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!

Made it back to the States!

We arrived at LAX on Tuesday, and the plane was not so quiet upon our touchdown! We were all happy to be back in the states, but I personally could have spent more time in India. The last couple of days of our trip were very busy with traveling, but full of fun as well. Here goes the quick recap of our final days in India:

We visited the Taj Mahal, which is quiet an amazing site, but at 6:00am with about 97% humidity, most of us did not need the hour and a half we were given to take it in. After the Taj it was back to the hotel for breakfast, a quick shower, and then it was back on the road again to see Agra Fort. I actually liked the fort more than the Taj, as there was more to see there. It also provided a nice view of the city, including the Taj, as well as more shade than the Taj! That afternoon it was back to the hotel for napping and packing.

We left the next morning to make the 6 hour bus ride to Jaipur, known as the Pink City. Upon arrival to Jaipur, we stopped at a temple, and then headed to our hotel to check in. The hotel provided us with evening entertainment, including two ladies dancing with fire and pots on their heads, as well as a puppet show. Several students also got their palms read, and others had bracelets made to their specifications. The next morning, it was on to Amber Fort, where we road elephants up to the fort, walked around the fort, and then went to City Palace. Jaipur was also hot and very humid, so after the palace, several of us elected to go back to the hotel pool, while others decided to take in the local markets.

The next morning brought a 6:30 leave time, when we piled back on to the buses to drive the 5 hours to the Delhi airport, and then flew to Goa. This was not our original plan, but given all that was going on in Mumbai (where we had our original connecting flight to Goa) it was decided that this was the better travel route. This route however meant we spent the entire day traveling. My flight reached Goa at 5:15, and we arrived at the hotel at 6:45. Some students were on a later flight, and didn't reach the hotel until 8:45 (their flight was delayed). It was a bit of a bummer to the beginning of our stay in Goa, but things certainly picked up the next day!

Our full day in Goa brought time in the pool and in the ocean. The ocean water was nice and warm, but the rip tide was pretty strong, so we couldn't go in very deep. The drinks at the hotel were pretty cheap, so most of the students spent the day visiting the pool side bar! That evening, we all had dinner together at a restaurant called Fisherman's Wharf, which was a 4 minute walk from our hotel. Following dinner, it was back to hanging out at the hotel bar, chatting the night away. The next day, we had a 3:30am leave time, so most students didn't go to bed that night. At 3:30, it was back on the buses, heading for the airport, to fly back to Bangalore.

We were all exhausted on arrival in Bangalore. We ate breakfast at our hotel, which thankfully let us check in early (we arrived there at 9:15am), and then most of us went up to our rooms to sleep. Other than sleeping, the day was also filled with repacking of suitcases, as the next day we were headed back to the states.

Delhi Delights!

We just arrived at our hotel in Agra, having spent the last 2 days in Delhi. Delhi was amazing, but with only one full day to explore, we were all very sad to be leaving so fast. Delhi is a much more mature city, with much better infrastructure than Bangalore. While the temperature was warmer than Bangalore, and the humidity a lot worse, the group consensus is that 8 weeks in Delhi would have been much preferred to 8 weeks in Bangalore.

The first night, we went out to a club that was open until 2am, which quickly had the students loving the city, and the late night scene it presented. On day 2 we took a city tour, seeing some of the tourist sites, including a Mosque, a temple, and a market. I was unable to see all of the sites with the students, as I had to return to the hotel to retrieve the passports of 2 participants that were departing from the trip, but what I did see I thoroughly enjoyed! The evening brought a trip to the mall where we walked around and had dinner. After dinner, it was back to the hotel via rickshaw, and then going back to the club we had visited the night before. Since it was Sunday night, it was only open until 1am, but we managed not to get back to the hotel until around 2.

This morning we departed for Agra, and the students were thrilled to get up by 8:00 to make this trip! The bus trip meant a lot of sleeping for most, and a 3:45 arrival at the hotel to check in. Tomorrow morning we leave the hotel at 5:30am to go see the Taj Mahal. We are all excited to see the Taj, but not so excited about the leave time! Seems tomorrow afternoon will be filled with naps for most of us.

Mumbai Terrorist Attacks

News of the Mumbai terrorist attacks made its way through our group yesterday evening, and for some, the proximity to such attacks is a little too close for comfort. A couple of students have changed their travel plans, and will now be flying home earlier, but for the majority of us, it comes as a reminder to be aware of our surroundings, and to take caution as we venture onto the streets of India. We are still in Bangalore, but will be heading to the airport on Saturday begin our travels throughout India. I am interested to see what sort of measures will be in place at the airport, but am not expecting too much out of the ordinary.

Should questions about our whereabouts come up over the next week and a half, here is my itinerary:

July 16 - Fly to Delhi
Stay at the Crown Plaza Okhla - Delhi

July 18 - Drive to Agra
Stay at Trident Hotel

July 19 - visit Taj Mahal

July 20 - Drive to Jaipur
Stay at Trident Hotel

July 22 - Fly to Goa via Mumbai
Stay at the Holiday Inn

July 24 - Fly to Bangalore
Stay at Chancery Pavilion

July 25 - Fly to LAX via Singapore and Tokyo
July 26 - Fly to Sacramento

Hope you all are doing well. We are very excited to leave Bangalore, and check out other parts of India!