Teaching at St. Andre

It's been four weeks since we have officially started teaching at the St. Andre village school in Bodhjungnagar. When we got there a few weeks back, internal exams were going on so that we spent almost a week proctoring the students. This was quite interesting as it was very different to anything I have seen before. Grades 2 through 11 squeezed together on small benches in the library, auditorium or the verandas on each floor. It was overwhelming to be in a room with about 200 kids, 6 grades and all different tests and subjects. When distributing and collecting, I had to run around like a crazy woman because the students of one class were sitting far apart from each other. Then it was time to pace up and down the aisles and listen for the little whispers of students asking for extra paper. It sounded like they were calling me "Miss Paper." Here also, I was receiving many stares and glances and I felt bad because I really did not want to distract anyone. But props to the students, especially the small ones who sat through at 2 hours of exams.

After so many days of only proctoring, we were eager to finally start teaching. This proved to be challenging in many ways. On our first day, we missed the bus. Typical. The bus ride is 45 minutes through several villages on VERY bumpy roads. Our bus is overfilled with students and teachers. After a long exhausting day it is sometimes a lot to socialize with either students and teachers but I'm happy we can do it. This way, I've gotten to know them so much better. It's great!
I'm currently teaching Lit and Grammar to class 8b. There are 34 of them, and they are a great class! A lot of them are naughty (which kids are called here if they misbehave...it makes us chuckle every time) but in general they are a very quiet class. Actually too quiet. They don't really participate in class, and I often have to call on them. Luckily, I know all their names, some are easier to learn (e.g. John Christopher, Veronica) and others not so much (Boyarkwchang, Jensish, Jenish, Saijak).
It's very common among the tribal kids to be very shy and not speak up in class. So if I do call on them, it is mostly barely above a whisper. Especially the girls. One time, Solami, one of the girls, only moved her lips when she was reading part of a story. I tried to make her speak up, and the rest of the class was getting rowdy because it took so long. In the end, I made her stand up on a bench. It didn't seem to phase her, as she kept whispering.
Sometimes this gets really frustrating because we have to go at an extremely slow pace with the material. The situation is similiar in my 11th grade. I teach them Indian Economic Development. The book is not the greatest and I really have to stick to it most of the time. But the other day, I had them debate. They were a bit overwhelmed at first but it ended up being really rewarding because some kids really got into it. 11th grade is great, I think I'm really obsessed with them. They're older and I have their full attention most of the time. There are only 16 of them and I really adore them all. I know I am their teacher but I also want to be their friend so badly! The other day, I had Lucy come into my class to help with the debate and one of my students told her that I was the best! There are days that are really draining and disappointing, but a comment like that makes up for it.
Lately we have been preparing for the final exams that are in three weeks. All the teachers make their own tests and hand write them. We have taken over helping Sir Pintu, who usually does all the typing himself. Sometimes teaching at St. Andre is really crazy and unorganized because we can't get a real answer for a desperate question. But at the end of the day, I leave with a heavy, albeit tired heart. I just love my kids!!!!


Here is part of grade 11

Agartala - where did everyone here learn to drive?

I'm blogging again, already, can you believe it?? I thought that the best way to keep this up would be to do random posts, and stay away from any kind of chronological order whatsoever. That's just not me. I'm hoping to keep everyone interested, especially specific people from Virginia whom I've never met but are still interested in my life ;-)
Anyway, tonight I would like to talk about the crazy city of Agartala. It's the only Indian city that I've been able to experience so I have no comparison. But I guess that's good, because this city cannot be compared with anything. Let's start with the most obvious...the roads! I have never had to share the streets with...cows, bike rikshas, auto rikshas, motorcycles, dogs, pedestrians, cars, buses, trucks, cats, bikes, chickens, bulls. On top of that, many of the vehicles are overloaded with 20 feet bamboo trunks, people, vegetables, clay or bricks, or bags with random items. And so far I haven't been able to discern any traffic rules, except for an unspoken rule of hierarchy: bigger vehicles have the right of way before smaller ones, motorised vehicles over those moving with man power. I have the most pity on bike rikshas, the drivers have to work so hard, yet they'll get pushed off the road the easiest. Yes, the little vehicle below with all the woodon it is a bike riksha.

Crossing the street is quite the endeavour because there are no pedestrian walks and never a quiet moment on the streets. People are selling their goods half on the street, half in tiny, over-filled stores. Honking is a necessity and everyone does it. All the time. Since we are almost the only foreigners in town, people will stare openly at us. There is no shame in this, and I like to stare back. Many will also take our picture, or we'll get asked to be photographed with someone in their shop. I'm sure that more often than not, we contribute a significant amount to the traffic jams since many drivers will turn their heads to look at us.
Getting into town is sometimes a hassle. Not because there are not enough auto rikshas (see below). But we've come to realize that many drivers try to overcharge us, hoping that we don't know how to bargain. We have been taking some Bengali lessons with a friend which helps a lot, and there will be times when the price really goes back and forth. Eventually, we end up paying around 50 rupees for a ride. That comes to about 1$. But you can't really think in terms of dollars here because the price level is so much lower for most goods and services here. I've paid 20 rupees for 20 small bananas, 650 for my sahree or 190 for leggings. 

Driving in a riksha is so much fun! The drivers like to weave through the traffic with exorbitant speed and more often than not, I thought that we would leave our side mirrors behind. If not more. We always get to where we want to be, though.

We're finding more and more stores that we like: M/S Laxmi bakery, a nice cafe, and different book stores. And OF COURSE the occasional clothing store. So many options!! I've had my first street food (samosa) and I was fine! Agartala is definitely a sight to see.