Around the World with Ms. Math: Namaste, y'all!

Whew! It's been an overwhelming few days to say the least, but in the best way possible! Let's start with the flight. What sucked about the flight: nearly sixteen hours, screaming children, parents indifferent to screaming children, one-hour sleep increments, no leg room, in-flight entertainment malfunctioned. What was cool about the flight: chatting with my fellow participants, free alcohol because the flight attendants thought it was cool we were teachers, Wreck It Ralph and VEEP on my iPad, reading, airplane Indian food. Upon landing in Mumbai, we cleared customs quickly, gathered our luggage and boarded a bus with Ravi, our tour guide for the duration of the trip.

After the 45 minute drive through Mumbai to our hotel, Trident Nariman Point, we were greeted and adorned with the traditional bindi. Just wait until I upload pictures of this hotel, it was super fancy! We had a view of the Arabian Sea, another oceanic first for me this summer (my first view of the Pacific was in Playa Grande, Costa Rica). By this time, it was nearing midnight on Saturday evening (local time) and we had been traveling since late Friday morning. Exhaustion got the best me, and I opted for sleep instead of exploring Mumbai.

The next day, we departed on a bus tour of Mumbai, with a very knowledgeable guide, Mala. Our sights included a train station, a Jain temple, the hanging gardens, a public laundry, and some shopping, in addition to a constant narration of everything we passed on the drive. The train station was busy by American standards, but quiet by Indian standards, as it was Sunday.

The Jain temple was exceptional. This religion is strict in its beliefs about the preservation of life. They are vegetarian, but do not eat roots, carrots, or anything that grows below the ground to prevent killing microorganisms when digging up the plants. They entered the beautifully decorated temple with their nose and mouth covered with a scarf to prevent inhaling and killing and microorganisms in the air. We were fortunate that they graciously allowed us into their place of worship to observe and take pictures, a privilege not often afforded to tourists.

There weren't any hanging plants in the hanging gardens, but it gets its name because the plants grow in about 3-4 feet of soil suspended on top of a massive water reservoir.

The public laundry was fascinating, I can't wait to add pictures to this post! Ninety-nine percent of people in Mumbai us a public laundry, where a dobhi (I might have that spelled wrong) or laundry man comes to collect clothes and linens, washes them, and delivers them back. The miraculous part is that no soap or machines are used, but rather what we would consider "old fashioned" methods of hand washing and line drying. The pictures will give you context for what this looks like.

Our last tour stop was to a small craft shop where we were able to look at and purchase gifts. I bought a traditional Indian shirt, that I believe is called a corta if my memory serves me correctly (which it may very well not, as I'm currently exhausted).

After our tour, we had a little down time during which I walked along the water in front of our hotel with a friend. Following that, I feel asleep in my hotel room until it was time for our group dinner at the swanky Cricket Club of India, hosted by a SAS executive. The dinner was lovely, and afterward, a group of about ten of us decided to take on the adventure of going to a bar for some music and a drink. We were hoping for a grand adventure, but it turned out to be a pretty average evening in a pretty average bar.

This morning, we departed Mumbai in the heavy rains of the monsoon, and made our way here to Pune (pronounced poo-nay).

Upon arriving, we had lunch, then heard from many speakers on the state of Indian education and the movement to improve education by NGOs. Finally, we were led around Pune to gather our bearings, and two friends and I settled on trying the Indian McDonald's for dinner. My Masala Grill Meal was delicious, and for a whopping 120 INR ($2), I was full from dinner.

So far, I am most impressed with how "go with the flow" the people are here. The traffic is insane, and stoplights and signs are mere suggestions. The real traffic laws are expressed in the intricate language of never-ending car horns. Cars and motorcycles whiz around, but there is no road rage at the constant cut-offs and near-collisions. People walk in the streets, darting in and out of traffic at any point or place. The people here are also very proud of their country, and it is evident in the way they are sharing it with us. Like I said, the pictures can do it more justice than my words, so hopefully I'll be able to upload some and attach then to this post!

Tomorrow begins school visits, and I will try (keyword: try) to blog each day this week! As we've been saying on the bus, "Namaste y'all!!"

A few other photos:

Durham Public School teachers!