Marriage in India

Mike and I had our reservations about spending our first year of marriage in a different country, facing new and weird issues while getting used to being married. I’m thankful it has been a wonderful decision so far. It has been a really creative and splendid way to start things off. Most certainly we are dealing with things most newly married couples don’t deal with:
-figuring out how to explore a city without any transportation
-living with other people
-living on a budget with no income-volunteering in challenging situations
-being removed (at least physically) from our families and friends-and much more…
Regardless, Mike and I have grown immensely as a couple through our experience so far. We are much more vulnerable with each other than I think we would be normally. We have to challenge and support each other spiritually because of our lack of a church community. We have been asking more pressing questions about the things and people we’ve experienced. It has also been great to see Mike shine in this new situation. So I’ll take a second to be proud of Mike and put up a lot of pictures of him. He jumps at the opportunity to be helpful, whether by plunging our backed up plumbing (and weeks of rice and tea scraps), putting in time at Sahara House, or cleaning up the apartment. I love seeing him be so eager to try new things. He was absolutely radiating when we were in Old Goa or when we were running into the ocean (where unfortunately he smashed his foot on the rocky bottom that was unseen to us). As anyone that is familiar with Mike knows, he is a great person to have fun with. We have had a wonderful picnic on the ocean and we play Frisbee at the park frequently, explore the area on foot often, and laugh a lot. I’ll be the first to admit that Pune has its difficulties and frustrations. It has brought on emotions more than once and Mike has been a great support, even when he is tired...and it’s been great. I know we are not even half way done with our trip and maybe my attitude will change tomorrow, but so far we’ve been really glad we’ve chosen this as our first step. It hopefully will develop a perspective and understanding about life, God, people, and the world that can be a solid foundation for the rest of our lives, no matter where we are.

1 Month Reflection

A little more than a month into our stay and we are finally getting settled in persa. It doesn’t mean we are comfortable all the time or have no further questions but it does mean we have an apartment that we can return to after a long day and relax. It does mean we no longer get stressed out in ricksaws or are wondering where to get food or other random goods. It does mean we are starting to know the neighborhood we are in and some of the people we see everyday. The ricksaw drivers on both sides of our travels know Anne and I and where we are going (to and from school).
One of the best things that has happened in the last two days was meeting more people and starting friendships. Tonight we had a Fulbright Scholar who has been working at the school over for dinner. He has been here (India) since the end of August and has been away from his pregnant wife and two kids ever since then. He lives in a hotel wherever he travels to and eats out for every meal. Anne and I invited him over and he jumped on the chance. We were so excited for the chance to be hospitable and have a conversation in solid English. Last night we met a whole slew of volunteers from all around the world that work with Deep Griha (an organization that has been partnering with the Sahara House to combat HIV and AIDS). It was so refreshing to meet people and to have splendid, interesting conversations. We both loved it!
After living in one of the biggest cities that we’ve ever had the chance to live in, Sara and I are going to try and pursue a different volunteer opportunity outside of city and more in the country. We both feel quite claustrophobic and miss the freedom of the countryside and clean, open air that a big city just doesn’t provide. After some initial searches into volunteer opportunities, we found one organization called WWOOF (WorldWide Organization of Organic Farms) that connects volunteers with organic farms across the world so they can work in exchange for food and lodging. We are hoping to find a farm further north near the mountains that we can work at after Andrew and Anne leave. We’ve heard good reviews from people that have done this in different parts of the world and are both excited for this change of pace. We’ll keep you updated on any new developments in this area. The website is: http://www.wwoofindia.org/home.htm if you want to check it out.

School Update

After reading our last couple of blogs you may think we are just scooting around India with no responsibilities or growth. In actuality, a lot has been going on with our volunteer placements. I’ll speak for myself (Sara) about the school and then Mike can update about Sahara later.The school situation has definitely had its up and downs. This last week the teacher turn out was really low. So low in fact that almost every period in the morning Anne and I were assigned to teach a different class (one that we had not prepared for). There is no sub system here, so when the teacher is gone, someone has to either take 30 more kids or a teacher must take the class during their period off. We were given lesson plans at best and then instructed to go to the assigned classroom. On paper lesson plans are great. In the classrooms here, it is usually played out completely differently. If students are loud (which is very typical), we spend half our class time trying to get their attention (the strategies I learned are not working yet). Some classes go great, others go so poorly you want to walk out half way through the lesson.
I’ve also started teaching science in the sixth standard (our 6th grade) this week. I loved making the lesson plans and working with Mike to refine them in what hopefully would turn out successful. The first day went wonderfully, but mostly because half the school was gone because they wanted an extra day of Diwali (the holiday they have been celebrating). I only had 15-17 students instead of 30. I think that may be the key to success. The second day went awful. By the time we got home we were both exhausted. The kids talk non-stop and do not even listen to classmates talking. I try to engage students but typically the kids with the answer shout it out, and try to shout it louder and louder above everyone else. I’ve never been such a supporter of hand raising. We were also put in charge of 3rd standard and 7th standard English, which just makes for a long day, especially when we aren’t anticipating it.
Some good things: I made a USA question box so kids can put in questions they have about me or my country so they do not interrupt the class. I also have an India box I am putting questions in that students that behave can answer India questions near the end of the class. Hopefully this will be beneficial in the coming week. One my classes wrote me an apology note, reading,

Dear Sara Didi,
We are really sorry that we made you so sad yesterday. There were some
reasons behind our bad behavior with you in the class.
1. We cannot understand your language
2. We do not have so experience about how to work with a foreigner
3. We are not at the level to understand your language
Sorry, sorry, sorry
So please understand our problems and help us to understand science very well. From all the student from6 Sargam

After that I had high hopes of some great behavior. I told them in the beginning of class that they may have a hard time understanding me, so I will speak slower. I also told them I have a hard time understanding them when they all talk at the same time and each student needs to

raise their hand so we can work together. I’m pretty confident they can actually understand me if they are listening, but the listening is a hard step for most. The conversation got good behavior for about 10 minutes before we had some issues, but it was definitely better than the day before.
I was informed mid-week that they had some interviews for science teachers, but when I inquired about it later they said they all fell through. This is by far the most challenging teaching situation I’ve been in, in my short stint with it. I have been using some visuals from the library (a single room with some random teaching aids) and the two small textbooks they have. I’m really thankful Anne has been able to help me in most of my classes and is really supportive. I’m really hopeful that next week will be better and I’m less

tired by the end of the day. We’re hoping to make more connection with other teachers, as we feel more isolated and randomly placed than anything else. It’s hard when they mostly speak Marathi or Hindi in the teacher's lounge, but a couple of teachers have started talking to us. We have also heard this is one of the best government schools around and the others are worse off with fewer resources and fewer teachers. It is hard to imagine sometimes. We’re hoping to learn a lot, but sometimes learning means refining by fire and fire sure is hot sometimes.

Captions: 1. The school 2. one of my two classrooms 3. the 2nd floor hallway (where the 2 6th grade classrooms are) 4. the library (where Anne is taking control and hopefully making it more accessible)

Goa: 3rd Installment

Panjim—Old Goa
The 3rd city we found ourselves in was Panjim. We got there on a very crowded bus (squished standing room only) through a beautiful scenic drive. At the end Andrew and Anne decided to stay at a cute, welcoming guesthouse, while Mike and I decided to take the cheaper route and set off trying to find the Vaz guesthouse without a map. It turns out we took an entire tour of downtown Panjim until we finally found someone who knew where Vaz was and pointed us to a small side street that we would never have found alone. Luckily we were both flexible and enjoyed our walk and talk through the city. When we finally checked in to this hole in the wall guesthouse, we jumped on a bus to Old Goa. Mike has never glowed more than when seeing the old churches and buildings in this Portuguese settlement. There were multiple, beautiful churches in a confined spot that we could walk around to and see the different architecture of the times. Our favorite was ruins that had been one of the largest churches and monasteries around. We could only imagine the sheer beauty that it once was. There were gorgeous tile paintings and structures left behind. On the bus ride back from Old Goa was probably the most crowded I’ve ever seen. Andrew, Mike, and I were standing up holding on to the railing but we could have let go and just been held up by the people around us. If one person swayed, everyone else swayed. It was incredible. Luckily we met a couple of foreigners before the bus ride and struck up conversation with them to keep our minds off our tired arms.
That evening we went to a restaurant that was recommended in the Lonely Planet that was quite notable. We were the only ones there and it took an hour and a half to get our food. It was a couple of tables outside and a normal kitchen with a bathroom attached with a curtain. We played cards as we waited and pretty soon the gas fumes from the kitchen were so prominent it was hard to talk about anything else. Finally we got our food and much to our disappointment the wait did not result in good food. To make up for the sad dinner we went and played cards at a cute establishment in an ally way covered with lights. We finished our card game and got drinks.
The next day we had a check-out time of 8 am so we packed our bags and had a breakfast of papaya outside of Andrew and Anne’s guesthouse. Our final day in Goa was spent with our bags on our backs exploring Panjim itself. We climbed up to this elaborate temple on the hillside and got a wonderful view of Panjim. Then we went through town exploring the rich culture in the buildings and churches. After a long walk with heavy bags we discovered a huge park on the inlet of the ocean. We read and crashed here for a couple of hours, enjoying the relaxation. I went to a huge vegetable and fruit market (how could you pass that up!?) to get a hodge-podge dinner for the train ride. One of the best parts of cities are the food markets. I light up and love exploring the different stands and chatting to the sellers. We walked along the coast to catch our train, where there were multiple people selling water, chai, and candy. Mike couldn’t pass up chai off the back of a bike. The train ride home went relatively fast and we were back in Pune before we knew it!

Goa: 2nd Installment

Calangute
Our second stop, only about 8 km away from Anjuna, Calangute was where we found our favorite guesthouse so far. It was Johnny’s Hotel, not more than 200 m away from the oceanfront. The beach down the path was magnificent with a long, smooth coastline. The undertow was strong, but not too much to prevent swimming and enjoying the waves. It was extremely warm here so the water was a great relief. We shared the beach with numerous salesmen/women, trying to sell pineapples, ear cleanings, massages, necklaces, and water sports. We also shared it with lots of cows and dogs, which will never make us stop taking a second glance. The beach was the major draw of this city, the town was a very tourist centered city with lots of little shops. We ate seafood on the coast one night and then had a date night the second night. We had found a gem of a fruit and veggie market, tucked away from the crowded streets. Avocados, carrots, pineapple, mango, onions, cucumbers, and tomatoes were bought there for the date on the beach. It was quite the feast, eaten on “Classic Lite” crackers. It was absolutely delicious and relaxing to eat fruit by sunset over the ocean. The last night we were in Calangute there was a noisy and excited crowd gathered right outside our hotel to celebrate Diwali and Dashera, two Hindu holidays. They had a float contest in which 7 different floats portrayed the defeat of the god Ravan by the god Ram. These floats depicted Ravan as a 15ft tall god made out of paper mache with moving parts and everything. It seemed that each float was going to be the best until the next one came and topped it. This parade started at around 10:00 and by about 1:30 Sara and I had had enough, but the show went on with a burning of an effigy of Ravan at about 4:00 in the morning which we experienced the smoke from in our hotel room. We had a fantastic conversation with two Swedish people about Sweden while we were waiting for each float. They were great company and convinced the both of us that we need to go to Sweden! Sara also proudly noted her strong Swedish background.

Beginning of Goa

We are going to do a series on the Goa trip we made last week. Here's the first installment:

Travel & Anjuna
Last week we made a trip to the coast for a couple of days of exploration and relaxation. It was over the Diwali holiday so we only had to miss one day of school. The journey started with a 12 hour bus ride (overnight) on a sleeper bus. It was pretty much a bus full of bunk beds and no bathroom. They stopped for dinner at 9 pm and a couple of times in the middle of the night for random breaks on the side of the road. Mike slept great, soundly like a baby, but Sara had a little bit more of an issue sleeping. At one point she was called “the princess and the pea” due to her strange sleeping rituals. Oh well. The bus went well and we found ourselves in Anjuna (our first destination) after being dropped by the bus on the side of the road and getting a taxi.
Anjuna was a little sleepy when we arrived at 7 in the morning, not even the guest house we wanted to stay in was open, so we walked about 5 minutes and found ourselves a rocky coastline overlooking the Arabian Sea! After checking into the Manali guesthouse ($2/person!), we found ourselves having breakfast with coconut trees over our heads and the ocean not 50 feet in front of us. This was Mike’s first time seeing the ocean and was pretty giddy the whole time. We headed out to the famous Anjuna flea market right after breakfast. It was an experience for sure. People everywhere were trying to get us to go to their shop and buy their stuff. There was some fun fabric, shawls, spices, and knick knacks. We learned the art of haggling and got some relatively good deals. We spent the rest of that day on the beach, though it was a little too rocky to swim in (we attempted). The Manali guest house was great to us the first night, but we had to move on to our next destination.

Random Pictures

1. Elephant: There is an elephant that we've seen a few times on the main street near our house. It sticks out rather abruptly amongst the fast moving traffic here. His name is Gandhi and he's very friendly. We were amazed and crazy excited the first time we saw him. We ran over with bananas and found out he could eat the peel! Feeding him is free, rides are 500 Rs. which doesn't quite fit into our budget...

2. McDelivery: McDonalds is kind of a big deal here. There is only one that we've seen here but it markets itself as a family restaurant and occupies quite a large space in the local shopping mall. The best part of all is the long row of motorbikes that deliver right to your door.

3. River: We walk over the river, pretending that it is all we see. Peaceful and green land. It's a shame how much garbage is in it though. Twice now we've seen people stop on the bridge and throw out garbage into the river (whole bags of garbage!).

4. Goats: We were exploring by the river, walking on a tall cement pier type thing and we saw all these goats walking by the canal! Goats are everywhere, the train tracks, the roads, the river...It's great.

My look alike

So about four times on the street I've been yelled at very enthusiastically "You look just like Daniel Vettori!" I found out after some googling that he's the New Zealand cricket captain. I don't think there's much of a resemblance, though I think the two key factors here are my being white and having a beard. I kind of hope that the situation arises where someone actually thinks that I am Daniel Vettori, maybe I can sign some autographs or something. Well anyways, judge for yourself the resemblance...

Our Flat

Here’s to give you a better idea what our flat consists of:

Kitchen:
This may come as a surprise to some of you, but most kitchens here (including ours) does not have an oven. There is a stove that is essentially a large Bunsen burner (you have to light it with a match). A gas tank is below in a cupboard which needs to be turned on every time you use the stove. After turning it on you turn the dial on the stove and light away. As any good lab participant knows, I always light the match and then turn on the gas. We also have a small refrigerator, a microwave, and running water. We bought this pot that boils water quickly for tea because on the stove it was taking forever to warm up water for tea (which we tend to drink every night, Mike takes down tea like nobody’s business). Most of our pots and pans (3 functioning ones) have at least one missing handle. This is mostly because they can’t hold up a lot of weight so they’ve broken with the previous owners. Silverware and plates were here when we got here luckily.

Bathroom:
It is mostly what you think of in a Western bathroom. We have actual toilets, unlike most public toilets in the area (which are more like holes in the ground). The major two differences I can think of are the plumbing and the shower. The plumbing is a rubber pipe from the faucet and goes straight down into a drain. There are only drains in the bathroom. The shower is not a separate part of the bathroom. It has a curtain and the floor dips down where the shower is, but there is no structure to it.

Bedroom:
It is plain and simple with fun curtains the windows. There are a couple of small cabinets and a wardrobe. We have no problem fitting in our one backpack of stuff into the wardrobe! The bed is a little softer than the floor, but nothing that you can sink into. I have been sleeping on top of my sleeping bag the entire time so far to add a little cushion. Mike braves it out. Both of our backs may forever be changed.

Living Space:
The whole flat has hard tiles on the floor. There are no carpets or wood flooring. There is a TV that doesn’t work, a couch, and two sitting chairs. We luckily have a dining room table (seating for six so we welcome visitors!) and a coffee table. There is a small balcony, which is very common in flats here. It is big enough for all four of us to sit and read on during the evenings. Mike and I read outside yesterday when rained throughout the evening and it was beautiful. That’s all I’ve got. We love it and are extremely thankful for it.

Gandhi Museum

Today we went to the Aga Khan Palace (or the Gandhi museum). We walked in the heat for about 45 minutes until we got to the Palace. The palace is unique in that everything around it is apartments, stores, and roads; but right in the middle of all that is this big open garden with the palace in the middle. It was where Gandhi, his secretary and his wife were kept for multiple years. His wife and secretary died there, and all their ashes are there. Next to their ashes also lie the ashes of Gandhi himself. It was a beautiful, big palace surrounded by green gardens. The actual exhibits were only decently presented, but the paintings and statues of Gandhi made the trip worth it. Since we were foreigners we paid 20 times (literally) what an Indian citizen would pay to get into the museum.
We just got to tour the first couple of rooms, each having statues, paintings, or belongings of Gandhi’s. Artifacts collected from the community and famous people were abundant as well. All of the upper floors were off limits to visitors. We were expecting it to be much more busy, as Gandhi’s birthday was yesterday, but there were maybe about 20 others there at the time.
We spent some times around in the gardens, enjoying the beautiful flowers and sweet trees.
After the museum we went to Big Bazaar, the splendid shopping center that has everything one could want. The best thing to compare it to would be an Indian version of Ikea with a supermarket attached. It has stuff everywhere. Where there is not stuff, there are at least three people. What we consider “normal” grocery stores are not plentiful here. But we usually buy enough rice and other staples to last us and then buy fresh food daily or every other day.

Top 5

Top 5 of Pune, India: Multiple lists of the Top 5 of our experiences so far.

Places we’ve been:
1. Westview Apartments - Our oasis in the midst of finding a flat; John opened up his apartment so we could use the internet, phone, and comfy beds. Reshma had all her wait staff taking care of us.
2. Jogging Park - A fantastic place to go running and play Frisbee. It is one of the few green spots in the city and only a couple of minutes away from our flat. It will definitely help to keep Sara sane.
3. Veggie Stand - where we buy most of our fresh food and contains great treats like pineapple ($0.65), carrots (yes they have them here!), Indian oranges, and okra (aka ladyfingers).
4. Our Flat – A great location and relaxing spot for us. We play hours of cards and immerse ourselves in our many books (and textbooks for some).
5. River – We’ve loved being close to the water (though not as clean as one would hope). It is a beautiful and calming thing to walk and drive by.

Things we should have learned before coming to India:
1. How to negotiate a ricksaw for a fair price
2. One must register before they get an apartment
3. Nothing happens on time or quickly
4. How to do the Indian head nod (we’ll demonstrate what we’ve learned when we get back, Mike practices during our ricksaw rides)
5. Our English is not easily understood and not the same as Indian English

Ways to travel:
1. Auto Ricksaw – like a rollercoaster but off the tracks (mike thinks it is more like a go-kart)
2. Train – great scenery all the way and very spacious!
3. Cab – our first ride in India was in a “cab” that had all of our luggage (unattached) on top of the small vehicle on a small rack
4. Motorcycle – Mike and Andrew have experienced this a couple of times as passengers of people that work at the clinic (three to a motorcycle). Pune has the highest density of motorcycles of all of India, and the streets are full of them.
5. Walking – A lot is in walking distance and we take the opportunity every time it comes around. We’ve been exploring the area with walks, some beautiful some not.

Food we’ve eaten:
1. Paneer – Like tofu but with milk instead of soy, put in a lot of curries and other dishes
2. Dal – made of lentils, onions, tomatoes, and delicious spices; it is typically put over rice
3. Chipatti – whole wheat flour, water, and salt (can add onions or spices), and cooked on a skillet with a little oil; this flatbread is very thin and used in most traditional meals in place of the utensils
4. Porridge – We usually made oats for breakfast and they are always delicious, with a little milk and sugar it is hard to beat.
5. Fried Rice – We know it’s not Indian but Anne and Andrew made it two nights ago and it was heavenly. Rice is usually a staple in all we eat. There is even a shop down the street that sells fresh eggs (the live chickens stacked up in the back are also for sale).

Hassles we’ve experienced/experiencing:
1. Registration Office – Long lines, changed open times, and lack of communication: all fun parts of the process.
2. Finding a flat – false promises and dashed hopes left us desperate but it in the end it turned out better than even expected!
3. Making friends – We still don’t know how to solve this one. We have little normal contact with people our age. Our high hopes lie in our Frisbee (we played with multiple kids and grown men today) and slackline (the friend making machine).
4. Being stared at – It doesn’t matter where we go or what we are doing, we get stared at a lot. More for Anne and Sara, but we seem to be the show of the night wherever we go.
5. Being targeted for money – Many times we are quoted prices that are far higher just because we are foreigners. This was most evident in the search for an apartment, but luckily we had Reshma with us to make sure we didn’t lose any money (thanks reshma!). We’re starting to get a handle on how much we should be paying for things, but it’s a learning process.

Things we’ve brought:
1. Toilet Paper
2. Sheets
3. Books
4. Playthings (Frisbee, cards, and slackline)
5. Computers

Things we miss from the US (besides wonderful people):
1. an oven
2. peanut butter
3. good beer
4. cheese (Mike’s favorite)
5. quiet and order

KC Thackery Niketan English Medium School

KC Thackery Niketan English Medium School
For simplicity sake I’ll call it KC. Anne and I (Sara) have been going there for almost a week now and have had quite the experiences.

Summary of School
The school has grades 3-7 and teaches in English. The principal, Shalini, is the main contact we’ve had and our main mentor. The students wear uniforms of sorts that are white or blue t-shirts with blue bottoms. It is not strictly followed, but most kids are wearing some form of that. The school itself looks relatively nice. It is a concrete building with open air all around (no screens) and each classroom goes to the outside. The building is three stories high but they only use the first two. All the kids are from lower income families in Pune.
There are three types of schools in India: private, government aided, and government schools.
According to Shalini the government schools are the worse, with the larger classrooms and the minimal access to supplies and good teachers. KC is a government school, but also partly funded by a NGO. Shalini is trying to revamp how government schools are done by changing this one. She wants students to be able to decide what they do when they grow up, not be stuck in one option. The school still has very large classroom sizes but focus on challenging and encouraging the students in new ways.

Fieldtrip
Anne and I accompanied the fourth standard (grade) to an old fort outside of Pune. It took us an hour and a half to get there, with many bumps along the way. The bus we took was so intense to ride, as we bounced almost to the roof when we sat in the back. The kids were crazy loud, but we were able to talk to a couple of them one and one. I had a good time getting to know some of the kids. I even tried to lead a game that was at least half successful. The bus was stalled before we were let in to the forest and the kids were rising steadily in volume. I jumped in and settled them down for about 5 minutes with a bus game (way to go past jobs in teaching me fun games). The actual fort was on top of one of the summits of a hill/mountain range that was BEAUTIFUL. Green everywhere in sight and the fort had great architecture.

Daily Schedule
Day to day varies. Anne and I have been put in classrooms where there are no teachers…multiple times. A brief overview of what the children are to learn is explained and then we are left. It does not always go smoothly. The kids are talkative, and talk over each other and us. When they raise their hands they also shout out the answer. It is strange to us how classes are working here, when it seems like there is little control. It is also strange the school trusts us to lead a classroom with a second notice. Language is a barrier, especially in the younger classes. Their accent and ours is a deadly combination at times. Nothing seems to make sense from either side. Other times it is great. We help small groups, we help in classrooms, we lead classrooms, and we do it all. Hopefully we will be meeting with the principal next week to set up some ground rules so we don’t feel like we are put to every task that other teachers do not want. We want to be helpful but we also don’t want to get burned out.

Future
There is a possibility I will be taking 6th grade science (had my first lesson today) for the rest of their school year (until April). The first lesson was rough because I knew none of the kids, the classroom structure, the discipline strategies, past lessons, or future lessons. I tried to review and think I did an okay job considering. Hopefully there will be more support in the future and more foundation. Mike and Andrew came to the school today and helped a great deal. Mike was even there for one of my science classes which was wonderful. All the kids want to know everything about the USA and can’t believe people don’t walk on streets in the US. They also can’t believe people get speeding tickets or that there are no ricksaws.
This school will definitely be a huge learning grounds for me, and where I will be the most challenged.