This was the day that our group was supposed to travel and regroup in Delhi, India. So my travel day was a cab ride across town to a new hotel. So none of my normal airport adventures.
Well, the hotel room was nice and now for some shopping and sight seeing before the rest of the group meets up. I still do not have the nuances of haggling down. I miss wandering through a store, taking my time, and knowing exactly how much something will cost.
When we ask for a cab the front desk wants to know if we want air conditioning. We quickly answer air please. Not counting humidity, heat index, etc. the air temperature has been well over 100 F. What it felt like was hot beyond belief.
First for the day is a trip to the Lotus Temple. As we leave the car park to cross the road, I notice two important things. First there is the Kinley Water truck, which I try to get a picture of and second there is never a break in traffic. Basically as long as there is not a bus or a really big truck you cross and people swerve around you. Forget about looking both ways and for a cross walk. People just go.
After I enter the grounds, I see that there are acres of landscaped gardens. It is so green and pretty it is hard to imagine that we are actually close to a desert. I could spend hours wandering through the grounds. But I keep seeing the fences and barricades to keep you on the pathways. Ok, I did crash into a few of them. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. So I decided that in my own best interest I should just go to the temple. And then I round the corner and see the temple. It really does look like a flower.
As we get close to the steps leading up to the temple we reach the place where we are supposed to remove our shoes. I take them off and put them into my bag and climb the steps to the temple. It is even more amazing up close. There are pools of water surrounding it and there are doors on all sides. It is full of interesting angles. As we approach the doors they have us line up and explain things in several different languages.
We enter the temple and it is quiet and peaceful, a huge change from the busy road. I am not sure what to expect in a Baha'i Temple. There are some prayers sung and some chanted and they sound like they are from different languages and then someone starts saying the Lord's Prayer in English. After the prayers are concluded some people leave and others stay in the quiet. We leave the temple and go across the grounds to the information center to learn more about the religion. I am still unclear on all of the beliefs work together. But the overall theme is peace and harmony in which all religions and races are supposed to unite together.
We do a little shopping. For me, it is window shopping. The amount of stuff and the attention that customers get in a store is overwhelming. If I spend a few seconds looking at something all of a sudden twenty different variations of that item are thrust at me with comments about how wonderful it is.
There is an afternoon tea at the Fulbright House where we meet Indian teachers who have studied or taught in the United States through different State Department Programs. As we shared stories, what I kept noticing were the commonalities that we had. Our students do the same things. We struggle with planning our lessons and meeting the needs of our students as well as keeping our subject matter relevant and important to our students.
So often teachers are isolated. We teach our subjects in our classroom without lots of interaction with other teachers throughout our day. From reports and findings that are constantly being published we hear how much more students do in other countries. After working with both the students and the teachers I see that we are dealing with many of the same issues and problems.
Well, the hotel room was nice and now for some shopping and sight seeing before the rest of the group meets up. I still do not have the nuances of haggling down. I miss wandering through a store, taking my time, and knowing exactly how much something will cost.
When we ask for a cab the front desk wants to know if we want air conditioning. We quickly answer air please. Not counting humidity, heat index, etc. the air temperature has been well over 100 F. What it felt like was hot beyond belief.
First for the day is a trip to the Lotus Temple. As we leave the car park to cross the road, I notice two important things. First there is the Kinley Water truck, which I try to get a picture of and second there is never a break in traffic. Basically as long as there is not a bus or a really big truck you cross and people swerve around you. Forget about looking both ways and for a cross walk. People just go.
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| The Lotus Temple |
As we get close to the steps leading up to the temple we reach the place where we are supposed to remove our shoes. I take them off and put them into my bag and climb the steps to the temple. It is even more amazing up close. There are pools of water surrounding it and there are doors on all sides. It is full of interesting angles. As we approach the doors they have us line up and explain things in several different languages.
 |
| Looking down to the Information Center |
We do a little shopping. For me, it is window shopping. The amount of stuff and the attention that customers get in a store is overwhelming. If I spend a few seconds looking at something all of a sudden twenty different variations of that item are thrust at me with comments about how wonderful it is.
There is an afternoon tea at the Fulbright House where we meet Indian teachers who have studied or taught in the United States through different State Department Programs. As we shared stories, what I kept noticing were the commonalities that we had. Our students do the same things. We struggle with planning our lessons and meeting the needs of our students as well as keeping our subject matter relevant and important to our students.
So often teachers are isolated. We teach our subjects in our classroom without lots of interaction with other teachers throughout our day. From reports and findings that are constantly being published we hear how much more students do in other countries. After working with both the students and the teachers I see that we are dealing with many of the same issues and problems.
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