It has been exactly one month since I last posted, which should give some idea of how crazy, tragic, sometimes almost magic this awfully beautiful life has been. (That song reference was partially for my sister, if she ever gets around to reading this.)
But I'm back now, and I hope to start blogging again with a vengeance. Watch out!
Perhaps our biggest accomplishment in the past month is that we have finally settled into our apartment. It is a little bigger (2 bedroom, 2 bath, kitchen, dining room) and costs a little more than we wanted to spend, but it turns out we are quite happy with our decision. There is a Hindi proverb that says: Mahaga roye ek bar sastaa roye bar bar. For those of you who can't read Hindi (haha), it roughly translates as: If you spend a lot of money, you might cry once. If you spend only a little, you’ll cry many times in the long run.
We did have to furnish the apartment ourselves, but it works well for us because we plan to move everything into an apartment in Aligarh after our stint in Delhi is complete. It was also nice to start from scratch and shop for our own new home furnishings after the wedding. Of course that meant having dinner on our lovely marble floor for the first week or so, but it has definitely given us greater appreciation for our table.
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| First home-cooked meal in our new apartment. Rice, veg, salad, yogurt, dal (lentils). |
I have heard that Abby can cook a good Indian dish, but I'm not sure what the other ETAs are doing in terms of meals. One of the groups (Stephanie, Nick, Kim, Aileen) have hired a cooking lady who comes to their house three nights a week to prepare food and teach them how to cook. In the culinary realm, I am extremely grateful to have a husband who is an excellent cook (though he won't admit it!).
Cooking Indian food takes a great deal of time, patience, and practice, and you literally have to work over a hot stove in an already hot kitchen (88F last night). It really is an art form - mixing just the right combinations of spices, flavors, and textures. We prefer to cook together, which actually means that I am the sous-chef who helps mainly with preparing vegetables and rice, and my husband is the head chef who does the intricate spice-mixing, etc. We also enjoy a hearty American breakfast each morning, which consists of cereal and hot milk topped with fresh fruits from the market. And, of course, a cup of tea.
Now onto school. After discussing our experiences with the other ETAs this past week at USIEF (United States-India Educational Foundation), it sounds like I have been pretty lucky with my school placement. I am fortuate to have a coordinating teacher, Mrs. Farhat Khan, who is really receptive to the Fulbright mission of cultural exchange, and who genuinely wants to learn about the teaching methods being used in the US.
The students are just like students anywhere, but there is a vast difference in English language ability within any given classroom, which is one obstacle I'm still trying to work around. Some of the students are really motivated to improve their English, and others, like one of my students who aspires to join the Indian Police Services, openly admits that he prefers Hindi over English. And I respect that.
On the other hand, there is one thing that has me more unsettled than anything else. Corporal punishment. No teacher in the US would ever think of touching a student. Punishment in the US, at least in public schools, comes in the form of losing privileges to participate in sports and other activities, of having to conference with the principal, or receiving poor grades for poor effort.
But here I have seen students slapped on the back, across the cheek, or made to stand and hold their ears, or even slap themselves across the cheek, all in the classroom. Mind you, this is illegal in India. But it still happens, and we were forewarned that we might see it. Still, I'm not sure how to respond to this, and it really kills me to see students humiliated in front of their classmates.
Anyway, I think this post is long enough for now. Look for a series of back-dated posts as I try to catch up on the highlights of the past month's happenings. Until then, Namaste!
