Masala Flavored Workshop

Everything is going well despite being eaten up by the bugs, and it seems to be getting hotter. Yesterday I had not realized how many bug bites I had on my neck until I was asked “why do you have so many boils on your neck?” I thought I had totally neck acne, but when I looked in the mirror and put it together with the feast that the rest of body has become I realized I have become a bug buffet.

Today was the workshop, and although I had planned extensively for this I never figured out how I was going to put it all together in two hours. The unfortunate reality is that I can’t do much in a couple of hours, so at best I’ll be a good ambassador and intrigue the teachers to delve into the resources and strategies I’ve shared. As the morning moved on I was figuring out my game plan, I feel like I’ve done this kind of stuff enough now that I wasn’t nervous, and was confident that I can adjust on the fly. When I got to school I started to write down my ideas to get my session rolling, and then the ever pleasant Devika greeted me with some home cooked chapattis. Her cooking is great, there is a perfect balance of the flavors and spices. The Indian representative for Fulbright also joined me in the conference room, as well as the assistant vice principal. This institution is very eager to get their teachers into international study programs, or anything else that will promote student and teacher growth.

After the introductions, Devika sang a fitting and beautiful prayer song. Mrs. YGP and I then lit a ceremonial candle and I was presented with some gifts. Ms. YGP kicked it off with a lengthy but thoughtful, relevant, and at times humorous talk on values. Again she is in her mid eighties and is super sharp and exudes wisdom. Although she is an education rock star she is very easy to talk to and is obviously very reflective and humble. I continue to be impressed with the fact that there fearless leader, as well as the rest of school management, is completely focused on education. I won’t even attempt to attempt to capture everything Ms. YGP said because it was exhaustive but simple, profound yet grounded, effortless and calm. Luckily she gave me her copy of the book that she was recently inspired by “The Value of Values.” One thing that she did mention was that she felt that the common man in American is honest and compassionate. She explained that even if someone in American is poor it would be unlikely to see them steal a piece fruit from a street vendor. When she was taking questions I thanked her for her kind representation of Americans and asked her what she thought we could learn from Indians. She thought we should respect and adhere to tradition, and forgo the immediate indulgences for lasting rewards. I agree with the second part, and want to agree with the first but struggle with identifying what tradition is or should be in America. I think we have a lot of wonderful qualities as a people and a country, but I don’t know if that translates to tradition. I’m among the oldest intact culture on the planet, and I’m a member of the newest culture. Granted we Americans are a melding of cultures, but that very melding creates something completely different. For instance I keep getting asked what we eat? It is not something that is understood, we eat everything and we also eat nothing at the same time (I gave a better answer). “Ok , Ok what is your staple, ours is rice?” Ahhh….burritos? (I said something else). The later comments represent superficial components of culture, but the underlying questions intrigue me greatly.

My two hour session seemed to go well. By the number of questions from the teachers and leadership it seemed that my presentation peaked an interest. I tried to acknowledge all the parallels of what we are striving for at nex+gen, and what they are already doing well; such as their laser focus on their mission, their school culture, and horizontal and vertical integration. I predicated the whole session by contextualizing our new school direction and my evaluation of the climate of US schools, part of which was the view that we are now competing for jobs globally. After referencing Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat,” I explained my standpoint that we are preparing students to cooperatively address the globes problem, rather than vying for position. My whole session was anchored in creating and promoting culture which seemed to over well with my audience. The workshop can be viewed on the website, which I linked in previous blogs.

There was a ton of questions from all angles, which helped the time flow (or so I think). I’m confident that they can pursue this style of teaching to enhance what they are already doing. They are seasoned at asking big questions, however they are not accustomed to teaching controversial subjects. Mrs. YGP was a big fan of the question I have created for what I hope turns into an ongoing collaborative project, “What is the good life?” I can now see why kids are not very excited about social science here, if you are only teaching the good side then it may seem either like a lie or something that doesn’t need to be addressed. I didn’t express this, but we did talk about how you deal with introducing and including difficult topics and it seems like they would have to walk a much finer rope than I’ve had to. Mrs. YGP interjected that they had done a project on animal cruelty, after students had been upset by some people beating a bullock (bull) by their school. She inquired if this is what I was talking about? It sounded like an outstanding project in that it was relevant and of interest of the students. As we finished the student who I continue to speak so fondly of added his endorsement and interest to everything I presented.

After the session some of the teachers wanted to talk with me, and quite a few were eager to get access to the materials. I greatly appreciated all of the kind complements that were expressed. I think there is a high concentration of teachers and leaders in this school who truly care about kids, are passionate about teaching, and believe that education can be an agent for change. Luckily the lessons I’ll be teaching to the classes will be open to teachers, so they can have some hands on exposure and experience. There is a lot of energy to pursue the project idea I’ve presented. More than ever I can see that a lasting relationship is developing between our schools.

After another incredible school lunch we returned for a few more presentations. Ms. Velsa who has spent time in the US read an article that she had published in the Hindi a couple years ago. The advisor demonstrated how a couple of activities and power points can be used for relaying basic knowledge in social science classrooms. I like that when they have PD everything they do revolves around teaching and learning. That may sound odd to an education outsider, but often teachers at home have to sit through benign meetings that are totally detached from improving student performance. For instance the obsession with reviewing standardized test data, is like a baseball team studying and obsessing over batting averages hoping to hit better.

Tomorrow I’m heading for Kerela via a 12 hours bus ride with A/C , so I decided to scratch an outing with Rajagopal so that I can pack, write, and do a little exercise. After school I went to the ATM and then wondered around a bit. I found a place to exchange money, so I went back to the hotel grab some British Pounds to exchange. I exchanged some money, and then popped my head in some shops. Already being pleased with my small feats, I was excited when I figured out that Spencers a few doors down is a grocery. For some reason, I always like hitting up grocery stores in other places. I don’t like shopping anywhere, but the grocery store I like. Short -story short it was small but had everything you need, and everything you need in masala flavor. I wanted to buy something so I got a mango juice, ice cream, and masala flavored potato chips. Not my normal fare, but I was curious and was told to stay away from all fresh fruits and vegetables.

Rickshaw Love

Yesterday I visited a school that was started by Ms. YGP’s granddaughter.  It was in a pretty posh neighborhood and was spread out over two impressive houses that have been converted into schools.  The majority of our visit was at the middle school, whereupon I sat in some classes and briefly introduced myself.  The teaching was impressive,  although it was still teacher based it was very interactive.  I have yet to see a student take notes, or even see a notebook on a desk.  Again these students were excited and impressive, the first class was talking about protecting forests which mainly consisted of the teacher quizzing them on all a list of conservation terms.  Since this was a house the classrooms were formally bedrooms, so kids were packed in as tight as possible.  There was literally no space between the desk, and the fans hardly relieved the incredibly hot conditions.  Living in a sparsely populated place gives you a different concept of space, with that said the closeness of everything has not bothered me in the least.

During my stay here I’ve been able to engage in some conversations about their arranged marriages.  I think they are equally interested in the way that we do things.  This has been one of the harder things for me to grasp, because I have a hard time separating it from my values and possibly imagine the tragedy that would have unveiled if Jan and I were denied our love.  What I’m starting to understand is that it is not as if they lived our lives and suddenly were forced into marriage.  Even after young Indians leave India many desire for their parents back home to arrange a marriage for them.  If your culture values tradition and reaching your potential this certainly streamlines things.  Our lives are often chaotic with our competing priorities rushing into each other.  I asked if when couples are paired up in the US and then fly back to India if they meet first.  Now they do, whereupon I asked if there is romance in the relationships or if that happens later.  I think it was interpreted as more than intrigue, but regardless it sounds like there usually is that genuine excitement that those of us  in ‘love marriages’ feel (or some did feel).  What I found to be really interesting is that when the parents are arranging all of this and feeling each other out, they verify the astrological compatibility of the couple.  Supposedly this isn’t a primary consideration for most these days, but a facet none the less.

Last night Rajagopal picked me up, I never know where we are going he just walks in traffic, heckles with rickshaw drivers, and I follow.  I find it interesting here that even when there are intact sidewalks everyone seems to prefer to walk in the street.  This outing’s traffic was the most exciting yet, we had love taps with a bus and numerous motorcycles.  What is amazing is that despite the fact the people are colliding, #1 they stay up and #2 they are always chill.  Back to my adventure with Rajagopal, this guy is a trip.  He seems really series, but yet I think he may be really funny, but I really can’t tell.  He is always making absolute statements about life, which always include a lot of head shaking, a smile, a laugh, and big gestures.  I like hanging out with him and I can tell that he is passionate about teaching.  When he entered my hotel room he started into a diatribe about the good nature of South India and the difficulty in dealing with the North.  The north refuses to speak English, Hindi only.  This can be a problem for other Indians, since the linking language is English.  Every state has it’s own language and customs, hence the changing of blog to a Tamil word from a Hindi word.

Rajagopal and I ended up at a super posh Western shopping mall.  If we were in the states I would have put the brakes on the mall trip, but seeing one here was really interesting.  There were few American stores, but a lot American brands and products.  The western products like video games and levis appeared to be a bit pricier.  They had a KFC.  We ate at a nice veg restaurant.  I got another masala dosa. The waiter debated with Rajagopal in Tamil about my order because he thought that I should have naan.  We also ordered a chickpea dish and some rice, both were the spiciest dishes I have had yet which me and my hand sprayer next to the toilet have handled brilliantly. As we were waiting for our food Rajagopal got his mustache and eye brow in serious mode and exclaimed that he never eats or drinks anything outside of the house unless he has to take a foreigner around.  Why?  It is too dangerous.  He has a lot of health tips one which is trekking.  When he can, maybe a couple times a year, he goes on 30k bushwhacking hikes in the northern hills without stopping or taking water.   He went on to tell me that he would never move from Chennai, and expressed that leaving for money would only make him poor due to losing contact with the people that matter.  He loves this place, and he is not the first to express it.  In general people here love Southern India specifically, but India in general.  As with everyone else Rajagopal wanted an exact report on everything I ate for the day.  I liked how he explained that he never takes books or notes into class, it is all in his head.  I may have mentioned previously that he refuses to use a calculator because it is all in his head as well.

After dinner we walked around a bit more, but he seemed surprised that I wanted to head back at 10 o’clock.  These folks here stay out late, but I think many shut it down in the heat of the afternoon and then take advantage of the hot, but cooler night hours.  He quizzed the rickshaw driver (In Tamil) on the rental agreement and then rattled off all of the figures to be for weekly, monthly, and yearly income.  The rickshaw costs 250,000r, it is rented daily for 170r fuel not included, the exchange rate is 45r to $1.  Although tempting I don’t think I am going to use my capital to start to a rickshaw business.

Cricket Dreams

Yesterday was the most tiring yet, hence I'm writing from my notes a day later (my internet went down, so this is three days ago).  I can't say why it was so tiring, but I did sleep for 10 hours.  The day started off with another speaker on values, I can tell that I've seen a couple speakers that didn't embody what this lecture series is all about.  This particular speaker was from Frozen Thoughts, which is well regarded by the staff.  The message was good, it centered around respecting your elders (and everything else for the mater) and focusing the mind.  However the delivery was far detached from the message, while she was preaching respect in her authoritative fashion she went as far as comparing the kids to Osama bin Laden.  So far this doesn't represent what I've seen in the classrooms, when you bring in guests you roll the dice.  When the lecture was done, they shuffled me to the conference room before the kids exited.

I then spent a good deal of morning with Ms. Ranjini who had taught on a Fulbright for six months in San Lorenzo, California.  Comparing notes with with her was really beneficial.  I asked her an endless amount of questions on her system, of which we are able to easily relate due to her experience.  The language itself can be a barrier for discussing education, a simple example is that a class here is a grade or a group of students that are advised, and a subject is a class.  Through this I learned that their impressive school likely represents the top 10-15% of India, of which a comparable amount can afford.  Everything is done by hand here, which equates to an immense amount of work for the teachers.  Each teacher is responsible for about 40 students, of which they aggregate all of the report cards and comments to create an annual report.  All reports cards, grading, and final reports are done by hand.  Now teachers are meeting with the parents to discuss the students annual report and promotion to the next level.  Their detail and knowledge of each student is impressive and inspiring.  It is what APS has been trying to do with next step plans, but is far off of this level.   Luckily, I think we slowly are progressing to this comprehensive and transparent evaluation of students.

  Ranjini showed me all the reports and grade books which all have to be recopied and transferred from report to report.  Teachers are also responsible for their subject grades, which equates to the running grades and final grades for the 5 classes that she teaches.  Most of the grades are test and exams, which account for 90% of a students total mark (grade).  I filmed a lot of this material and her wonderful explanation, so I can more carefully study it later.  I also started to skim through some text books.  I have started to inquire about bringing home books to share with my colleagues.

After this enlightening experience, I arguably had my most fun yet.  I went to a 9th grade class where they were doing traditional geometric drawing on the ground with rice flower.  I tried this with the guidance of the teacher. The kids and the teacher alike were so excited about my efforts.  This evolved into essentially the class being turned over to me, whereupon I had a great time with the students.  They started off a bit shy although they were starring me down like a new puppy.  They lined up and sang a song for me, and afterwords I started asking them questions. What was the song about?  What is your favorite subject?  MATHS  .........  With the 30 or so kids standing closely around me, I invited them to ask me questions.  This started slowly, as it would with our students.  After a period of anxious semi-silent staring the questions began to trickle...."What are American Students like?"  "What subject do they like?"  "What do I like about their school?" "Are you married?" "Do you have any children?"      One of my fellow TEA teachers, Dan, advised I bring pictures of my family "because they really do care, really they care it is not like America." So at this point I asked the kids if they would like to see pictures of my family and home.  This took their excitement to a new level, when the girls saw Jan the exclaimed "Katrina Kaif..... she is beautiful...your wife is like an Indian movie star.... she definitely looks Indian....."  They loved the baby pictures, and this is what cracked the seal now the questions were coming at me, which ranged from "What do you think about Guantanamo Bay" to them asking about music, authors, movies, and asking me if I like any American movies star or sports figure they could rattle off including all the big names and Jean Claude Van Damme and Back Street Boys.  Any answer I gave evoked a high energy response.

They then asked me if I wanted to play basketball, then someone said cricket (damn I should waited for cricket to pop up before I said yes to basketball).  We only played basketball for a few minutes, because someone halted play over an exam.  Basically it was them watching me with full attention shooting a couple air balls, a few bricks, and making some shots whereupon the erupted with cheers.  Since we couldn't play sports one boy performed some yoga that was incredible.  Most of these kids would love to be big shot scientists or engineers, but get this kid a yoga studio in a posh area and offer some cucumber water and he'll make millions.  I've never seen positions like this, I've got video that I can't upload from here.  Then some of the kids put on a traditional dance routine that made me further realize how great it would be to teach these kids.

Later Devika had mentioned that Indian kids remain innocent much longer, and that seems totally true.  Our kids are put under so much pressure and are exposed to so much, whereas these kids are told to do well in school and are absolutely pampered until they leave college.  I'm not saying pampered in a simple monetary sense, rather they always have someone taking care of them and making sure all there needs are met.  Teachers who have been to America appreciate the independence of our students, and their ability to take care of themselves.  Here it seems that they are supported until they acquire the education that will allow them start a job that is fitting for their strata.  At home most kids work when they can and nearly all of us had to drudge through unsavory jobs.  Some of the teachers here indicated that our system creates an appreciation and dignity for all labor.  That may not be totally be true, but compared to most of the world I'm guessing that is the case.  Regardless of place I'm sure there are great parents everywhere who instill a sense of purpose, empathy, dignity, and hard work in their children, and unfortunately the counter exists everywhere as well.

After spending time with the students, I had another awesome lunch at school and then was off with two teachers and four students for some site seeing.  We started at an working cottage arts compound. The traditional weaving at this place was top notch.  The kids were boisterous and kid like, which was all good of course.  What was interesting was that these 11th graders (I think) were nearly obsessed with picking their future science field.  My guess is that the three of the four students were the equivalent of what my teacher friends call grade grubbers.  There was no real discussion about what interested them about bio-chemistry or materials enginnering, it seemed to center more around which has better career opportunities.  The fourth students whom I've spoken with before seems to be the school's all-star in a school of all-stars.  He is genuinely interested in learning and applying knowledge in a way that will help the world.  He aims to go to Stanford because he wants a balanced education that also emphasizes social sciences.  The other students, and teachers on this voyage, just want a pure science program so that they can been more focused on their projected career.  My take away is that there are similar dynamics among their students as their are among ours, like when a 15 year old tells me that he wants to be an accountant, really? 

In the car I chatted with the teachers about American education.  Indian education is very comprehensive, thus it covers a lot and it seems like the kids have quite the knowledge bank.  At the end of elementary they are memorizing the atlas, so when asked what our students knew regarding the 'atlas' I expressed that they knew little but could look it up.  This led to a deeper discussion about quality American education being more about knowing how to use information well, then having a deep knowledge bank.  Although these two ladies are big fans of the Indian system, they did not seem to write off our priorities is ill marked.  

We had an afternoon snack by the beach and then visited a temple that celebrates the god Lakshmi. This temple experience was different than the last.  There was a lot going on.  Fundamentally you feel the difference from western religious places of worship, because there is not a central place or prescribed method to worship.  Given that Lakshmi represents her self in eight forms, there were eight stations to visit idles three of which had priests that would do a blessing.  The first had herb water that he handed out and it appeared that worshipers were putting on their heads, hands, and maybe drinking?  When he came up to me some of the water went through my hands, and I gave the rest a little head service, I wasn't feeling the drinking option.  The priest said DRINK and went off in a huff.  None of the people with me seemed to mind, and we happily went on our way.  At one of the next stops a priest had the red powder for putting the bindi on the forehead, one student suggested I do the same and I nicely refused channeling that discomfort that I used to feel as an outsider in some western religious ceremonies.  The priest (maybe the wrong term) waved me down, and gave me a bindi.  I have been impressed that the culture and religion here is inclusive. After the temple we called it a day, and I was dropped at my hotel.

Weekend Trip Part Deux/ Education Rant

Today I had a wonderful day touring historical sites, checking out crocodiles, and eating dosas.  The best part was of course the people- Devika kindly arranged for another great outing and brought along her daughter and two of her friends.  She also made arrangements for a special guest, Lakshme who was also a TEA fellow.  She was in the top group of people whom I secretly wanted to be paired with but I'd worried about her being too demanding since she was giving me homework at Purdue, which I did.  Her visiting teacher told her she was a slave driver, which I'm sure she was and I'm sure she was an excellent host as well.  Today she helped grow my understanding of their culture and the Hindu religion.  She said some incredibly profound things about their religion which really helped me understand what simple knowledge I already had as well as all the stories that I'd hear thereafter.

Being around the kids was great, they are very much like our students back home.  They were very eager to tell me about their beloved cricket, which I get now- or at least the short IPL professional version which is the 20-20 format.  I think some Americans are too quick to think of these parents and kids over here as American job stealing cyborgs.  When in fact they posses none of the Rocky IV soviet boot camp type practice or mentality. The kids I was around today are kids who are interested in kid stuff; music, sports, hanging out with friends.....  They were respectively in the 12th grade, 11th grade, and 8th grade.  I could see the same wonderful developmental qualities and traits that you see at these ages with our students.  I know I'll have a lot of takeaways from this trip on education and beyond, but one obvious and simple trait that we need to take note of is the way the families and education institution prioritize.  Learning is 1st.  Not to say the parents are not really more concerned about what college their kids are going to get into rather than are they really grasping the subtleties of a particular literary theme.  But rather than parents and schools trying to provide every possible opportunity to kids, they have simplified things by making school first and everything else secondary.  They do a lot of other activities and they have ample extracurricular opportunities at the school, but I can't imagine that cricket even spoken in the same breath or the same room as improving student academic performance. 

Respectively there are things that each system does better than the other, and there are things that we both do well that may not be culturally appropriate for the other side.  Their system is more teacher based, and it works.  They'll benefit from differentiating a little to inculcate some collaborative skills, but I think changing their approach radically would be a mistake.  I acknowledge that when I'm commenting on either Indian or American education I'm talking about what is working, not the converse.  If we focus on what is working we are better off than trying to pail out water in a sinking ship.  Our system creates very dynamic thinkers who are apt to experiment and eager to work together to explore ideas.  We do lack focus and it can create some holes in students academic knowledge.  We don't need to close the gap with the top Indian students knowledge and math skills, but we need to close it enough so when our students are creating their innovative solutions to problems, they are doing so with enough background to make it count, and to drive their eagerness to learn.  Anyone who thinks American kids don't want to learn, doesn't listen to kids and subsequently doesn't ask them the right questions.

Although our focus maybe off kilter with our do everything-for-everybody schools and super soccer infinite goal households, we do offer a breadth of academic exposure that prepares our students to be whole systems thinkers.  We may get carried away by offering a million electives, but on the Indian side they often ditch social sciences at 10th grade.  Why create engineers, researchers, or business leaders who don't understand the complexity of the society they are working in?  We offer all these wonderful subjects, but they often seem isolated and we miss the opportunity to show the interdependency  of different subject areas as real world examples.  What the Indians do, they do well.  There seems to be flawless horizontal and vertical integration of their organization from pre-k to 12th, or 2.5-18.  We need to carefully look at these positive characteristics and ask ourselves how can we improve our system to leverage our strengths? Or more directly how can we improve our organizations to improve student performance while building on their ability to think critically and creatively.  If we try to fix our problems by addressing the negative we will create more problems.  Indian teachers don't have a lot freedom in their curriculum, and that will not work for us.  We can create a more student-centered teacher-driven model by improving the focus and streamlining the organization.  Will we have to give up or alter the 89 electives and massive sports facilities and programs we offer? Maybe, but if the argument for keeping them is that those classes are what keep students interested and offer exposure, then what are we doing in the other classes?  We should shrink the scope as the Indians already do (but keep social studies), and provide enriching activities and programs as a secondary function of the teachers and school.  I'll have plenty of time to right in this vain later, back to the weekend.

Oh yeah the kids rocked! We finished out trip by stopping into an old Basilica in Chennai while they were doing a Palm Sunday mass  in Tamil, we then visited a store of a family friend which was very nice, and then we ate dinner at another great "veg restaurant."  I tried some idlis, which were good and a Masala Dosa that was good again.  Dinner felt good, I started the day not feeling hot after a little motion sickness driving out to Mahabalipuram.  We ate as soon as we finished our drive there, which was a good idea, but I still was teetering to the point that I had my escape plan to the bathroom pinned.  After dinner the kids mentioned again that Jan looked like Katrina Kaif an Indian Movie star.  Then they proceeded to ask me about what music I liked.  They knew most of my band references, I and agreed with a few of their choices.  I wasn't going to humor them by saying I like the Friends theme song or Abba.  Why don't I like Abba?  Because they are awful and they hurt my ears and soul.  They seemed to enjoy my honesty.

This should be a busy and eye opening week in that my involvement at the school will increase, and then I'll embark on some traveling with Rajagopal.  I've downloaded some pictures, so I'll add them here at the end.  One is a very light traffic pic, just note for us rule laden Americans, that there are no rules here.  When going through an intersection you just proceed, honk, and weave.  I think this would freak out most of us and the fact that they drive on the other side of the road further complicates crossing the street.  If intersections have no meaning where and how do you cross the street? 3-D frogger.

The last pic is what I see when I exit my hotel, I'll have a ton pics of me with people and some school pics from Devika.

The Annapurna Guy

This is the first installment of the weekend edition. Yesterday (Saturday) started out very chill, I was able to finish all of my work on the website that I have built out for the program, as well as the accompanying power points that I'll use for the workshop on Tuesday. Having 3+ hours of uninterrupted work time was a vacation of sorts. I then ventured out on my own for a walk, an ATM trip, and began it all with some breakfast in the hotel. The coffee is good, much like you would get in Europe, basically a latte. I am really enjoying the food here, but opted for some toast. My walk was an accomplishment of sorts, because so far I have been shuffled everywhere in a car, van, bus, or rickshaw. It doesn't seem like people walk very far, and I can see why in that it is tough to navigate the crowd. I did my frogger moves through the streets, and eventually finished by taking 15,000r out at the ATM (~$300). My hosts have paid for everything, so I'm just giving Rajagopal installments for the hotel, and the trip to Kerela. When I returned to the hotel I got my first workout in which consisted of core, strength, and cardio in the confines of 4x8 space.

Devika picked me up around 1 pm, and we then picked up 5 other teachers in the air conditioned van. After an hour trip that tempted some motion sickness, we arrived at a location that showcased all the traditional houses in the four southern states. I really enjoyed seeing the various architecture, but more than anything it was fun seeing the social sciences department interact. The are a funny group with very different but complimentary personalities. They all are very concerned about my eating, so my tertiary goal of coming home at a super light climbing weight is shot, especially since everything seems to be 50% ghee (clarified butter). Devika is a very calm, warm person, who exudes class. Shree who I believe is her cousin in a couple of ways, as well as her best friend, is an absolute fire cracker who is always cracking jokes, making fun of the other ladies, and harassing the wait staff. This is all in good humor, and I find it all amusing. Shonda is always smiling and just makes you feel happy to be in her presence. One of the women, who's name I forgot, was very much into sticking by to nicely explain whatever we were viewing whether a temple, traditional homes, or the beach.

Before we left the traditional house park, we had a late lunch, Dosas! I may be getting a little over ghee'd but I'll take the dosas all day. This was an onion dosa (1 part onion, 1 part dosa) which prompted Shree to heckle the wait staff over the missing dosa in the onion pile. Most of the time they are speaking Tamil, but it is easy to tell what Shree is up to because she is so animated and even gets the bystanders to laugh. Before we left we had a coconut (the water first, then the woman bust it open for the meat). The coconut meat tasted like avocado, but it was not my thing. The coconut/ machete master approached us and was ranting about something. After she walked away, the women suggested that I had to know what she was talking about. I had no idea, perhaps her affinity for coconuts or traditional houses? Nope, she was complaining about all of the valueless couples who have the audacity and lack of class to walk around this place unmarried and near each other. She suggested that they are just waiting to get alone in these houses. From an American perspective, I am hoping that if Jane has to date in middle school that she carries on like these controversial couples.

Before we left I had my future read by a guy with a parrot, who instructed the parrot to grab a card from many to read my future. The parrot searched through the stack of folded cards, and after selecting it the man revealed it as a deception of Jesus. He said that even if I don't believe I have the blessings of this god and whatever I do I'll be successful. Anybody who knows me is willing to help me, but I will never need help because I'll always succeed at whatever I attempt. He said my wife is what brings me so much luck and peace (agreed), and that I'll never have issues with wealth. It went on a bit more.....but it was what I expected (I of course want to see him tell someone "Ahhhhh your life is no bueno, I can tell that your bowels are a mess and so is your marriage).

After the park we went to the Shore Temple. This was like any other tourist spot in Guate, Mexico, Italy, or France. People were swarming me trying to get me to buy postcards and various other things. The temple was closed, so we may try again tomorrow. We did wander to a public beach, and although Devika and the woman who is very apt to explain were a bit embarrassed of how trashed it was, I found it interesting. This place was indeed trashed, there was liter everywhere; I didn't find this unique, nor was I surprised. When you have a ton of people living in one place and little waste disposal infrastructure this is what it looks like. It makes me realize how messy humans are, and to think we as Americans produce at least 20 times the waste as these beach goers. Before leaving we were approached by another fortune teller, who basically cornered Devika. She said some things to Devika that made her and her friend wonder because it was right on. She also told Devika a lot about me, and Devika said it was the same thing the other guy said. Do I believe this stuff, not so much; but according to the first guy I don't need to trouble myself with believing because I'm blessed regardless, sweeeettt!

After the Shore Temple, we stopped at a very nice, quiet, and clean temple that obviously was very important to the women. It was a Sai Baba temple, of which there are many around the world. Sai Baba is a modern figure, so I'm sure most Americans have seen his picture not knowing his importance (At the Annapurna restaurant he the guy in orange on the north wall). Before entering the woman stopped and prayed to the Ganesha, which is the god that removes all obstacles (elephant headed god). They start all prayers with the Ganesha, and start their Monday's with the Ganesha. The Sai Baba was up on an alter, and there was a long rectangular open aired room beneath. I took off my shoes and processed with a couple of the woman. They advised without presumption that I can pray and ask for what I want. I knelled at the alter as they did and walked around the bottom. Their was another alter below in a garden, where there was a younger man in orange garb praying and chanting. Some of the woman walked around him, at which point I sat in the covered area. Devika instructed me that I could open my hands and close my eyes. I was able to enter into a silent mind quickly and engaged in a few minutes of meditation. This was super cool, a step beyond the meditative time in yoga class back home.

When we were parading out Shonda was full of smiles, and inquired if I could feel the peace and wondered if my home was so empty and peaceful like this temple. I agreed that it was a very peaceful experience, and acknowledged that my home was also empty (neat and without crowds). I wonder if I appreciate the serenity and peacefulness of my home enough? We have an abundance of space and solitude from noise and crowds at home, but I don't know how often we (including myself) allow the noise and crowds to exit our minds to stop and take in peace to our minds.

On our long and congested (more than could ever imagine) ride back to the restaurant by my hotel Devika and I spoke at length about what it means to get our students involved in something greater than themselves, and we both acknowledged that we may not do enough of this ourselves. She has had similar experiences with community service, which I refer to as passive involvement. It is like fly by service that consists of raising money or spending an afternoon helping. This may actually be counterproductive, it may enable people to live their lives in a fashion that disregards the needs of others due to self aggrandizement of an isolated action. So we are both on a quest to have our students become invested in their own community, our what we are deeming at nex+gen as community action. With whatever guidance is needed students should identify and lead long projects, where hopefully they learn about themselves and their community and go beyond superficial satisfaction. Without ranting on this, the first step of this is ability to not pity others, while building a sense a deeper sense of empathy. Feeling pitied is piercing and belittling and presumes that you know more.

We finished by having dinner at the same place Rajagopal and I ate the other night. The naan and malai kofta were awesome. As always they feed me too much, and food just kept showing up. A wonderful day once again, and I was lucky enough to see my wife and daughter over skype to cap it off. Technology really lets you have you malai kofta and eat it too!

God to Some

My day couldn't have started better, it began by Skyping with Jan and Jane. I still have Jet lag, but it really isn't something I think about it, I just realize it from time-to-time. Like when I am suddenly put in front of a couple thousand students with a microphone. Before my address, all of the students stood in lines and recited their morning prayers. This did not feel the least bit militaristic or dogmatic, in fact it was touching and beautiful. A student gave me a very nice introduction, they have a way of making you feel like a rock-star (minus the after party of course). I had no idea what to say, do I turn on my Tony Robbins act or perhaps call-out my peeps in the back row? I simply said "good morning," with a reply like you've never heard in an American school. I talked briefly about this being an opportunity for students and teachers a like to build relationships across the globe. I thanked them for their hospitality and acknowledged how wonderful and inspiring their teachers are. This was not one of best public speaking demonstrations, but so be it.

I purposely didn't eat breakfast at the hotel, because I knew I'd be forced to eat numerous delicious meals...I was right. They are kind enough to take me to an air conditioned conference room to enjoy cold water and my meals, which is nice because it is hot (95 + and very humid). The heat is not as bad as I expected, and I can tell it is hot for them as well. This is a very prestigious school, where most of the students return to homes nice by Western standards. However, the school facilities are very simple, it is a series of multi-story building with no A/C, small classes, window openings, and very little technology. What they are doing in these classes is impressive all the way from the 3 Pre-K levels to the 12th grade.

Before touring the pre-k classes, I sat for a guest lecturer on success. This guy has been a head exec and CEO of multiple large US medical companies and now has started two companies in India with over 40,000+ employees. It had all of the typical motivation cliches, and anecdotal stories to emphasize life lessons. He spoke of the ABCD of success: Attitude, Behavior, Culture, and Discipline. He took the Outliers time reference, of it takes 10,000 to master something, to the Romanian gymnast example of 17,000+ hours. He had some good points, but it was overly focused on money, his stated goal for talking to them was to help at least one of them become a billionaire. I was impressed that at the end of the lecture many of the students respectively questions his stance. One boy refuted that those that are not successful lack ABCD, and he did it quite well by also using his anecdotal evidence which made it a tough argument for an adult to combat. Are you going to tell the kid that he lacks ABCD? or that he is the failure that you were speaking of? As I was leaving a boy approached the mic and the students indicated that this was going to be good by their side conversation. He asked "who are you to define success through the measure of wealth....." I loved it. I'll take a full classroom of students like that any day.

I was then led around their pre-KG program which has three levels divided by the following ages, 2.5-3.5, 3.5-4.5, 4.5-5.5. This was awesome, the kids were all so incredibly happy and so cute. They were very eager to perform their songs, and activities. The teacher leading me around was very adamant on explaining all of the developmental implications of every exercise and how they build skills over the years. They do an incredible job, the 4.5-5.5 were writing and reading in cursive. They were addressing all of the childrens' skills, and most importantly the students were incredibly happy. I would not hesitate for a second to send Jane to this school. Although this level is far from my expertise, in Jan and I's recent study of pre-k options this is by far the most impressive school I've seen. Our parents need not to worry, I have no intention in moving here for the program. For one I couldn't be a cyclist here in less I wanted to be a rickshaw ornament.

After another great meal, I went to another PSBB location. Mostly we meet with teachers and checked out lab facilities. I was in a couple classes, one class was maybe 1st or 2nd standard, which was wonderful. Whenever I enter (or other teachers) a class the students stand up and greet me in Tamil or Sanskrit by saying something to the effect of, "Teacher you are god, bless me with your awesomeness." I then respond with "Shree ko Bhava" (misspelled I'm sure), which roughly means "you are blessed," and they reply with "thank you teacher." Every student was so adorable and so excited to share and learn. I took away from this lesson, that everyone knows someone in the US, India rocks, and eat healthy and hygienic food that doesn't contain chemicals, and coke is bad. I visited one other class which was a western music class, which included their own rendition of "coming around the mountain" that included bananas and coca-cola. They also sang "Heavenly Peace" with totally different lyrics. This group of kids was pumped, I thought the front row was going to rush me in their excitement.

One takeaway from the classrooms, other than the being greeted as a god, is that we need to step up our math and science game. One teacher took me through a 8th standard (grade) geometric representation of how to factor quadratic polynomials using blocks. It was easy to understand and fun. Why do we make things so hard? They practice endlessly on computation and then use simple methods to practice and understand more complex math concepts. Also, calculators are a sign of weakness you should be able to multiply 1.80 x 9.75, as if it was 2 x 2.

After taking a two hour nap at the hotel, which is unheard of for me, I was picked up to go to Devika's for dinner. I was one of six guests, whereupon the family served us while we ate. The Masala Paneer was awesome, as was everything else. There were lots of pictures taken (of which I'll get a copy, likewise with all of the school pictures). I ate with my hand, which I'm sure was a gong show.  Devika's family is very laid back and welcoming.

Although Devika's was a calm an straightforward experience , I'm never quite sure what is happening, but I have no issue going with the flow. Most often people aren't speaking English and outside of the school it is quite hard to understand English. This doesn't bother me in the least, if anything it is added bonus. I don't leave my country wanting the same thing in a different hue.

Tomorrow morning I must finish my professional development workshop materials, and then I'll be doing some site seeing in the afternoon. I'm hoping to exercise a bit, although I think any cardio will have to be in the confines of my room, because there is no room to run outside, unless you are a very seasoned and risky parkour(er).

Red Bull Roses

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My hosts are collectively the most generous and gracious people that I have ever met. Evidence of this are the two guys in my room right now who are climbing in-and- out of the window to set up the internet connection especially for me. Did I request this, no. I mentioned a couple months ago that I’d hope to be able to get a connection while I was there. Nor did ask for the numerous delicious chai teas (best ever) that seemed to pop up regardless of where I was at. Nor did ask for all of the wonderful food, in fact I kept declining the offer. But seemingly out of nowhere amazing dosas, chutneys, samosas would appear. Keep in mind this is the school food and it is the best Indian food I’ve had to date.

I’m jet lagged no doubt, I traveled for 36 hours (9 on the nicest airline of all time, India’s Jet Airlines). When I arrived in my room around 3 am, I feel asleep after watching some cricket for an hour (my hosts are trying to get some tickets). I woke up at 8:30 and Devika and Rajagopal picked me up at 10:40, which was 10 to 10:30 Indian time. We conferenced in my room to make sure I was taken care of, everything and much more has been done, including the addition of a small fridge in my room.

After walking over to the bank, we grabbed a street side coconut juice. Which was carefully and quickly made by a guy hacking at a coconut, poking a whole in the top and putting a straw in. Navigating traffic is hectic in a 3-D frogger sort of way.

We then traveled to the school where I met many wonderful and intriguing people. I was welcomed with flowers and showed my appreciation to my fellow educators by giving:

- The head adviser a mini- New Mexico license plate magnet and a post card of an adobe house with chile ristras.

- The school principal and dean of all of the schools I gave a ceramic wall tile that said New Mexico.

The Dean and founder of the PSBB school Mrs. YGP is an intriguing and warm soul, who exudes wisdom, curiosity and industriousness. What was so equally as inspiring is that she has built a school culture that has endured an grown over the 48 years of the school's existence, that shines through from her teachers’ respect and admiration (she is 83-87 depending on who is admiring her). I can see why she has been recognized in her country and others with prestigious awards acknowledging her contributions and foresight as an educator. She was absolutely enamored with the idea of our high school and wants to learn as much as she can from my time here.

After our quick 15 minute meeting in the company of approximately 10 other educators, Mrs. YGP resumed meeting with teachers to individually talk about all 5000 students’ promotion to the next level.

For the majority of the afternoon I met with teachers and drank chai. First, I met with a senior student who will soon go to the United States as a participant in a Global Youth Leadership Summit. This guy was wicked smart and wants to do something meaningful with it, and he wants education to inculcate a sense of creativity and purpose. He believes that the knowledge is there, but he’d sacrifice knowledge in the hard sciences for exposure to the soft sciences. His example of why we need education reform was the inability to provide readily available vaccines that could be affordable to the developing world. Not only could he expound on how this affected various places in Africa, he was able to quickly describe the science required to make some vaccines. When I asked him what he would do to change education he said that he would have students learn by doing and ingrain everything in a sense of purpose. Our conversation got cut short by the parade of teachers in their elegant saris. 

I found the teachers to be equally as warm, welcoming, and contemplative as their leadership and their students. One teacher Jayr started the session by asking, “do you teach the negative and positive sides of globalization?” I explained that I try to teach both in order to instill a sense of responsibility and to provide students with the opportunity to seek equitable solutions as opposed to simply drowning in their own apologetic view of America. Eventually focusing on the negative will turn students away from learning and thus against their fellow man. This spiraled further into a in depth conversations about what content to teach, and the process in which to do it in.

Since I was juggling multiple intense questions at once I also explained what I taught, how I teach, and what I will teach. The student was still in the room, and he face lit up with excitement when I explained the integrative biology course. He left and we continued to talk about how to address the effects of biotech companies (huge topic), how our social safety net works (or doesn’t), my religious beliefs, numerous pedagological queries, my family, mountain biking, the use of technology……one more chai, and off to meet some more teachers.

At the school everyone stopped to take a picture with me, and I’m continually being referred to as a Fulbright Scholar and people ask big questions.

This is going to work- I like really nice people, big questions, and the idea of time being event based. I don’t mind, possibly like; the chaos, noise, the lack of tp and everything else that creates this lively ambiance.

Off to India

I'm off to India. On the plane from Albuquerque to Chicago I plowed through the "Southern India" Lonely Planet. It reiterated what those who have been to India have told me, "India is an invigorating assault on all of the senses, an experience that is impossible to define....[because] ultimately, it's about surrendering yourself to the unknown...its' very essence - its' elusive soul - lies in its mystery." This is what I signed up for. When I choose India as my top pick for the IREX TEA fellowship I wanted the transcendental, Siddhartha-esque experience.

Last November when all the US and International fellows got to meet at Purdue, I was blown away by the kindness and immanence of our Indian counterparts. While Devika (unbeknown to me then my partner teacher) and I were chatting after a meal she subtly suggested her reservations about the Indian youth's preoccupation with all things western. I suggested to her that many westerns, including myself, look to the eastern cultures for a deeper sense of spirituality. Later our Indian counterparts treated us to some beautiful traditional songs. After a quick explanation of one of the songs, Devika turned to me and said "Now Jay, there is your spirituality!" She was absolutely right, that moment hit me at so many levels, that I can only explain it by saying that I had never felt so good knowing that I know so little.

Although I'm not ready to be away from my wife and daughter, I'm ready for what I don't know.

I wrote a single blog post prior to this which is linked here. Also if you care to look at the working website for the lessons and professional presentation that I'm organizing you can visit them here.

Hopefully after Mr. Rajagopal picks me up at the airport in Chennai, I'll be able to find working wi-fi to continue my journal/blog. That of course is pending my computer works, its only crashed once today.