Friends become family

Once again it seems as though I’ve been neglecting my blogging duties as it’s been almost a month since my last post.  This is not without good reason, as the ground training got the best of me and my time.  Without a doubt, it is a huge relief to have that chapter in my rear view mirror!  It was a challenging six weeks, but a unique window into some different training methods.  More importantly, those six weeks were a valuable time of building relationships with course mates.  Many of them felt the pressure and stress of the training to a much greater degree than I did because of the very real possibility of failure.  Some of them also had their wives and children with them as well.  With a class of over 60 students, there was no way to get to develop close friendships with everyone, but a number of the guys really embraced me and made me feel at home.  This made the course so much more bearable even in the midst of non-stop studying and at times nearly daily tests.  It took some time to learn their names even with names on their uniforms.  Some of them had nicknames and others simply had their initials like SS or AS or T.  I found nicknames like Bando, Yogi, Sid, Birdie, Bahggie, Hari, Ratz, and Zubie fairly easy to remember.  There were a number of other guys who really went the extra mile to welcome me—Vikas, Raj (from Rajasthan!), Joe, Zach, and Vikram.  These guys along with Sid, Yogi, Hari and Zubie took time to help me study, drove me to class or ran errands with me, arranged taxis and/or hotels, shared their good hotel food, sought to resolve issues for me, and the list goes on and on.  I have been humbled and blessed by their seemingly boundless generosity.  When help was needed they have been there for me and been like a family to me.

Then there are the Americans I met in Chennai who have been so supportive and such an encouragement throughout my time here.  I’ve met so many people and been invited to a number of parties, so even in the midst of the challenges and frustrations of training I was able to enjoy some good times with my fellow Americans.  They’ve even taken me on sightseeing trips and show me some good old-fashioned American hospitality.  Thank you Prashant, Yomaris, Bridget, Mark and all the others who have also become my family. 

Lastly, but certainly not least are the families I’ve spent time with in Chennai.  The Easows and the Eapens or Double E’s as I call them have been a home away from home.  They’ve provided comfort and calm in the midst of the storm not to mention comfy beds, nice air conditioning, hot showers, and delightful meals.  They’ve gone so far out of their way to take care of me, so I am honored and humbled by all that they have done for me.

As I look back on the first past 6 weeks of training, I am reminded that God provides and sustains His people if only we trust Him.  My ground training in Chennai was a special time because of the special people God has brought into my life.  I am thankful that He knows and can relate to our needs because He is a relational God who loves us even when we might be unlovable. 

English is funny

This is my first post in what will probably become a series titled, quite simply, “English is funny”.  You will see what I mean as I share a few of the terms and sayings that aren’t used in a very familiar manner.  The purpose is not to make fun of the way English is used here or to denigrate cultural differences or the training environment, but rather to highlight the interesting differences in language usage that can make communication difficult or hilarious or maybe both!  Before starting, it is important that you picture yourself in a classroom or testing environment surrounded by uniformed military officers.  If you can imagine yourself in this situation, you will probably find the following list slightly amusing…

Classroom sayings:

“Settle down now” – used if it seems our class of 60+ is getting too loud; it reminds me of a line from an SNL skit with Cheri Oteri–“simmer down now!”

“Class sit up” – a form of respect shown for an instructor or someone of higher rank when they enter the room—similar to calling the room to attention, but instead of standing up, we “sit up”

 “Isn’t it” or “is it” – used to show confidence in an assertion (if said by the one speaking), so it’s similar to “do you see?” or if said as a response, it would be like saying, “really?”

“When are you taking the class?” or “What class are you taking?” – students are expected to instruct one of the subjects, so this is what it means to lead/teach a lecture

“Are there any doubts?” – a doubt is a question or misunderstanding.  This is said by the instructor to the class and may follow “isn’t it”.

“Please repeat, what is the doubt?” – often said when students are leading the class and do not understand the question

“I’ll come back to you” – means the instructor (or student if leading) does not know the answer and will research it and find the answer (or just forget about it)

“That’s outside the scope of the lecture” (in response to a doubt) – it truly is outside the scope of the lecture or the answer is not known

“Your reading explains it well” (in response to a doubt) – read the book or stop raising doubts

“If anyone has anything to add, please speak up… (silence)” – the lecture covered the topic sufficiently well or it was so complicated nobody understood

“I hope this is clear” or “have you all understood?” – the subject was difficult and someone probably doesn’t understand it—either the instructor or the students or both

“Are you sure because my book says (something else)?” – the book was confusing or someone tried to fool the class and was caught

 “Can we pack up?” – it’s been a long day and I’m ready to go home

“You might pass out” – Passing out refers to graduating, so it’s a good thing to “pass out”

Testing phrases:

“You might (run out of time and) burst” – said when students are not managing their time well because they should be moving on to another section of the test (so far my favorite saying)

“Get up!  I’m speaking to officers.  If you are an officer, put your pens down and get up.” – about the same as “time’s up, pencils down” but with an added emphasis on integrity

“How was the paper?” – tests/exams = papers, so this is usually answered with serious doubts or reservations (especially if it was directed at me!)

An unwelcome visitor...

Yesterday, I got home after work and left my living room to go upstairs, only to be startled by the sound of something moving near my washing machine.  I looked over just in time to see the last 2-3 feet of a fairly large snake!  It wasn't really close to me, but it definitely scared the you-know-what out of me.  I promptly went upstairs, put on my combat boots and jeans and tried to formulate a plan to get ride of the sucker.  The problem is that there just aren't any tools in this house that could do the job (a small coffee table was the best weapon I could find).  It seemed prudent to call a buddy who then came over after telling me to get out of the house.  Of course I took his advice and then patiently waited until he arrived.  When he showed up, I was still confident that the snake was near the washing machine, so we made our way into the house to try to find it, but to no avail.  He went to get help from the "mess" (that's basically the officer's club where we eat lunch and dinner) and came back with 6 guys.  That seemed like a little overkill for a snake problem, but when I saw that they were armed with a broomstick, I realized that I did not have the exterminator coming to my rescue!  In spite of some doubts, I did feel pretty good about the situation and our prospects for ridding my house of the intruder.  The "mess" gang entered the house and proceeded to search the kitchen (adjacent to where I had first seen the trespasser) and also the washing machine area where I had spotted the snake, but could not find it.  Interestingly enough, most of them were not wearing anything more than flip-flops if not bare feet, but after spending 15 minutes searching for the snake, they concluded that it had left.  I was not so easily convinced, so I approached the washing machine again only to find that the snake was in fact curled up underneath it, hiding from us.  Amazingly enough, the guys who were supposed to take care of this problem for me had been standing right next to the snake without any protection and could easily have been bitten.  After I pointed the snake out to them, they spent another 5 minutes strategizing in Tamil, before one guy tipped the washing machine up while another used the broom in an attempt to herd the snake out of my house.  Maybe a good sheepdog could have pulled that off, but it didn't work for us.  The snake just made a dash for the kitchen, somehow climbing up into my storage shelves.  I didn't have any food in them, but it was amazing and I might add, frightening to see a large snake elevate two feet off the ground without assistance to gain entry onto the first shelf.  As quickly as it did that, it then proceeded to go up to the next shelf and finally the top one.  At this point, with the snake about 6 feet off the ground and somewhat protected, the guys have turned the broom into a stick (a little more useful weapon) and took some swings at it.  Fortunately, as it was pretty well cornered and on the defensive, they were able to hit it with a few solid blows before it made it's way back down to the floor and slithered, bloodied and wounded, outside.  The guys then made quick work of it as it had become somewhat trapped in a small concrete drainage area.  After inflicting what they deemed to be mortal wounds, they picked up the somewhat lifeless snake with the stick and carried it off.  I then went into the house to assess the damage and found my kitchen floor covered in blood.  In spite of the mess, I will say that it was a big relief to get rid of the snake!  I was glad that a couple of the guys (sort of) cleaned up my kitchen before they went to see what had become of the snake.  I joined them and we found the other guys near a pile of rubbish attempting to burn the still squirming snake.  I wasn't sure I wanted to hang around to see how it would end, so after being confident that that snake would no longer be a problem I slipped back into my house ensuring to close and lock all the doors behind me.  For those of you wondering, here are the details on the snake: It was about 5-6 feet long and I am told that it was not poisonous, although they may just be saying that to put my mind at ease.  Thank God today has been a snake-free day!  Did I mention that before I moved into my house I saw a big snakeskin in the backyard?  I sure hope that it was left by the now dead snake!

Pondi… take 2

It was amazing how much smoother everything went the second attempt.  I again made a hotel reservation, but had a friend book the taxi.  He was able to do that with little trouble although it was a bit more costly then I had anticipated.  I didn’t care too much because I just didn’t want to deal with any hassles.

The drive down was pretty uneventful, but I did find out why it is best not to be out on the roads here at night.  At one point we were driving down a pretty significant highway with a median and all of a sudden there’s a car in our lane coming right at us.  I don’t know if the other lanes were closed or what, but it was kinda crazy.  Mom, in case you’re reading this, it wasn’t really a close call, but it did make me realize the wisdom in not traveling at night!  The other thing I found out is how difficult it can be to find anything at night, especially when the power is out.  I was fortunate enough to call and get a decent idea where to go, but man it’s difficult to navigate to a specific location at night.  My camera has a GPS function that is really great, but in this case the address I put into it didn’t match the hotel’s actual location.  It was on the right road, but off by 2 or 3 blocks.  I didn’t realize this until after the taxi drove off, so I got to do some walking.  Fortunately, there were no major problems finding the place even with the power out.  It was like stepping back in time though.  One thing I have not mentioned is that Pondi is an old French colonial town, so arriving to the hotel with the power being out was almost like taking a step back in time to the 18th century.  The wooden door opens up to a large courtyard filled with vegetation and then the colonial architecture is complemented with antique furniture that adds to the ambiance.  Of course, being welcomed by someone holding a candle is quite an experience in and of itself.  After being given various room options, I selected the cheapest one with hot water.  I was then led past a long corridor of rooms adjacent to lovely wooden chairs and tables that seem made for this place.  My room is not large, but has a high ceiling two twin beds and old antique furniture.  The desk is particularly interesting and even more so when a candle is sitting on it.  Then the windows open to face a restaurant across the street which also is without power.  They have a supply of candles as well, so I can peer across the street and see the light flickering and the shadows moving as people are eating and carrying on in spite of the lack of power.  I never thought it could be so pleasant to be without power, but it turned out to be a delightful way to start the weekend.

I slept in a bit on Saturday morning before making my way over to a pancake house that was recommended by Lonely Planet.  Interestingly enough, there was some construction and the place appeared to be something completely different.  I don’t know how often they update that book, but it needs a little revision.  After striking out there, I came back to the hotel and found out that they had breakfast ready for me!  It was quite a pleasant surprise as I was just going to ask where to I might find a good breakfast spot.  The juice and tea that was served was delicious and the croissant was no less.

 From there I began my walking tour of the old colonial part of Pondi.  It’s a seaside town on the Bay of Bengal so much of my walking was along the beach.  There were quite a lot of people, but it wasn’t terribly crowded.  The Gandhi statue was interesting, but most of the walk was made more enjoyable on account of people-watching.  I took a little break before continuing past the French consulate and an ashram that was closed for lunch.  A Hindu temple and some shops were nearby, so I made my way through after observing an odd elephant-person interaction.  Basically, people were allowed to walk right up to this old elephant that was totally unrestrained.  If the person offered change, the elephant trunk would take the change and then pat them on the head.  It must have been some sort of ritual that was thought to bring good luck, but really it just looked like a scam to me, although it would have been interesting to have an elephant pat my bald head!

I continued to make my way back towards a nice park that surprisingly reminded me a bit of Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia.  It was well-manicured with beautiful flowers and shrubbery along with a lot of sculptures.  Another break was taken in the shade before heading to see a Catholic church and then going to lunch.  Lunch consisted of deep-fried prawns, squid, rice and veggies.  It was topped off nicely with mango ice cream.  I spent the afternoon walking around and seeing another church and the botanical gardens.  The botanical gardens were quite large, but not well maintained.  There was even a train that used to go around, but it had fallen in to horrible disrepair.  With the last few rays of sunlight slowing drifting away, I made my way back to the hotel.  For the second consecutive night, I missed dinner because the restaurants close too early.  By too early, I mean they close at 10:30pm, but in India that’s pretty early when you start eating dinner at 8:30 or 9pm!  At any rate, it’s been a fun experience thus far, so hopefully tomorrow will be more of the same!

Pondi… take 1

It turns out that this happened to be a 2-day weekend for me and because they are so rare I was compelled to take advantage of it.  The only other 2-day weekend we’ve had was the first weekend I was here.  That weekend I tried to make it to Pondicherry, but alas was thwarted.  I had made lodging arrangements, so all I needed was transportation.  Since our base is on the outskirts of Chennai, that can be hard to come by.  It also happened to be a big festival weekend because Friday was Eid (the end of Ramazan) and Saturday was a Hindu holiday celebrating Ganesh.  That made it nearly impossible to arrange a taxi.  No taxi, no problem… at least that’s what I was told by some seemingly reliable sources on base.  They arranged an auto (rickshaw) ride to the bus station and convinced me that taking a bus would be no problem.  It would be significantly cheaper than a taxi and pretty comfortable.  I’m not sure what buses they were thinking of because nearly all the buses I’ve seen look anything but comfortable.  At any rate, they told me the buses run every 20-30 minutes to Pondicherry.  That seemed like a great way to go, so I hopped in the auto and was whisked away to the bus station.  After stopped a couple times to ask directions, my driver told me the next bus wouldn’t leave for another 3 hours.  At least that was what I understood him to be saying.  Frustrated, I got out of the rickshaw with hopes that someone might be able to help me out.  I spoke to a few police officers, but they were not able to give any good advice.  After some time, I thought maybe I’d try to catch a train because the bus station is conveniently located right near the train station.  There was a train going to Pondicherry, but you had to buy your ticket in advance and there was a long cue (line) and the train would be departing in 5 minutes or so.  With that plan foiled, I decided to call a classmate of mine who was my babysitter that night.  He offered to pick me up, but I politely declined, still hoping that there might be a chance I could get to Pondi.  I spent another hour or so wandering around the chaos that defines public transportation centers here and happened to stumble upon a taxi.  It also happened to be a reliable company that I had used before, so I approached the driver and offered him 2,000 rupees to take me to Pondicherry.  He had just dropped off a couple and after some bartering agreed to my price.  I got into the car and we drove off.  The problem was that he pulled a u-turn and started heading the wrong way!  I called him on it and he said he needed gas.  I asked him why we turned around for gas when there were gas stations aplenty on the way out of town.  He communicated that he needed to go to the airport to fill-up with premium gas.  This displeased me greatly as driving to the airport was a detour of at least 40 minutes.  With a 2+ hour drive to Pondi, I was not okay with that.  After continuing to express my frustration and finding that it was falling on deaf ears, I decided I was going to get out of the cab as soon as possible.  I considered hopping out while we were stopped at a light, but with all the traffic thought that would not be wise.  Instead, I waited until we got to the gas station.  After we pulled up to the pump, he turned around and asked for 200 rupees (which apparently is typical if a taxi or auto driver is getting gas).  At that point, I said “I’m not paying you and I’m leaving” and got out of the taxi.  Somewhere between his shock and the fact that he was in the wrong, he did not chase me down.  Fortunately, I found a very nice nearby hotel and was able to arrange a taxi back to the base.  It wasn’t a cheap taxi ride, but I was just glad to get back to the base safely.  So that brings me to this weekend, which you can read about under the title, “Pondi… take 2”.

So this is a bit different...

I have now officially started my ground training with the IAF.  It has been 3 weeks since we started and we’re now about halfway done.  In the past, the ground training was combined with the flight training and lasted a total of 6 months.  Now that the ground training and flight training are separate, the time-line has been compressed for both.  It’s amazing how much information we’re expected to learn in such a short period of time.  Each week we have 2 tests and every day from 7am – 3pm (no lunch break) we have lectures on subjects like jet engines, piston engines, instruments, navigation, aerodynamics, airframe, meteorology, and aviation medicine.  Most of my classmates only get 2 or 3 hours of sleep per night because of all the studying they have to do.  The testing is also quite different as they have subjective and objective portions of their tests (they’re actually called papers here).  The objective portion of the papers has T/F questions as well as multiple choice and fill in the blank.  You might think that sounds reasonable, but get this, you can actually get negative marks for a wrong answer on the T/F and the multiple choice.  What I mean by negative marks is if you don’t answer a question, you lose 1 point, but if you attempt it and get it wrong, you lose 1.5 points!  The T/F questions have one, two, or three words or phrases underlined, so if the correct answer is false, you are also required to correct the underlined “wrong” portion.  In some cases, it may be that all three phrases in a statement are wrong and must be corrected or it may be that only one word is wrong.  Basically, what this means is T/F is no longer a 50/50 guessing game, but an actually test of whether you know the specific answer.  This might not seem too bad, but when you add in the types of questions and the specificity required to answer them right, it’s amazingly difficult.  It doesn’t help that oftentimes the questions use words or terms that are very obscure.  Fill in the blanks aren’t any easier, although there are no “negative markings”.  The fill in the blanks often require rote memorization of key phrases or otherwise unknown words.  As for the multiple choice, it’s your standard multiple guess type test except for the “negative markings” part.  The problem I’ve had is that it’s very hard to pass on answering a question, so I take the risk.  More often than not, it ends up being very costly for me.  Maybe eventually I’ll learn from my repeated mistakes and start exercising better judgment and discernment!

That’s enough about the tests.  I won’t go into any more detail about the specific subjects we’re studying except to say that it feels like we are trying to cram a semester’s worth of aerodynamics, thermodynamics, astronautics, physics, meteorology and a number of other subjects into one week.  I haven’t seen this many laws of such and such or equations and derivations in a long time!  For a Legal Studies major, this is a bit over my head!

Here’s a bit about my class.  There are actually 2 courses taking these ground subjects together.  One has just finished their flying training and my class is yet to begin.  This means that the class is double what it normally is—64 students!  I am also the only “foreigner,” so I get called on more than my fair share.  It wouldn’t be so bad if I actually knew the answers!  It’s also challenging because in addition to my difficulty understanding the accents, the instructors are not the only one’s teaching.  Probably more than 50% of the lectures are given by students and many students’ struggle effectively instructing when the subjects are things like the forces affecting gyroscopes or Kepler’s laws of planetary motion.  Nearly every lecture requires a difficult conceptual explanation and/or the solving of a complicated derivative.  The instructors often intervene to try to clear up any doubts (as they are called here), but it seems they even struggle to provide clarity on certain topics.  I feel sorry for the guys in my class who are studying day and night to try to get by.  It is such a stressful time for them because we have something like 12 papers and only 3 failures are allowed.  That may seem like a lot, but trust me; studying the subjects we are in such great detail makes any passing grade a good one (even if passing is only 60%).

I’ve been very blessed to have met some wonderful people during my time here.  It is such a diverse and interesting group.  They are from all over India – north to south and east to west.  They’re also from all services – Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force.  Of course the AF has sends the majority, but this course is recognized by the other services as India’s premier pilot instructor training.  It seems the AF guys have a bit of an edge because they’ve been studying this material for longer, which makes it all the more difficult for the guys from the other services.  Also, there’s a mix of transport, fighter, and helicopter pilots.  Thus, the flight training is conducted in a number of different locations.  My class is comprised mostly of Hindus, but there are also Muslims, Sikhs, and Catholics (and I may be the lone Protestant!).  So there you have it.  Apart from the fact there are no women and I’m the only foreigner, it’s a pretty diverse crowd.

What I’ve really enjoyed about these guys is how they’ve been so welcoming of me.  I really am honored by the way so many of them have made an effort to reach out and get to know me.  They often ask for my opinion on the course or what we’re studying and are interested to hear what I think.  They also ask me questions about my training, what life is like in the U.S., or how the USAF does business.  I’m also learning much about the customs they follow—both military and civilian.  I can’t imagine a more unique assignment because it really is a complete immersion.  Did I mention that I’m the only USAF officer doing an exchange with the IAF?