tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10620074543256699292012-02-01T08:02:54.167-08:00I am a Scot, who lived in the US for 18 years, left to live in India and taught environmental science. I loved it so much I decided my to pursue a career teaching environmental science with an IB World School. 18 months back in the UK getting qualified as a teacher and I have now moved to Bangkok to teach Environmental Science at Bangkok Patana School in Thailand.Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.comBlogger241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-8400648088225215232011-03-22T01:49:00.000-07:002011-03-22T01:49:13.123-07:00

This week in ENvironmental Management we venture forth into measuring and understanding weather. While hunting for resources I came across this resource for looking at environmental issues across the globe.  Global Environment

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-6394305800542439912009-02-26T04:14:00.000-08:002009-02-26T04:17:31.810-08:00

Wow...so this is it..its 5:45 pm on Thursday the 26th of February and in 24 hours time I will, hopefully, be on a train heading to Delhi where on the 27th of February I will catch my flight to London - the last leg of my round the world ticket - and a new adventure. This has been an incredible experience. I've barely scratched the surface with my blog here. I hope I will have time to post the 

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-13592762689137819902009-02-15T08:32:00.000-08:002009-02-15T08:48:00.545-08:00

IN the vain hope that someone might come across my blog when doing a google search for Gujarat because they plan to give up their job, move halfway across the world and live here, I thought I'd put here a few useful phrases. Finding Gujarati language resources is not easy!Kem chho - how are you? Majama - fineTame Kem chho? - and you?Bus - enough  (useful when someone is piling your plate with

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-32649151963971793852009-02-08T19:41:00.000-08:002009-02-08T20:59:35.086-08:00

At the Beyt Dwarka camp with a group of 35 eleven year old boys...[while playing football]"Ma'am, in your country they are calling football "saucer". I am knowing this because I read it in my Book of Sports. [watching the sunrise]"Ma'am, the sun is coming up""yes, isn't it beautiful""yes, and Ma'am, tonight he will go down""yes""but Ma'am, then where does he go?"[swimming]"Ma'am, if we swim that

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-90913419325023807382009-01-28T07:01:00.000-08:002010-04-18T06:18:37.035-07:00

I've been having a wonderful time with a group of girls here on the Island of Beyt Dwarka. One of our favorite activities with the kids is teaching them to swim. Many of them will never have seen the ocean before, let alone been in it! And there are few opportunities to learn to swim in India so almost none of the kids can swim. I find it an absolute joy to show a girl (I only teach the girls

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-69253775616051407092009-01-23T22:09:00.000-08:002009-01-23T22:43:42.418-08:00

I dont have much of a sweet tooth, but you'd have to be missing taste buds not to enjoy some of the delicious sweets made here in India. The most common ones are Gulab Jamun - a spongy ball of milk extracts fried, and served in a sweet syrup, and Jalebi - a fried dough that is coated in a sugary syrup. Kheer is also wonderful - we'd call it rice pudding, but forget your school lunch experience of

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-76240774936657560012009-01-20T22:59:00.000-08:002009-01-20T23:16:14.947-08:00

I have just arrived back on Beyt Dwarka. It has been 17 days since I was here and so much has happened in that time: talks at The Arts and Technical College in Gandhinager and at the Center for Environmental Education (CEE) in Ahmedabad. New projects and a new job title at CEE, spending time with Priyanka and her family, and saying goodbye to her, and the start of the online course I’m teaching

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-19108432038709438442009-01-16T02:06:00.000-08:002009-01-16T02:09:50.652-08:00

Purchasing Alcohol in GujaratWhen you first arrive in Gujarat you will be able to get a tourist liquor license for 1 month by going to a large hotel and purchasing one at their liquor shop. The shop will often be full of local people making their purchases on their health licenses so it can take a while. However, if you are staying longer you will need a non-resident permit.You will needPhotocopy

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-37846044091357404752009-01-13T20:40:00.000-08:002009-01-13T20:55:40.052-08:00

After an exhausting week which included awe inducing visits to several villages, a new job, an annual meeting presentation at my new job, food poisoning and an insane amount of paperwork for a liquor license, Priyanka and I finally enjoy a beer :)

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-23304894910235697052009-01-11T17:22:00.000-08:002009-02-08T20:36:17.700-08:00

Sometimes its hard to sit down and write something for the blog because there is so much to tell I don't know where to start. Like this weekend, which I started with a run and a walk with my friend Priyanka and her mother, after which Priyanka and I went out for lunch and visited Marks and Spencer's (boring) and a new handloom store (wonderful!). Then I headed off to a village in Saurashtra, a

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-39462480672234163332009-01-06T13:04:00.000-08:002009-01-06T14:02:29.265-08:00

The past few days have been a whirring confusion of events and coincidences which are not coincidences. Here is the very short story: I am now being paid for the work I am doing here. Here is the longer one. Last year, I came here to Ahmedabad for the International Environmental Education Conference to present some research on ways to improve teaching for global climate change. The conference was

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-27693031517834800332009-01-03T12:43:00.000-08:002009-01-06T13:04:41.089-08:00

I am back in Ahmedabad for a few days now. I haven't been blogging these past few four weeks because I've been living in a tent on a desert island, without electricity. Whichever Hindu god takes care of technology was clearly not favoring me recently because my camera stopped working (and is prohibitively expensive to fix) and my A/C adapter blew on my computer and so I was truly isolated for a

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-74648536376182699842008-12-16T05:41:00.000-08:002008-12-16T06:59:21.335-08:00

Think your star sign doesn't matter? Setting geography and talent aside, if you were born under the sign of Sagittarius it is next to impossible that you could ever have been a hockey player with the Canadian Hockey League. The league has no players born in the month of December. What about your year sign under the Chinese Calendar? All the big players in the IT field - Bill Gates (Microsoft),

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-17445881640229703232008-12-12T22:35:00.000-08:002008-12-12T22:43:26.059-08:00

Praful took me to the doctor today as I have had stomach flu ever since we went to Madhyr Pradesh about a week ago and it hasn't been getting any better. Without any appointment we were seen by the doctor after a fifteen minute wait. He checked me over with the normal doctor rigmarole and questions, and prescribed a boodle of antibiotics for me to take over the next two days, along with a strict

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-92154981077198041742008-12-07T11:48:00.000-08:002008-12-06T22:22:46.103-08:00

This morning Jagu and her mother Aruna (Anu) were at the kitchen window, gazing at the street below where a mother dog nursed a single pup and so I  had to go downstairs and check them out. 6 little pups were curled up in a hole in a wall and when I called to them, 2 with their eyes open came toddling out, little tails wagging. While I snuggled with one of them, I met Ahmeesh. Carrying several

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-51678626802671868332008-12-06T17:53:00.000-08:002008-12-12T20:15:44.325-08:00

A lot of people have asked me how to pronounce Ahmedabad. This has always been confusing to me because you'd think it would be pronounced Ah-Meh-Deh-Bad, but I'd always hear it pronounced Ahmdavad. In Gujarati, it is written:The first symbol is 'Ah', then 'm'. The next two symbols together make a 'da' sound and the following two 'va' and finally another 'd' so it is pronounced Ahmedabad but the '

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-58282569107504883652008-12-06T09:28:00.000-08:002008-12-06T20:51:03.847-08:00

Last night we arrived in Baklore, in the North East of Gujarat. Rajendra and I will be here for only one day as tomorrow evening we will set off on the overnight train to Madhar Pradesh with a group of 80 students from the Mahatma Gandhi International School. After a good night’s sleep we took a short trek this morning, and were rewarded at the end with a lovely, and familiar, cup of coffee.

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-22026060214911789452008-11-23T06:07:00.000-08:002008-12-06T10:14:39.802-08:00

UPDATE: While I am very close to managing to use my solar panel system, the external battery supplied by Feastronics is proving very fickle. It does not seem to hold much charge. Shiv, electronics extraordinaire, tested the battery and found it to be almost deadFeastronics are willing to send another one, but only as far as Scotland which does me no good at all. We are now trying out a

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-89698775762830718642008-11-16T00:38:00.000-08:002008-11-16T02:25:23.099-08:00

Roadside cafe - photo credit unknown (I forgot my camera!) The other night Rajendra told me he would be taking his nephews out to dinner at a restaurant in the old part of the city and that I was welcome to come along, but, he said, I was forbidden to eat anything. I was indignant and asked why, and he told me that I could see the restaurant and make up my own mind, but since I had only just

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-62770824117273339632008-10-30T11:42:00.000-07:002008-10-30T21:40:57.064-07:00

When one does not quite fit the societal norm for one or the other attribute (gender, sexual orientation, race) questions pertaining to such become extremely difficult to answer. Dichotomies and definitions don't really exist, but we like to pretend they do, and when someone won't, or can't conform, I believe we find it jarring to our sense of well being.My non-conforming is not at all

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-46884493983104522722008-10-25T09:48:00.001-07:002008-10-29T01:38:50.536-07:00

Several years ago, when I was doing research in Tahiti, I commented to a friend that it would be easy to end up staying in the islands for years, and while not entirely forgetting the outside world, simply not care that the world had gone on while I sat around drinking Hinano beer and watching sunsets. He said he had the same thought and that it reminded him of the Island of the Lotus Eaters in

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-56178798410062432452008-08-05T21:32:00.000-07:002008-08-05T21:54:14.326-07:00

I've resigned myself to being a tourist in Saigon. Its a little bit too hard to be anything but, when the language barrier is so high. Its hard to find anyone who speaks English, and speaking Vietnamese is hardly comparable to picking French phrases out of guide book. There are about 6 sounds per vowel depending on intonation and the same, written, word can mean several different things

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-12026858914493801072008-07-27T15:01:00.000-07:002008-07-27T15:12:53.465-07:00

Many of you will not have heard that 17 bombs exploded in Ahmedabad on Saturday (July 26th). This is the city I visited in November 2007, and the city I plan to move to in about a month. 49 people so far have been killed and about 115 injured. This came only 24 hours after explosions hit Bangalore, another large city in Southern India killing 6 people. It is unclear at the moment whether the

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1062007454325669929.post-36705393260978857002008-07-05T23:36:00.000-07:002008-07-27T19:35:15.911-07:00

Leaving Bowling Green was one of the hardest leavings of my life.  Saying goodbye to friends is never easy even if you know they will be friends for life. In honor of Bowling Green, I'd like to share my favorite things about the place. Please feel free to add to the list via 'comments' if you have other favorites.  Best of Bowling Green (click on links for more information)1. Grounds for Thought2

Mandy L Heddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06916528199293489214noreply@blogger.com0