A week with new experiences: a chicken walking in the living room and throwing coloured powders

This week we had a very nice refreshing start! We have been looking forward to the moment that we could finally swim in this heat and Sunday it finally came true. We got invited by family of our host family who lived in a community complex which had a swimming pool. By being there we experienced an even more wealthy and luxurious lifestyle of India. We got to walk over clean streets without any holes in the road (we start to appreciate the smallest things here) where people were cycling and where the houses even had gardens. These are things which are normal back home but definitely not here. The family showed their hospitality by stuffing us full with food, it was so much that you could eat a couple of days from it, but for us it was just one afternoon.

This topic "food" became an issue on Wednesday morning ... it was 7 am and as we were brushing our teeth we heard a chicken clucking very loudly and as we looked around the corner of our door we saw how they had a chicken in a bag in the living room ... after seeing a lot of chickens in cages alongside the road with their fellow chickens hanging upside down next to them we could think of only one thing "That will be our dinner tonight". As we walked down the street to school we could still hear the chicken and I can tell it was an awful noise. Since we have a vegan among us this led up to discussions within our group. Especially when we had chicken for lunch at school... We were a bit terrified of what to expect when we got back home. I already pictured a chopped up chicken in the kitchen. So it was a big surprise when we got back and we still heard the chicken and this time it was walking in the living room with a rope on its leg. It turned out that from now on they have a chicken in house for its eggs. So we were quite relieved and it turns out that India still did not stop surprising me.

This surprising effect was the case today as well! As I entered the classroom the children ran up to me with big smiles on their faces saying "Happy Holi Miss!". This is a big thing here in India and the school celebrated Holi as well with an assembly in which we saw a play about what Holi means. Then afterwards a drummer came up the stage and when he started drumming the "colourful chaos" started. Children were running everywhere, grabbing powder and putting it on each other. Powder could be found everywhere and it was a lot of fun! It turned out that the already colourful India can be even more colourful!

After the celebration we went out for lunch to a restaurant called BBQ nation with all the elementary teachers. This was also a whole experience. First of all because we were all together with at least 20 women and 1 guy (which was Bernand). And such big group of mostly females together turns into a chaos quite quickly: everybody talking all at once and taking pictures all together. This resulted into confused waiters but as always here in India they stayed polite and soon the food started to be served. The place where we were was like an all you can eat restaurant but “slightly” different because the waiters serve the food. They kept serving us grilled chicken, fish and all kinds of other stuff (even grilled watermelon). Richelle, Anine, Bernand and me we just kept eating till we felt “full” and so we stopped. Then one of the teachers came to us and she said “So are you ready for the main course?” We all looked at her with wide-open eyes, feeling overfull and we asked in disbelief “was this not the main course?” So then it turned out that there was a buffet full of Indian Curry, Dal, Noodles, etc. which was the main course. But I think our stomach might have grown within the past few weeks because we even found some space left for the dessert.

Being a teacher with "golden hair" and a "red face"

So this time I will tell more about what I do mostly: going to Bangalore International School as a student-teacher. In school we deal with the heat daily by struggling with fans which blow away all the papers and filling up water bottles after each hour and reminding children to drink, these became our daily habits.

Every morning the children arrive at school by coming with the yellow school busses. Fortunately for us it is only a 2 minute walk to the school and when we arrive we get greated by happy children faces saying "good morning miss". They are full of energy and that gives me a positive energy boost to start the day.

Here at the school they have subject teachers and so I am together with 2 mentor teachers who teach math and social studies in grade 1, which means that the children are around 6 and 7 years old. It’s so funny and cute how openly they react on visible differences. The first thing which they found very interesting about me was my blond hair. I got all kinds of reactions on it like “where did you get your yellow hair from?” and “your hair is like gold, like in the movie tangled”. Besides, I also got the question “miss, why is your face red?” and so I explained, a for us common and known fact which is strange to them, that our skin reacts to the heat by turning red, especially here when the temperature goes up to 35 degrees. It is funny how you get unexpected questions from young children, they just ask anything which pops up in their minds.

The children are also gladly advising me on their Indian food, like what is too spicy and what isn’t. Besides, while they are eating with their hands so naturally they find it quite funny to see me, their teacher, struggling with it and so you can see the smiles appearing on their faces. I was also very happy with how helpful the children are, especially in the beginning, when I still had to find my way around the school. They were so proud to help their “lost” teacher and of course they used shortcuts which I later on learned that they were not supposed to use.

The building is very big and the structure of the school is also very different; the school is all open and there are plants and trees growing within the school. The centre consists of a big area where the whole school comes together during assemblies or other events. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday are morning assemblies and these differ each time, we have seen dances, listened to songs and speeches and they even sing the national anthem. Singing the Indian national anthem is quite common here we realized. We once went to the cinema and right before the movie started everybody had to stand up and they played the national anthem. (A funny thing to add is that the movie which we went to was in Hindi and without subtitles, so we had no idea what the story was about. Instead we tried to be creative and think of a storyline on our own. But I must admit that the seats were very comfortable, and we had some moments in which we almost fell asleep)

Yes, loyalty to the country and sticking to the hierarchy are very important values here in India and we can sense that at the school as well. It is very clear who is in charge over who and you can sense those positions quite well. The principal is a person who is very much respected by both the staff members and the children. “Do we want to make the principal proud?” is a common sentence said within the class when the children are not behaving as they are supposed to do. Although the children are very polite the classes can be quite chaotic and there is some kind of lack of structure (by looking at it from a western perspective). We are amazed by how things go here and we are trying to adjust to this Indian attempt of ‘structure’, which still does not really make sense to us. My mentor teachers are really helpful and they explained a lot about how the school system works here in India. It is fun to plan lessons together with them and to do the activities together with the children. In the meanwhile we already completed our 3^rd week of teaching practice and I am more used to this new daily routine. Looking forward for how the next following weeks will be.

Get a taste of the Indian food

After being in India for almost 3 weeks already we have tasted quite a lot of Indian food and we came across many interesting stuff. In the meanwhile eating with our hands became a more natural habit and we realized that they put spices on literally everything, even watermelon; we bought a watermelon alongside the street and they added salt and pepper on it. It turns out that not only people eat a lot of rice here but even animals; our host family’s dog gets bowls of rice as food.

Before I went to India I already prepared myself mentally on the fact that the Indian food is going to be very spicy. In fact, my dad put it into practice and he made sure that I was even more prepared by adding more and more peppers and spices into our meals. And to be fair I am quite happy about it.

In the first couple of days our host family took into account that we come from a Western country and so the corn flakes were ready for breakfast and surprisingly the food was not that spicy at first. But this did not last long. One morning we just finished our corn flakes and suddenly two cooks walked in with three bowls of real Indian food. They took away our bowls, from which we just completed our corn flakes, and we started our second breakfast. I can assure you that if you are not awake yet the Indian breakfasts definitely will wake you up. From that moment on we now have 3 warm meals a day. But you can’t hear me complaining, which you might understand when looking at the following pictures.

Every meal is a surprise what it will be. Although it is a pretty good guess to say the meal will be rice, with chicken, sauce and vegetables.Eating rice and vegetables every day may sound boring until you come to India. It is crazy how creative they are with food and they combine anything with rice. We have been here for already 2,5 weeks but we still did not have the same meal twice. And if you want to become a vegetarian, then India is the place to be. I normally love meat but here you won’t even miss it (not that I became a vegetarian by the way).

That we are not used to this type of food becomes clear when we are getting food at school. We still need some explanation from the teachers about what we are actually eating and how we are supposed to eat it. On one of our first days there was a particular sauce and we thought it is just as any other sauce, so we took quite a lot of it on our plate. My mentor teacher saw it happening and she rushed towards us and with a worried smile she said “no, no, no, that is very spicy, it is meant for the taste only, so take one small spoon”. Every time it is a trial and error about whether we took to much of something or not.

Also when we go out we love to try and taste new things, especially streetfood even though we know we might get a stomach ache. I almost feel ashamed by the price which we pay out here for food. For only 45 roepies, which is about 60 cents, we got a whole meal which fills you way better than a McDonald’s menu. And we ate in a 4-star restaurant where 4 waiters came and served us enormous bowls of food for not even 4 euros per person. Again they did not let us down.

This is the meal for only 50 cents.

Do not underestimate cute little monkeys

What I am about to tell you in this blog is something I have never experienced before and by looking back on it I can fortunately still laugh.
This morning very early we went up the Nandi Hills to see the sunrise. Since it was so early we had to bring our breakfast which were a couple of bananas (keep those bananas in mind because it plays a key role in this story).

After a rough trip in which we were not quite used to this particular Indian driving style yet we arrived on top of the hill. It was a beautiful sunrise, I had never seen the sun so big and red. Not only was the hill crowded by a lot of people but we also got some company from monkeys. And of course we were all adoring them and saying "Aahh look at those cute little monkeys" and taking tons of pictures of them. But this image of a cute little monkey disappeared quite soon. You will find out why.

When the sun was up we decided to explore the hill some more and so walked and at some point we had to go down some stairs. I was walking ahead of Anine and Richelle and I came across a monkey and yes I was one of those tourists too and I stopped to take a picture. However, out of the blue the monkey ran towards me and I realized that it was attacking me. In the blink of an eye he was pulling my bag and I tried to pull it back but it turned out that this little monkey is quite strong and he refused to let go. Since I was standing on the stairs I lost my balance and eventually fell down .... but due to my fall the monkey finally let go and I quickly ran up the stairs, facing two flabbergasted girls; Anine and Richelle who stood there frozen to the ground and with their eyes wide open. They saw this scene all happening and happily we could have a good laugh afterwards. Then I started to realize what the monkey was after: the bananas. He might have smelled them and of course he likes some bananas for breakfast too.

This conclusion was proven by the next event. After this incident we found a quiet spot to eat our bananas, but we didn't eat them all at once and so the plastic bag with bananas was placed next to me. While I was enjoying the view I suddenly heard a noise next to me and then I faced another monkey which already claimed the bag of bananas next to me. He ate some bananas and ran away with it. The four of us were again amazed by what happened. So the stories of monkeys stealing your personal stuff definitely are true, fortunately we only lost some bananas.

Our first Indian week

This first week has gone by so fast and it feels so much longer! We arrived last Wednesday morning very early, 2 am, at Bangalore Airport. Fortunately we got picked up and brought to a nice apartment. We are staying with a host family who are involved with Bangalore International School and who teach there as well. What was very surprising and which still is quite uncomfortable is that we have two maids here who do all the washing and cleaning for us. What’s more, the cooks from the school come every day and cook especially for us. That we get quite spoiled with the food is for sure (since the Indian cuisine is a whole story itself you will read more about it later).

On our first day we have also experienced how it is to have a life without wifi again and so we went out to explore the area and we tried to find a bank where we could get out some money. Since not one ATM nearby worked, Bernand got on the back of a scooter with a foreign local and together with Richelle and Anine we waited in a supermarket hoping that Bernand would survive this trip in the chaos of the Indian traffic, which fortunately he did.

On our second day, the Thursday, we went to the school for the first time. Luckily it is only a 2 minute walk from our apartment and we can even see the school and its courtyard from our bedroom window. All the teachers at the school were very welcoming and we got to meet our mentor teachers. Surprisingly we even got to experience the afternoon lessons and a staff meeting, which we had not planned beforehand. But we already realized that not everything goes by plan here in India.

What really does work well is an app to order cabs with, which we tried out on the Friday. It’s amazing how the Indians managed to get some sort of cab system within this chaotic traffic. Together with Bernand and Richelle we got on the road and went to visit a park. From our western perspective we had a beautiful green garden with flowers in mind. However, when we arrived we realized that that’s definitely not the case due to this hot climate in which it is around 30 degrees every day. But still it was nice to walk around and have a peaceful place in this browsing city. We also visited a temple and got some Indian local food and not to forget we sat in the well-known Indian tuctuc.

Although we just fit with the 3 of us in a tuctuc the Saturday we even figured out that we could sit in a tuctuc with the four of us. It seems like the Indians do not know limitations on the amount of people or goods on a vehicle; we have seen whole families, father, mother and children on 1 scooter. While being amazed by everything in this city and country we did some touristic outings to the Botanical Gardens of Bangalore and the Bangalore Palace. We also blended in with the locals by wandering through market streets which gives you a real culture shock; everything you see and hear, the smells and colours. We have so much to take in.

This is exactly what we did on the Sunday. That was a day on which we relaxed and on which I kept reminding myself that I really am in India, which is still hard to grasp. It was good to have that relaxing day because on Monday we started our first day of our teaching practice at Bangalore International School. But about that I will write more soon!

First Impressions

Hi all! It's now exactly one week ago that I have left the Netherlands together with 3 other students, Richelle, Anine and Bernand, from my studies and that we travelled to the other side of the world, to India. After a long trip we arrived in a hot, despite that it was the middle of the night, and humid country. We got picked up by one of the schoolbus drivers of BIS, Bangalore International School. This was one of those typical yellow busses and on the road we were amazed by how abandoned the city looked. But as soon as it was morning this changed and all the streets became lively and chaotic. That the people do not stick to the traffic rules is quite obvious. There might be just one rule, who horns the loudest and dares to go first has the first right. The sound of horns from any vehicle can't be avoided and almost every second a tuctuc passes by. That makes it so relieving when you safely crossed the road.

There is a funny story about that. It was our first day and in the afternoon we wanted to go to a supermarket. Soon we arrived at a cross junction and we had to cross it. There were cars, tuctuc’s, busses and even cows, coming from all sides of the road. We struggled for minutes and of course the locals saw our struggle. Especially when we ended up in the middle of the street and still could not move further. Eventually some of them at the other side of the road were laughing and gesturing with their hands when we could cross the road. But finally, it did take some time but we did cross the road alive.

Salesmen trying to sell you stuff is also a very common happening and a "no" is not considered as a "no" that easily. Very often we end up with a few bananas, mangos or coconuts even when not planned. That people take their time in this country is also surprising. Everything goes in quite a slow pace and more relaxed, we can learn from that though.

Besides, we as four white students, having blond hair, wearing western clothes and acting like tourists, turn out to be quite an attraction to the Indian people. While walking on the streets or through markets we have been stopped by locals with the questions if they could take a picture with us. It is almost as if we are some kind of celebrities.

This was particularly the case in a botanical garden we went to last Saturday. There was a school outing and a bunch of children were walking with their teachers. After they had passed by, a group of at least 10 teachers returned and they wanted to take a group picture with us. These are moments we are definitely not used to but still memorable which brings a smile on my face when thinking of it.

I’m sure that there were so much more first impressions but you will come across them in my following posts!

Welcome to my Travelblog!

Hey everyone! Welcome to my travelblog!

As you might know I am at the other side of the world in India, which still sounds very crazy to me. Since I am doing an international teacher education I am doing my internship in Bangalore. This is an enormous city in the south of India. I will use this blog to keep you guys updated and I hope I can give you an idea of what’s going on here. Enjoy the stories and pictures!

Thanks for following my travels from afar!

Hugs,

Hannah