Taj Palace Hotel

There is a gorgeous 5 star hotel in Mumbai near the Gateway.  My friend Gretchen offered to take me there for lunch to celebrate my graduation and earning my masters degree.

There was scaffolding obstructing the view today so I took this picture from bbc.

The lobby was beautiful.

Over Thanksgiving in 2008 massive terrorist attacks were carried out in Mumbai and Taj was invaded, people were held hostage for days.  Here is more information.   Several other places were attacked including a restaurant where we eat sometimes and you can see bullet marks in the walls.  The hotel was rebuilt and here is a memorial wall for the people that died in the hotel (including a couple who had kids at our school)

We were looking around and enjoying the lobby when I see Carol!  I didn't know that Gretchen had also invited Carol, Madeline, and Jane - all the sweet Christian ladies at my school :)  Madeline and Jane have babies and couldn't come, but Carol came to celebrate.  Carol's parents were missionaries in India so Carol grew up in northern India.  She ended up making her life in India.  She has taught at our school for 20 some year.  She married the son of American missionaries who grew up in Mussoorie, India.  He became a very famous author and Bollywood actor.  The kids all know what movies he is starring in etc. :)  She knows everything there is to know about India and Mumbai.  She gave us a great history lesson of the hotel.  She told us where the terrorists entered and where the most damage was and details of how it was rebuilt and what was changed about it.  She is such a wealth of information!

Me and sweet Carol

Carol wanted me to take a picture with Mr. Tata

We had a lovely lunch at the Sea lounge. My delicious mocktail :) 

I  got to wear my fanciest scarf. 

It's hard to tell in the picture, but It's actually really gorgeous - sheer and intricate.
Carol and Gretchen kept touching it :)

 In my opinion - this is the best view of the Gateway of India because you don't have to deal with beggars and crowds. 

Since Madeline couldn't come with us, I met up with her and Ethan later.  

What a great great day!!  So thankful for sweet friends!

Masters Degree in Educational Technology

I never really had the desire to get my Masters degree.  It wasn't required to keep my teaching license in Texas.  It was really expensive and I didn't want to spend my time or money on it.  Most teachers that I know that got their masters degree did it to get out of the classroom.  They would get their degree in counseling or administration to move on to other jobs.

When I moved overseas, I realized almost every teach had their Masters degree and were still in the classroom.

I had very little technology ability.  VERY little.  A few weeks before I moved to Mumbai, I attended a technology conference in Memphis with the other new teachers.  I was so stressed out and confused - I thought for sure they were going to fire me before I ever got to India!! Thank goodness Megan was sitting next to me and literally said "push this button" etc. so I could keep up.  When I got to India, I saw all these great teachers doing amazing things with technology and I couldn't keep up.  About 6 weeks into school, we had a faculty meeting about technology and I had a meltdown.  I started crying in the middle of the meeting.  My principal pulled me out and said there were three major things 1) adjusting to India and she couldn't help me with that.  2) loving on middle school kids and I was great at that and 3) technology.  She said we could take technology off the table and use paper for awhile.

I knew I had to get more comfortable with using technology in my classroom so I decided to go to grad school.  The assistant principal had just gotten her degree and recommended the program at Michigan State University.  You can do it in MI, as an overseas cohort, or online.  I chose to do the cohort so I could learn hands on with other people around.  I went to Dublin, Ireland for 4 weeks in the summer and completed 9 credit hours!  I did the same thing the next summer in Galway, Ireland.  It was great to concentrate on only grad school and not have to do it during the school year.  You have to take one online class to make your 30 hours so I did that my second year.  I did not want to give up a third summer so I decided to complete the third year (three classes) online.  And I graduated this May - two years and I'm done!  I have a Masters degree from Michigan State University and have never stepped foot on the campus!!  I do know the fight song though :)

I was able to pay for it in cash and got to meet a lot of other teachers from all over the world.  I now have a passion for using technology in the classroom and actually created online classes for my 6th graders this year.

One more way that moving to India changed my life!!

Hong Kong

So we had a five day weekend so i decided to go to Hong Kong.  There were two major reasons for this.  1)  I am training to hike the Inca Trail and could really use some hill training and Hong Kong has lots of those.  and 2)  My teaching parter my first two years in India abandoned me  :) and moved to Hong Kong so I wanted to check it out and visit him.

Things did not go as planned. I had a 5 hour non stop flight and I felt really sick on the plane and spent the last 3 hours basically willing myself to not throw up.  Not a good start!  I felt a little better in the airport, found my shuttle bus to the hotel and was on my way.  I stayed at the Cosmopolitan hotel right across from the Jockey club.  Jordan and Katy met me at the hotel and brought cupcakes!  so sweet - I had to save them for later though :(   we went to lunch and I got up from the table 4 times to sick in one way or another.  Not good.  We had planned to go hiking, but I just wasn't feeling well enough.  I went back to the hotel and rested and got sick :(  On Friday, they had to work so I went walking for a few hours, took a nap, and then met them for dinner.

In my walk, I noticed
1)  There is far less honking.
2) There is lots of traffic and it feels more busy, city like than Mumbai.
3) not ONE person stared at me
4) No one spit near me
5) No one was sleeping on the street and there was no garbage

We met two of their other friends for dinner and I tried this macaroni and cheese they raved about.  I was still being super cautious about eating so I ate about half of it and gave the barely cooked egg to Jordan so I didn't have to look at it! Normally I love eggs, but I just couldn't risk it.

On Saturday, I was well enough to eat some of the cupcakes!!  We took this trolley bus thing through part of the city.  They are slow moving, but cheap (about 50 cents) and the sides weren't enclosed so you could stick your head out and look around like a dog!  We went up on the double decker and we had great views as we were meandering through the city.  Hong is so busy that it is major sensory overload.  Mumbai does too, but Hong has more visual stimuli and less smelliness!!

I'm excited to see if these two women are on next season's Amazing Race!  There were two white women dressed alike and running around while cameras followed them.

We took the Ferry to Cheung Chai Island to go hiking.  We took the fast ferry on the way there.  It cost about $3 and took about half an hour.  It was also pretty bumpy - I had to close my eyes and go to my happy place to keep my cupcakes down!   The island was beautiful.  Jordan and Katy were gracious enough to allow me to wear my ridiculous hiking boots and huge backpack to train even though we were on a very tame trail :)

The island so peaceful.  There were lots of people out there enjoying the great weather.  It was so cute to see adults riding bicycles with training wheels :)  When you think about it though where on earth would they learn to ride a bike in the crowded city.  We took the slow ferry back and it was only about $1.50, took an hour and was much less bumpy.

We went home to shower and nap then met for dinner.  I always try to eat beef when I am out of India and all my beef eating plans went out the window because, well, I couldn't eat!  but by this third night, I was willing to try it.  We went to a place called Beef and Liberty (cool name) and I had a delicious cheese burger.  I still couldn't eat much so no sides - just the burger and half of one bun, but it was awesome!

On Sunday I went up a very steep hill to a jogging trail/park area.  I was still in the middle of the city, but it was quiet and green!

This shows how there are parks and trees right in the middle of the city. 

Here is the jogging trail - so nice. 

I am disappointed in this picture, because it doesn't capture the steepness
of this hill like I wanted.  It was REALLY steep. 

I had a great time, and I would love to visit Hong Kong again!  It could be a possible next place to live.  The apartments are TINY, but the city is great for walking and has lots of western food :)

Training for Inca Trail

I have always had a desire to see lots of places in the world and Machu Picchu has been on the list for awhile.

A few years ago I went on a running cruise in Alaska organized by famous running coaches.  About 100 of us on a cruise ran a marathon over a week.  At each port, we got out and met a local running group and ran 3, 6, 7, or 10 miles and it added up to 26 miles at the end and we got a medal.  :)  I went by myself, but made running friends that I still keep in touch with on facebook. They have other trips like that - a Caribbean one in February that I can never go to due to school schedules and one in Italy in the fall.  I was looking up the Italy one to see if it matched our break when I stumbled upon the Inca Trail one.    The deadline to get permits was 4 days away so I made a fast decision.  I am graduating with my Masters Degree in a few weeks and my 40th birthday is in July so this is my present to myself.
I am going by myself again, but hoping to meet some other runners/active people (We are not running the trail - just hiking it).  and I get a medal for it, because we are doing 26 miles :)

It is a trip I have really had to prepare for though.  I haven't gone camping on the ground since I worked for the Girl Scouts!!   and I have never gone on a multi day hike.  They recommended Hiking shoes as opposed to boots because they are lighter, but we are going to be on really rocky terrain and I have to be really careful with my joints due to Lupus so I went with the boots.  I have gone on 3 walks for more than 2 hours at a time and my feet hurt less than in my normal shoes!!!  I LOVE the boots.  Hopefully they will treat me well on my four day hike.  I got them at REI and got fitted for a backpack and got an osprey bladder for it and used it for the first time today.  I love it too and the two liters wasn't too much for my back.  I walk around Mumbai with my shorts, boots, and backpack on - it's hilarious.  I'm sure some kids will comments.  I never see them because they are in cars but apparently they see me walking all the time!

We get a 5 day weekend next weekend and I am going to Hong Kong to go hiking!  I have never been, but apparently there is a beautiful trail that goes through wooded areas in the city with great views of hills and water!  I am excited to try my gear out for multiply hours a day for multiple days :)  and a secondary bonus is I get to see my teaching partner that I worked with for my first two years here in India.  Super fun to know people in other countries :)

My kids drank the Kool-aid

So my 6th graders really disappointed me by not doing what they were supposed to on their projects and making it really hard for me to grade them.  They also had to give feedback to others and because they didn't follow directions, it made it difficult on their peers.  The results?  Peers were irritated and students were unhappy with their grades.

Me:  Is my job JUST to teach you math?
Students: no Miss Staley
Me:  What else is my job?
boy: teach us to be good people.
girl: teach ATL skills (approaches to learning)
girl: teach us to be nice people
boy:  teach us to be productive citizens
boy: teach us to follow the Core Values
girl:  teach us how to make good decisions and how to deal with the consequences if we don't make
        good decisions.
girl: help us learn how to make fewer mistakes now, so we don't make huge mistakes as adults
boy: teach us to work well with others
boy: teach us to be cooperative and helpful
girl: teach us to be responsible for our own learning


Well, I guess I've done my job well!!!  We have had so many discussions about these things that I didn't even have to get on them about their poor decisions today.  They knew their decisions did not represent the Core Values or any other things we work on so they willingly accepted the consequences and didn't complain about them.

They know tomorrow is a new day for us to work on all these skills and do better next time :)

Love these kiddos!

Jerusalem Half Marathon

The half marathon was really difficult due to the hills, but it was a beautiful day!  We got to run all over Jerusalem including a little bit of the old city.  The rocks were hard to run on!!

The Temple Mount

One of the most iconic skylines in the world is the view of the Dome of the Rock from the Mount of Olives.  It is an amazing view that takes your breath away.  It was really hazy this day so it wasn't as beautiful as usual.

The Dome of the Rock covers the rock that is to believed to be the one Abraham was going to sacrifice his son Issac on.   Some Muslims believe he was going to sacrifice Ishmael.  It is also supposed to be the rock that Mohammed ascended from.  It is on the Temple Mount the place where the 1^st and 2^nd temple was and building the 3^rd temple is really important to the Jewish religion and they believe the coming of the Messiah is tied to the building of the 3^rd temple.  Right now the closest many Jews get to the temple mount is the Western Wall or Wailing Wall.  

Some Jews believe they can go up to the mount but just avoid the actual temple courtyard part, others don’t believe they can go up at all.  There is actually a sign on the entrance saying that it is against Torah law to go up there since they don’t know where the Holy of Holies was in the first temples and they are forbidden to step on it.

It is difficult to get on the Temple Mount.  It is under Muslim control and they are free to enter whenever they want from all gates.  Non Muslims can only go through one gate and it is only open for about an hour a day.  You have to get in line an hour before it opens and they just stop letting people in when they feel like it so people stand in line for hours and might not get in.  Our tour guide talked about how it is one way the Muslims try to keep people from coming on the Mount. There is no cover for the line so if it is really hot or raining or snowing it is really uncomfortable.  You have to go through security to get into the Wailing Wall area then even more security going to the Temple Mount.  You are not allowed to have any non Muslim religious symbols on you.  You have to be covered from neck to toes.  I had sleeves on to my elbows and they still made me put on a coat.  And it was HOT.  They allow Jews up but hassle them sometimes.  The bridge going up to it collapsed and they built a "temporary" wooden bridge.  It has been there for years.  The Israeli government wants to build a new bridge but the Muslims won't allow it because they feel it is a way for the Jews to start building the 3rd Temple. 

Our guide said we might encounter some shouting etc, but no real violence.   We were there ten minutes when many groups of Muslims started shouting, chanting, and were generally upset.  We looked around to see what caused it and then we saw Israeli soldiers on the Mounts.  Again, they are allowed to be there but are hassled like the Jews.  The soldiers were just visiting like any other tourist, but they stand out.  All soldiers have to carry their firearms everywhere even if they are going to and from work so they are all over the busses, streets etc with their weapons. 

Although the Dome of the Rock is the highlight for non -Muslims, the Al Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site for Muslims and it is right next to the Dome.  The whole Mount area is like a park and is beautiful when sunny :)