Class Time

We've been having a lot of fun in class the past week and a half.  We have built structures based on animals and their shelters.

We've tested structures based on compression and tensile strength.

We made newspaper towers testing wind loads.

And parachutes.

It's been fun!  And more fun to come!

So Much Going On!

Wow - the time goes by so fast here and I'm constantly doing something...planning, teaching, eating, sight-seeing...

My first week of teaching ended on a really great note.  I gave a short evaluation of what the kids wanted to continue, start and stop.  Most said to continue class as is; they enjoy the videos, the activities, and everything.  They wanted to start having more group discussions which is very easy to incorporate.

This past weekend I went to Qutub (or Qutab or Qutb) Minar and India Gate.  Both were really beautiful and fun to go see.  It was so nice to get off campus and see more of our surrounding areas.  Our car was very full and the a/c went out so it made for a long trip.  But it was still a lot of fun!  I also got to try some street food panipuri.  It was served cold and I was expecting it to be warm, but it was enjoyable!

Then on Sunday we went to the Taj Mahal!  It was the longest day ever!  There is supposed to be an express highway to take you there, but that did not get translated to the drivers.  We woke up at 2am to be able to be at the Taj Mahal by sunrise, but we didn't arrive in Agra until 9:30.  Then we ate before heading to the Taj Mahal.  It is a very beautiful building for sure.  Seeing it form afar, and then going inside; all angles are amazing.  I feel so fortunate to have been able to see one of the 7 wonders of the world!

In order to walk close to the building, you have to cover your shoes to protect the marble floors.  We took a group shot of our booties.

 Many of us were "celebrities" being asked to have a picture taken with us.

 Then afterwards we had Pizza Hut - and beer.  It was tasty.

And then it took forever to get back to campus.  We didn't get back until around 8pm!  It was a long exhausting weekend, but full of adventures and once in a life time moments.

First Day

Today was my first day teaching and I must say, these kids are SMART!  I was giving a basic math review to see what knowledge they have and they were doing calculations in their heads and answering so quickly.  It was a little overwhelming.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow's lesson which is more based on designing and brainstorming.

Good things from class today...

We played a lot of get to know you games and it was fun to see how they are beginning to be more comfortable as the class progresses.  (It's amazing how much comes out when you are in class for 6 hours together!)

When they answer the questions, most will stand up to speak.  It's fun to watch; it's more like they are able to take ownership of what they are speaking about.

It's been a long day and we still have evening study time tonight; thankfully, the TA covers that hour!  I need to prep for the rest of the week and make sure that all my lessons are challenging.

It's going to be a long three weeks of teaching, but a great three weeks as well!

These last few days have been BUSY!  We have lots of training and prep time to prepare for the arrival of the students tomorrow (Sunday).  Along with training we've had some fun time too.  We played Ultimate Frisbee with the whole staff.  It was hot but fun.

I was able to go into the town of Sonipat the past two days, once for a supply run and once for fun.  I enjoyed today's trip (the one for fun) because it was a smaller group and we were able to walk through the market area where there were tons of fabrics and shoes and bangles.  I bought a few pairs of shoes and it was so great to have some of our TA's along with us to help negotiate a great price!  I can't wait for us to be able to go into Delhi to do more shopping and exploring.

On campus, we have an amazing Faculty Lounge we have access to.  It's a great place to relax and work; it's also very beautiful.

We've had some rainstorms the past few days which has been nice to cool things off; although it hasn't been as hot as I was expecting.

Tomorrow the students arrive and it will be so exciting to start getting to know them.  I still have some planning to do, but I feel confident with my plans for the first day.  It's really hard to plan out 7 hrs of teaching time per day!  I'm so thankful to have a great TA that I can count on to help out.

Adventures in India

 I'm attempting to blog about my time in India!  We arrived last night after a 14 hr plane ride from Newark.  The headphone connection on my seat on the plane was not working - so I slept a lot of the plane ride.  I decided that my aisle seat was worth more than watching movies (because I was offered to move seats; they did give me a complimentary glass of wine because of it).  But now I still have a ton of new releases that I need to catch up on!

We stayed at a Holiday Inn close to the airport last night which was one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in.  They still had the buffet going when we checked in so I had some amazing Indian food my first night.  The bed was super comfy and I slept very well (even though I had slept so much on the plane).

  

This morning we had breakfast at the hotel (which was delicious as well) and then made the drive to O.P. Jindal Global University.  The traffic is INSANE!  There are stripes indicating driving lanes, yet no one seems to observe them.  I'm glad we have drivers that we hire b/c I would NOT want to attempt to drive here.  We stopped at a McDonald's on the way to the university and I had a McVeggie which was very good.

 

The university is a new and private university.  They are still doing a lot of construction on the campus.  We are staying in the Executive Housing of the dorms and it's nice to already be unpacked and settled in some.  The power goes off occasionally for a few minutes here and there, but we have A/C and fans which helps with the heat!  After a few hours of resting and unpacking, we all met in a classroom and had introductions.  The staff consists of 10 instructors, 10 TA's, admin and resident life coordinators, counselors and hall leaders.  The instructors and three of the admin team are from the US and the rest are from India.  I'm excited about my TA; he is an aerospace engineer student.  I think he will add a lot to our class "Building the Future: Physics and Engineering".

The students arrive on Sunday and I'm looking forward to the week of training and planning for their arrival.  As we were reminded today, even when things are really stressful and hectic, remember that we are here for these kids who are expecting an excitement filled time.

I hope to post more soon!