9 Days left...

We are down to the final days of this trip, and while the students are busy finishing up all the last minute assignments, I have been busy coordinating to see the last of the tourist sites for the trip. Last weekend we headed to the east coast of India to Mahabalipuram, which is outside of Chennai. We stayed at the Chariot Beach Resort, which is on the Bay of Bengal, and has the largest pool I have ever seen. Many of us chose to just spend the weekend relaxing. It was hot and humid, so when we were outside, we were usually found in the pool! On Sunday, it was back to Bangalore, and time to prepare for the upcoming week.

For me, the weekend has been about setting up site seeing trips for the 2 faculty members that are teaching this session. Yesterday, I accompanied them to Shiva Temple:

It was a great experience, and we were all glad we took the time to visit. Today they headed to Lal Bagh, the botanical gardens. However, since I have already been, I stayed back to work on some other things. This weekend we are planning on going to Cubbon Park, as well as getting in some shopping for the remaining souvenirs we have yet to buy. Our time in India ia quickly coming to an end, but for most, the excitement to get back to friends and family in the states is growing exponentially with each day.

An Indian 4th

The past week has been pretty boring - just really filled with homework, quizzes and tests. But all of that changed today. It started like any other day, up at 7:15, breakfast at 7:45, class at 8:30 - which today included a finance test. After class I got to grade part of the finance test, so that kept me busy for a bit. But this evening, we were all off to Manipal County Resort to celebrate the 4th of July. We started the evening with chicken and lamb kebabs, then the open bar opened (this wasn't really necessary, as the students had been pre-gaming since noon, and it was 7:30), and then the 25 minutes of fire works began. Everyone got sparklers so that we could all personally take part in the evening's light show. This year we were standing a little farther away from where the fireworks were being set off, so I felt much safer. However, there was no fire truck standing my this time, so perhaps that was a false sense of safety! Following fireworks we had dinner, dessert, and then dancing. A good time was had by all! Hope you all enjoyed/are enjoying your 4th.

Golden Triangle

Yesterday we got back from seeing the sights of the Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, commonly referred to as the Golden Triangle. We had a good time, but I am very happy to be back, and even happier that we had 2 days to recover before starting classes again. Here are some of the highlights from the trip:

Delhi:
In Delhi we stayed at the very nice Park Hotel. On our second day there was full of site seeing. We went to Jama Masjid, which is a Mosque, then took a bicycle rickshaw ride through Old Delhi.

 

From there we finished up our morning with a trip to Qutub Minar.

We had the afternoon free, which was mainly spent getting some lunch, and cooling off (there was a high of 112 degrees that day!). In the evening, we headed off to Swaminarayan Akshardam. That place was incredible. It was like an amusement park complete with boat ride (similar to Pirates of the Caribbean), and an amazingly gorgeous temple. This wasn't in our original agenda, but those of us who went were very happy that we did. There were no cameras or other electronic devices allowed in the complex, so the website pictures are the best way to get an idea of what it is.

The following day we were free to do what we pleased, and so some of the girls and I spent the morning checking out a local market. In the afternoon, several of us ventured off to see the Lotus Temple. The temple was interesting to see, but to me more interesting were the number of people lining up to get into it. After getting back from the Lotus Temple, it was again time to cool off, before heading to dinner at a hookah bar.

The following morning, we loaded into a bus for the 6 hour bus ride to Agra.

Agra:
Agra is home to the Taj Mahal. At 5:30am we jumped on board carriage type things, which were pulled by horses to take us to the Taj (vehicles aren't allowed very close). We were then walking into the Taj complex as the sun rose at 6am.

At 7:30 is was back to the hotel to cool off and eat breakfast. At 9:00am we were on the bus, headed to the Agra Fort.

Following the Fort stop, we headed to a marble factory, where they explained the process of making tables and other sorts of marble items that have gems inlaid in them. That part was interesting, but then came the sales pitch, trying to get us to buy countless marble items. Not really my cup of tea. Following that it was back to the hotel to rest up. In the afternoon, some of us went to the showroom of Kohinoor Jewelers, in which we were shown a families private art collection. The work was incredible, but again no photos were allowed. We then went upstairs to look at their jewelry collection, where there was a sales person following each of us around. The jewlery was beautiful, and not too expensive for what it was, but still well out of my price range.

The next morning we loaded back into the bus to head to Jaipur.

Jaipur:
After our afternoon arrival in Jaipur, we headed out to see the Birla Temple, and enjoy the aarti ceremony. The next morning we left the hotel at 7:30 to head to Amer Fort, where we rode elephants to get up to the Palace entrance of the fort.

Following the Fort Palace, we then headed off to City Palace. I saw City Palace last year and was not so intrigued by it, so I opted to ride the bus back to the hotel, while the majority of the group looked at the palace and then shopped in the surrounding market.

After a week of traveling, we headed to the Jaipur airport to fly back to Bangalore. We arrived back at Woodstock about 9:00pm on Friday night, completely exhausted. Thus, most of us have spent the weekend relaxing, and getting ready for the new set of classes that start tomorrow morning. Back to the grind, but back to a routine!

A Free Weekend

Last week finished off with a trip to the local vegetable market where the students tried their hand at negotiating the price of mangoes, and then a business visit to Biocon and Radel. Everyone was ready for a little down time come Friday night, so several of us headed off to Hard Rock happy hour. My friend Karthik was in Bangalore for the weekend, so he met us there. After some good food and a couple of drinks, we headed back home - some of us very excited by the opportunity to sleep!

On Saturday, one of the students, Crystal, and I decided that we wanted to see some of the sites in Bangalore. So, we grabbed an auto rickshaw and headed to Bull Temple. The temple itself wasn't that impressive as we have seen statues of Nandi Bull before and been to other temples, but the grounds outside of the temple were gorgeous. It was so green and lush, a vast difference from most of Bangalore.

Following that stop we proceeded to Tipu's Palace, which is small, but has beautiful  architecture. We then headed over to Church Street, which is in the central part of the city, where we walked around, looked in some shops, and then had dinner.

This next week is the last week in the first session of classes, which makes this the equivalent of finals week. Thus, the students are very busy with projects and tests, and therefore Sunday was a pretty quiet day. One of the other residents here asked me where the students had gone for the day, seeing as how he hadn't heard or seen any of them (a real rarity!). I told him that they all were indeed here, but were in their rooms studying. He seemed pleased with the quiet day this presented him with.

At the end of this week we will be traveling again. This time it is the Golden Triangle trip - Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. Everyone is looking forward to the trip, and even more to a week without homework, or in my case papers to grade. All in all, we are enjoying ourselves here in Incredible India!

Kabini!

After 2 good days in Mysore, we packed up our stuff and got back on the bus. We were off to Kabini! This year we stayed at the same amazing resort that we stayed at last year, but the roll-away twin bed I slept on this year wasn't quite as nice as the king I had all to myself last year. But, my stay at the resort started off nicely with a safari, in which we saw elephants, a leopard, Indian bison, deer, monkeys, and a few wild pigs. This year I brought my nicer camera along with me on the trip, and was very happy I did! Here are some of my favorite shots from the safari:

After the safari, the rest of the time in Kabini was all about relaxing. There was a lot of time spent reading poolside! It was nice while it lasted, but Sunday morning at 9am we were back on the road to Bangalore.

Mysore, part 2

Following the stop at Chamundi Hill, we were given the option of stopping at the Mysore Zoo. 12 of us decided to check it out, and were thoroughly impressed. It was much bigger than we ever imagined it would be - we had to call and ask for the bus to pick us up 2 hours after our drop off time instead of the 1.5 hours originally given, and still had to rush to see all the animals. There were a ton of larger animals including giraffes, elephants, lions, hippos, leopards and tigers. The zoo is privately funded, and has provided most of the animals with a good amount of space, given the zoo environment.

Following the zoo visit, it was back to the hotel for a nap. That evening, one of the students and I walked around the center of town, where we walked through a market. The colors were so rich and the people so kind. It was a great experience.

 After visiting the market, we walked around town a little more, and then headed back to the hotel, where we ran into a group of students getting into rickshaws to head to Planet X to go go-carting. So, we opted to join in on the fun. While at Planet X, some went on the go-carts, some played mini-golf, some bowled and some hit the arcade. We had a lot of fun hanging out, and were the last ones to leave the park that night. As we were heading to bed, we were not very excited about the 9am leave time that we had the next morning. But, Kabini was in our future, and we were all excited!

Mysore, part 1

Last Wednesday morning we all loaded into a bus and made the 4 hour journey to Mysore. Mysore was the original capital of Karnataka (the state we are staying in). Upon arrival in Mysore, we had lunch at a hotel, and then headed over to the Mysore Palace. The palace is amazing. A lot of attention to detail in the woodwork and paintings that adorn the entire thing. Cameras are not allowed inside the palace, but here is what the outside looks like:

After checking out the palace, we headed to our hotel to check in, Hotel Regaalis. At that point we were all pretty tired, so opted for dinner in the hotel, drinks in the hotel bar, and turned in pretty early!

The next morning, it was a 9:00am leave to head to Chamundi Hill, where we went into a temple, and saw several statues. Here are some pictures from the stop:

Our day wasn't over yet, but the internet has just become incredibly slow. So, stay tuned for part 2 of the trip to Mysore!

Out and About

The first test and projects were submitted at the end of last week, so the weekend has been full of grading and time out and about in Bangalore. On Friday night, I went with the professors to do a little shopping, well really browsing, to figure out what souvenirs are available locally, so we can be prepared when looking for souvenirs while traveling. After that we had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, and then hurried home to watch the semi-final playoff match for the IPL cricket league. Saturday morning was filled with grading of marketing projects. But come evening, some of the students and I headed to The Biere Club for some micro-brews.

Sunday was a day of more exploring. One of the professors, a student and I headed to the botanical gardens. They are very green and clean, is great contrast to the city which surrounds it.  Here are some pictures from our trip:

All-in-all it was a great weekend! Up next are two days of class followed by four days of travel.

The work has arrived!

Classes have started and we are all settling into the daily routine. For me it looks like this:
7am - Wake up, shower, get ready
7:45 - breakfast
8:15 - Set up the classroom technology for lecture
8:30 - Marketing Class
10:30 - Head to the gym (students are in Organizational Behaviors class during this time, but I don't have to attend)
12:30 - put away all the equipment used for lectures
12:45 - lunch
Afternoon - prep for the next day, grade, help students, and if there is time left - nap!

The pace of the classes is now starting to catch up with the students, and so their afternoons and evenings are filled with individual homework assignments, test prep, and group projects. For some reason they have become a lot quieter than when we first arrived!

In addition to the class assignments, students have also been participating in dance and yoga classes. They are all very excited to attend yoga class, but getting the guys to the dance classes isn't as easy. Once they are there, they have fun though! We will all be performing the dances that we are learning at a celebration dinner when the first session of classes end (June 14th).

Tomorrow is the first test, so students are busy studying. On Friday they have their first group assignment due, so they have been taking breaks from studying to work on that. They are looking forward to getting both of these out of the way, and having some fun this weekend!

J-105 - a room with a view

Thought I would share some pictures of my room and surroundings here at Woodstock Express.

My closet and bathroom. Not quite enough storage space, but making it work!

The view from my door:

 The pool and basketball court - in the pouring rain!

Back in Bangalore!

Here we are, already at day 3 in India. So far, we are off to a fabulous start. After more than 40 hours of total travel time, on Monday we arrived at our home for the summer - Woodstock Express. We were given a tour of the facilities, which includes a cafeteria, restaurant, small gym, game room, swimming pool, and a room newly created for us to use as a classroom. That evening we all ate dinner together in the on-campus restaurant, and we were all excited to taste the delights of Indian cuisine. The food served here is very good, and is a combination of Indian food and international fare. With full stomachs, and a severe lack of sleep, it was straight to bed after dinner!

Day 2 started off nice and early for me, with a 3am trip to the airport to pick up a student. Up next was breakfast, and then loading onto a bus for a short tour of the city. No city tour would be complete without a stop at the local mall, right?!? So we stopped at 2 of them. It was a great way for the students to start orienting themselves with the city, and the services and restaurants that are close by. The final stop of our city tour was in the evening, at Purple Haze, a Jimi Hendrix inspired pub. The students had a great time getting to know each other a little better and loved interacting with the locals. This was also a great way to get over the jet lag, as we didn't return from the pub until 11:30.

Today we started off the day with dance lessons. A classical trained dancer came to Woodstock to show us some moves from 2 different styles of Indian dance, one traditional and one folk. This was just a general introduction, but the students will continue to meet with her in small groups to learn a 2-3 minute dance which they will perform in a couple of weeks. It was a lot of fun to try out the dance moves, and a great team building activity, since most people were not in their comfort zone during this activity.

Tonight we are all having dinner at Manipal County, which is just down the street from us. This is another opportunity to show students the options available to them in our neighborhood. Tomorrow classes start, and it will be back to the books for all of us!