Experiential Education:
Dispatches
Dispatches from Asia
Greetings, everyone
I'm sure you've all been wondering just what we've been up to! My best explanation for the delay in writing is that we've been in INDIA for the last week, and things have been moving fast. Little time for the kind of effort involved in collecting thoughts, typing and sending - but all for good cause, as our experiences have been rich, and varied, intense and powerful, occasionally sweet and peaceful.
We arrived in Calcutta the morning of Feb 12 and spent the day in a big “tourist coach” in Calcutta, taking ou
r groups first, as we always like to, to Kalighat Temple, devoted to the goddess Kali, and one of the more intense and amazing places India has to offer.
Goat sacrifices, pujas, pilgrims, brahmins, incense/flowers/blood, hawkers and touts, beggars and street people - the list is probably endless, but the effect is mind-boggling. And right next door, Mother Teresa's Home for the Destitute and Dying. We carefully sheparded everyone through it all and watched while the students try to make sense of what they just experienced.
A stop for an Indian "tali lunch," the kind that comes on a big metal tray full of different curries and chutneys, plenty of rice and chappatis, catch our breath before moving on to the Maidan, Calcutta's enormous British-built park, center of which is the Victoria Monument, a huge testimonial to the British Raj and the remnants of the British East India Company.
And then Mother Teresa's Mission, wherein lies her tomb - a most amazing place of beauty and peace, adjacent to the room that tells her story in pictures and beautiful descriptions of her work and sequence from lepers to children to the poorest of the poor to her sanctification and death.
More tears, after having finally recovered from the first round engendered by that immersion into all that is India at Kalighat.
And then a very nice dinner, at a restaurant we've used for the same purpose many years now, and where we were welcomed as returning family members. Great food, time to catch our breath, before heading out to Howrah Station, and our first experience with Indian trains.
Overnight on the second class sleeper - sometimes quite challenging, but this year incident-free, except that it got quite COLD that night, and a few of us had to be creative to keep warm.
Morning gave us time to view stretches of rural India through the train windows before arriving at one or another of the Varanasi stations - our group split here, with one going to a hotel on the south end of the ghats (the Hotel Temple, which is what it sounds like, both-at-once, at Asi Ghat, named for the Asi river that joins the Ganges here, creating the sacred confluence that Hindus revere), the other farther north, near the main ghat, Dasashwamedh Ghat, which literally means "ten horse sacrifice".
For four days the students explored the ghats, visited temples and bought silk at the saree shops, talked to sadhus, pilgrims, other tourists, wedding party and funeral procession members, young touts and boatmen ("Come my shop," "Come my boat," "Take tea," "What is your country?" "What is your good name?"), and settled into the incredible rhythms that this unique-in-all-the-world city serves up, 24/7.
Blessings to all of you - may peace prevail on earth.
Peg Hope
From Ted Hope:
Greetings parents,
I'm writing from Sarnath, the small town built around Deer Park, where Buddha gave his first sermon (around 520 BC). I've spent the morning with the students visiting the nearby village schools established by Dr. Jain, who is our host here. His work is extraordinary. Starting in 2003 with one hamlet school and 12 students, he now has 6 village programs, each serving 25-70 students in this area. Seven other nearby hamlets have asked him to start programs for children and/or literacy progra
ms for women. The students come from diverse lower castes and varied faiths. All are welcome, free. His funding ($150/year/student) he says, "comes from God."
His Ph.D. and European experiences notwithstanding, he has ignored more lucrative options to spend his life here.
As we walk with him, children and adults pause and stoop to touch his feet and offer a quick prayer. It is their privilege to touch him. He says simply, "Well, they appreciate that I educate their children." He is proud of his intentions and humble about his achievements. "Most of the work is still to be done." We all have much to learn from his example; and from the diligence, enthusiasm, and beautiful smiles of the poor and untouchable children to whom he is so dedicated. Asia is a great teacher.
I meet with the students each day in the AM. After "health check" there are occasional background lectures and often discussions of our activities. They have been attentive, cooperative and have operated well within structured activities. They are more challenged by connecting to the great teacher through creative initiative. This is coming, though, and they are becoming more relaxed about making contact; we had a wonderful discussion today about this unfolding process.
Varanasi, Sarnath and its surrounding hamlets, and Bodh Gaya (our next stop) are exceptionally safe. There is virtually no one in these places except locals, pilgrims, and Hindu, Buddhist and Jain holy people. English is widely spoken. Josh, Amelia, and Felipe seem to be out front in realizing that here meaning is created, not served up. We are busy supporting each in this direction. We hope that each learns to come to see me and other staff as a conduit and a safety net, not as the wellspring of knowledge. We seek to stimulate each to explore, make contact, and create meaning. The rewards here for this undertaking can be very rich. India rarely serves itself up like a video game; rather, it patiently awaits discovery and rewards searches. In the thirty years that I have come here, it has always seemed like a mirror of the energy each of us brings to it.
It continues to be a privilege and a great adventure to assist our students in this process of self- and world-discovery. Thank you for the opportunity you have made possible for us once again.
Ted
Dispatches from Spain
Hello everyone!
It was a rainy, mucky day when we walked into Astorga last Tuesday - the usual singing and laughing was replaced by silence as the kids worried about beginning their home stays. We had hoped to be able to stop somewhere so that everyone could change before arriving at the school, but to the students utter mortification, we showed up at the front door like 12 drowned rats just as school was letting out. We sent them home with their host siblings, who had been eagerly awaiting our arrival. The next morning, anticipating horror stories, we all giggled for a half an hour over their funny anecdotes:Chelsea claims that as soon as she walked into the door, her host mom, without saying aword, took all of her clothing and pointed to the shower!
Now - more than half way through the home stays and the kids have been living daily Spanish life: eating Spanish cuisine, keeping a Spanish 
schedule, speaking Spanish and even wearing theirhost siblings´ Spanish clothes. Wedidn’t recognize Lucas when he showed up to school on the first morning!
Since we have only a week for home stays, we have tried to avoid structuring too many group activities - after 3 weeks of eating, sleeping, and walking together, you can imagine that we all needed a break from each other. But it has been great for the group to meet each school day for a half an hour to share stories about their host families. We don’t want to spoil the stories that the kids are looking forward to sharing with you themselves, but we will say that it has been a very culturally awakening experience.
All the Spanish girls adore Gabe due to his height and golden locks--he pretends to detest the attention. We had dinner with Keg’s host family Friday night and we all enjoyed a fabulous Spanish tortilla, a platter of local ambitious (cuts of cured meat) and cheese, a salad, and arrow con lecher (rice pudding). The students are all being well fed and getting some rest and deep cleaning before we hit the trail again on Wednesday.
As we get ready to begin the second half of the camino this week, we have been talking about what a neat experience it has been to see each of the students grow as individuals. Obviously, they have gotten much stronger physically and we have gradually increased the number of kilometers that we walk each day, but they have also shown us an impressive, increased level of responsibility. Life on the camino is quickly reduced to its most basic elements as you struggle to get clothes washed (almost always by hand) for the next day, make and eat simple meals, and get enough sleep. The best part of the trip has been that, despite living day after day in this exhausting survival mode, the students have all learned to put the groups’ needs before their own. They are constantly rolling with the punches: from volunteering to split up the contents of a struggling companion´s pack between them to happily agreeing to walk 5 more kilometers at the end of an already exhausting day because the albergue we had hoped to stay in turned out to be closed. Our travelers have matured considerably over such a short time and we’re excited for the next two weeks.
Un fuerte abrazo a todos,
Adam Erickson
Spanish Teacher
Angie Erickson
English Teacher
Spring Street International School