ANUx - India1x Engaging India - Ten Weeks MOOC

This week I am starting a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) about India in EDx facilitated by professors at The Australian National University.  I am very excited since I am such a talker about going to India, but such an ignorant about it. 
This is what I wrote in the discussion board as my introduction:

I have been always fascinated with India, but I don´t know exactly the reasons. I am an outdoor person, trying to find balance in my life; I am an educator; I am a librarian; I am a person who likes to help other people; I used to climb mountains; I have a Master in History and another in Library Science; I am a life-long learner. Maybe all these reasons combined made me dream with the fact that one of these days I will go to India to either work, volunteer, travel, or hopefully, all of them. I realized though, that my fascination with India is more a fix idea or a feeling since my knowledge about India is shallow, bits and pieces of people that I have met, random articles that I have read, stereotypes or obvious people like Mother Theresa or Gandhi, Yoga as a fad, several NGOs, Bollywood movies or Salaam Bombay, authors as Anita Nair or the outsourcing world of Bangalore through "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. In sum, I felt really stupid that I wanted to go to India and be "fascinated" about it, without having a deeper or consistent knowledge of the country and its people. And then, I stumbled across this course...So, I feel very honored to be in this class where I know I will learn a lot from all of you.

José, the knife sharpener came to La Matilla

Today, Steve went to church alone. I haven´t been very constant about attending mass, but dad is really a good example of mass attendance. On the way back from church he found José, the knife sharpener who has been doing his job for 45 years.When I asked José if he was from this area, he was very emphatic and told me: "No, no,no. I am from Camas."

His mean of transportation is a small scooter that also gives energy to his sharpening system. The way people know that he is around is by blowing a whistle that has a very distinctive sound. Dad made a deal with him, and this morning came to the front of our house to sharpen two knifes at 3€ each. Here is a movie of the transaction.

Easter thought and Photo

Today is Easter. It´s a cool day. Yesterday night rained and I felt sorry for the only  procession that was going to march through the streets of Sevilla this morning. I wanted to go and watch it. Set my alarm at 6:15 am, heard it going off but I also heard the rain. I felt sad for la Hermandad de la Resurrección, but happy for me, because I could stay longer in bed. This can sound a little bit as I am a lazy bum, but actually the warmth of my bed was too appealing. We went instead to Church at 9 am in Valencina, where mass service was accompanied by beautiful flamenco religious songs.

Iglesia de la Virgen de la Estrella en Valencina de la Concepción

Click here if you want to listen to the song to la Virgen de la Estrella. It was sung by the whole church attendants which make it pretty powerful. The Chorus was made of young people with strong and beautiful voices. 

Here is another song I recorded a little bit earlier during mass. I think it was during communion.

On Friday afternoon, I went to see some processions in Sevilla, and as I promised Vincent, I am posting the photo I took of Carlos Jiménez who was a Nazareno of the Cachorro procession. He was with Itziar.

Itziar

Carlos Jiménez

One thought, one photo a week

Dear ducklings and my Big Bird,

Sometimes I don´t know who is flying away from the nest, if it´s you guys or me, or us, or who knows. Anyway, since somebody in the flock always have to fly away, I decided to start this blog, to keep in touch. That way I won´t feel so lonely, or against the current, as I told Steve and Matilde yesterday. I hope I can post at least one thought and one photo a week, as long as the 4 of us are not together.