Independence Day

I have never before taught a group of students who smiled at me through the entire period. The 11^th grade class greeted me especially warmly at my school. Students stand when the teacher enters, greet the teacher in unison and wait to be asked to sit down. They stand at the end of class and thank the teacher in unison and stand at attention until the instructor leaves the room. They do not move when the bell rings because they wait to be dismissed. For all my U.S. colleagues, the application to teach here in India can be found at this link: http://www.fulbrightteacherexchange.org/

August 15 (India’s 4^th of July) entails banning the sale of alcohol and flying kites. (Which does seem to beat the beer & firework combination that we favor.) India celebrated its 65^th year of independence from the British while I was in New Delhi, which is one of the most crowded cities on the planet. The residential areas are many-story buildings that share common walls. An entire block can be wall-to-wall buildings of various vintages and heights. I would not be surprised if there were completely windowless dwellings on the insides of the blocks. For the holiday, large numbers of people were on the rooftops flying kites. From the highway, I could see hundreds of colorful kites blowing above the patchwork of apartment buildings. Kites easily evoke an inspiring feeling of freedom, and I appreciated being able to celebrate in the largest democracy on earth.

Walking along a road in Delhi with other exchange teachers, we noticed that the trees in one area were covered in bats. Not little brown bats, but gigantic brown bats. They were the size of seagulls. In many trees, we could see that every branch was laden with about a dozen bats. They were hanging upside down, making bat noises and opening their wings and slowly fanning them (presumably to keep cool). No, I did not have my camera. The flock (probably not the right word for a bat group) consisted of easily hundreds, perhaps thousands of bats.

I have noticed feeling like I am in a Salvador Dali paining. Perhaps it is the jet lag, perhaps the change of culture, or it could be the malaria medication. Yesterday morning was like that. I was unexpectedly asked to make a small spontaneous speech to the 1,600 students who were standing at attention in neat rows in the courtyard during the morning assembly. Many of you know my allergy to public speaking. One of the teachers had introduced me and included a number of items from my Fulbright application. On the application, I was asked what languages I spoke or wrote and I indicated that I spoke broken Thai and poor German. However, the kind teacher exaggerated my skills and said I spoke both German and Thai. Shortly after the assembly, a beautiful woman was animatedly talking to me. I could not understand a word. She was standing in front of me and looking right at me – so I knew she was talking to me. Slowly I realized I was hearing German with an Indian accent. Now, I still have to listen very carefully to understand the Indian accent, but somehow I did understand her German once I knew what was happening. I had to respond in English, but I managed. One of the difficult aspects of being here is not being certain that the communication has been effective. Once in awhile, people respond in such a way that I realize they had no idea what I was just saying. I also know that I am sometimes guessing at meanings and can tell my responses produce puzzled looks. Fortunately, everyone seems very patient with me and I know time will make everything easier.

On the way to school this morning, I walked past a cow that tried (but not very hard) to shove me out of the way with its horns. I moved quickly. Cows have the right-of-way everywhere here.

Sign of the Day: Seen painted on the wall near the opening of the train car. There is no actual door, so I hesitate to use that word.

“Exercise Care During Entrain or Detrain”