Insanity In Education-Evening

The conference was interesting-more like an hour and a half of arguing then anything. There were around 25 teachers gathered in a small room and all us volunteers gathered in front of them. Four of the teachers fired fairly random questions at us (such as "how do you join the military in the USA?" and "Will the USA elect Bush again?") while the women and quieter men argued amongst themselves or sat in silence. I felt as though we were being attacked and it pissed me off. I think it was the most enjoyable thing I’ve done do far-I loved debating even if they weren’t really listening. We talked a little about the different approaches of education in our two countries but the conversation (if you can call it that) inevitably strayed to politics. One thing I've noticed about Indian children is that they don't raise their hands in class, and after seeing their remodels I can understand why. The teachers interrupted each other and yelled over each other. It was like those press conferences you see on TV. I loved speaking my mind. If the teachers do not respect each other how will the children ever learn it? One of the teachers got so angry, not at us, but at another teacher he was fighting with, that he stood up in the middle the conference and left. Well, it was enlightening. The lack of participation by the women and the unwillingness of the men to shake the female volunteers hands was another thing that made my stomach clench with anger. Who do these guys think they are anyways? We tried to explain to them that our teachers generally do not beat the children into obedience and try to be supportive and encouraging when possible. I don't think they understood. Our cultures are so different. Anyways, I think Indian people are basically friendly, curious and open. About 40% are after your money or sex, resent your existence or downright hate you but the rest are nice enough. After I thought about it I realized that they probably did not mean to be rude, its just part of their culture. I actually love the part of Indian people that says exactly what they mean. It is refreshing to know that everything’s on the table...seems less judgmental somehow. The sunset is fading so I will go down (I am on the hill as usually). Tomorrow is the peach orchard. I am a little nervous but hopefully it will work out all right. C ya