July 5, 2011

Kids love field trips - no matter what country you're in!

Searching for semi-precious stone treasures in Khambhat

Large scale rock tumblers which produce gorgeous polished stones

The cast of the Malaysian dance troupe

My second day and I already immersed in the school family. “Hello Ma’am” was heard from the left and right as I walked through the gates of the school.  I think I was just as excited to go on this field trip as the students were.  When I arrived at the school, all 200 of the students were seated by class (40 per class) waiting to board the buses.  Within the 45 minutes all the students were on the buses and eagerly waiting to start our journey.  The route was quite long and took us through a variety of landscapes.  Vadodara is topographically flat with city-like infrastructure whereas the areas we drove through were a bit hilly as well as quite rural.   As the bus rolled through one small town after another I chatted with my Navrachana colleagues and kept an eye on the road as I watched the traffic dance so prevalent to way of life in India.  We eventually got to our destination which was a stone polishing shop.  The busloads of students poured out the buses and ran to the piles of mineral shards to fill their bags.  This is where my job began as the first student asked “Ma’am what is the name of this rock?” I think by the end of the day almost every student brought me at least one mineral for identification. I never had so much fun being around such lively students!  The technique used to the polish the stones was similar to the technique employed by rock tumbling kits sold in toy or science stores.  It was quite impressive to see the process done at such a large scale.  The polished rocks leave this shop for retail sales in other countries or to be used in jewelry making in other parts of the country.

After our first stop we ventured to a historical temple in the area followed by a picnic lunch and another temple visit.  Each of these places painted a rich picture of the history of this region of India given the ornate nature of the structures and the strong respect and the adherence to the traditions of the religions of each of the temples.  In each case we needed to remove our shoes before entering and the teachers with me showed their respect by offering prayers in the manner of the religion of the temple.  Even the 200 energetic students followed the protocols modeled by their elders at each location; an impressive feat to witness. Our last stop of the trip was in a town called Khambhat in the Anand region of Gujarat.  Here the people are known for their stone beadwork.  The children had an opportunity to shop for mineral trinkets while the teachers sought out baubles, beads, and additional stones for classroom use.  Phew, after a day in the sun my ride back to the school included a long nap!

About halfway through the afternoon I found out that Julia, Anna, and I were invited to dance performance by a renowned dance troupe from Malaysia called Sutra.  When I got back to the hotel, Julia mentioned we were being picked up in 20 minutes!  A quick freshening up and off we went to a wonderful performance where the dancers continued telling their story for almost 2 hours without a break.  It was a special event loved by all. Back at the hotel I crashed harder than the night before all while thinking about what a wonderful day it was!