supported full-time volunteer this year. This is a luxury!

An Internationally and Globally Minded Family: I have wonderful family all over the world that I love and respect. They are truly an inspiration to me!

Wishing everyone at home a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Internationalizing Thanksgiving

'Suband' -- Co-hosts of the tastiest Chennai Thanksgiving Party, 2008.

We've been talking about this event for several months, but actual preparation only started the night before -- shopping in the monsoon rain! After work I ventured out in my raincoat (no umbrella) and hit up the import grocery store for cranberry sauce and ranch dressing mix, the supermarket for things like flour and of course the fruit and vegetable market. On a good day I would walk to all of these places, but given the rain and the quantity of food being purchased, I hired an auto to chauffeur me around for a whopping 50 rps ($1US as of today's rate). All of you reading this in the US, Japan, and UK might think--'hot damn, what a bargain'. But, I take the bus to work for 5rps or $.10US round trip -- so it's actually very luxurious and extravagant to spend so much for transportation!

We invited people to come at 7pm because Saturday is a working day and dinner is a late affair here. Plus we were hoping to have a rooftop dinner party under a starry sky! Even though I started cooking at 10am, and with all day to prepapre, it was still rushed and we were still cooking even as guests arrived. Sadly, Hamsa is one of the unlucky ones that has to work on Saturday but was able to get 1/2 a day off. While I was sweating buckets in the kitchen, she was braving the rain running around town collecting last minute items: corn, extra plates, a microwave, and twinkle lights.

Most food preparation is done on the floor. At first it seems odd, but actually it makes a lot of sense. It's easier on the back to sit and chop. The kitchen doesn't have a fan and gets really hot. Plus the floor is swept and mopped (almost) everyday, so it's clean!

Every Thanksgiving meal must include mashed potatoes and gravy. This was no exception, although it was a completely vegetarian meal!

Our kitchen fits one comfortably, two if you don't mind bumping elbows and three or more only if you don't mind slow dancing really close!

The final line-up prepared and/or provided by the Suband Team: Fried rice catered from Saravana Bhavan, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, fruit salad, garlic green beans, sweet butter corn, yogurt raita, apple pie filling, applati (apple-chappati pie), banati (banana-chappati pie), and cucumber and carrot sticks with ranch dressing. But because it was a potluck, we also had sambar-idli, dosa, pulao, vegetable curry, rotis, tomato gravy, cakes, pastry items, Indian sweets, and kesari. Our tiny kitchen was literally overflowing with food!

Interesting fact: the idea of 'potluck' doesn't exist in India. So inviting people to a potluck caused some confusion and comments like "Why would I bring my own food to someone's house when I can eat it at home?" Another person thought they had to bring food ONLY for themselves and eat it at someone's house. In the end, EVERY Indian (except 1) brought store or restaurant food, nobody else brought homemade food except the Americans! Considering American culture is often criticized for its obsession with pre-packaged food, fast food and eating out, I found this very interesting.

'Thanksgiving' was a first for most of our guests. So I took a few minutes to explain the different foods. Thank goodness we had two rice dishes in addition to the 'American food'. I think everyone liked to try the new foods, but they were not overly popular with the Indian crowd.

The food did receive 'thumbs-up' from Hamsa's family!

Personally, the exciting thing about sharing thanksgiving in other countries is gathering people with various backgrounds and watching them interact, connect, network and make friends. In attendance we had Indians, NRIs, Indian-Americans, non-Indian Americans, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, doctors, med students, fellows (AIF, Fogarty, & Watson), college students, NGO professionals, HIV/AIDS activists, and education activists. Phew--it was a fascinating mix and many numbers were exchanged!

Pre-dinner lounging while we wait for all the guests to arrive! Sadly, it was raining most of the night and our rooftop idea was impossible to implement. Mr. Christopher (far right) had planned and brought games to play with the group but there just wasn't enough space since we were all packed into our very tiny apartment.

There was more than enough food for everyone! In fact, most guests left with more food than they brought--the true sign of a good Thanksgiving meal!

Our landlord's sons came up and tried the food...although polite, I think it got mixed reviews. They seemed to prefer the fried rice and veg curry options.

In addition to friends and family, we invited lots of our co-workers. This is me, my 'supervisor' (although she HATES that title), and her husband. It was fun to hang-out with them after work.

Food Coma!

I realized last night that I haven't actually celebrated Thanksgiving in the US since 2002! The last six years I've celebrated in India 3 times and Japan 3 times! I don't have any pictures from the 2003 Thanksgiving feast, that was before my digital camera era. But the other events are pictured below. Each year has taken a slightly different twist. In Japan there was always a turkey and apple & pumpkin pie, not to mention the famous door prizes! Last year in Dharamsala, we were unable to prepare food for all of our Tibetan students, so we just served brownies and tea. And this year it was a rainy vegetarian feast! Where will I celebrate Thanksgiving next year?

A Tibetan Thanksgiving Dharamsala, India 2007

A Festive Funami Thanksgiving Toyama, Japan 2006

A Festive Funami Thanksgiving Toyama, Japan 2005

Nyuzen's First Thanksgiving -- Toyama, Japan 2004

In the Papers

In one week my roomie and I have been in the local Chennai paper twice! And both times we are pictured with Obama--yahoo!!!! Oh, how that happy that makes me, especially since I have family, exes, and friends that surely did NOT vote for Obama! Shocking I know, but it's true!

Admittedly, the first picture only includes my arm and refers to Hamsa as a local high school student. But the second picture includes both of us, plus our friend Rajitha in an article about ex-pats living and working in Chennai. Nowhere are we quoted or even interviewed for the article, but apparently they liked our posed shots with Obama's cut-out enough to use it twice in one week!

Art, Arattai, Aarpattam

If you are in Chennai during the coming month, you must check out some of the events going on at the 'Art, Arattai, Aarpattam' Children's Festival. There will be art exhibitions, street theater, films, concerts, etc. This Saturday night, the famous percussionist Sivamani will be performing with children. It promises to be a GREAT performance!

AIF Digital Equalizer Inauguration

In addition to the election excitement last week, I attended an inauguration for a new computer center at a boys high school in central Chennai. Without getting caught up in too many details, American India Foundation (AIF) has a program called Digital Equalizer that focuses on increasing the digital learning opportunities in disadvantaged schools as a way of equalizing educational opportunities and quality across the socio-economic divide. In the last few months, AIF has started its DE program in Tamil Nadu in conjunction with the government. All of the districts selected for this program are tsunami-affected areas in the coastal region. However, an international company called Applied Materials has funded two DE computer centers in urban government aided schools in Chennai.

It was the inauguration of one of the centers that I attended last week. It also happens that Applied Materials funds several AIF Service Corps Fellowships, and my fellowship is one they fund. Before the inauguration I met with the Applied Materials Corporate Responsibility CEO to discuss AIF Service Corps and to tell him about my projects as well as what several other fellows are doing during their fellowship. The meeting took place in the Applied Materials corporate office in Chennai—a far cry from my NGO office environment. They had 5 levels of security: under the car check, building guard and sign-in, office security door, sign-in at front desk (including computers) and finally the security door into the office space. It was a large floor full of cubicles, conference rooms, and had a cafeteria with employees playing table tennis. We met in the conference room and had a friendly informal discussion in conjunction with a Power Point presentation I made. He was quickly whisked off to another meeting while the DE staff and I drove off to the school to prepare for the inaugural event.


During our morning meeting, the CEO was told the inauguration would be a ‘simple’ event. I turned to him and said “It depends on your definition of simple”. He smiled and agreed that in his 2 days of being in India, he realized that ‘simple’ has an entirely different meaning here. As expected, it wasn’t so ‘simple’ from a foreigner’s perspective. But the actual inauguration was somewhat what I expected. It involved lots of pomp and circumstance and formalities. As the guests from DE and Applied Materials entered, the children were lined up on both sides of the drive-way in uniform, some saluting and others playing instruments. Next was a quick meeting and introductions in the principal’s office. Followed by a quick and unclimatic ribbon cutting and tour of the computer center. Finally everyone was ushered into the gym where 300-400 boys were anticipating the pain of endless dry speeches. All of the chief guests, and guests of lesser importance (Prev and I included) sat on the stage in front of the students as we all listened to speech after speech inaugurating their first ever computer center. While the event itself did bring a few yawns to the guests and the crowd, it was very exciting to think that from now on these students will have access (although limited, 10 computers for 1000 students) to the digital world. Even by learning a few applications, programs and how to access the internet their prospects for further education and jobs will mulitple and everyone assumes it will only benefit their self-worth, self-confidence and self-esteem! This is just one of about 150 similar centers that have just opened in the last few months across the state...it is an momentous time for education in Tamil Nadu!


After the 'chief guests' had been ushered away, the students were back in their classrooms and the excitement had died down, I found myself sitting on the steps of the school chatting with teachers and administrators. The conversation centered around two topics: my limited (although apparently impressive) knowledge of Madurai Tamil and my marital status. They could not get over the fact that I speak several words of Tamil with a very clearly Madurai accent. And the fact that I am 30 years old and unmarried (gasp!) left them in a state of shock, even referring to me as a 'spinster' at one point. I tried to explain that in the US it was really everyone's choice what age they wanted to marry at, but they just wouldn't have it. I've missed my chance in India terms. More on that and living as a 'white' woman in India in a later post....lots to reflect about!

OH-BAMA

Where were you when Obama was declared president? When he gave his acceptance speech?

Last week was historic and it was celebrated around the world. Early on Wednesday morning (late Tuesday in the US), ex-pats, local high school students and local Chennai residents congregated in a conference room at the Taj Hotel, a five-star luxury hotel. The U.S. Consulate had organized a huge election returns event for 1000s of people. They had live CNN feeds, political analysts, a fake voting booth, life-size cutouts of Obama and McCain, and red white and blue balloons everywhere. It was the most patriotic event I’ve been to in years and I was giddy and nervous with excitement as the returns came in. While the main room with the large screen TVs was exciting, the young ex-pat (dems abroad group) crowd migrated to another room with couches and lounge chairs. About 25 of us crowded around a large screen TV and watched as the CNN predicted that Obama had won. We were ecstatic; there was cheering, clapping, and tears. When Obama finally gave his acceptance speech, the room went silent. We clapped and cheered with the live crowds in Chicago and a few people shouted out “Yes, we can”. As I looked around at my fellow Americans, all living and working in the Chennai, I saw tears of joy and expressions of relief – change has happened and America will remember this day forever.

For the first time in 8 years, I felt proud to be an American. I’m proud to be from a country that could recognize the need for change and work toward it. I’m proud to be from a country that is trying to look beyond race and instead at the qualities of a candidate. And I’m proud to be from a country that has a dynamic new leader ready to take on the problems left by the last administration. It is an exciting time and I look forward to watching Obama lead in the coming years. After his acceptance speech, with tears in my eyes, I turned to my friends and said ‘Now, I can go home’. With a new competent leader in the oval office, I won’t dread returning to US soil – cringing and closing my eyes as I walk by the huge portrait of W hanging on the wall in the immigration halls at airports. I look forward to my next flight home and proudly walking by the portrait of Obama – a true leader and someone I can be proud to call my president. The day after Obama was declared president, I woke up early and ran to buy all the local English papers. Living overseas provides a unique and interesting perspective to American politics. Amazingly, most Indians know more about our system of government than we do. And the international excitement and importance of Obama’s win was explicit as the front pages of all the major newspapers were dedicated to America’s 44th president.

Deepavali Festivities

For several days, every street corner was the scene of bombs blasting, crackers exploding, bottle-rockets whizzing, sparklers sizzling, and flower pots cascading, but now it has died down to a quiet buzz only heard in distant parts of the city when I stand on my rooftop.

Even though the bombs, crackers, bottle-rockets, sparklers and flowerpots are probably made by child labor and are extremely polluting, I lit my fair share over the last few days, admittedly with some guilt, but also a lot of excitement and adrenaline. Originally, Prev and I had plans to head out of town and explore Ooty, a Tamil Nadu hill station, but after the bus accident that didn’t sound like a very good idea, or very relaxing. Instead, I chilled in Chennai and I was invited to spend the Deepavali holiday with two families. And both homes ardently support celebrating deepavali with fireworks. But we also celebrated one of India’s biggest holidays by eating, sleeping, wearing new clothes, taking an oil bath (oil head massage), watching TV, and of course lighting more fireworks!




It was a relaxing and festive weekend! Lots of time at home watching episodes of ‘Friends’ and ‘The Office’ balanced with family festive time. I also managed to get our new futon, buy a cover for it and cook a few tasty meals too!

Urging Fellows NOT To Take Night Buses

I’ve been trying to visit Madurai, my ‘native place’ in India since I arrived. It hasn’t worked out for lots of reasons, but last weekend I was finally able to book bus tickets. I actually hate taking overnight buses and avoid them whenever possible. Only under very unusual circumstances would I ever consider taking a bus between Madurai and Chennai (10-12 hrs!), but given the upcoming holidays all the trains were booked. It was either now, or wait until November. So I booked an overnight sleeper (full bed) on the way and a semi-sleeper (reclining seats) for the return.

Sadly the excitement and anticipation of my weekend trip to Madurai to visit friends and family was quickly dashed at 6am on Saturday morning when my bus crashed into a Toyota Qualis carrying young men to a DMDK (political party) rally in Chennai. A few people in my bus were injured, but five people in the vehicle were killed. They were all my age.

The front of my bus, notice the windshield fell out.

The back of my bus off the road! Thank god we didn't land on our
side or continue down the ravine.

The Toyota Qualis totally unidentifiable. This pictures has been cropped
to remove gruesome details.

I was sleeping when we hit them and went off the road. I realize I had nothing to do with the accident and I am not at fault (although my bus driver was arrested and was driving on the wrong side of the road). But the fact remains that I was in a vehicle, which was responsible for taking 5 lives. The accident could have been much worse for our vehicle, but luckily it wasn’t. I feel very lucky to be alive, and to be physically fine. But five others young people were not so lucky. There are families, wives, children, and friends that are grieving for them.

The typically Indian response is to ‘move on’, ‘it happens’ or ‘deal with it’. And those kinds of responses drive me mad. I realize those are the things I need to do…and I will do them. But I’m trying to figure out exactly HOW to do that…HOW to honor and remember lives lost. HOW to process my own feelings about being at the scene of a deadly accident. And HOW to make sure I’m not sweeping it aside as so many Indians seem to think I should do.

AIF has offered to help me find a local counselor to talk to. I do appreciate their concern and support, although I think this is something I would rather deal with on my own. And from now on I’ll be taking trains wherever I travel.

Article in The Hindu

The little things

Last night while I was watching Taare Zameen Par, a Hindi movie about a child with dyslexia, it poured outside—nullifying my attempt at drying laundry on our rooftop. But with the rain the temperature cooled dramatically. When I got home, I sat on the rooftop and ate my dinner while watching the lightning bolts shoot across the sky as the storm clouds moved on. It was wonderful! Coming from Portland, I’ve missed the rain.

The movie, part of the ‘Frame of Mind’ film festival sponsored by SCARF Schizophrenia Research Foundation, was also wonderful. It was just the kind of meaningful yet light entertainment I needed at the end of a long week that included working on Saturday! It had the typical Hindi song and dance numbers but the story was about a child struggling with a learning disability and how he overcame it and found acceptance. It was sappy but the child actor was so convincingly good I admittedly shed a tear (or maybe two).

This morning, I lay in bed and listened to the downpour for several hours. It was magical, especially because our original apartment would have totally prevented me from enjoying those kinds of moments! I absolutely love the sound of rain, especially hard rain. And the cool breeze carried the intoxicating scent of rain, which lulled me into such a deep sleep I slept through my alarm. My alarm was set so I could attend be back at the SCARF film festival by 9:30 to get a ticket for Hiding Divya. Lucky for my cross-city by bus travel plans, the rain stopped and I arrived at the film dry. It wasn’t nearly as entertaining as the previous film, but had an equally important message about acceptance of people who are bipolar.

Even though I only had a 1-day weekend, it was enjoyable and productive. I saw two movies, slept through a loud rainstorm, and did some necessary clothes shopping. Tomorrow it’s back to work and it looks like my project is going to get up and running this week…eek! Lots of work to be done for sure!

My rooftop yoga session got cut short this morning because the rain continues…its wonderful!

Budgeting a Night on the Town

(The pasta bar at Aqua at The Park Hotel in Delhi)

During orientation we were wined and dined at some of Delhi’s fanciest restaurants, including a new Japanese restaurant that actually served sushi! Yes, I ate raw fish in India. The food was fabulous, plus there was an open bar and basically we were totally spoiled!

(Team Tamil Nadu)

But as a fellow we are asked to live simply and our stipends encourage a simple yet comfortable lifestyle. We are asked be conscious of our spending and live modestly. Fine! I’m used to living on a budget, I’ve been doing it for a long time. So, I’ve found a local fruit and vegetable stand that is very reasonable, a significant price difference from the fancy air conditioned fruit/vegetable markets. I’ve been cooking in my flat-rice and rasam, oatmeal, tea/coffee, curd and fruit, etc. And I’ve been taking the bus to/from work whenever possible (i.e. when it isn’t pouring). I have not tempted fate with street food yet, but it is something I’d like to incorporate into my life. As a foreigner in India, it is easy to live the high life. To eat at 5 star hotels, shop at American-like supermarkets and hire help to cook and clean. But on our stipends, that lifestyle isn’t possible, especially in a big expensive city like Chennai. Being forced to interact with India on a budget is empowering. It makes me appreciate the splurges even more and makes me realize how unnecessary some of the splurges are—like paying more for food just to shop in an A/C store.

The financial reality of working at NGO in India, is such that even with our “stipends of simplicity”, as fellows we receive more than many of our co-workers earn as salary. Therefore, many of my co-workers are also fellow bus riders and know the system well. However, a few of them seem not to know the system at all and are surprised that I’m getting along so well. On the way back from a field visit one of my co-workers said, “Someday, I’d like to try and take the bus.” And then she texted me to make sure I’d made it home via bus without any problems. Cute! Obviously, not everyone is dependent on the NGO salary. I work with an interesting mix of people from a variety of backgrounds and I’m enjoying all the interactions. Living on a budget allows me the flexibility to mingle at multiple levels and I appreciate that.

(Riding the Bus in Chennai)

Living on a “stipend of simplicity” also encourages innovative planning and finding all the deals in town! So, even fellows can still have a night out, especially when it’s ladies night and drinks are free! Team Chennai enjoyed a few tasty treats at the Taj Hotel this week. Fun times!!

(Team Chennai at the Taj)

RoomS with viewS!

Bay of Bengal, can you see it?

It’s now a fact—we have a flat!
In fact, we have a flat with a view.

We have 6 windows,
In four directions:
North, South, East and West.
Palm trees, laundry lines, and crows.

Up above, our rooftop is an added bonus.
Doing yoga, eating dinner, or washing clothes,
We enjoy the city commotion below.
And if we stand on our tiptoes,
We can even see the ocean!

We have 4 rooms:
2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms,
1 hall and a kitchen.
Ants in the corners,
Mosquitos buzzing,
And a super sweet aunty down below!

Everything we need:
Clean, simple and safe.
It’s our new home,
And it has roomS with viewS.

Our Hall


Our Fabulous Red Fridge


Our Front Balcony and Door

Rural & Urban School Visits

Almost two weeks in

Good news is we found a great flat and our furniture is being moved today. We aren’t sure yet how AIF will help us financially as we had to incur some costs for the deposit, etc. but we moved and have a safe, well ventilated flat on the 2nd floor of a home. Feeling a little closer to being settled in--thankfully!

As for my ‘work’ in the last two weeks I’ve mostly sat and surfed the Internet and read documents. But I’ve also visited several schools (both rural and urban), attended several meetings and almost have a project proposal—but not quite.

The best part of the rural school visits: getting out of Chennai and riding a bicycle around a village.
The worst part of the urban school visits: being witness to corporeal punishment over and over and over again.

Rural Visit:
The first school visit was very exciting because I got out of the office and out of Chennai with my co-worker. We chatted on the commuter train, shared food and got to know each other. When we turned up in Minjur (a community North of Chennai) we took an auto to the NGO office and met the representative. She showed us to our bikes and off we went. Cycling through villages is always amusing, especially for my co-worker who enjoyed not being the center of attention. She translated for me some of the comments expressing ‘awe and surprise to see a foreigner’ from the villagers as we cycled by. But she didn’t translate everything, and that is probably for the best. We visited two schools, both one-room classrooms with one teacher. The students were busy with the ABL (activity-based learning) program when we arrived but put their cards away and prepared for their English class. My co-worker and I observed the lesson as the representative and sometimes the homeroom teacher taught. Ideally, there is a CD component to each lesson and the schools have been supplied CD players and speakers. Sadly, one school’s CD player broke and the other was having problems with the connection. The storybook was also left at the office, so the representative improvised and demonstrated a semi-typical lesson. At both schools we were served bright orange Mirinda—sugary sweet orange soda.

In Japan I was always the one teaching, with others watching! Now, I’m the one sitting in the back observing. I decided against taking notes since it was my first visit and I really am in learning mode. There were about 25-30 students in both classrooms of various ages. They were pretty eager to participate. They stood up and spoke when asked. They played pass the parcel. They identified corresponding flashcards. And they practiced introducing themselves. Interesting overall!

Finally we watched a focus lesson, which was similar to the first but with the audio component included. After the sugar high of the Mirinda and seeing a similar lesson for the 3rd time, I almost passed out. The ‘ladies compartment’ of the train coming back was packed and we stood most of the way. It was fun to watch the female venders get on and off with all their goods—selling to everyone in the car. The most popular item on this particular trip were the banana stems and flowers, they were going like hotcakes.

Urban Visit:
One of my co-workers teaches a focus class at a local government primary school in the same neighborhood as our office. I asked to observe her lesson to learn more about her approach, the kids, the school and what might or might not work in the Indian classroom setting. She has been teaching phonics everyday afterschool for 1-hour to a group of 4th standard students. And what a group they are. I’ve never seen anything like it…except for one of my classes in Japan that was highlighted on national TV for its misbehaving: throwing chairs, sleeping, swearing, hitting, yelling, etc. The class that I observed here brought back the horrors of teaching that group of students in Japan. The children in this class were throwing water bottles, pencils, pens, and even each other. They were hitting, kicking, punching, and pulling hair. They were talking, yelling, screaming and so engaged with other activities I couldn’t hear the teacher at the front in a small classroom. I lost count of how many times my co-worker had to go and fetch the head mistress, their homeroom teacher or another teacher to quiet them down. In each case, they brought a stick or ruler with them and hit whoever was acting up on the hand, arm, shoulder, back, head or leg. The kids would wince and quiet down for a second, but as soon as the teacher left the room, they would be back at it again. I never saw a student cry from the pain of being hit, apparently they are used to it. Shockingly, my co-worker uses the same method although had even less authority over the students.

Knowing that my presence alone was probably contributing to their acting up even more, I dared not say or do anything. I just had to sit by and watch it happen over and over again. It was both brutal to watch and legitimate brutality toward the children. Honestly, I would want to drop out too if my teachers treated me like that. Given that most of the kids come from impoverished families probably living in slums and have life experience beyond their age, their need for appropriate attention is critical. But the schools are understaffed and corporeal punishment is seen as the only way of managing the problem, creating a cycle of abuse, neglect and acting out.

I had grand ideas of teaching myself. But this has made me think twice about it. Let’s see what happens. But maybe staying in the office isn’t such a bad thing.

Food, toilets, clothing norms, bugs, etc. aside, these are the real issues that make living and working in another cultural context difficult.

A room with a view

(Window picture taken in Tibet, 2007)

Orientation in Delhi was exciting, overwhelming, exhilarating and exhausting. It was too much information that left us with lots of questions. It was meeting engaging speakers and getting to know the very dynamic group of AIF fellows. It was boiled eggs everyday for breakfast and sitting on plastic chairs for 6 hours. It was two fancy dinners out with an open bar at Delhi’s most exclusive restaurants. And it was two weeks of constructing and reconstructing expectations of the coming months while being told not to have any expectations.

But is it really possible to expect nothing? I thought I was a blank slate of zero expectations. But apparently I wasn’t. At expecting ‘nothing’, I’ve failed. That doesn’t mean I’m disappointed with my experience thus far, I’m just adjusting to it and readjusting my expectations without creating too many more future expectations that may be unrealistic.

I expected to move into my flat immediately and set up house. It’s been almost a week, and I’m staying with my roommate’s family. The hospitality and the food are fabulous, it is so comfortable here, but I was hoping to have my own place by now. I expected my flat to have windows, air, light, a view of something—anything green, but it doesn’t. But I can (if I were staying there) walk to the Bay of Bengal in 15 minutes. I expected it to have running water all the time, but it doesn’t. I expected it to be clean, but there is garbage on the floor, moldy sheets in the corner, and stained pillows. Maybe the new fridge, stove and utensils were supposed to make up for what it was lacking. But honestly, my heart sank when I walked in and saw my new ‘home’.

The most frustrating part of the housing situation is being caught in the middle, trying to negotiate between all the different players, all who have their own opinions and ideas and don’t want to consider the alternatives. Local family members say the flat is unsafe and unhygienic (looks like we might have to pump corporation water), my NGO is convinced it is VERY safe, and I’m worried I’ll have a mental breakdown if I don’t have any light or air for 10 months. And to top it off, AIF wants proof of these things…intuition and our observation apparently aren’t enough.

I think the biggest adjustment of moving to India this time has been trying to manage my expectations, and adjust to scenarios I could not have expected. I’m trying to be okay with living in a dark hole, but ultimately it makes me really sad. Maybe posters, plants, and a few extra lamps will help. But I’m hoping we can pull out of the lease and find a brighter, cleaner and safer place—fingers crossed!

All that being said, I’m slowly feeling my way around my NGO. I can almost taste the project proposal and I’m excited about it. And while I know I’ll be busy in the coming year, the office is very laid back and flexible, but oddly enough, my office doesn’t have any windows either.

Looking for a room with a view--any view!

A Visual Corpus of my MA dissertation

For anyone who is vaguely curious as to what I spent the last few months locked up in my parents house writing about, below is a visual representation of my MA dissertation. It is much more interesting presented this way. And saves several hours of reading. Plus, the fact that I took the time to do this proves exactly how nerdy I can be! Gotta love academia and linguistics.

(grammatical lexis not included).

Created using http://wordle.net/