GLOBAL SCIENCE

Part One: Running

Part Two: The Science Museum

Part Three: City Observations

Part Four: Dinner Party

Part One

Joelle, being an avid runner, has been dying to run. Today, she had the opportunity to run on the hotel treadmill, and I decided to join her because I would have felt guilty not to. Afterward, the man working in the workout room asked if we liked running. Joelle, naturally, answered “yes!” while I, naturally, answered “no.” He then proceeded to ask me if my mom was punishing me because she was out by the pool reading. That gave me a good laugh…

Part Two

Science, as you would probably imagine, is the same across the world. From simple machines to space exploration, children are learning similar concepts in school. Entering the science museum, the first thing I spotted was the Wright Brothers’ Airplane hanging from the ceiling. We saw the airplane in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, and now, we have seen it on the other side of the world. Other historic Americans, including Benjamin Franklin, are featured in the museum. As we moved through the three story museum, consisting of six different rooms, we learned about simple machines, gears, energy sources, technology, space exploration, biomedical science, and “fun science.” Many of the simulations and examples set up were concepts and experiments that Joelle and I have learned and completed in our science classes. In the “fun science” room though, we got to do several mind warping activities, including putting just our head on a platter, looking into an infinity well, and seeing out of the back of our heads (suddenly, I saw Joelle in my reflection rather than myself, and that was trippy).

Entering the museum behind us, there was a very large group of school-aged children. They excitedly ran around the museum, trying out the different demonstrations and playing with the experiments. However, when Mom, Joelle, and I would pass by, faces would turn. We were almost as interesting to them as the science experiments, if not more. Watching the kids learn about and play with the science concepts, I began to consider that although our schooling systems are different and we are in very different parts of the world, the scientific concepts and the history of the science are generally the same, maybe with different cultural emphasis.

As of 2016, India is the third largest energy consumer in the world, with China first and the United States second. However, many people throughout the country do not have access to energy such as electricity due to its expensive nature. This creates a dilemma and balancing act between energy sources: coal or renewable energy. Coal is much cheaper, allowing more people to have access to the energy, but renewable energy sources are so much better for the environment, especially with a population as large as India’s population. My first response was “save the planet,” but at the same time, I cannot imagine not having access to energy since I use it all day everyday. Energy is engrained into my everyday life. This realization made me understand the true difficulty of this dilemma and has given me something to consider. Access to energy is something that many of us take for granted because of how engrained it is in our daily lives, allowing us to make a push for renewable energy. But, what if we did not have easy access to energy? Would we still make that push?

Part Three

Although I have written five blogs, there are several observations we have made that I have seldom shared with you because they do not neatly fit into an activity of the day. Therefore, I am going to take a moment to share these things with you, as I still find them interesting.

In the United States, we may all speak one language, but the culture differs remarkably from state to state. An individual traveling to the United States would have a much different experience on the East Coast than on the West Coast. Similarly, India varies in culture throughout the country, including variations in languages. India consists of twenty-nine states, forty styles of food, and twenty-two languages. Given that we are not here for very long, that we basically eat whatever food is given to us, and that we do not speak any of the twenty-two languages, I have not really noticed the cultural variations. However, I have begun to understand just how big the country is due to the number of places that we are told we should visit in India but just do not have time for.

Mumbai and Bangalore alike, tuktuks are everywhere. Tuktuks are open aired cars that I would describe as more of a motorized carriage. I will include a picture on the pictures page because I really do not know how to describe it well. Nonetheless, we have noticed that these tuktuks are driven barefoot. If you can imagine all of the traffic I have described, about half of it is made up of tuktuks. These little cars squeeze between normal cars and rush down the road like any other. At first, they were fascinating to see, but I think now we have become accustomed to them.

Niwot High School, as many of you know, has the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program, and Joelle will be in the IB diploma program starting next year. Driving around today, Mom spotted a large billboard advertisement for a school in India that is going to begin offering the program. Although we know that the program is worldwide, given that it is International Baccalaureate, it was enlightening to actually see it in another country, rather than just giving it blind faith.

During that same car ride, the driver had the radio on, playing all pop American music. Joelle heard one of the commercials, although I had tuned it out, and it is quite funny. The commercial said something along the lines of “You eat greasy American food. You drink sugary American drinks. You watch violent American movies. Get something good from America…American mattresses.” It is always interesting to hear how other countries portray the United States, and this one definitely made us laugh.

As I mentioned yesterday, the town surrounding the Girijamba Temple is getting ready for tomorrow’s festival. Today, we saw the preparations in the city. Driving through the streets, we saw large, golden elephant decorations in addition to other, much larger decorations that I do not know how to describe. Driving through the streets after dark, there were lots of lights strung down the buildings and across the streets. Joelle smartly proclaimed, “Christmas lights would be so much easier if we strung them down the sides of the houses, like that.” I am not sure what the festival entirely consists of, but I am excited to get a glimpse of it tomorrow.

Part Four

Arriving at Prerna’s family’s house, we slipped our shoes off at the door and were welcomed inside. Upon entering the home, Prerna’s father placed sandalwood on each of our foreheads. They have a wonderful home consisting of a small temple, a family room, a kitchen, and four bedrooms. My favorite part was the swing hanging in the middle of the downstairs room. Before dinner, Prerna and her mother showed Joelle, Mom, and I how different breads are prepared. The dough was already made, but they showed us how to roll the dough out and prepare it. Prerna cooked the dough in a pan on the gas stove, whereas her mother cooked it directly on the flame. Similar to last night, they had an oven outside to cook bread as well. It cannot get much fresher than that. Sitting down for dinner, three main dishes were served along with rice and the breads we made. It was all very good, but again, the food was never ending. Quickly, we found ourselves entirely stuffed, but the food did not stop coming. Following dinner, we watched a short film that Prerna made several years ago about their family and then had friendly conversation. Eyes beginning to flicker shut, we said goodnight, but not before we made plans for a 5:45 morning adventure.

Science museum

School field trip

Pulleys

Weather report

"Fun science"

IB Program

Tuktuk

Festival decorations

Families

Swing

Rolling bread dough

Cooking bread

Dinner