What Can We Say, We Live in India ...

... and yesterday, that was SUPER obvious.

We've had several weeks of regular working weeks at school with an in-school middle and high school music assembly and lots of Stomp-esque music coming out of the 5th grade music classes. Many of the Friday nights were spent at home with a movie and in bed by 10pm with long weeks of work and we have several great weekends checking out Mumbai. Until ...

... bam! Holi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi) is a great "here comes Spring" holiday here in India involving colorful powder, lots of super soakers, and a ton of people out in the street. Kids and adults alike outside dousing each other in water and colored powders (we got, via Twyla, the non-toxic versions of course).

We first had a potluck brunch with some friends, then partied it up with our neighbors down in the parking area who had a wading pool set up for re-filling the water guns. Then, our highlight, we walked into the local fishing village. We ended up dancing in the middle of the closely tight neighborhood where there is about 4ft between the houses and huge speakers pumping out Bollywood music. They were so happy to have us whities to dance with. They literally had buckets of colored water and were pouring them all over us as we danced. Wow.

After that we went to the beach where the crowd was much more subdued (read: more drunk) with the speakers propped up on, yes literally, garbage piles. The best part of this exchange was when one especially drunk guy made a move for one of the ASB ladies and a few of his buddies quickly slapped him around in protection of their new white friends. We danced a bit on the beach, but headed back through the village where kids were waiting to ambush us from the various levels of windows. Some of us even got hit by eggs!

Basically, it was a "yes, we definitely live in India" kind of day -- one of those days that make our time here very unique, special, and very exciting.

ps, because we didn't have our camera, you'll have to just imagine a lot of the action in your head or go to Twyla and Greg's blog at http://gregandtwyla.blogspot.com/2011/03/holi.html as they have a water proof camera -- thanks to them for that!

Well-Supported Teachers

The state of public education in the U.S. has been a constant topic around our house for the past two months caused by two events: the dramatic cuts to Lakeville teaching staffing and Gov. Walker's actions in Wisconsin.

I continue to feel guilty regarding our situation here at the American School of Bombay. We go to school and feel completely supported in our work there. The level of respect for teachers is higher than I've ever witnessed. Our superintendent knows the first name of every staff member and interacts with ALL of them, including the local Indian staff, equally. The leadership team at our school is committed to providing the staff with the tools they require to do their job to the best of their abilities. In short, we are all treated as professionals.

When you compare this perspective with those coming out of Wisconsin, amplified and distorted by the far-right media, the difference is striking. Where teachers are being blamed for increasing the deficit and dragging down the economy back in the U.S., teachers are celebrated here for their work and questioned how it could possibly done better. Where teachers are looked down at for their short work days and summers off, here in Bombay there is a program to increase our awareness of a proper life balance because many teachers here feel overworked.

When we decided to come overseas a little over a year ago, we understood that we would be teaching a significantly different population than back in the Twin Cities and we worked our way around this by reminding ourselves that "kids are kids" and that every student needs a personal connection to a a teacher in order to optimize their learning -- regardless of their economic status.

Now, with all of the craziness back in the U.S. I continue to feel a bit guilty. I hope that, just like "kids are kids," "parents are parents" and that no matter where they send their children to school that they support and celebrate the efforts of the teachers that care and nurture them. I know that back in Lakeville the parents were just as grateful for our teaching efforts as the parents are here at the American School of Bombay. I hope that parents everywhere continue to fight for what is best for kids and that means treating teachers as professionals.

Where is the love?

Wisconsin.

I can't help it. I've been obsessing over news and Facebook posts for the past two weeks. I can't stand it that we're not there, speaking out against this attack on teachers. TEACHERS.

Clearly, as a group, we are a bunch of greedy, self-centered, idiots that only entered the profession because we weren't smart enough to pursue loftier professions in our subject areas. I mean, why else would anyone teach, right?

Unfortunately, as a group, we are in a constant state of survival. Education systems are always struggling to make ends meet, painful and heart-wrenching budget cuts each year coming out because we live in a country that includes people who refuse to recognize and support our children. But, we go on, finding ways to keep doing what is best for kids. Why? Because we love teaching. We love kids. We believe in what we do, despite being constantly beaten down.

I don't know a single teacher that hasn't made sacrifices- time, resources, PERSONAL finances, because of this belief in the importance of the education for the children of America. Sure unions have faults. I lost my ideal job and was utterly heartbroken by the tenure system. But, bargaining rights are not just about salary and benefits. Kids can't speak for themselves. Who will if the teachers are silenced?

So while Walker gives huge tax breaks to the wealthy, creating this "budget crisis", that the teachers are WILLING to make financial sacrifices for effectively solving his "budget crisis" (but not give up their union rights that help protect quality education standards) and he STILL refuses to negotiate, meanwhile spreading anti-teacher rhetoric and using it to promote a partisan political agenda that he is the test case for an entire movement against government workers across the country, I sit here, trying my hardest to not give into utter despair and wonderment at the sheer inhumanity that is possible amongst the "haves" against the "have nots". THEY'RE OUR COUNTRY'S CHILDREN FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!!!!

But, instead of falling into those depths of the negative, I choose to look towards the hope. People are speaking out. Dialogues are happening. People from across the country (and the globe) are buying pizza for the protesters. Maybe we can even get those anti-teacher talkers to walk in our shoes.

No matter what, we'll get through this. We will keep teaching and doing what is best for kids, not for corporate America. So, every time we're beaten down by the teacher-haters, it's time to channel our inner Ghandi, think about "what would Jesus do", and look into the eyes of our students, because, that's were the love is. That's where it will be always.

Rachel

The Band Director's Wife

Reid already wrote about our great trip with the high school kids to Chennai for the music festival. But, I wanted to add a reflection on my own unique perspective.

Throughout the weekend I couldn't stop reminiscing about my own band trip days in high school. Hanging out with friends on the bus, trying to stay on top of homework, the laughter and general shenanigans that would always ensue, the pride in our playing and performing.

But I also remember how much so many of us girls enjoyed getting to know and spend time with the band director's wife. She worked at our high school, so, many of us occasionally spent time with her there as well. I remember thinking of her as not quite as formal as a teacher, nor as casual as a friend, but, as someone we looked up to. A strong female mentor to a lot of us.

And then there I was this last weekend. Spending time with the students, helping problem solve some situations, chatting with them, checking in with them. The high schoolers were great. They knew me a little from seeing me around the school or through the fact that I have their younger siblings in my own classroom. These kids were so wonderful to me, and I just beamed (in almost disbelief) each time one of them said something like "Man, you're cool Mrs. Wixson" or just got excited to see me coming to share the latest drama about homework or wardrobe issues or which boys were cute from other schools.

At first, it was a little surreal being for the first time on the other side of things. But all in all, made me appreciate my own high school trip experiences even more, and realize how valuable they still are for kids, no matter where they are in the world. And also what a gift it is to carry on the mentorship role I so greatly benefited from.Enjoying the post-concert reception with Twyla and the Dehli directors.

SAISA Music 2011

This past weekend, Rachel, Twyla and I chaperoned the ASB delegation (8 choir, 2 orchestra, and 11 band students) to the SAISA Music 2011 Festival held at the American International School of Chennai. SAISA, short for South Asian International Schools Association, is an organization that is similar to a traditional conference, a group of schools that play each other in sports and get together for a few arts weekends. The group includes schools from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, and Oman (for music only however). Each school is unique and each music director has a different philosophy, but we had a great time combining our students to create a festival band, jazz band, choir, jazz choir, and orchestra. Aside from seeing our students grow musically, it was immensely interesting to interact with music directors who face similar challenges that we do here in Bombay.

My colleague from Dhaka conducts the 1812 Overture

Conducting the festival jazz band


Rachel enjoys the artsy challenge of capturing the event in photo ...

Professionally, I had the opportunity to conduct the festival band and the festival jazz ensemble on one piece each. It was quite a rehearsal challenge to rehearse the groups for only about 45min before the performance. Trying to figure out which musical details were the most important was an interesting exercise in score study as I prepared for the festival.

One special aspect of the performance was seeing the students all dressed up in their performance outfits. Each school wears a different "local" costume to perform in and standing up on the podium seeing all the different outfits was really exciting because behind those outfits represented students from all over the world proudly representing their South Asian schools.

The coda to this festival was the first day back at band rehearsal in the ASB Band room. With the sound of the mass band still ringing in their ears, we had a great rehearsal in Concert Band. Improved tone and improved focus. Hopefully the impact of this musical experience will continue throughout the rest of the semester as we continue to tackle new and more challenging music.

Republic Day Trip to Chor

This past Wednesday we celebrated Republic Day here in India -- the ratifying of the Constitution in 1948. I joined two friends for a trip down to Chor Bazaar, a market that we have been to several times but never blogged about. It is a great place to leisurely spend an afternoon.

It takes about 40min by taxi to get to the market and you never quite know what to expect when you get dropped off. Since we don't really know the neighborhood well and we have gotten dropped off at several different street corners, we ended up asking directions to get to the main antiques area on Mutton Street, about three blocks filled with old stuff and new stuff made to look old. After already shopping a few times, my focus this time was to take pictures of the workers and shopkeepers. On my last venture to Chor with Waciuma, I ended up chatting with a few shop keepers extensively and enjoyed learning about their lives.

A few observations:

Most antique dealers seem to be Muslim, giving me a great opportunity to learn about some of the basics regarding a religion that I know little about. From a few different conversations, I enjoyed being enlightened to the truly diverse amount of types of Islam, on par with the various types of Christianity -- it's good to remember that Christianity encompasses groups such as the Eastern Orthodox Christians as well as the UCC Christians when viewing the diversity of Islamic groups.

Dealers are more apt to give you a "more fair" price when they see you coming back to their shop, demonstrating that you live here. When I walked down Mutton St. this past Wednesday I got a number of waves and "welcome back sir" comments. For a brief second, this made me feel like a local.

The concept of "first business" is important. The first sale a merchant makes for the day is a lucky one and often will allow you to bargain harder. Therefor, it is best to go around noon when the merchants have just finished tidying their front stoops and arranged their pieces properly to entice you into their shop.

The amount of stuff available is unbelievable, and possible illegal (many pieces MAY have been pilfered from mansions, temples, or churches). Many shops are simply unnavigable due to the overwhelming inventory. This makes it hard to find items but it also makes each visit to Chor unique. Having already purchased two pieces -- the buffet side table for my birthday and recently a teak wood carving of a family of Hindu Gods -- I know that I will always enjoy a trip to Chor and I hope to take you there one day!

Enjoy the pictures, Reid

Jan 19, 2011 ASB Jazz in the Newspaper

Just fun to see how we are mentioned in relation to the Bollywood and corportate big wig scene here in Mumbai!