I have finally merged all the various itineraries considering there are five legs to my journey. Many cultural/historical sites I will visit were highlighted under the post “My Host, Rajesh,” but there is much more that will take place on the first leg in Bangalore.  The first two days will be filled with meetings introducing us to the history and culture of India, and the education system in India. Prestigious guest speakers from the Indian government, the Teacher Foundation, and even the Consulate General from the U.S. Embassy will honor us with their presence.  We will have an interactive guided historical walk, which will immerse us into the his background of Bangalore, a panel discussion with local educators, and then we will visit two schools – a government private school, and a affordable private school.

Second leg will be with our host Teachers and we all break up into pairs of two. In addition to the cultural sites mentioned previously, we will be presenting information about America to our host’s students, and addressing educators about the American school system.

Our host Teacher has graciously planned an overnight train trip to Mumbai (which is our third leg), where we will visit the prestigious Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE). HBCSE is a national center dedicated to promoting excellence in science and math – this is what the American education system calls STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).  Although I am not a science or math person at all, this will be good for me to expand my knowledge of this content area (which I usually avoid like the plague!).  All jokes aside, this is America’s focus because we do not have enough college graduates in this area. In fact, many of our professionals come from countries such as India – maybe this spot has a lot to do with that…hmmm

We go to Delhi next and meet up with the entire cohort to debrief and share our experiences. Then we go to the Taj Mahal in Agra, considered one of the eight wonders of the world.  I’m grateful, I’m blessed, and I expect to be greatly enlightened…..feel free to join me…