Marvelous Mumbai

On Tuesday morning, Priya, Eric, Felicia and I departed the village of Kadod for a two-day trip to Mumbai (Bombay).  We took a bumpy bus to Surat where we caught a train to Mumbai. It was an enjoyable trip and rejuvenating break from the village.

We have all been quite busy since we arrived here seven weeks ago, so the outing was extremely refreshing for all of us.  We are all anxious to get out and see as much of India as we can and we finally had an opportunity to see a new place.  The train ride was fun as we all shared a sleeper cabin.  We each had our own small bed, so we were able to enjoy a short nap in the air-conditioning and we played several games of Monopoly Deal while munching on our favourite snacks of Mango Lays and Tiger Glucose biscuits.

When we arrived to Mumbai after our four-hour train ride, we had several hours to go out and see the city, since on conference started the following morning.  We hopped in a rickshaw and headed to Bandra, one of the more "happening" areas of the city.  We stepped out of the monsoon rain and into Coffee Bean and Tea Leave, a famous American coffee shop and enjoyed a delicious cup of freshly brewed coffee.  After the rains subsided, we headed back outside and towards the local train station, to catch the local line to Colaba, the area home to the Gateway of India and the well-known Taj Hotel.

The local train was quite a different experience from our earlier train ride. No air-conditioning, no seats and no doors! We hung onto the bars and watched the city fly by us as we stuck our heads out of the moving train. After reaching Colaba, we hopped on a bus to Indigo Deli, a must-visit restaurant.  We ordered the most tasty burgers and barbecued chicken sandwiches that we've tasted in months.  We sat back, completely full and so happy to have had a little taste of America. We even ventured down the street to a popular pub and shared an ice-cold pitcher of Kingfisher beer.

The following morning, we woke and had breakfast with Priya's family who lives in the city.  Her aunt is an excellent cook and sent us the conference with full bellies from a hearty breakfast. When we reached the Orchid Hotel, the venue for the conference, we were once again in awe of the extravagance we haven't seen in quite awhile.  Here we were at a five-star hotel with an elegant fountain in the center of the lobby.  We were rushed to the conference room and given big binders of material and shown to our seats.

The conference was held for English teachers in mostly the Mumbai area.  It included information on the TOEFL examination, the exam international students take to be accepted to universities abroad.  The exam tests students in four main areas- reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Throughout the conference, we learned different strategies to stress each area in the classroom. Although we are only teaching standard 8 and standard 9, students who are not ready for college, we do target these main areas in our Spoken English classes, so the presentation was extremely helpful. In addition, we learned about the exam content and how we can prepare our students if they ever decide they want to study abroad in the future.  The key speaker, Emilie Pooler, from the United States, did an excellent job of giving us examples and interactive activities throughout the workshop.  We even had the opportunity to talk to her personally over a scrumptious buffet lunch.  We asked her several questions about ideas we could try in our Spoken English classes. She offered many great suggestions.




The conference ended at 5:00pm and we hopped in a taxi and sped back to the train station to make the 6:00 Express train back home.  Luckily, we arrived 20 minutes early and conveniently there was a McDonald's across the street.  We enjoyed one last taste of western food before a train ride back to the village.  All in all, it was a great experience in the big city.