Up to June 15, 2010

June 15, 2010:




It’s getting progressively colder. That’s interesting because everyone told us how hot it would be, and even more interesting because most of my clothes are summer clothes. So now I’m sitting under my sheet/blanket with work pants and a hoodie, attempting to be bundled up. It’s been raining for…forever. I can’t remember when this weather started. But it’s been bad for a couple of days. I’m probably wearing sneakers to school. Sneakers with work pants. Fashion win…right? Oh well, I’m in the third world, so I guess fashion is relative. Which reminds me…because I’ve stopped wearing Indian clothes due to cold weather, the girls kind of give me funny looks, like a “Why would you wear that?” look. But it’s cold, and I’m warm, so it’s okay. Oh but back to the point of sneakers. I’m wearing sneakers because when it rains, the runoff is not rainwater. The runoff is water with buffalo and cow feces. I’m actually not really sure if the animals that the kids call buffalos are actually buffalos. They look like bulls to me.



In terms of the students, last night we tried to play a real game of memory with our three special students…the ones that are struggling. They are: Ashwini, Shylu, and Ambika. I don’t really know Ashwini’s story yet. Shylu is from the slums, and has quite the personality (not in a good way). Typical conversations with her sound as follows:



Me: “Shylu, write big R.”

Shylu: “No.”

Me: “Shylu, you have to write big R. There is no choice.”

Shylu: “No.” (scrunches face, shakes hand, indicating no.)

Me: “You have to do what I tell you. WRITE BIG R.”

Shylu: (walks away with sassy look on her face)

Me: “SHYLU, get back here NOW and write BIG R!”

Shylu: (sits down in her bench spot)

Me: (follow her to seat) “Okay, I followed you. Write Big R 40 times now.”

Shylu: (still refuses, but the realizes I’m not leaving until she does it, and begins to write big R)



She’s new here…so we try to cut her some slack, but homegirl has an attitude problem. Understandable, but still sometimes frustrating. Very frustrating. =p



Then there’s Ambika. She was a rag picker, and India’s version of Child Protective Services picked her up and brought her here. She hasn’t been to school in over a year. It’s easy to see this. She really struggles in class. But she’s a really sweet girl, very thankful to be learning. But we have our challenges with her too…



Me: “Ambika, what card is this?” (Showing the letter H, cards only include A-I)

Ambika: “C”

Me: “No…try again.”

Ambika: “D,E,F,G,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z”

Me: “I think you’re guessing.”

Ambika: (Laughs)



Then there’s Ashwini. I wonder if there’s something not right with her. She’s a very sweet girl, but she’s definitely in her own world.



Me: “Ashwini, what letter?”

Ashwini: (Laughs like she just heard the funniest joke)

Me: “Letter?”

Ashwini: (Laughs more)



Ashwini and Ambika are very difficult to understand, and even harder to get to pronounce words correctly. P’s, B’s, and F’s are pretty much lost on them.



Yup, sometimes I feel like we are teaching a special education class, which is a greattt way for two people who don’t know anything about teaching to start out. =p It makes for some great stories.



Oh, and I did my first official load of laundry yesterday. It involved a pajama shirt that I wore for approximately 2 weeks, my pink pajama pants, and 5 pairs of underwear (Do the math on that one.). =p Actually, underwear isn’t really included in laundry in my mind because that is washed daily. Although as for showers….that’s a whole different story. Well, I guess I could go into two stories here. A) My clothes are probably going to be wet for the next year seeing as it has been raining and there’s no sun.



And B) I love the scary metal coil that we use to heat our water. I started using it after I got sick because well….cold showers might be the reason I’m sick in the first place. They make showering so much more enjoyable. You hold the coil in the water for like 7 minutes (very precise) and it gets hot. It’s so great, I think I’ll shower every other day! =p (really, cold showers were terrible. It was freezing. Merh)



Okay, wellllll, the school day is about to start. Funfunfun!