Dreaming of India

I can't stop thinking about India. I've been devouring websites, articles, travel blogs, books, videos, and photos in an attempt to prepare myself, even though I know nothing can really prepare me. I know that all of my basic assumptions will be challenged, and that it is best to assume nothing at all. I know that for all of my travel experience, this will be my first true adventure. This will be the first time I leave the familiarity of the Western world.

Here are my favourite writings about India so far:

With the Kama Sutra Tucked Under My Arm: My Madcap Misadventures Across India - I started reading this book about a year ago and I'm finally getting around to finishing it now. Travel writing that reads like a novel.

Our two rupees worth - Hilarious blog belonging to a couple living in India for a year. Clear illustration of why you can't assume anything over there.

Nathan's collection of India essays - These were originally emails my boyfriend wrote to his friends while he was living in Ahmedabad 8.5 years ago. His descriptions are a feast for the senses.

And of course... a few photos (Also courtesy of Nathan. I haven't asked his permission yet, so I hope he doesn't mind!):

"There were several families of groundskeepers that lived at Sangath itself. This is one of their younger members. As much as I enjoyed the architecture of India, I found its people to be the real works of art."

"Palitana is a mountain in the Saurashtra region of Gujurat, topped by 863 Jain temples. There are almost 4,000 steps on the marble staircase which leads up the mountain. Here, two pilgrims return from paying their respect to the temples."

"Inside the temple complex, there are thousands upon thousands of shrines, all carved out of marble and other stones. The site has been under construction for about 10 centuries."

"The "Blue City" of Jodhpur, as one might expect, is exceedingly blue. Here I was only trying to take a picture of the calf wandering past one of the very blue walls, but after snapping the photo I saw that a rather taken-aback-looking woman had wandered into the doorway. I apologized as best I could in Hindi. But then her children (two fearless girls of about five and seven) discovered me and my digital camera, which they thought was the greatest things since sliced bread (though I'm not sure they would have ever had sliced bread, come to think of it). That broke the ice, and everyone went away smiling."

"From the enormous 16th century Mehrangarh Fort which looms above town, Jodhpur appears as a surrealist's ocean of cubicle blue dwellings. Originally the blue paint signified the house of a Brahmin, but in these modern times, everyone can paint their house blue.
This photo was taken during the festival of Diwali, which is celebrated as New Year's throughout much of India. The festivities involve insane numbers of fireworks and firecrackers, which would periodically be lofted above the city, exploding at eye level."

"A small village of wonderfully sculpted mud, home to perhaps half a dozen gourd-farming families."

"A grandmother in the village. She said that it was okay for me to photograph her, but I could tell that she was nervous. Still, this is perhaps the single best photograph that I took in India."


I can't wait until I have my own stories and pictures to share. T-38 days.

Smorgasboard

Two days so far at new school and so far, so good. The kids are generally (relatively) well-behaved and I like the staff... or at least the staff that I've met. If I had to gripe about one thing, it'd be that the school is so large, it's almost as though 3/4 of the students and teachers don't exist. There are other Classroom Canada teachers working there... people whom I know and who live in my building, and I never even see them! One of the things I really liked about my last school was that we all gathered for meetings every morning, and most of us hung out in the staff room together on breaks. There are a few really nice changes, though: A much quicker commute, free lunches, and afternoon breaks (at least in theory -- I haven't taken one yet). Also, they have filmmakers coming in to work with the kids every week. They're going to be making a documentary with animation woven in. Really cool!

Lately I've noticed that the alarm clock on my phone is confused; it's been going off when it isn't supposed to. Today, I learned the hard way that it is also randomly deciding not to go off when it is supposed to. An early morning text message is the only thing that saved me.

On a radically different note, I am officially going to India April 3rd-16th. Crossing my fingers that Nathan will still be there when I arrive (he may have to jet off to Brazil or China or Godknowswhereelse instead). I was going to wait longer to book my flight, but the flight I wanted (decent price, direct flight, on the dates I wanted) was close to selling out, so I took a leap of faith. I know I will enjoy it either way, but it would be so much better to be there with my man.

I'm also going to Sweden! March 19-21 in Goteborg. I'm there to teach a dance workshop, though, so I doubt I'll have much/any time to see anything. Still, I'm pretty excited.

One thing's for sure... life is never boring 'round here.

Just when I was starting to settle in...

I'm flying to Edmonton tomorrow morning and, as much as I'm really looking forward to seeing my dad and being surrounded by Canadian accents again, leaving is going to be hard. I've been deprived of one goodbye and am having a really difficult time with another. Nothing is going to be the same next week when I get back.

I found out after I left work today that I won't be going back to my school. Something to do with funding issues. My agency is lovely and they've already found me a new position for after the break, but... I'm heartbroken. Deeply heartbroken.

I've also recently found out that my boyfriend's being sent to India for work. He leaves Sunday and we don't know yet when he'll be back. It's looking as though he may be there for several months.

So I guess that's it. Everything in my life right now that's important to me... gone. Hopefully I'll get the rest I need over the break so that I can come back ready to start a new life. Again.

To Miss with Love and Disagreement

Thanks to Victoria's recommendation, I discovered To Miss with Love -- a compelling blog written by an anonymous inner-city school teacher in London. It is so fabulously well-written that I've found myself glued to it. So far, I've read over a year's worth of entries in a single evening. And yet... I can't help but disagree with a lot of what she has to say.

She goes through phases with the points she's trying to make. Just when I think I've established a trend, she'll switch to an entirely different one. First (in reverse chronological order), it was all about private schools. Private schools are automatically better than state schools. They breed children who take their studies seriously (which I know to be false because I attended private school--two of them--and they filled me with contempt) and who feel a sense of entitlement (which is apparently a good thing, because it gives them the confidence it takes to succeed). State schools inevitably fail to produce the same calibre of learners. Even the brightest students are doomed and will never live up to their potential. Most of the rest are on their way to the streets or prison or both.

Apparently this also has something to do with private schools not wasting time on frivolous subjects and creative education. Right. Well, I can sort of see where she's coming from. I'll admit I haven't been here long and my sample is small, especially in terms of mainstream education, but... for all the talk there is around here about creative education, I haven't actually seen it. My hunch is that it's a fad that most teachers don't actually understand and haven't properly implemented. In which case, yes, it probably is a giant waste of time.

Next, we take an interesting glimpse at the difference between students in Britain and India. We learn that "bad behaviour" in India involves wearing trousers with pockets on the outside, whereas Britain struggles with kids who constantly throw things and break into fights in class. Clearly, the fact that Indian children are grateful to go to school while British children feel entitled (wait, where did I see that word before?) to an education can be blamed for this discrepancy. Clearly, the solution is to eliminate state schooling. Nevermind that, say, Canada's education system is primarily public and doesn't see anywhere near the same level of chaos as what you'd find in a typical British school. Nor would you expect to find that same level of behaviour nearly anywhere else in the world, publicly-funded or not. I do think she has a point: We, in the Western world, do take a lot of things for granted. But I think it's far too simplistic to say that public education is at the root of all evil. And what was that again about a sense of entitlement being a good thing??

Finally, I'm on to the part about how children in the UK are not held accountable. Now here's some thinking I can get behind. She's right. You cannot hold a student back in the UK. I'm not even sure whether they get graded on their work (can someone clarify?). I think they just get tested on their abilities at the end of the year; the results of which are meant to reflect more on the school and the teachers than on the students. Why should they care about trying hard in school? It doesn't matter to them until it's too late... after they've already decided that they're not good enough and don't care about going to university, anyway.

Anyhow, for all the arguments I make, I still think To Miss with Love is an excellent blog that all educators should read. I submit that its author is obviously very experienced and a talented teacher, and I no doubt have a lot to learn from her. Debate on these topics is long overdue.