Siragu Montessori School

Today we woke up bright and early so we could get on the road to Siragu Montessori School, a school made up of children who used to be street beggars. We ate a light breakfast - some smushy seasoned rice, sweet lime juice, and a fried lentil cake- then we got in our bumpy bus. It was a good thing we left early because traffic was a nightmare, and a lot of people started feeling sick. Luckily I didn't -- so far my body is staying strong! (Knock on wood...) Siragu was very far out of the city, so once we got off the main roads, we were on dirt roads; as if our bus wasn't rocky enough as it is. We got to see all the morning sights though - the street sweepers, the uniformed school children waiting at the bus stop - and plenty of cows and calves. When we got to the school all the children who live at Siragu (a large majority don't have homes) ran over to greet us. They brought us chairs and sat them around in a circle. There were so many children and the three of us with DSLR's started taking tons of pictures, which they absolutely love. A lot of them run over and say,"Photo, photo" and pose. One girl liked doing a thumbs up RIGHT in front of the lens, and the ended up crowding so much most of them were pressed up against the lens anyways. They liked asking our names, but I think I speak for all us when I say that we couldn't understand the large majority of their names. We watched them eat breakfast; a small portion of rice, which was sad because most of the children were so tiny and small. The buses of day-scholars came late, and then the children finally were arranged in lines in the sand to perform their morning chants. The school was totally silent except for the few children who were leading the chants, and then the loud repeat from the rest of the students. It was so powerful sounding that it almost made me want to cry. Then they welcomed us into their school by calling out our names and handing us each a drawing with a short message on it. After that, we presented them with a 1700 dollar scholarship, which is worth a lot more in rupees! The school day was pretty disorganized while we were there - and we were a gigantic distraction. Everyone kept smiling and waving to us whenever we made eye contact. We started our classroom observation, and I was in a first standard class (first grade), which is a class of five year olds, and they were newly added to the school, so they had less knowledge than everyone else. The students were able to commute math problems that are above the typical five year old in the US though. They were really excited to show us their workbooks which was mostly drawings and hindi lines to practice handwriting. We had to sit on lawn chairs in the classroom so we were towering over the kids, and it would have been more comfortable on the floor. The teacher wanted the kids to recite english poems to us, and one boy came up and told us a very detailed story, while snot was dripping out of his nose, but it was in tamarind so I have no idea what he said, but I'm sure it was good. Its hard to explain what we experienced - you really would have to be there seeing these kids who are at a poverty level we don't even see in the US. Most of the children did not have shoes, and one little girl was not wearing underwear - which Sara found out by picking her up! I didn't really get to experience their class day because they were too busy looking at us to concentrate. Towards the end of our visit we sat around with a group of older children and talked about questions they had regarding our education in the United States because some of these children who came from no where are hoping to go to college. Its sad to talk about, because most of them are confused about the entire process, and lack sufficient resources to get what they need to go to a University. While we talked the director passed out bananas for us, and pieces of white bread for the children, which I also felt guilty about. Here is a picture of us with the group we talked with:

 
This picture was right after a girl pointed out to us, "You're....white." As if we hadn't realized that yet. Me and Sara kind of stand out in pretty much every picture we take. After our visit we went to a mall to exchange our money in a sketchy currency place. The mall was pretty big, but much dirtier than a typical mall in the US. Each shop had an Indian man outside the door saying things to lure you inside. They obviously go for the westerners, and set very high prices for us. This mall is a bartering mall, so if we saw something we liked our professor bartered to get us a good deal. It was very stressful, but I made my first purchase! A giant vegetable dyed tapestry. I like it...its like five feet by three feet and cost me 1400 rupies. Everytime I pay with rupees i feel like I am bartering with jewels. Rupies...rubies...you know. Then we finallllllly got back to Niketana and ate an okra curry, lentils and rice with fry bread, and more papaya. Then I just spend forever editing some pics because we decided to post some tonight while all you people back home are still interested in our trip! :) The originals look better. And this is not all of them. Alot of street scenes were taken from the bus. Goodnight! (For me).