Pre-Departure Orientation at Madison, WI

Well, we've just finished three jam-packed days of introductions and instruction in Madison, WI.  The University of Wisconsin at Madison has the second largest Asian Studies Programs in the United States, and they were kind enough to host us for this pre-departure orientation.  For two full days we were treated to presentations by very learned scholars in the fields of anthropology, art, literature, Indian history, and Hindi 101.

On the first day, two of last year's Fulbright-Hays scholars, Connie and Carrie, gave us an overview of what to expect.  Their enthusiasm assuaged my fears and anxieties.  If you want to see a picture of them, you can go to this link:

http://www.southasiaoutreach.wisc.edu/fulbright2010/index.htm

That's a collective blog for this year's participants.

Below is a picture of Dr. Lalita du Perron.  She taught us some basic phrases in Hindi.  I think it's one of at least four languages she speaks.

Meraa naam Bianca hai.  (My name is Bianca.)  That's thanks to Dr. Lalita du Perron in the picture.

We had a very lovely speaker yesterday morning, Dr. Kirin Narayan.  As a child, her family was friends with a sadhu (a holy man) and she would go to the house where he was staying (no it wasn't a cave in the Himalayas) and listen to him counsel others.  She turned the stories he told into her dissertation, Storytellers, Saints and Scoundrels. Her writing and studies have to do with the oral tradition of story telling in India.  She has a beautiful spirit and emanated that as she spoke to us.

We were also treated to a talk and dinner with an Dr. Kasmira Sheth, a children's book author.  Our media specialist at school, Stella Tariche will be happy to know that I got a book signed by her for our students and the library.

Well, that's it for now.  I will try to create a photostream of today on the "Flicker Photostream" for anyone interested in seeing more pictures.

By the way, Madison, Wisconsin is a beautiful, small city!