November 19, 2008
So last week I got pink eye, so I stayed in my room most of the time. Not only could I not teach, but I had to stay away from the other side of the house because anytime I went over there the babies started crawling on me or crying and I couldn’t do anything for them which was really difficult. I watched a bunch of movies and read some. By about Sunday I was clear to go back to teaching and playing with the kids. On Monday I had a lovely coming back present of two computers dieing. The first one had been acting up a lot by freezing and finally the mouse just stopped reacting and stopped working completely. The other computer would start and an error message would come up saying that a file was missing and that it couldn’t start. I officially hate PCs. I tried everything I could think of and nothing worked I gave up after 5 hours straight working on them. I had the kids that were on these computers move to other groups. This morning when I came in a third computer stopped working with a different problem and I decided that I now had to call HP support because soon we would have no computers left. The new computer problem didn’t even get to the point of an error message. It just stopped in the middle of starting up and froze. I couldn’t even turn off the computer without pulling the plug out. Of course I figured out one of the original failures just as I called, but the other two continued to not work. The woman helping me on the phone was very nice and very patient, but ended up not being able to figure out what was wrong with the other two. Another annoying thing is that Suma the frock tailor is so flaky. I wanted her to finish by Monday but she asked if I could wait until today because she was going to her village for the weekend. I didn’t really have a choice so I said yes, but then today she said that she needed until Saturday. So Hafeez and I decided to give 11 of the 22 left to another tailor to make sure that the rest are done on time. Hopefully the new tailor will be a little more reliable.
November 21, 2008
So internet has been very uncooperative this past week, which is kind of a big problem since the benefit is tomorrow and Lynne needed some pictures from me, but hopefully she will come up with something else. Another bad thing is that the new tailor is asking to increase the price by 50%, which even though it is only 30 rupees (60 cents), it adds up. So we have to try to find another tailor. Good news though is that I fixed (sort of) all the computers today. One I just switched the computer box with one that didn’t have a monitor, so we will have to deal with that problem again at a later date, but now all the computers that the kids have been using are in full working condition. I felt really smart and it made the whole day go really well. I finally have gotten my teaching schedule down. I begin teaching at 9:30 and have computer classes all morning. Then everyone breaks for lunch at 12:50. I then have one more computer class. I then have my one leisure period before I tutor math to 7th, then grammar to 9th, and then English to 10th. I am done by about 5:15, after which I pretty much crash. Lynne comes back on Monday night, so my schedule will probably change again, but for now it is working out well.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Other side of India
November 12, 2008
So this weekend was a lot of fun. It took a little time for the driver to find the house, but once he found it we headed back to TT’s apartment where I met his wife, Lakshmi and two boys. One is in 8th grade, Arvind, and the other is 2 and a half, Rakov. They are all very nice, but Rakov is a little shy so he hid from me most of the time. We had lunch and then the girl that is sort of Rakov’s nanny, who speaks very good English, and the lady that does the cleaning, took me to a market really close by where the craftsmen and women sell the things that they make. It was a really nice green area and I got a couple of nice things there. We then came back and got ready to go to the movies. I was a little unsure as to what they were going to wear so I packed everything. Luckily, I brought my jeans, because I would have felt a little funny walking around in my Punjabi while Lakshmi was in capris. TT, Lakshmi, Arvind, and I, all went to the movies. It was a little far away, but it was a nice IMAX theater. We had good seats and it was a fun movie. It is interesting though because apparently in every movie there is an intermission even though the movie was only 2 hours long. It wasn’t like other James Bond movies, since there was no “Bond, James Bond” and there were basically no gadgets, and there were a lot fistfights, unlike Bond’s usual one shot wonder. As TT said and the critics said the following morning, it was more like a Borne Identity movie. Nevertheless it was a good, entertaining movie. We came back to the house for a quick dinner and then I headed off to bed. It was a really nice room. Their apartment has two floors and is in a complex that has a “clubhouse” that has a swimming pool, a fitness center, badminton courts and basketball court. It was nice because it meant that Arvind had a lot of friends to hang out with. Sunday morning was very relaxing, I got a massage from a woman that comes to give Arvind one every week. It felt so good and I was very relaxed afterwards. We then just hung out for the rest of the morning. Rakov finally warmed up to me and we play hind and seek for a little while. We then went off to have lunch at a place called “Little Italy”. It was really, really good. It is an all you can eat gourmet buffet. They could make any kind of pasta for you and stir-fries and they had really good breads along with amazing appetizers. Also, their dessert were not half bad. I think I ate more in that one meal then I have in any one day since I have been here. We then went back for little while before I headed back to Uppal. It was really nice vacation to a different side of India. Monday I had to miss my first class because the power was out. I tutored math and then let them use the computers, however in the middle of my of that class, with 7th class, the power went out again. While we were waiting for the power to come back on they asked me questions about school in America. They asked if we took all the subjects they took, and they were surprised that we had social studies and science like they did. It was nice to talk to the older boys for a change. Finally we gave up and I went back to the house for a little. The power didn’t come back on until after lunch, but the kids were taking their unit tests. I got one more class in before the power went out again. And while we waited they asked me about the US election. After school I had 10th class try to do one of the writing sections from the 10th class exam from last year. The power was out for most of the rest of the day and it was a nice temperature outside, so Srilata, Laxmi, and Deepika had some running races while Thanuja and I took the kids. It was fun day, even though the power was out. I got to have a conversation with the older kids for a little while instead of just teaching them. And playing outside was quite fun also. But that didn’t last long. Yesterday, Hafeez took me into the city to help me pick up some things that Lynne had ordered for Christmas, which meant that I missed my morning classes and the kids were not that happy with me since I missed Saturday and the power was out the day before. Also, as soon as the first group started the typing program stopped working on two computers. I set one of the groups on another computer, but the others had to wait and a person came to tell me that the group’s computer wasn’t working every 5 minutes or so, which got me really frustrated since I was working on the other one. I decided that I needed a little quiet to figure out what was wrong with the programs so I closed the computer lab. I finally fixed the first one, but before I could fix the second I started to feel sick. I slept for a while and I felt a little better. This morning I felt even better, but am still not 100%. Today I finally got to have all my classes and I picked up some more of the dresses.
So this weekend was a lot of fun. It took a little time for the driver to find the house, but once he found it we headed back to TT’s apartment where I met his wife, Lakshmi and two boys. One is in 8th grade, Arvind, and the other is 2 and a half, Rakov. They are all very nice, but Rakov is a little shy so he hid from me most of the time. We had lunch and then the girl that is sort of Rakov’s nanny, who speaks very good English, and the lady that does the cleaning, took me to a market really close by where the craftsmen and women sell the things that they make. It was a really nice green area and I got a couple of nice things there. We then came back and got ready to go to the movies. I was a little unsure as to what they were going to wear so I packed everything. Luckily, I brought my jeans, because I would have felt a little funny walking around in my Punjabi while Lakshmi was in capris. TT, Lakshmi, Arvind, and I, all went to the movies. It was a little far away, but it was a nice IMAX theater. We had good seats and it was a fun movie. It is interesting though because apparently in every movie there is an intermission even though the movie was only 2 hours long. It wasn’t like other James Bond movies, since there was no “Bond, James Bond” and there were basically no gadgets, and there were a lot fistfights, unlike Bond’s usual one shot wonder. As TT said and the critics said the following morning, it was more like a Borne Identity movie. Nevertheless it was a good, entertaining movie. We came back to the house for a quick dinner and then I headed off to bed. It was a really nice room. Their apartment has two floors and is in a complex that has a “clubhouse” that has a swimming pool, a fitness center, badminton courts and basketball court. It was nice because it meant that Arvind had a lot of friends to hang out with. Sunday morning was very relaxing, I got a massage from a woman that comes to give Arvind one every week. It felt so good and I was very relaxed afterwards. We then just hung out for the rest of the morning. Rakov finally warmed up to me and we play hind and seek for a little while. We then went off to have lunch at a place called “Little Italy”. It was really, really good. It is an all you can eat gourmet buffet. They could make any kind of pasta for you and stir-fries and they had really good breads along with amazing appetizers. Also, their dessert were not half bad. I think I ate more in that one meal then I have in any one day since I have been here. We then went back for little while before I headed back to Uppal. It was really nice vacation to a different side of India. Monday I had to miss my first class because the power was out. I tutored math and then let them use the computers, however in the middle of my of that class, with 7th class, the power went out again. While we were waiting for the power to come back on they asked me questions about school in America. They asked if we took all the subjects they took, and they were surprised that we had social studies and science like they did. It was nice to talk to the older boys for a change. Finally we gave up and I went back to the house for a little. The power didn’t come back on until after lunch, but the kids were taking their unit tests. I got one more class in before the power went out again. And while we waited they asked me about the US election. After school I had 10th class try to do one of the writing sections from the 10th class exam from last year. The power was out for most of the rest of the day and it was a nice temperature outside, so Srilata, Laxmi, and Deepika had some running races while Thanuja and I took the kids. It was fun day, even though the power was out. I got to have a conversation with the older kids for a little while instead of just teaching them. And playing outside was quite fun also. But that didn’t last long. Yesterday, Hafeez took me into the city to help me pick up some things that Lynne had ordered for Christmas, which meant that I missed my morning classes and the kids were not that happy with me since I missed Saturday and the power was out the day before. Also, as soon as the first group started the typing program stopped working on two computers. I set one of the groups on another computer, but the others had to wait and a person came to tell me that the group’s computer wasn’t working every 5 minutes or so, which got me really frustrated since I was working on the other one. I decided that I needed a little quiet to figure out what was wrong with the programs so I closed the computer lab. I finally fixed the first one, but before I could fix the second I started to feel sick. I slept for a while and I felt a little better. This morning I felt even better, but am still not 100%. Today I finally got to have all my classes and I picked up some more of the dresses.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Miss Maia the Teacher
November 7, 2008
Sorry that it has been so long since my last update, there was nothing really exciting to report, but I was kept busy. I started teaching a couple more classes. I finally started my 10th grade tutoring on Monday. I was holding off because one of the three was not coming to school because he burned his hand during Diwali, but he is feeling better now and is back in school. My goal is to get them ready for their 10th class exam, which determines if they graduate or not and if the local Junior College will accept them. Once I started them, Srilata (Ratnam’s niece) joined the classes, so that she can take her 10th class exam again this year. I have mostly been working on Reading Comprehension, because that is basically 75% of the exam. Even though this is basically the blind leading the blind, I have taken so many class, that even if I can’t put the tutors advice into practice, maybe they can. I also added some more classes to the computers. Now 5th, 6th, and 7th are also getting the chance to learn to type. Luckily, 9th class has been able to help with both my 5th and 6th class, so that they can understand me and so that I can have some more eyes and ears. One set back was that they typing program can only have 5 names as users, so by the time 5th class got to class, a lot of the computers had maxed out. Luckily the older classes are quite small, so a couple of computer still had space and there were just enough so that only one group had to have three girls in it while the rest had two. The younger classes are doing quite well, but I have to remind the 9th class every so often that they started out slowly too and to not rush them. While I was in class, the 9th class asked me if I could be their English grammar teacher. Their teacher was the Headmaster, who had a stoke a month ago, so their Social Studies teacher has been working with them on other aspects that they need to learn, and I have been working with them on Parts of Speech and punctuation. Right now I have a class every period and after school, which is keeping me busy. And then after school I have to come up with lesson plans. The math tutoring is a lot easier because I can just work from their text book, but there is no really test book for either 10th or 9th because they are doing it in their normal English classes, meaning I have to come up with the lesson and the materials. The web has been quite helpful though, with practice grammar exercises and past 10th class exams that I can use the stories from to get the 10th class prepared for the type and layout they are going to see in March. Today I am hopefully going to meet up with TT, and really good friend of my uncle, who lives just out side of Hyderabad. The only problem is that it is on the opposite side of Hyderabad, so it is over an hour away. He offered that I stay over, to make the trip worth it, so I will get back tomorrow afternoon. I am really excited. It will be nice to be around people I can really talk to, and also he has tickets for his whole family and me to go see the new James Bond movie that comes out today, which should be fun. I will let you know how it goes.
Sorry that it has been so long since my last update, there was nothing really exciting to report, but I was kept busy. I started teaching a couple more classes. I finally started my 10th grade tutoring on Monday. I was holding off because one of the three was not coming to school because he burned his hand during Diwali, but he is feeling better now and is back in school. My goal is to get them ready for their 10th class exam, which determines if they graduate or not and if the local Junior College will accept them. Once I started them, Srilata (Ratnam’s niece) joined the classes, so that she can take her 10th class exam again this year. I have mostly been working on Reading Comprehension, because that is basically 75% of the exam. Even though this is basically the blind leading the blind, I have taken so many class, that even if I can’t put the tutors advice into practice, maybe they can. I also added some more classes to the computers. Now 5th, 6th, and 7th are also getting the chance to learn to type. Luckily, 9th class has been able to help with both my 5th and 6th class, so that they can understand me and so that I can have some more eyes and ears. One set back was that they typing program can only have 5 names as users, so by the time 5th class got to class, a lot of the computers had maxed out. Luckily the older classes are quite small, so a couple of computer still had space and there were just enough so that only one group had to have three girls in it while the rest had two. The younger classes are doing quite well, but I have to remind the 9th class every so often that they started out slowly too and to not rush them. While I was in class, the 9th class asked me if I could be their English grammar teacher. Their teacher was the Headmaster, who had a stoke a month ago, so their Social Studies teacher has been working with them on other aspects that they need to learn, and I have been working with them on Parts of Speech and punctuation. Right now I have a class every period and after school, which is keeping me busy. And then after school I have to come up with lesson plans. The math tutoring is a lot easier because I can just work from their text book, but there is no really test book for either 10th or 9th because they are doing it in their normal English classes, meaning I have to come up with the lesson and the materials. The web has been quite helpful though, with practice grammar exercises and past 10th class exams that I can use the stories from to get the 10th class prepared for the type and layout they are going to see in March. Today I am hopefully going to meet up with TT, and really good friend of my uncle, who lives just out side of Hyderabad. The only problem is that it is on the opposite side of Hyderabad, so it is over an hour away. He offered that I stay over, to make the trip worth it, so I will get back tomorrow afternoon. I am really excited. It will be nice to be around people I can really talk to, and also he has tickets for his whole family and me to go see the new James Bond movie that comes out today, which should be fun. I will let you know how it goes.
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