Field Trip!

   Because I have been spending so much time with standard three and thoroughly enjoy being in their classroom, I was invited on their field trip! In social studies, or SOS as they call it, they are studying Jainism, which is one of main religions practiced in India.  Apparently, they are known to be quite wealthy and close knit in their small communities.  They do not believe in having external desires, worldly desires.  Also, they cover their mouths and clean off anything before they sit on it as to avoid killing any living thing.  On the way to the Jain temple I sat with one of the teachers who I have not had the pleasure of spending much time with.  During the forty-five minute ride, I learned her ENTIRE life story.  She has two children, one in London, the other in Washington, D.C.  The daughter in London has two twins who she is bringing to Bangalore to visit in the next few days.  Her son is younger, 29, and works for some time of government software company in DC, but lived in NYC to work on a project for a couple years.  She also went to NY in April, but lost 10 days on her trip due to that volcano that erupted delaying flights all over the world.  It's very interesting to hear all of these stories especially because they are all so different, but they all seem to have a common theme- they love to talk about their families and where they are in the world.  Also, having family in America is a sign of true success and wealth- interesting. Plus, they think that just because you are American, you are for whatever reason "better" than Indians. Indians also feel that their children are more successful if they marry and move to America to settle their lives there. I'm still working on understanding this one.
   The Jain temple was beautiful! The students seems to enjoy it, and I learned a lot about the temple as well as the religion thanks to the knowledge of the art teacher- Mahua.  She has an interesting story as well, but the details will sound like they come straight out of some Bollywood movie/ soap opera.  Anyway, Jhumki, the main classroom teacher in standard three, arranged for one of the mothers who came with us on the trip to take me to a Hindu temple after the Jain one when the students went back to school.  I went with Uma and Mahu as well as the mother and her daughter who is in our class.  The Hindu temple was nice, but it was dirty because of a Punja (some religious celebration) that took place the previous day.  More than anything I enjoyed the conversation in the car ride and the time spent with the teachers and mother of the student.  In fact, the mother lived in America for some time and went to NYU.  She now is a professor at one of the most prestigious universities in India teaching some branch of business management.  When in NY she worked in an investment banking firms whose names I recognized, but cannot remember.
   On another note, yesterday was the last day for the German exchange students.  As I walked towards my bus, I saw them exchange a tearful goodbye with the Indian students who they had spent the last two weeks getting to know.  All I could think about was how amazing this opportunity was for them and that they will remember it forever.  Even more, what would our world look like if we built more of these cultural gaps between such foreign nations...
   Later tonight I will be venturing to Hampi with another teacher from Aditi. It is known as a world heritage site and may be interesting to read about it if you have the time...pictures will of course be up upon my return. Wish me luck as I will be experiencing India trains for the first time! Shabbat shalom and chag channukah sameach!