NO boys

Since everyone keeps asking, let me just say that everyone on my trip is married except for 4 of us girls. 

More Kolkata...

July 12- Old Kolkata Walking Tour

Today the head of the American Institute, an offshoot of the consular office here, took us on a walking/tram tour of the old part of Kolkata. I am becoming more adjusted to the number of people out everywhere but NOT the traffic. The air is so polluted that it feels like you are sucking on a tailpipe of a car all the time. I have a chest cold already, so not being able to breathe clean air is not really helping. The traffic is nothing like I have ever seen. I don’t really even have the words to describe it. There is literally one inch (or less probably) between things. Here in Kolkata they also have rickshaws pulled by people, barefoot people at that. I saw a girl talking on her cell phone and riding in a pedi-cab pulled by a barefoot man, how’s that for a juxtaposition!?!

I thought the traffic in Delhi was bad but here it is much worse! The population density is higher here than in Delhi so it feels even more congested. I know I keep talking about this, but really, when you go anywhere, crossing the street is extremely scary! Not to mention the noise! Everyone honks their horn constantly, and it is not to be rude, but there are people darting in an out of traffic on a variety of modes, even legs, so they have to honk. The backs of auto-rickshaws and busses actually have signs that say, “Please honk!” Remember also that sometimes there are cows right in the middle of the street too, just hanging out!

We walked through some really crowded markets and if you’ve ever had an image of what India looks like in your head, this is it! There are masses of people from all walks of life from dirty street people to businessmen in suits (though how they are not soaked completely through with sweat I do not understand) to school children in droves wearing uniforms. There is so much visual stimulation, one is not really quite sure where to look and if you show too much interest in something you are looking at then you will be bombarded with the sellers. If you think sales clerks in the US are pushy, you ain’t seen nothin’!

Three of us girls (there are seven girls and nine guys in our group) were wearing our Indian outfits and I literally had to peel mine off when we got back to the hotel because it was so sweaty and also I felt SO dirty from all the beggars touching my arms trying to get money. I hope I am not sounding mean about the beggar situation but truly it is filthy dirty here and it is a bit overwhelming to see this many street people and to see them picking through piles of trash on the street. We talk about poverty in the US but it is nothing like this. There are shanty villages right on the side of the road where thousands of people are living, but next to them there are also luxury apartment buildings being built. It is a very dichotomous society, even more so than ours. Although, I must admit, my views are somewhat skewed at home because I don’t live in a big urban area. But even in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, it is not like this.

I am definitely going to by some stuff but I just have to be brave about the haggling! The one outfit I did buy was from a fixed price store so I didn’t have to haggle over the price. Another girl here is pretty good at it so I need to watch her. It is hard because I don’t really know what a reasonable price for stuff even is!

Disneyland 50 years ago....

July 11- Science City, Dumping Grounds, & City Tour

 

Today we went to our second Indian science museum (we went to another in Delhi but I didn’t ever write about it) at this place in Kolkata called “Science City.” If you can picture what Disneyland must have looked like 50 years ago  (or Wally World from the Vacation movies) and then let 50 years go by but don’t make any improvements to almost everything, this is what Science City looked liked. It is a hands-on science museum, but as a person who has a degree in Interpretation and studied museums, there is a key piece of interpretation missing. The one really cool exhibit was on powers of ten and it had pictures and examples (math teachers pay attention) of the same thing at 1 and then 10, 100,1000, 10,000, etc. all the way to really large (like maybe about 1X10⁵ .)

We all wore our Indian outfits today and despite the fact that they are loose fitting, it was just so hot while we were at Science City that I was a disgusting, sweaty mess, as was everyone else. It is so humid that you really just can’t wait to get back on the bus or into an air-conditioned part of the museum. While we were inside though, it poured rain and so after that it was actually a tolerable temperature outside. The hardest part of the heat/humidity is that you are trying to look presentable this whole time because you are going to professional places but you just stand there and sweat and sweat and sweat.

Then, we went to the Kolkata city dump. WHAT? WHY? It was actually very interesting, although the people living and working there were completely confounded to have a tour bus drive in. The city of Kolkata has managed to deal with their waste in a very innovative way. When it arrives, it is separated into organic vs. inorganic waste. All of the inorganic waste is put in a landfill, but all of the organic waste is composted to use as fertilizer. This fertilizer is then used all over the dumping grounds where they have acres and acres of every imaginable crop growing. People living there can sell the crops in the markets and make some money. The officials there wouldn’t let us take pictures nor would they really let us get off the bus but it was very cool to see anyway.

The hotel where we are staying here doesn’t have a regular lunch set up like our hotel in Delhi did, so everyday they are making a private luncheon for us in a beautiful banquet room. I don’t know how I am going to go back to living my normal life after being here where I have been staying in ridiculous luxury. I can tell you right now, that is not what I expected when I applied for this program. “Thanks, Uncle Sam!!” I have had to stop eating dinner because our lunches are so extensive and rich that dinner has become unnecessary. That also gives me more money for souvenirs and gifts because they give us money everyday for our dinner stipend. I am for sure going to have to pay for another bag on the way home which is also okay because they gave us $500 to buy curriculum supplies and I bought 6 textbooks for less than $10!

In the afternoon we had a bus tour with an Indian tour guide. He is a native to Kolkata and he was hilarious. We went to the giant Protestant cathedral and to a memorial for Queen Victoria. Since Kolkata was the capital during British rule, they tried to bring Britain to India. There are a lot of Christian churches here and many grand houses that are built in a Victorian style. I said before it kind of looks like shabby Cuba. It also looks like super-shabby (not to be confused with shabby-chic—there is nothing chic about Kolkata) New Orleans because of the architecture.

Our last stop on the tour was at Mother Teresa’s Mission of Charity. There were white dressed nuns everywhere and this was the place we saw the most white people on the whole trip. We saw her tomb, her bedroom, her chapel, and a museum dedicated to her. She was Albanian and not Indian, which I didn’t know. If any place needs a mission for poor people it is Kolkata. Walking down the street, little kids tap your arm and follow you with their hands out. I kind of don’t know what to do. It was cool to see all of that stuff since she did a lot of good things for many people, but you know how I get freaked out about Jesus stuff and there was a lot of that! Plus, we had to take our shoes off which also skeeved me out!

I basically went to bed right when we got back because I am getting a cold and do not feel that great. Basically we are sweating profusely at all times unless in the hotel and when you are not feeling well and sweating like an absolutely disgusting pig, it doesn’t feel that great. I slept for 12 hours and still don’t feel that much better but I am plugging away!

Arrival in Kolkata (Calcutta)

Full contact shopping…

Today we flew from Delhi to Kolkata and as we were flying, we could see the tops of the Himalayas from the window of the plane. It was absolutely amazing to look below the plane and see green, lush areas and look off in the distance and see the tops of mountain peaks from an airplane! I think we saw Mt. Everest because there was one peak that was taller than all of the others but who can tell from an airplane window.

Kolkata, which had the spelling changed from Calcutta in 2001, the British spelling, is completely different from Delhi. Kolkata was the capital of British India and so many of the buildings look like they were built during the Victorian era and, in fact, they probably were. You know when you see Cuba on TV how everything looks really shabby but you can tell it used to be beautiful. Well, Kolkata looks like that except for the fact that it is MUCH dirtier and there a lot more people.

There are people EVERYWHERE!!!! The population density seems much higher here than the places we went in Delhi. I am sure it really isn’t much different but the difference is probably that our hotel in Delhi was out of the downtown area and here, we are right in the thick of things!  Going outside the hotel is incredibly stressful because there are constantly people trying to sell you something, people with no teeth begging, and barefoot children with their hands out begging for rupees. But, remember, at the same time, if you are trying to walk in a particular direction, you are still having to weave your way through the crowds on the sidewalk at the same time.

Last night we went to the “New Market” which is near our hotel and walked around there to see what there was. There were items of every imaginable type and lots of saris and salwar kameez (the tunic, pants, scarf combo) but I couldn’t really stop to look at things because if you show any interest, people trying to show you different things bombard you. It makes you feel like an asshole that you don’t stop and buy something from each of these people because you know that they are making their livelihood but what can you do? I also saw a small child (probably about three) holding a naked baby in the street, just hanging out there. It was heart breaking and at the same time, you cannot stop and give them anything because you will be swarmed. P.S. You are also sweating your butt off this whole time because it is so hot and humid.

I had to hold hands with Lisa, a teacher from California, on the street because we were so stressed about being carried away by the river of people. I have been to New York City and I have been to crowded places in Europe, but NEVER seen crowds like this. It actually reminds me of how crowded the halls are after school or like leaving a football game but there everyone is going the same direction and there are no cars, rickshaws, or motorcycles driving through.

Coming back into the hotel is like walking into heaven because it is cool, quiet, and last night it was set up for a 600 person Indian wedding. We stood in the lobby and watched people come in their elegant, sparkly saris and it was amazing. The flowers for the wedding were like nothing I have ever seen because they had made like beaded doors out of jasmine flowers so the whole lobby of the hotel smelled like jasmine.

The hotel where we are staying here actually used to be the home of some British mucky-muck during colonial times and it is extremely beautiful and lucky for us, has a pool in the center courtyard. After the craziness of the street, it was nice to relax in the pool and decompress, how’s that for incongruent? You feel like a jerk for staying in this fancy hotel when there are people out there on the street, but again, what can I do? This is where Fulbright chose to put me and I am not going to go sleep on the sidewalk! 

What is really going on?

Coaching Centers….India’s parallel school system?

Today we had a speaker who is from what is called a coaching center. Coaching centers are privately run businesses who provide supplemental education to students starting in grade 6. Coaching centers have only about 40 kids in a class instead of the 50-60 found in regular school classrooms and work to identify the individual learning needs of students. Students spend 3.5 hours per week/ per subject as needed at coaching centers and many students (90% according to our speaker) go there for multiple subjects. He said that the coaching centers work to build students’ personal confidence and agency for their own education. Teachers in coaching centers (who might be regular school teachers supplementing their income or might just be people who have an advanced degree in math or science) provide personal attention that students cannot get in their regular school. The school where I went had 9 periods of 35 minutes each and the teachers rotated classrooms instead of the students and so obviously, with 50 students in a class, there is NO WAY a teacher can personally assess each student with any sort of regularity.

To my American ears, it sounded like the coaching centers are essentially doing the actual teaching while the schools are actually just filling time. In the schools, it seemed to me, teachers just talked through their lessons and one teacher actually just picked up and walked out when the bell rang without saying a word of goodbye or anything. Kids go to coaching centers all during their summer vacation and learn the majority of the information they need to for the school year and then sitting through all of these fast –paced lectures in regular school is just review. Coaching centers are unofficially ranked and everyone in India knows that the really good coaching centers are in the state of Gujarat. Apparently, in extreme cases, parents will move their children to Gujarat to attend a good , but very expensive coaching center.

Teachers at coaching centers make significantly more money than regular teachers and the better the coaching center, the higher the tuition and the more money coaching center teachers get paid.

After listening to this guy talk, I started to think that everything we are learning about the educational system is moot because what really matters are these coaching centers. These places are where the real learning and real education is happening and only people who can afford them are going and thus getting into the good universities in India. These centers have a variety of teaching methodologies and go far beyond the fast lectures found in many schools. But of course, the picture is not that easy, and as with everything I have been learning here, there is another perspective.

It is so interesting because if you talk to a government schoolteacher or the curriculum development people, you would think that their teaching methods are varied. They use lecture, labs, technology-assisted lectures, and what they call the “interactive” method where teachers are posing questions to the students. From my brief experience, and my biased perspective, here it what seems to me is going on. Government schools do not have the resources (teachers, technology, supplies, etc.) to individualize education for students. They only places that might have the resources to do this (besides the parents at home) are the coaching centers. All of the responsibility for the learning appears to be on the students.

My brain literally hurts when thinking about all this because my scientist self wants to synthesize this down to a simple answer, but it is impossible. There are so many things going on here that I have contradicting ideas all within the same thought. If my writing seems incoherent that is because my thoughts are not coherent in the least regarding any aspects of the educational system here.

There is one thing that I am fairly clear on though. The American system educates EVERYONE! We do not allow kids to not go to school and there are legal consequences for those who do not have their kids in school or prove they are educating them. I have to remind myself that when we are talking about the achievers in India, we are talking about an elite group. However, the actual number of that elite group is a lot larger than the elite groups in the US because of sheer population. So, if you compare a GT kid in the US to a kid in an elite Indian school, you might see a similar picture. However, it is important to remember that the level of competition for all things here is increased hugely by the fact that there are just so many more people competing for everything.

I don’t know. I have to stop thinking about it for today. It is just so complicated. For now, I am just going to take a little break and relax. We have had a frenetic pace for the last week and I am just relieved to have time to sit here and write this to begin with! Tomorrow we fly to Kolkata (Calcutta) and our frenetic pace continues until Sunday when we have a day off.

One thing I can say, unrelated to the educational system, is that I am sweating my butt off here. I am probably drinking about 3 liters of water a day because it is so humid and hot that I am constantly sweating. It is worse because we go inside some places that are air conditioned and cool off and then we go outside and sweat all over again. The sweating barely ever stops until we get back to the hotel at night where I have to shower just to cool off enough to get in bed. The quick dry shirts I got are absolutely fantastic because even when soaked through, they at least look dry. It is seriously like being in a steam room, which I wouldn’t mind if I wasn’t trying to look presentable and professional when we go places. I look like I just left the gym all day and there is no hope of wearing my hair down or really bothering to wear makeup.  Sweating like that all day is also exhausting. Between having severe jetlag and a busy schedule, FINALLY last night I slept for a full 7 hours and felt relatively rested this morning when I woke up. Also, we were inside pretty much all day yesterday and so I didn’t sweat too much! Tonight I am just staying in because I have to pack to go to Kolkata and get up early tomorrow to get to the airport!

That is all for now! 

Stupid Tourists...

Auto-rickshaw fiasco….

The other day, we were told by a group of women who work at the Fulbright House that the place to go to easily buy some Indian clothes is called Fab India. Fab India is kind of like the Target of India but the nice part is that you can try things on and that you don’t have to haggle over prices, which is nice because that is very stressful. So, we were told where the biggest Fab India is and walked out of our hotel compound to the street where there were immediately autorickshaw drivers coming up to us asking us where we were going. There were 5 of us Fulbrighters and immediately about 5 rickshaws swarmed us. They were all telling us a different story. One said Fab India is closed on Tuesday. One said it would cost 300 rupees to get there (our hotel and our travel leader who is from Delhi had just told us to pay no more than 70 rupees) and another told us that Fab India is not where we should go.

It is very overwhelming to be swarmed by drivers with all of them basically yelling different stories at you and you are trying to figure out just what the hell is going on! So, finally, we couldn’t deal and we decided we would just walk back to the hotel and get a taxi and find out if Fab India was really closed on Tuesdays. The drivers are pretty convincing and it makes it very difficult to know what the real story really is. So then, we went  back to the hotel concierge and asked them about Fab India and they said there was on at the market just down the street and that it was open.

So, we walked back down to the street and started walking toward the market. Again, we were swarmed and this time they told us they would charge us only 10 rupees (which is like 25 cents) to go to the market. Since we hadn’t been there, even though it was walking distance (see Frogger entry to see why we wouldn’t want to walk) we decided to take the rickshaw. We were in two of them and the drivers kept pulling up next to each other in between weaving in and out of traffic. They pulled over and stopped and asked us if we wanted to go to Kahn Market 1 or 2? As far as we knew, there was only one Kahn Market but seriously, what do we know?  

They kept saying that Kahn Market 2 was better and so we agreed to go there. We passed a sign for Kahn Market about 3 minutes after we got into the rickshaw and then we kept going and going and going. After about 10 minutes of driving, I was really wondering what was going on since our hotel had told us that it was walking distance. So, we finally stopped after weaving through traffic for 20 minutes. IT WAS NOT KAHN MARKET!!! Not in ANY way were we even close to where we had asked to go!

We went into the market that they had brought us to and guess what, it was FULL of white people, tourists! HA! We had so been duped! This new market was very expensive and obviously the rickshaw drivers have some deal with the market people to bring tourists there since there weren’t actually any Indian people there except for the employees! It totally reminded me of when I was in Italy and people would always say, “special price, just for you!” We called this market the CON MARKET, which cracked us up. The drivers took us back to the hotel and this time we walked to the actual Kahn Market in about 10 minutes! 

School Visit Part 2...

Touring through all of the elementary aged classrooms was super fun mostly because seeing a bunch of tiny students in their shirt and tie uniforms was so completely adorable. A few periods a week, kids have “games” class which is like physical education and the elementary school kids were doing roller skating when we walked by. Not all of the students were roller-skating because two would go while the others sat in a line waiting while the two went around in a circle. It was extremely endearing.

I still just cannot get over how they just sit crammed into a classroom while the teacher talks and they call out responses. I saw this at every level of instruction. One of my program-mates saw a lesson on “The Three Little Pigs” where the teacher was drilling them on the details on the story over and over and they would call out responses. I just cannot see how India has become a “world leader” in education through these methods. How is this actually happening? Is it their home life? Is it the societal pressure for success? I also have to keep reminding myself that really only people with money and access are going to school. There is still a large percentage of kids who get no education in the whole country. In the classroom there was no individual interaction between the teachers and the students and there was definitely a very minimal amount of checks for understanding. The teacher paused for a very small amount of time and said “any questions?” and then moved on with no wait time.

I was trying to observe whether or not they were engaged in the lesson and it was really hard to tell because mostly they were staring at me! One thing that I did notice and many of the experts have told us is that kids here are exceptionally good at mental math. Kids know their times tables up to 20 but also know them by ½ and 1/3 and a variety of other fractions. It is easy to see why they have to know them mentally because they have no resources except for a piece of chalk and a blackboard and very little paper even. Every kid has a textbook (they are not hard back and cost about 75 cents each) and they can write in them. Families are responsible for purchasing the text but they can get a scholarship if needed.  They also have two comp books, one for notes and one for HW. One of the teachers had me look through a comp notebook to see the HW and mostly they were just recopying words over and over or labeling a picture and this was at the seventh grade level. There was absolutely no thinking involved, it was full rote memorization.

I should also mention that I went into the school library while we were touring the school and all of their nonfiction books were textbooks and reference books for different subject areas. They had no fiction books and no picture books or storybooks for students to check out. There are no computers in the library but the school does have an air-conditioned computer lab and a projector.

I think that I need to mention again also that this is a free school run by the government and that many students in India go to private schools that have more resources than these government schools. When we complain about not having technology in our school, we should shut up because they had very old computers, no overhead projectors, and old, hard to read black boards with chalk. Also, the lab equipment is virtually nonexistent, although they do have a set of microscopes which were not electric.

Teachers would come up to me and show me what they were doing and say things like “see, I am not teaching just by rote, I have a resource from the newspaper too.” This resource was a small piece of newspaper cut out and taped to the board. I am not sure how it is used but it is definitely a much different way than I would use them. I am really trying hard not to judge the school system through my American perspective, but it really is difficult because I cannot see with my educational/pedagogical/methodological background how this “awesome” educational system is actually happening.  I am going to take a temporary break from talking about my school experience and move on to later in the day yesterday when we tried to take an autorickshaw to a market. Oh so funny!