Going Global

I expected many things in India, but I never expected to be a celebrity.  And for eight days in Pathardi, celebrities we were.  We had crowds, chairs, enthusiastic handshakes, and requests for selfies and autographs. It was exciting at first, but then became problematic. How could we work with students and teachers when the class erupted into applause because we walked in to the room? I was admiring beautiful Rangoli paintings, but had to stop because so many students wanted selfies. It was particularly difficult when teachers were insisting I go to one room over another and then arguing in Marathi about it, a language I could not understand. I was never sure of why we were so popular. The area is remote and does not see many foreigners and they said we were the first Americans there. On the first day we joined in on a dance, the zingat   song, and with social media we became a hit. Our host teachers said we were much more personal with our students and that contributed to it. Ma

Our arrival to Shri Tilok, our host school, we shared discussion, samosas and sweets with the trustees. Our host teacher, Shrikant Kilkhoe asked " Can you hear the music?" ...the faint pounding of drums in the distance.  G reeting  us at  the main gate of the school were  young students in beautiful saris. They placed a Tilok, or red mark  on our foreheads,  denoting a special occasion and we walked down a the long driveway closer to the school there was a phalanx  of drummers and students lined up for us. Students sat in rows on the ground. We were lead to the stage, and bedecked with garlands of flowers, medallions with India colors, and seats of honor.  And this was only the beginning, in traditional Maharashtra custom a man wound a Pheta or turban around our heads.  Students and teachers gave speeches in English about the honor of having Americans and the power of a teacher. On the first full moon they honor the power of the Guru Purnima. And of course we

The Modhera Stepwell in Gujarat India (picture courtesy of Wikimedia\0 The essence of  global education is to engage and involve students in their own education as they learn about the world, often you will hear the terms, problem or inquiry based learning. We had a presentation by Raj from Biome Solutions a hybrid not for profit/for profit organization in Bangalore. Raj shared with us the problems of water in Banglore; how it effects the environment; and how global education has made a difference for our world and students in some Bangalore communities.   Water is the staple of life and comes from natural bodies of water and groundwater. The stepwells are are an architectural design to reach groundwater and also served as community gathering spot.   By the nature of it's design, it also measured whether it would be a good year or a bad year. A high water level indicates  enough water to plant, while a lower one would be a sign of drought. The monsoons of  India can re

Mr. Singh explained one of the world's oldest culture ( not a job for the faint hearted) to the TGC  Fellows. India values compassion and contentment and above all family. It is really many cultures with distinct characteristics. To illustrate this idea, he wrote one of the Fellows names in 5 of over 29 recognized languages in India as an example of it's diversity. It is diverse in language, customs, and traditions, but share the value of family. His discussion of a 6000 year old society based on values so different than our consumerism/goal oriented/business based society has given me lots to think about. Each presenter has proved they are master storytellers and his story to explain the diversity within India is that of a raindrop. Each raindrop is distinct, but when they mingle in the ocean there is no difference. The Indians we have met in meetings and on the street are so friendly. They work hard, and enjoy sharing food and stories with family and fiends. They have

Meet Hamesh, a rickshaw driver for 20 years, but also a storyteller, salesman/hustler, daredevil,  Bengaluru tour guide and father.   I had been told that taking a walk is  India would not be easy, and so venturing out after breakfast, I was only looking to walk around the block.  And that turned out to be shorter than I wanted as I weighed the difference between being cautious and carefree/ safe and lost. As I had left the hotel a rickshaw driver, Hamesh had asked if I wanted a ride and when I returned so quickly he repeated his offer, 50 rupees or about .77 cents to go to Lake Ulsoor and the commercial district. I said maybe later after I met with my cohort. Sure enough he was still there when we went later and he rounded up  two other Drivers for the six of us.  In short order we were on are way in the midst of motorcycles, buses, cars, patrol fumes, and horns beeping. The rules of the road seemed to be casually acknowledged, as we traveled on both the right and left

I created my webpage for TGC on Google sites months ago, using my Macbook laptop.  I decided to take an iPad to India.  Yet, now it's 5 a.m. ... the morning that I leave for India and as I am going through a mental checklist of everything I need, it occurs to me download the sites app onto the iPad. But....sites is not supported on the iPad!!  So here is my fix, I am hoping to embed this blog into Google sites and keeping my fingers crossed. It's actually the part of technology that I really enjoy, the problem solving aspect of it. There is generally more than one way to do something with technology. It's abouthow can you create another solution. On the other hand, knowing the intracies of different formats is the part that can drive me crazy. Who knew Google Sites would not work. It's all about preparation. Okay, hopefully this works, back to my checklist...