Field Trip

Today we took the CRAWL students on a field trip to the Victoria Memorial and the Botanical Gardens. We chartared a bus and drove into Kolkata. Every student got a disposable camera to take pictures of the memorial and of eachother. We had a picnic breakfast at the VM, and then played frisbee and cabade (a really popular game in Bengal that is kind of like tag) in the lawn. As expected, the kids were shocked to see couples holding hands and leaning into eachother under trees all throughout the grounds. It was cause for much giggling and whispering. We took the kids through the museum quickly; we didn't really take time to read any information. All this took a few hours.
Next, we got back on the bus and drove to the Botanical Gardens. We had a lunch of kachuri, which is fried flat bread, and aloo dum, which is potato curry. It was yummy. Then we walked through the gardens. We looked at the world's largest tree. It's a banyan, which drop roots from their branches and just continue to spread and spread. The canopy of the one tree covers some ridiculously large area.
On the bus, we listened to music and watched music videos. After plenty of prodding, tugging and pleading from the students, I agreed to dance with them in the aisle of the bus. It was extremely difficult. Driving in India involves weaving and slamming on the breaks quite frequently. So we would try to dance, only to be thrown in all directions, falling over eachother. It was still fun though. Most of the kids have never ridden in cars or buses except for on previous CRAWL field trips. On the ride back, almost every single one of them got sick and threw up. We passed out plastic bags. Some were sick from the beginning, but by the time we reached Khardah, even the girls who had been dancing with me were sick. There was vomit dripping down the outsides of the bus when we got back. It was a sad end to such a fun day. Despite that, I think the kids all really enjoyed themselves. I know I did.

~m