Here we go again!!
Not too much to post, just the yearly picture of Alea and Breck heading off to their first day of school at JIS.
We’ve planted a morning glory in our front yard, and Susan’s big plan is to take a picture of it each year – let’s see how it grows!
And as always, our previous school photos can be seen over on the webpage…
Setting things up for the classroom the other day, my principal stopped by with a high school teacher (known here as “Speck”). He has been at JIS for many years, and was the driving force in getting the MS science building (at which I am teaching) all revamped and remodeled.
When I introduced myself, he paused for a minute and then responded, “I taught some kids named ‘Stutz’ a few years ago at my last school before JIS. Their names were Karla and Rob.” It turns out that he had been my sister and brother’s teacher, in Amman, Jordan, twenty-three years ago. He’s been here in Jakarta since, and he still remembered them by name!
When we got the schedules last night, guess who was listed as Alea’s science teacher this year…
Alea’s class had a celebration marking the end of 8th grade and middle school. And, right on schedule, the first big rain of the season fell during the evening’s events (as I predicted would happen way back on May 17)!
It was a super evening of fun and tears, made doubly special by the fact that we (and many of our friends) are leaving Mumbai this summer. Thanks to the wonders of electronic communication, we’ll be able to keep in touch, but of course that’s not quite the same as really being there.
This post also marks the beginning of our summer hiatus. We possibly will update a time or two over the summer, but look for the lion’s share of new reporting to come out of Jakarta, Indonesia starting the last week of July. As we said in our goodby email to the ASB staff:
Namaste –
To the ASB community, and all with whom we’ve had the opportunity to work and play.
Shukriya –
A special shout out to all of you who have so positively touched the lives of our children.
Silahkan –
Our doors in Jakarta will always be open, and we hope many of you will pass through them.
Auf wiedersehen –
Until we meet again, please stay in touch.
So here they are, at the (maybe) last band concert of the year – Alea and Breck with their instruments in tow!
All the bands played great, and it was a super way to end a Wednesday. There’s big pressure on now to buy instruments for them this summer; we’ll have to see what the break brings.
Their band director is a fun guy from Minnesota (he actually taught at the same middle school the kids would attend if we lived in the apartment in Lakeville!), and you can see a goofy picture of him by clicking on the existing shot!
and there’s another word I never really expected to use. Those little red squiggly lines didn’t appear under ‘xylophonist,’ so I guess that is the correct spelling.
Our school had its annual “Embracing India” celebration, an evening of showcasing culture and raising money for worthy causes. What had started as an effort to help get relief aid to flood-ravaged Bihar has transformed this year into support for the One Laptop Per Child initiative, focused on a village close to Mumbai.
Alea is part of the “World Music Ensemble,” and they welcomed guests to the event. It is pretty cool to see her grow as a musician, stretching out from the saxophone to this percussion instrument as well. If you’re interested, there are a few other pictures of faculty and staff performers over on facebook.
It is official! Breck finished elementary school and is no longer (sniff) a little kid – he is a Middle Schooler! That means both Stutz kids will be in the ASB middle school next year (although neither of them will have their father for a teacher!)
Breck’s graduation ceremony went awesome, with the teachers saying little blurbs about each student. The word that he said describe our boy was “Enthusiasm,” which Breck exemplified by his enthusiastic walk across the stage afterwards.
And now today is our last day. People are busy signing yearbooks, saying goodbye, and getting ready for summer travel plans. As is tradition, we took an “end of school” picture – which I had to bark at the kids to pose for – and add it here so all can see what great young people Alea and Breck are. (To see them in other years, check out our “school pix” archive!) Have a great summer one and all – we are off to the USA tomorrow night for family, fun, and fishing!
Our school mission here in Mumbai is as follows:
We inspire all of our students to continuous inquiry, empowering them with the skills, courage, optimism, and integrity to pursue their dreams and enhance the lives of others.
As part of the celebration and promotion of these ideals, teachers nominate students who they feel exemplify one or more of the parts of that statement. Describing the reasons behind their nominations, they submit those student names to the faculty for further discussion and approval. Of course, this being a tech school, all this ‘conversation’ takes place electronically via Google docs!
The faculty votes on the student nominations, and the awards were announced at an assembly this afternoon. Alea had been nominated and recognized for her outstanding ‘giving’ and for “Enhancing the lives of others.”
Of special note was her selfless attitude during all our community service activities, her caring for those in the community around her, and the strong, supportive bonds she helps create and maintain among students here: these qualities were recognized by the faculty and she was one of the award recipients for this year!
We are so proud of her great work this year, but even more excited about the mature “thinking of others” traits that she exhibits. Way to go, Alea!!
Alea and Dave had another Community, Service, and Responsibility day at school today, and we again headed up to some local mangroves. We have sort of ‘adopted’ one stretch of lakeshore, and so we were curious what we would find after our cleanup in November.
Sadly, there was all sorts of new plastic strewn about, but most of the kids rolled up their sleeves and got right to work. We were joined by some guys from a group called Sprouts, a local NGO dedicated to attacking various environmental problems around Bombay while educating people about these issues. They were extraordinarily enthusiastic and a lot of fun to clean up garbage with!
The most incredible “teaching moment” came, however, at the tail end of all our efforts. We were wrapping up, discussing as a group the day’s events, in front of 35 dripping bags full of stinky plastic and garbage pulled from the lake, when a motorcycle roared up behind us. A man, woman, and little girl got off, walked around us, went to the lake, took out a plastic bag full of garbage, and dumped it in.
The kids were horrified and the adults were livid. The guys from Sprouts read the man the riot act, my cooperating teacher told him that apparently she loved his country more than he did, and the students simply looked on in shock. He mumbled something about ‘returning nature to nature,’ but when we pointed out that the plastic didn’t belong there at all, he sheepishly shrugged his shoulders and bobbled his head. But at least he did pick up his trash and put it in the nearby bin.
What a poignant reminder of just how big the job is here in India. People talk about ‘the white man’s burden,’ but in this case I really have a tough time understanding any other way to get the point across other than by throttling the population here and shouting, “Stopping throwing all this crap all over your own country!!”
Phew.
But on a more positive note, I do have to say that I am so incredibly proud of Alea. She was the single most hardest working person out there, getting all muddy and sweaty, leading by example, and really just making my heart swell with love and pride. Her efforts were commented on by her peers as well as the adults, and it was just a joy to see her out there, working so hard for the sheer pleasure of doing good.
So on the way home, I bought her a Baskin Robbins Oreo shake!!
I have been neglectful in Free Verse Friday lately, so in honor of this week’s Caf-ASB, here is my ode to various regional stomach ailments:
Here in Mumbai, we sometimes get food sick
From restaurant, kitchen, or picnic.
The belly distends
Kicks out waste from both ends
Accompanied by internal music.This year’s not been really all too rough
We’ve only had one round of that stuff
But with watery stomachs
And quivery buttocks
I swear once is more than enough.The first hint is often quite bitter
A bubbling that shouts out “Don’t fritter!
You’ve no time to wait
You’d better go straight
And plop yourself down on the… toilet!”But one thing we’ve noticed in three years
Is a pattern that constantly reappears:
The BMs reflect
The vacations they’ve wrecked
Like a matched set of runny brown souvenirs.Our first trip, in a hotel so smelly
Alea’s tummy got sick from some jelly
In India’s heart
Ruined trip from the start:
An authentic case of real Delhi Belly.The second time, as you will soon see-a
Was based on the self same idea
Poor Breck took the throne
In our very own home:
Struck down by Mubaiarrhea.Dave’s ill was not like his daughter’s
But still was a set of the trotters.
Eating Cochinese shrimp
On his trip, put a crimp:
He sailed down the Kerala Backwaters.Our last trip involved the ole poop pots
When we went to see Indian hot spots
In the desert a-cruisin’
The ailment caught Susan
And she got the Jodhpur Camel TrotsWe’ve suffered on hikes, boats, and car rides
Strange stuff coming out of our backsides:
From Goan Groanin’ sick
To Jaipur Diaper ick
To colossal Himalayan Mudslides.Pondicherry Derri-airy, Bangalore Blasts
Hyderabad Hot Squirts, Taj Mahal Gas
The Rajasthan Runs
Of course, Mysore Bum
The Calcutta Quick Step and Amritsar Ass.Now, don’t think our stories pure unkind
We’ve usually had a real good time.
We remember our trips
Not by what we take with
Butt rather, what we’ve left behind!
Whew. Susan is off on her girls’ night chick flick thing, Alea is at the play cast party, Breck and dad just finished up a Star Wars movie: a pretty typical Saturday night – welcome to parenthood! We’ve had a pretty cool couple of days recently, and there are a few pictures posted from the events. Not many, but enough to pop on over and see briefly. Check out Alea’s play production and our school Family Fun Day pages on the website. Happy last week of school before winter break, too!!!
There is no snow in Bombay
I know this much is true
But for spirit week, which is this week
Alea’s clothes had wintry hue.
All dressed in icicle-y silver and blue
With Santa’s elves on her ears
Wrapped in a scarf of fine white mesh
She’s pretty beyond her years.
And speaking today of growing up
Breck shadowed dad and mom
As grade 5′s “Take your child to work day”
At long last was finally on.
He got to see mom teaching,
Little faces bright with glee
But since dad had no classes then
We just went and got coffee.
So much fun, on a warm Friday
Before a big weekend -
The play tonight, the fair next morn
Welcome to the festive season!
We have a slow moving family this morning, as we all nurse the excesses from this ‘start of the holiday season’ weekend. The events began on Wednesday, with Alea’s band concert, and things will just get ever more crazy from that point on.
This weekend is chock a block with doings: Friday night was an impromptu rooftop gathering in celebration of a colleague’s new job in Bucharest, Saturday night was the school’s Christmas party at Aurus, a swanky beachside club (open bar and all, thus the quiet music and dim lights this morning), today is an art show followed by holiday sing-a-long, and Monday is the Grand Hyatt’s tree-lighting ceremony showcasing the ASB elementary schoolers and also including copious amounts of first-class food and drink (unfortunately on a school night!).
Alea’s play practices – the show is called “Online – An Internet Fantasy” – are revving up in intensity, as her performances are Friday afternoon and evening, Susan has a chick-flick movie night organized on Saturday, our White Elephant party is Thursday evening, and then we are outta here for Bali. Whew. I’m glad we got our tree up as early as we did, ’cause there’s no time to do it now!
Actual quote from a story in today’s Bombay Times:
Jai Ho choreographer Longinus Fernandes…has been invited to Miami to perform at the 2010 Orange Bowl Games of America. “This is a convention of various colleges playing football where they have a half-time in between the games which is taken over by entertainment performances….This is the first time an Indian’s performing at this convention so it is a proud moment for me.”
Enjoy that convention there at the Games of America, with various colleges in attendance!
And speaking of football – oh hey, my fantasy football team has now won 6 straight games, thank you very much!
And speaking of cleaning up, Alea and dad had a very productive day in the mangroves. We had a bit of an informative tour and then proceeded to get all dirty and muddy cleaning up some trash! Alea was going gangbusters in finding all sorts of living creatures (snails, bugs, slimy things), picking up garbage, and then thoughtfully reflecting on the day’s activities.
And speaking of living and dead creatures, out Thanksgiving festivities will be pretty low-key. Breck and Alea have playdates Thursday after school, Friday is a day off, so we are going to the dentist (!), and at some point during the weekend we’ll break out that box of Stove Top Stuffing that we brought back with us this summer just for this occasion! As I told my dear Aunt Susan over on Facebook the other day, tandoori chicken and minced goat meat is how the sub-continent Pilgrims roll, baby!
…
Alea’s band played for the school last week, and did a bang up job. It is so fun to hear her grow as a musician (and a little scary how fast she is doing it!).
She has gotten herself involved in the on-going middle school drama production, and is spending lots of time after school practicing with that club. She is growing into such a mature young lady!!
Plus she’s doing ok in her math class, but I think that’s because she’s got a great teacher!
We finally got back to school after the swine flu scare, and Alea is in one of my math classes – poor kid. As is typical, one of the first day’s activities is handing out textbooks, and our school is lucky enough to have plenty – each student gets a ‘take-home’ book for homework. That text goes to the house, and stays there until the end of the year.
So I’m passing out books to a different class, and one of the students says, “Mr. Stutz, someone left their take-home book here.” And of course I jump right into the teacher lecture on responsibility, diligence, and respect of school materials. Picture (if you can picture a sound) the teacher voice from Peanuts – in case you need help, I’ve attached a file.
Several blah blah blahs later, I ask the 64,000 dollar question: “Whose book is it?” The girl opens it, reads the front cover, and starts laughing.
Yep, it was Alea’s.
She’s probably thinking that 7th grade is gonna be a looooong year…
Trombones toot two tuneful tones
The flute’s fine fifer’s fair
A clarinet’s call cools all crowds
Drums ding dong debonair.
With ogling oboe ooh la la’s
And trembling tuba toots,
Pianos pick a plaintive piece
While silk-like smooth sax scoots.
Our Alea has made such strides
Her band was great Wednesday!
We’re proud of her, and hope she’ll let
Her old man with her play (someday?)
Alea’s class went to care for stray dogs
at a shelter in downtown Mumbai.
Kids fed them and cleaned them and petted them all
to help them they really did try.But Alea is truly a Stutz kid at heart
the reason I know this is that:
in the middle of a barking stray dog home
she tracked down and played with a cat!
Today is our Community and Social Responsibility (CSR) day in the middle school, and all the classes are off doing service projects around Mumbai. Alea’s sixth grade is working with a group called Welfare of Stray Dogs, while Dave’s seventh grade advisory is off to clean up mangroves. We had an earlier experience at both these places last fall, and so this is the follow-up to those visits.
We are looking forward to an engaging and interesting experience – hopefully filled with lots of dog hair and mud! I’ll see if there are any pictures to post this afternoon…
UPDATE: A super full day – not as muddy as we’d thought, but hotter and stinkier. We’re trying to put together a ning about what we’re learning (a ning is a social-network type site), so you can check out how we’re doing and see a few pictures!
And oh yes – I almost forgot to show off my second-year-in-a-row NCAA bracket championship! I won with my other bracket, the one I didn’t post here. Go figure…
The kids are busy growing up
Its hard to realize that
Where once they played with dolls and balls
Now its games and skype-based chat.Double digit ages loom
They once were far off goals:
“You can use an ow-ey knife then,
watch unedited Disney shows.”But time moves on, and kids grow up
The thought that leaves me cold:
Because they are no longer young
It means we are getting old!Sigh
This past weekend was a sun-scorching water-splashing team-cheering fun time for Alea. She was asked to be on the school’s team for a interscholastic water sports competition (the criteria were being a strong swimmer and a good all around kid. Awesome!) that pitted kids from around the city against each other on pool play equipment.
Susan took her one day, and Dave the other, and all 3 of us came back with ruddy skin – good prep for the Egyptian desert right?! Alea’s only request was that we not ask her to pose for pictures, and I think we did alright on that account.
Even without having her pose, we got some interesting action shots from the events that give a good idea of what she was doing (and some of the interesting swim wear to be found here).
Enjoy!
The security situation here has resulted in an awful lot of events (that an awful lot of people were looking forward to) being canceled: community tree lighting and concert and buffet, Family Fun Day, the middle and high school winter social, the evening theater performance – even the soccer teams were not allowed to travel because of concern about airport safety. It is kind of a bummer for all the kids who have worked so hard preparing teams and songs and activities, but they are – for the most part – very understanding of the issues at stake and the reasons behind the caution.
Luckily for us, however, the band and choir were still able to hold their concert on Wednesday afternoon, and it was sure a lot of fun to see all the kids dressed up and letting the beautiful music flow. Of course we were ‘most proudest’ of Alea, who played a selection of songs with the 6th grade band. Great stuff, and she even got to pick dinner afterwards (she chose to test out KFC’s new delivery service).
Her band teacher requires students to record and submit assignments to his ‘blog,’ where he can listen to and grade them. Alea’s address is http://asbband0664.tumblr.com, so you can go there and listen to her brief song. Enjoy some music for the weekend!
Check ‘em out – Alea and Breck ready to take on the world:
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(you can also see the pictures from last year, as well as those from even earlier grades…)
As part of our school mission, ASB is in the process of developing relationships with various non-governmental agencies (NGOs) in Mumbai. There are certainly many areas where we have the opportunity to “enhance the lives of others” in this sprawling city, and in the middle school we’ve targeted three sectors for the different grade levels: 6th grade focuses on animal welfare, 7th grade on the environment, and 8th grade on education.
This past Friday was our first full day of working with the various groups, and both Dave and Alea had the chance to go ‘into the field’ to get some hands on experience. Alea’s group went to an animal shelter affiliated with the one we visited in Udaipur at the end of October (sigh – those pages are still not created or posted. Patience, patience) where they got a crash course in some of the issues and treatment options for city animals at risk. (Rumor has it that she also fell in love with a beautiful black kitten, which Susan will not let her bring home.)
Dave’s 7th grade class went to visit a patch of mangroves on the eastern side of the city. Mangroves are trees that grow in brackish water, where outflowing rivers and streams meet the sea and get ‘backflooded’ when the tides rise. Providing shelter for many types of sea and land life, protecting coastlines from erosion, and scrubbing a disproportionate amount of carbon dioxide out of the air, these important coastal features are threatened by development. Most of the original groves around Mumbai have been destroyed, and construction by both the fabulously wealthy (who want seaside views and golf courses) and the desperately poor (who want shantytown shelter in any place they can find it) continues to this day.
There are a number of organizations dedicated to working to halt the encroachment of population centers on the mangroves, and our school has partnered with the Mangrove Society of India, which works in Mumbai to explore the issue. With Rishi Aggarwaal as our guide and mentor, we headed to the mangrove sanctuary sponsored by Godrej, a manufacturing company that has set aside a huge swath of land outside their factories.
The kids spent some time learning about the mangroves and their importance, seeing some of the different fish that make their home or spawn there (including the cool-looking but deadly lionfish), and going to a local school that runs a mangrove awareness program. It was quite an experience (despite getting devoured by mosquitoes!) that we look forward to building on when we return later in the year. We’ll probably get more engaged in “doing” things in the mangroves – this trip was more of a getting acquainted with the issues visit.
Of course, ask any of the kids for the highlight of the day, and getting into the mud would be your hands (or feet) down winner! The kids schlopped and schlepped through the thick goo, and anyone who did not have shoes that went over the ankle became a prime candidate for being a shoe-loser. Few things in life are more fun than a school day that includes playing in the mud!!
ASB front page with Alea on it!
Cruising through our school’s web site, we’d noticed that the webmasters have replaced some of the “Welcome to ASB” pictures that grace the front page. As the images cycled in and out, we suddenly got a glimpse of a familiar face – there was Alea!!!
If you want to check out the real school page and see all the rotating images, come to the main site.
Of course, the other funny thing is that you can still find our pictures on the Belgrade school’s site, which the kids last attended 3 years ago: Alea as a witch, Breck as a Christmas cowboy, Breck’s tummy with a batman logo , or other pictures of them (and Dave) in the student gallery.
Alea is getting ready for her first Week Without Walls trip, as the 6th graders gear up to visit Matheran. I went with them last year, but am accompanying the 7th grade to Durshet this time around, so she’ll be on her own (to mom’s chagrin).
When we were planning our school trip last year, a group of teachers went for a ‘recce’ (I guess that is short for ‘reconnoiter’) and we went as a family. We stayed at the hotel that the school uses, and got to spend the weekend exploring.
As I was cleaning out some papers today, I came across a ‘notebook entry’ that Breck had made on the way home from the trip (he wants everyone to know that he was in the car when he was writing it!). I figured that, in honor of Alea’s upcoming trip and in light of the fun times he described, I’d post his description of Nature in Matheran. You can certainly compare that with pictures from our trip and see how wonderfully accurate his writing is!
(what follows is the ‘translation’ of his note)
Nature in Matheran
Waterfalls, crabs, snakes, and iguana. In cliff clouds. Hike forest, monkeys on building. Lots of trees. Horses. Monkeys saw in woods.
