Hello again from India! 

My first host family here in India, the Kalsi family, runs a school above their home.  The Kalsis took very good care of me during my first week, when I must admit I experienced a bit of culture shock. I owe them a lot of gratitude and I think I have made friends for life!  We have moved on to our second city now, Jamshedpur, but I want to share a little about what I saw when I visited the school above the Kalsi home.

The school is Springdale Nursery School.  They have 6 classrooms – 2 each of 2+, 3+, and 4+ aged students.  I am VERY impressed with the quality of work these students do!  They learn english upper and lower case handwriting, as well as cursive!  They also learn to write Hindi, and speak conversational English.  I was shown some of the students’ books, and took pictures to share with all of my colleagues.  It is amazing the level of learning that is accomplished at such an early age here.

The classrooms are very small compared to our classrooms at Ponderosa.  Not all of the rooms have desks, but the students I saw seemed to be very obedient and respectful.  The principal meets with each level of teachers every morning to discuss what is going to be taught and make suggestions.  Then she takes rounds several times a day to supervise what is being taught.  When I went on rounds with the principal, every class stood and said, “Good morning, ma’am!”. It was very impressive.  Seeing the quality of learning and the job these teachers do makes me feel guilty for every time I’ve lamented the lack of space or materials in my own classroom, because I have far more space and materials than these teachers do.

This is a private school, and all of the students wear uniforms.  I shared a lot of ideas with my host family, and I think they may start using the alphabet aerobics (a game I play with my students) to learn the sounds of the english alphabet!  It was really fun sharing ideas and discussing the state of education in India and the US.  I can’t wait to see more schools and to share what I’ve learned with my colleagues back home.

One of the most profound things I’ve learned in the last week is that we take a lot for granted in the US.  I have been very impressed with the work ethic and national pride of India, and I think that India is going to become a major world player in the economic market in the very near future.  I believe it is very important for Americans to take notice.  I hope that what I’m learning here will help my students become educated about a country that will likely be very important to America in the very near future.

I’ve also learned that rotarians have an incredible vision for making the world a better place, and they work hard to implement those visions. These are the people who truly change the world, and I am glad I have the opportunity to meet so many of them!

 I will talk to you all soon!

 Love,

Rebecca

Thanks so much to all in USA for your comments and for keeping in touch with us. The team members really do look forward to reading the comments and it is nice to know you are following our trip. So keep writing.

We are now in Jameshepur and are staying in a very posh resort. It has a swimming pool, tennis courts, and two very nice restaurants. At noon we’ll move to our host families. Our escort here, DRFC Uday arranged massages for all of us this morning so we are living the high life for a couple of days. Much needed after the rough road trip from Ranchi. The highways here are not like in USA. They need some serious construction but the scenary was fabulous and typical of village life among the hills. Incredible. We have pictueres but no time to post them so I guess you’ll have to come to District Conference to see them all. (hint hint)

This afternoon we move to our host families and start our vocational and cultural visits tomorrow. We’ll be seeing a blind school, hospitals, schools and libraries here. I’m very interested in the Salheli training centers for women. They have several in D3250 and there has been an article about them in The Rotarian.

Club meetings here are huge. They are meeting jointly as in most of the cities which means over 200 people. The conference was a big success and we were the local celebrities. Yes our picture was in the newspaper several days in a row and we all know how it feels to be followed by papparazzi. I think we liked it a bit.

Keep following us. DAVE, please let Mr. Allen know that yes, the conference may be during Christmas next year but missing one Christmas at home for this experience is well worth it. Please let him know I’ll be happy to help with his trainings in any way I can when I return. This truly is a life altering experience and though I have been to India many times, seeing it through my team member’s eyes has given me a new perspective. India still continues to hold my heart in it’s hands.

Nancy

Yesterday we had some time to go shopping, and it seems that all of us wanted to buy clothes.  Well, the ready made clothes in India just don’t come in XL+ sizes.  I tried on one salwar kameez (drawstring pants with long tunic) that made me look like a sausage.  My host family mom who was with us said that we could just buy some material and get the suit stitched.  I found the perfect fabric for 630 rupees (about $16) and it will cost about 200 rupees ($5) to have it sewn.

Life in India really happens on the street, and tailors are no exception.  All the streets are lined with stalls and shops and services.  We went to the stall where the tailor that my host family mom uses yesterday afternoon. There was a small line of women waiting to get measured for their suits.  I could tell that they were wondering how in the world this white woman ended up in the middle of their city.  (This is definitely NOT a tourist town!)  They were all very polite, though – no one stared or asked questions.  After a few minutes of this I said, in my very broken Hindi, that my name was Arleen and that I was an American.  (I need to learn how to say “exchange program” in Hindi.)  Then it was all smiles and shy laughter and them trying to talk to me in Hindi.  This suit will be the best-fitting piece of clothes I’ve ever had — the tailor must have taken over a dozen measurements.  And I got to specify what kind of neckline, what length, short or long sleeves.

Last night my host family mother told me that my suit will be ready on Sunday.  She also said that the tailor was very proud to be sewing a suit for an American lady.  In India, guests are treated like gods.  Say what you will about the pollution, the dirty streets, and the poverty — I truly have been treated like royalty the whole time I’ve been here.

Namaste, ya’ll.
Arleen

I think every group of Americans that travels to India has at least one member who gets sick because of the change in diet.  This time, it was me.

I spent the first few days of our visit being rather adventurous with food. I tried several new things and took at least one bite of everything that I was given.  But on the first night with my host family (about the third day here), I woke up and was violently ill.  I thought I would be okay after that, but I got sick again the next morning.  My host family was very attentive and took me to the doctor right away.

Indian doctors’ offices are VERY different from American ones. I don’ t think there is any way anybody who hasn’t been to India can fully understand my experience, but I will do my best to describe it. Here, the streets are lined with stores, and there are pharmacies scattered among these.  My host family took me to one of these pharmacies, where they summoned the doctor.  I was walked down an alley next to the pharmacy and taken to a stone room with no lights. The doctor sat me down and asked me a lot of questions about my symptoms and prescribed several medicines. Then I was taken back out to the alley and sat on a bench next to a table. My host father went to the pharmacy and got my medicines.  One of them was an injection.  The needle came in a package, so it was clean and sterile. A guy who I assume was a nurse gave me an IV injection.  Then I was taken home and bundled off to bed. 

My doctor’s visit cost 70 rupees. That’s less than $2.  I’m not sure how many rupees the medicine cost, but my host father told me it was about $5.  When I told him that in America it would have cost MUCH MUCH more and I would have had to wait in a waiting room for a long time before being seen, he was very surprised. He told me that this doctor is a very good doctor and only charges poor people about 10 cents for a visit. Definitely a very different system than America’s.

I spent the day sleeping it off and now I feel much better.  I am going to eat lightly the rest of the trip and try to avoid the very spicy foods.   I have been coddled and pampered like never before, and my host family has taken very good care of me.  I haven’t been treated this well while sick since I was a little kid.

Hopefully, the rest of the trip will be slightly less eventful!

Love,

Rebecca

So far the time has been spent with sighseeing and shopping. Last night though, we did attend the Rotary meeting at Ranchi. There was delightful program of traditional Indian classical dance by children. DG Kandalawal and his wife Poonam were there along with my host DGN Anil Singh’s wife Rikkha.

I’ve been staying with my classmate DGN Anil and family and have been really spoiled. My good friend Luv sends a driver for me so I can check mails and post blogs from his office. I hope I’ll be able to check mails from the other places.

Tonight there is a Rotary Foundaton dinner and prior to that this afternoon a seminar on Population Control. Tomorrow District Conference begins so we’ll be tied up.

Having a wonderful time. Pyar India.

Today we visited a N.G.O. that meets and trains villagers in new technologies for improvement of their standard of living. They use the “train the trainer” model which allows those trained to carry their knowledge back to the village and train others.  The seek partners in all areas from early reading to distance learning.

We also visited a wire rope plant that takes raw steel and through a process produce galvinized and black wire to use as building materials.

Both facilities spoke at length about changing the mindset of their workers from being employees only to becoming stakeholders in the entire process. While they were concerned about the jobs they were just as concerned about the change in management styles. More about this later.  I’m off to a Rotary meeting tonight of The Rotary Club of Ranchi.

Nancy

Well yesterday after sleeping and more sleeping we had  a great dinner with some of the rotarians – I had basmati rice with curry chicken, nan, and it was really good.  We then had the experience of a lifetime driving through Ranchi at night to the ATM.  There were not many people out but tons of dogs, cows and cats.  Apparently it is REALLY bad luck here if a black cat is in your path b/c we swerved and stopped to avoid a cat.  At the ATM Rebecca and I went in first to get our rupees.  There was no light on but we were with our hosts so we didn’t think it was a big deal.  I moved my leg and felt a squishy human leg under my foot – scared the ! out of me!!!  All of a sudden as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I saw a man in the corner.  I looked and said very calmly to rebecca “there is a man in here”she said I know there is one over here too”" – so we backed over each other trying to get out the door and ran into our teams arms.  Felt very foolish b/c apparently these sleeping men were the security guards at the bank. I was scared out of my mind though!!    I got up early this AM and journaled and read, there was some weird flute music playing not sure what that was and there is a train near us as well which is kind of noisy.Anyway then I took some pics of a rickshaw and a fruit stand across the street – I am not allowed outside the gate for safety reasons so I took them through the gate.  Then I saw a horse clobbering down the street beside a car, motorcycle and bicycle rickshaw – very interesting.  Breakfast was the wonderful chocoflakes which has been making American girls happy the past few days!!!  now we are getting ready for a meeting.  Will meet up with my host family in a few hours. Should be intersting.  Oh saw a movie theatre last night – kind of neat, might get to go.  Talk to you all soon

Love Brook

Our first night in India began in Ranchi. Ranchi is the capital of Jharkand and is a small town in comparison to Delhi or Bombay. Today we are having our briefing with the GSE team here and then will move to our host families.

The girls had a surprise visit from the DG this morning for breakfast. I had gone upstairs to finish some preparations so they had some private time with him.  This has been a lovely introduction to India but we know after today, we’ll be on the move with not much time to spare. All are writing in their journals and taking lots of pictures so you should have some exciting stories to hear once we return. Put us on your club calendars.

 Nancy

Hello from Ranchi! Other team members have filled you in on our exciting adventures, so I am going to resume my role as info diva and just provide you with some interesting tidbits.

I had read that Indian menus often contain amusing descriptions of the dishes offered.  Sure enough, last night’s menu provided the following examples:
– GOLDEN FRIED PRAWNS Prawns appreciate this way of preparing them
– SINGING CHICKEN It’s chef’s own invention
and my favorite so far:
– BADAMI NAN Bread topped with sliced almonds, cashewnut, and poopy seeds

Before I left, a lot of people asked me if things were cheaper over here.  I haven’t spent any rupees yet, but I can tell you that the local newspaper cost the equivalent of 5 cents and a Dixie cup-sized cup of tea costs about 12 cents.  So, yeah, so far it looks like things are cheaper.  I’ll give you more updates once we start shopping.

I’m doing okay without ice in my drinks, but so far I really miss my morning 16 oz. of French roast coffee.  This morning’s coffee wasn’t too bad, though – the waiter even brought a little bowl of extra instant coffee if I wanted to add some (and I did).

Anything else you want to know, just email my hotmail account and I’ll be glad to try to answer it!

Peace,
Arleen

Today we leave our hotel and go stay with our respective host families.  I met some of the members of my host family yesterday, and they were all very nice. I’m sure they will take good care of me.  Last night we had a very interesting experience at our first Indian ATM.  I will let Brook tell you that story, though!  We ran out of toilet paper in our hotel room, and when I went to ask for more at the desk, there was a lot lost in translation.  It was pretty funny.  I spent several minutes trying to explain that I wanted toilet paper.  I kept saying “toilet” and “roll”, trying to convince them that I did not want a newspaper.  Finally, they looked like they understood so they went to the back room to get it.  I was feeling very proud of myself for successfully communicating, and I could hardly contain myself when the man proudly presented me with 3 sheets of copy paper.  I politely took it, said thank you, then let Shagun go back and take care of finding some toilet paper!   I’m still feeling a little bit like a fish out of water, but after only 2 days, there are already several stories to tell, so I know this is going to be an adventurous trip!

Talk to you soon,

Rebecca