January 9, 2024
The Unorthodox Classroom
One week ago yesterday I left Seattle for Bangalore. Barring a few hiccoughs, including joining the unfortunate club of westerners travelling in South East Asia who spend the day moving between the toilet and clutching their stomach in bed, this week has been overwhelmingly filled with positives. With non-stop days surrounded by friends, many of whom I interacted with for the first time when I arrived last Wednesday, I can already see why people warned me this trip will fly by.
Yesterday was my first day in the classroom, and it had me wondering how I ever sat through classes back in Seattle. I missed the speed and movement of our previous days travelling around Bangalore. Despite the ants in my pants, yesterday again proved to be a helpful day of learning as we joined with students from BMS College of Engineering for lectures. The morning lecture was hosted by Bhargavi who discussed her work in waste and water management and lake restoration. After lunch and a brief tour of campus from BMS students, we headed back to the classroom for an unorthodox, but as I’m starting to learn, GCIL usual, lesson with Julian. We found ourselves designing wallets for our peers out of paper, rubber bands, and for a luck few, tech decks. For a different activity, we also swapped shoes with one of our classmates. Despite my confusion at the start of each new task, I have gained a new respect for the interview process and the importance of asking insightful questions. No person’s ideal wallet in our class was the same, and to walk in someone else’s shoes and describe their perfect first date, you must ask the right questions first. I remember reading a joke on a student’s blog from last year about learning to trust the process, and I can only imagine what classes will have in store for us for the rest of this quarter.
Laying sprawled in various positions on the UTC couches yesterday evening trying to start this blog, I found myself reflecting on how packed our schedule has been every day. Breakfast at 8 am, then loading the bus for a full day of learning and adventures. Despite this, thanks to all the people making GCIL happen, no day has felt rushed. This calm but constant daily bustle is something I have noticed in many of the people we interact with each day here. In Bangalore, similar to Seattle, everyone seems to be busy. While in Seattle people always seem rushed and distant, the opposite has been true here in Bangalore. They are ready to stop and chat with friends on their smoke break, or help us find the metro station, then get back to a hard days’ work.
As I expected I would, at the end of these long days I sometimes miss the familiarity of home and Seattle. The comfort of knowing friends and family are close by, and tomorrow will be just like today. However, even in these moments I know this is exactly why I am here. Each day I wake up excited for full days of visiting temples, learning about the NGOs my peers will be working with, meeting students from Bangalore, and having pieces of mango snatched from my hands by rude monkeys. So, with the weather in Seattle a balmy 45 degrees and rainy, do I wish I was slogging to More Hall with a face full of rain? The answer is definitely no.
By Fiona
Cricket with BMS students
Wallet prototypes