a village visit and Ganesh immersions

I had an incredible day yesterday experiencing Indian culture.  Ganesha immersions are hard to enjoy in the city sometimes. It's loud and crazy and people are seriously intoxicated.  I went with a few friends on a village tour to experience rural immersions.  We got really early and met the tour guide at Bandra train station at 6:30 am.  The village was a 3 hour drive away through beautiful countryside.  The people in the village warmly welcomed us, gave us tea and invited us into their homes.  

preparing lunch

We had a great lunch!

We got to go on an amazing trekking trip.  It was wonderful to breathe in fresh air and not hear any horn honking.  At the top of the "mountain" there was a temple and some pretty friendly monkeys. 

We were supposed to participate in the immersion at the village, but they weren't going to start until late evening and we would get back into Mumbai around 11 or 12 and that would make it hard to go to school the next day.  so we decided to leave early even though that was the reason we had gone.  The guide had a plan B and said we would stop at a river on the way home and see some immersions there. I think plan B worked out better than plan A.  We saw some great immersions!

I have a lot more pictures on facebook and here is some information on the celebration. 

Ganesh Chaturthi Celebrations

Preparations for Ganesh Chaturthi- which marks the birth of the Lord Ganesh- begin up to ten days in advance, and sometimes even months in advance. In virtually every neighbourhood, a brightly decorated and painstakingly crafted Ganesh idol is made, to be illuminated and worshipped for all of the ten days leading up to Ganesh Chaturthi.

Grand pandals or stages are set up and filled with fresh flowers and the idols are dressed up in colourful clothes and glittering ornaments. There is keen competition to see which pandal has been most artistically decorated and sometimes there is even a prize for the best dressed idol!

On the day of the Ganesh festival itself, sweets - especially laddoos and sugary modaks, which are a favourite of the God's -- are distributed (and consumed) and Ganesh temples are crowded with devotees who participate in the worship of the deity.

When all the festivities are over, the idols which have been worshipped over the past ten days are taken out in a grand procession. During this procession the much-adored God is hoisted on willing shoulders, or rides in open trucks and carriages.

Accompanied by fireworks displays, beating drums and the sound of thousands of voices singing devotional songs, the idols are ritually immersed in a nearby sea, lake or river. The immersion ceremony, which is known as the 'visarjan', marks the end of the festivities. The people dance with great enthusiasm and singing rents the air, urging the god to return post haste the next year.

"Ganpati bapa, mouriya! Pudcha varshi, laukar ya!" Hail Lord Ganesha, please return soon next year.

The fervour with which devotees celebrate the birthday of their most loved deity – Lord Ganesha suggests the significance of Ganesh Chaturthi in their lives. According to the popular belief, Lord Ganesha descends on the earth on Ganesh Chaturthi to stay with his devotees for the course of ten days and clear all their obstacles. In return devotees pamper their beloved Lord Ganesha as an honoured guest and prepare his favourite sweets – modaks.

click here for more information

Lonely Rickshaw ride and Ganpati

Most days I am perfectly happy living here in Mumbai.  I love my job and opportunities here.  For the most part I have adapted the craziness of Mumbai.  I ride to school in a rickshaw every morning and evening and I am usually with someone so it isn't so bad.  It's when I am riding home from school that is the hardest.  First of all I have to walk to this busy street by my school and try to find a rickshaw willing to take me to Bandra West.  Today it took me three tries to find one that would take me at the meter rate and not charge me extra.  Rickshaws are 3 wheeled vehicles with no sides

Which means that you get the full force of the smelliness of Mumbai.  When they stop at signal lights (which is rare, but there are a few places where they do stop at lights) beggars reach in and touch you.  Yesterday I rode home by myself and it's hard not to think - "what am I doing here?"  It smelled horrible, vehicles were passing within inches of us, my driver was swerving all over, drivers of other rickshaws are spitting constantly and they are so close I'm always afraid the spit is going to land on me  (it has happened once) and beggars grab at me.  This woman with a baby harassed me the whole time I was stopped at this light.  My friend has a car and she carries small packages of crackers to hand out to beggars, but I don't have a place to put them.  I always feel bad about not giving anything even though I know it isn't practical.  Today I had to go home by myself again.  so I put a few rupees in my hand ready to pass them out at the light.  The same woman with the baby came up to me.  I gave her a coin and she still grabbed at me and begged for more.  I handed out coins to a few others.  That is going to be my strategy from now on I think.

it is Ganpati this week. Here is a very short version of the celebration of Ganesh's birth.  According to the popular belief, Lord Ganesha descends on the earth on Ganesh Chaturthi to stay with his devotees for the course of ten days and clear all their obstacles. In return devotees pamper their beloved Lord Ganesha as an honoured guest and prepare his favourite sweets – modaks.

Here is a link to more information Ganpati  What it boils down to is families have a Ganesh that they march down to the Sea.  It involves lots of drumming and dancing.  It is pretty cool to see even though it blocks streets etc.  I am going with some friends to a village about 100km outside of Mumbai to view a Ganesha celebration up close and personal.  Should be really interesting.  Christians are against idols, but here, they are the norm.  The people love their Ganeshas and are really proud of them and lovingly parade them to the sea.  Hopefully I will have some great pictures next week. 

50 by 50

I have always loved to travel and I've been to 47 US states.  My family went on only 3 major vacations when I was a kid and we drove through a lot of states.  I've been to others due to races or vacations.  The only 3 I haven't been to is New Mexico, Utah, and Hawaii.  I really want to see the national parks in Utah and the magnificent scenery in Utah.  and of course Hawaii!!  but now that I'm overseas those states are going to have to wait.  Now I'm working on Countries. :)

When I moved overseas I had only been to 4 countries.
 1) United States - lived there my whole life
 2)  Mexico - a 10 day high school Spanish trip
 3) Canada - a one day stop on a cruise
 4) Ecuador - a total of about 30 days in three summers

Pretty limited traveler!!

Year 1 
In my first year of teaching overseas I have doubled my country count!!  2011
    5) India
    6) Israel - 10 days at Christmas
    7)  Jordan - 3 days at Petra
    8)Turkey - one day flight lay over in Istanbul but I got to see some great things
    9)Ireland - was there for 5 weeks traveling and working on my masters degree. 

I've also done some traveling in India.
 
    a)  I went on a weekend trip to Aurangabad and saw some amazing caves with sculptures and paintings   With Andrea and Megan
    b)  I went to Matheran twice.  Once to check it out and once for our Week Without Walls trip with the  kids.  Matheran is a pedestrian hill station where a lot of British went for holidays. 
    c)  I went to Kerala for Diwali - it is a southern coastal state of India - lots of greeen space and hiking.   We saw tea plantations and went on a house boat on the backwaters. With Andrea, Zach, and Nancy
     d) A bunch of us went to the beaches of Goa for Thanksgiving.
              Andrea, Zach, Nancy, Angelo
     e) I went to lonavala with a bunch of faculty members to a teachers house.
    f)  I took the kids to Delhi for Math Counts
    g)  I worked with Habitat for Humanity in Kajarat twice
     h) For Spring Break I went to Aamby Valley City to a resort. (by myself) near Lonavala


Year 2 

      Oct. break - Delhi, Agra (the Taj mahal) and Jaipur  with Evelyn, Hannah and Cate
      Diwali - Kolkata to site see and to volunteer with Mother Theresa's Sisters of 
           Mercy.  with Evelyn and Gretchen
      Math Counts -Chennai 
      Christmas - Mediterranean cruise
      10)  Cyprus
      11) Greece
      12) Italy
      13)  Vatican City
               Turkey and Israel again.

       February - amritsar and the pakistan border crossing with Jordan
      14) spring Break - thailand (Bangkok and Chang mai) to see nancy and Zach

Summer
    Ireland for 4 weeks
    15) England (london) for a week  stonhenge, bath,

Year 3

    Diwali - Jodpur and camel camp - Emily, Evelyn and her mom
    16) Fall break - Maldives by myself
    17) Math workshop - Warsaw Poland
    Christmas - home
    18) Leadership team NESA conference - Oman
    Math counts - Mumbai
    19) Math workshop - Vienna Austria
    Spring break - Israel (marathon) and Turkey( Desi and Jillian)
    20) May break - Hong Kong to see Jordan
 

    21) summer - Peru

   Year 4
    fall break cruise Turkey, Italy Greece Croatia
   22) math workshop  - nice France 
   23) went to dinner in Monaco while in Nice
   math workshop - warsaw poland
   24) Netherlands - one night coming back to india from poland
   25) Jan NESA conference Bahrain
   26) February Math counts UAE
   27) math workshop - Dubrovnik croatia (spring Break)
   28) visited montenegro while in Dubrovnik
   29) visited Bosnia and Herzegovina while in Dubrovnik

cruise- summer with stacy and norma
    france italy spain monaco
   30) Spain
   31) Andorra

year 5
32) fall break Luxemburg
33) Saabrucken, Germany for a day
34) Diwali - Ankor Wat Siem Reap Cambodia
Christmas - cruise and Puerto Rico
35) Barbados 
36) St. Lucia
37) St. Kitts and Nevis
38) spring break Sri Lanka 
London on the way home in the summer for adaptive schools
39) Belgium and the Netherlands during the summer coming back to India


Year 6

fall break Seychelles  40
christmas home and sri lanka
spring Phuket thailand
math counts Kathmandu Nepal  41


year 7
moved to Brazil  42
weekend trip to ouro preto
Iguazu falls, Argentina 42
christmas  mexico, belize, guatemala, el salvador, honduras, nicaragua, costa rica  48
Carnival  Paraguay  49
summer  galapagos ecuador

Year 8
christmas home
spring break nashville
summer  germany, denmark, estonia, finland, sweden, russia  54

d

matadornetwork.com map





    



    

The joys of rickshaw riding

Today was a really long day.

I left my flat at 7:07am to catch a rickshaw with my teaching partner.  I had a very busy day at school and taught until 3:30. I stayed in my room tutoring students until 4:45.  We headed out to get a rickshaw home around 5pm. The plan was to get home by 5:30, go to the MRI place to get my results, walk them over to the doctor, then go to my women's group that I've missed the last two weeks due to parent night and back pain.

God had other plans.

We told the driver "Bandra West"  like we do every day.  He did not drive in the direction we normally go.  We tapped him and repeated "Bandra West" twice in the first 20 minutes.  He waved us off and kept going.  We thought maybe he was going a "scenic" route and decided to just enjoy the ride.  He kept driving and kept driving.  We saw a lot of interesting Mumbai neighborhoods, malls, shops, temples, a cool slum up on a hill.  Finally we stopped him and repeated "Bandra West" and he finally got it.  He started rambling excitedly in Hindi and I'm pretty sure it was something like "Well that isn't far from where we started!!  why are we all the way about here!!?!?!"  Good questions mister!  That is what we were wondering :)  He just kept talking and waving his arms. People on the street noticed and came over to help us.  They explained where we wanted to go and reluctantly turned around.  He grumbled to himself repeatedly for quite awhile and was obviously not happy with us.  He tried to talk to us a few times - we are gathering there is an area that sounds like Bandra and that is where he was headed.  Of course it started raining on the way back :)   He laughed when I struggled to get the tarp tied to keep me from getting too wet. We got really excited when we got back to an area we recognized.   He dropped me off down the street from my flat at 6:40.

How much did this ONE HOUR AND FORTY MINUTE rickshaw ride cost?   about  $3.75!!!!!     :)   That would get you a few blocks in NYC!

I have been really stressed out lately and I definitely didn't have that much time to waste riding around in a rickshaw.  It could have been a horrible experience - if we were frustrated or angry with the driver etc.  But it actually was a pretty good thing.  Since we chose to not a make a big deal of it and just see where he was going to take us :)  it was a fun adventure.  It was time to just ride around observing the culture we live in.  We laughed a lot and held entire conversations with a man who couldn't speak a word of English.  By the end, he was laughing too.

I didn't get to my women's group and I didn't get my MRI results to the doctor.

But I am more relaxed :)

I'm I losing myself?

Our school has been using Eminem's Lose Yourself as a them song. 

"Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity...to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment...would you capture it or just let it slip away."

Last year was a rough year.  I wasn't homesick, but there was a LOT to adjust to here.  I had to work with all new people.  I was in a school system completely different than what I was accustomed to.  Mumbai was so different than Houston!  I had never worked in a school with so much technology and I had never coached Math Counts.  I learned a hundred new things last year that made me a better teacher.  

I had to adjust to a lot of new things and ended up losing some of myself.  I'm a pretty simple person :)  I didn't need a lot to occupy my free time.  I walked in the evenings and just soaked in the Texas sun.  I trained to run half marathons and full marathons and spent hours a week running with friends.  I'd go to Karin and Brendon's and play with the girls.  Occasionally I'd go to a movie or a concert.  that's it. That's really all I needed to be content.  

Obviously Karin and the girls aren't here.  I didn't have anyone to run with and walking is not relaxing here.  so the things that made me feel peace weren't in place.  It was really hard to make friends.  International teachers are generally worldly people.  They go out a lot, drink a lot, travel a lot, and embrace religious celebrations where ever they are.  I had friends that I could go shopping with or to the movies with, but no one to really talk to about things.  As a believer it was important to have people who share the same values as I do.  and I wasn't finding that.  I was really lonely.  I'm not a crier, but my teaching partner had to deal with a lot of tears from me!!!  

This year, I feel like I have a better grip on school stuff so I knew I needed to work on finding myself again.  A really sweet teacher invited me to join a women's group - About 5 women believers are going to meet every week  - we aren't really sure what it is going to build into, but right now we are just focussing on doing something fun together, praying for each other, and just intentionally getting to know each other.  I'm working on getting running back in my life.  training by myself is really hard.  Traveling international to do races is expensive and time consuming, but I am realizing it is really important to my well-being.  I'm intentionally picking small group things to do that is more conducive to my personality.  Will (our math intern) and Pauline (French teacher)  invited my teaching partner, Jordan, and I over to play this new game they got - civilization.  We spent over 5 hours playing it Saturday and it was one of the best afternoons I'd had in a long time.  It was low key and a lot of fun.  I need a lot more afternoons like that :)

We've been back just three weeks and people have notice that I am a lot more centered.  I haven't cried at all!!  and I feel ready to take on more of the math department responsibilities.  I feel a lot more like myself and hope I will be able to be a better friend this year.  God has definitely given me the gift of service - I like to help people and care a lot of how people are, but that kind of got put on the back burner last year because I was trying to keep from drowning! Now I can tread water and feel like I can help others do the same!

I'm beginning to lose myself in another way - 6 pounds down in three week :)  a lot more to go!!!

Starting my 2nd year at ASB

 It was very different coming to Mumbai this year!  I wasn't new!!  I knew what to expect and India wasn't as intimidating.  My apartment was in good shape when I got back - no mold! Jessie, my helper, had food waiting for me and everything was ship shape.

Our school went under major construction and things weren't quite as ready as we had expected.  The last week has been a lesson in patience and flexibility.  We were trying to get things ready for kids while tons of Indian workers were still trying to do construction.  Each day we would come to school and see improvement - ceilings finished, walls painted, boxes moved, shelves put in, etc.  My room is in pretty good shape.  Once all the furniture gets there and I can organize supplies, it will be great!

That white board is being taken away because apparently it belongs to the elementary school :(  but I will get one someday.

 Those white board/glass doors slide and open into Jordan's classroom. We are teaching one really big 8th grade class and we'll open the doors and spread out to differentiate.

The window by the desk overlooks the area where the construction workers are living.  They sleep outside right by the piles of plywood and other materials they are using to build.  The other day as i was sorting out materials I saw some shirtless men with their hands downs their pants scratching their crotch like Indian men do.  I was thinking that might be a little distracting to my sixth graders.  I didn't say anything about it until yesterday.  I had my back to the window and the friend that was talking to me said "that guy doesn't have pants on"  HA!  I would see different things when I looked out - sometimes they were working, sometimes laying on the wood with their legs splayed out oh so attractively, sometimes sleeping, sometimes scratching and shirtless and/or pantsless.  I don't know when we'll get blinds on the windows.  I was just going to put some math posters over the two windows that are the most problem, BUT our poster container is one of the supply boxes that we are missing!  so I had to talk to my principal and they are going to put paper over it to start the year.

These doors open in the middle school commons - big open space for kids to work. 

I'll take more picture of the new middle school when I can. 

I have definitely changed!  Karen, who lives in my building and has been doing this international teaching thing a long time said she was so proud of me.  This time last year, she was taking me out and buying me a brownie because I was having a meltdown!  Going to the MAET program this year definitely helped.  Last year I had no idea about technology.  People would talk and I wouldn't understand any words coming out of their mouths! I'm definitely no expert, but I am actually helping people with technology things.  Showing them shortcuts on the mac, giving them ideas of tech tools to use etc.  Today the other math teachers were having an in depth conversation about a very cool tech thing - Apple TV.  I told Will that I understood about 3/4 of the conversation!  last year, my eyes would have glazed over and I would have been near tears because I didn't understand anything.  

um. yeah.  there are mosquitos.  You can't see how swollen my feet are, but there is one bite on each foot.  I covered them in calamine and that helped the pain some.

Starting Grad School

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever get my Masters.  I wasn't interested in it and couldn't afford it.  Now I'm getting it in Educational TECHNOLOGY.  unbelievable.

I'm getting a Masters of Arts in Educational Technology through Michigan State University.  I go to school for a month every summer for 3 summers and I have to take one on line class during the school year.  I did not have to take the GRE to get in and I don't have to write a thesis to get out :) This year the overseas program is held in Dublin.

It is being held at Dublin City University and we are staying in the dorms.  I live with 4 other women.  We each have our own room and bathroom but share a living room and kitchen.  I can't imagine students living here for a whole year.  The bathroom is the size of a cruise ship bathroom.  The room is even tinier than my dorm room in college.  The closet is laid out weirdly and there are NO drawers.

Jessica is in year 3.  The rest of us are year 1. She's really cool and laid back.  She's lived all over the world - just left Uganda, is delivering her baby in Uraguay in September and is moving to Chile this fall.  She is originally from Uraguay.  Blair is young and bubbly.  Only been teaching 2 years - she has boundless energy and is nice to everyone.  She teaches in Michigan.  Janine is from Wisconsin but is currently teaching in Jakarta (she is on the same 1st grade team as Mrs. Studtz - the wife of the man I replaced in India!) Laura is the person most like me I think.  She is from Wales but teaches in Seoul.  She's quieter and needs more alone time (like me and Jessica).  She teaches PE and is really nervous about school like I am.  It takes us a little longer to understand material.

Michele and Kristen are our instructors.  They are doctorate students at MSU.  They are super sweet and helpful.

There are 14 in our year one class and there is a good mix of overseas and Michigan people.

We go to school from 8:30 - 3:30 with an hour for lunch.  not bad.  and the teachers will stay after to help you.  after school I go workout then do homework and chat with my roommates.

This week we had a famous literacy specialist from Ireland - Bernadette Dwyer - come to speak with us, she was great.  We got to take a fieldtrip to Trinity College - one of the oldest universities in the world  - to see the Book of Kells.  It was a beautiful day!

We get to sign up for a topic for "unclass" time.  It is ungraded time but we are supposed to discuss a topic then present something to the group.  My topic is Flipping the Classroom.  Basically that means having the kids do the instruction/learning part at home and then doing the homework/practice part in class where I can monitor it.  We have a pretty good group and I am excited about it.

I have a school blog where I present my school projects if you want to check it out.
http://bobbijostaleymaet.wordpress.com/

On Saturday I went on a group trip to the Cliffs of Moher.  I had gone last week but signed up for this because most of the students were going and I thought it would be a good way to socialize. Also we got to go to this family farm that has been operating for 300 years.  One of the owners took us on a hike up their "mountain" and told us history and geological and biological information.  It was cold and raining.  Then we got to go to Grandma's house on the property where family members bake pies and cheesecake and you can sit in the living room by a fire :)  We were supposed to go to Galway but there was a boat race going on and we couldn't get there due to traffic.  So the guide took us to another town to get dinner.

We went through a town that I've been through before where they hold a Match Making Festival every September.  Tons of people from all over the world come to get matched up by a 4th generation matchmaker.  :)

We left at 7am and got home around 10pm - long long day.