Journey Through the Past: Carrom

I suppose I should celebrate my 300th post (is this even possible?) with a post from my favorite place, India. This is another picture from that stash of pictures which I thought were long-lost. This is from a trip to India that Michelle and our friend Hope made in August 2003. It turned out to be a great trip, which partially relates to the fact that we stopped for a couple days in Paris on the way back (my first trip there, and I immediately fell in love with the city), but also because I made a more concerted effort to see more of India. Included in this was my decision to leave our campus there (and the watchful eye of my dear friend Michelle) and wander into the chaos of a major religious holiday (Krishna's birthday, which has to be a post in and of itself very soon). In some ways it was my first true international experience, and one which profoundly changed my life (but more on that soon). Here are a couple slides of our students playing a game called carrom, which is a fun game that is sort of like table shuffle board (if that makes any sense). I'm showing it because it is one of those simple little moments that carry far more weight than you would think the would. Our students at the Mumbai campus were just so amazing - so respectful and so hungry for knowledge - that it, on a daily basis, reminded me of why I became a teacher in the first place.