Namaste!
Staff
This week, all the returning teachers came back and everyone has been fantastic.
They’re a group of people from the U. S. A., Canada, Spain, U. K., Colombia, Russia, France, China, Japan, Bangladesh, and India. I’m sure that I’m missing some countries as well. There’s too many staff to get to know every one.
As one new staff member told me last night at the Street Food Festival hosted on campus, “they don’t hire wusses.” It’s a very social, competent, and personable group of educators.
Being Hired We see being hired here as a blessing.
But the process was interesting. I had interviewed with a couple of schools who saw my wanting to change roles from HS Principal to a Tech role as a demotion. Some could not get over the fact that I wanted to “step down.” Perhaps some interviewing admin were threatened. I cannot say for certain but it seemed to hurt me in a couple of interviews.
Not so with AES. They saw that my experience as Principal as a positive and that it would be helpful in my role as HS Tech Coordinator. In fact, two of their new Elementary School (ES) Learning Coaches were Principals in the U. S.
No insecurities here.
Campus Life It’s a mini-city here!
We have a medical facility on campus with nurses and a doctor. If we have any health concerns, it’s a 2 minute walk or a phone call after hours. They take good care of us and drive the fear of God in to us when it comes to rabies and monkeys/cats/dogs. They are very proactive with vaccinations and health warnings.
The pool can be used at any time except when they’re cleaning it (every night at 7:00-8:00). I’m going to check out the gym where we can work out 24/7. I have no excuses not to get in shape now!
The cafeteria is unreal. The food is all made from scratch and is delicious. For 90 rupees ($1.76 Cdn) at lunch, I get a plate full of healthy, delicous Indian food.
Then there’s the Tiger’s Den, which is a little coffee shop/snack shop. Dana can get her latte every morning except on Sundays. They’re 120 rupees or $2.35.
Kirsi and Aidan …have been having a great time. They’re very comfortable on campus and have lots of friends. They all go from one friend’s apartment to another or spend time at the playground. Both love spending time in the pool and have adjusted very well.
School starts on Tuesday for them both. Aidan has a 15 minute, individual meeting with his teacher and the rest of the day is a holiday. His first full day is on Wednesday.
YouTube Our YouTube videos have Indian commercials, which are great to watch. I never watched North American YouTube commercials but I watch these because they’re so different. If only I understood Hindi.
Tall-Tree Organics
Every Tuesday, we get boxes of organic produce for 3000 rupees from Tall Tree.
They’re a cooperative that is training local farmers in organic farming methods, marketing, and business.
So, we get fresh, organic produce (for a little more, granted) and help to support a good initiative that helps others.
App & Delivery Culture Delhi has an App and delivery culture. You can order almost anything online and have it delivered.
Amazon.in – everything
Peppery.com – household items
UrbanLadder.com – furniture
FoodPanda.in – restaurant deliveries
Grofers.com – food
Zomato.com – food
Uber.com – cars
Uber is huge here. They’re used more than the taxis as they’re cheaper and no haggling. They’re drivers are rated so it’s more trustworthy. Plus you can track exactly where all their cars are, including the one you are in.
I get a text message when something is shipped by any of the above. My most recent one was this morning and read:
“[order item] has been dispatched and will be delivered by Grab rider Sunil Ramsanehi” and continued with his phone number and a link to track the order.”
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