Thank god it’s the weekend!!! To all of my old teachers out there, I am so sorry if I ever caused you stress or anxiety or caused you to work overtime. I now know how you felt, and you have my deepest apology. I have had to crack down hard on my students these last two weeks. The high school I work at starts with 7th grade and continues up through 12th grade. Both of my 8th grade classes were naughty this week. One of them was just chatty in the sense that I constantly needed to remind them to simmer [View Full Entry]

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Hello Everyone! I apologize for not posting an entry for some time. These last few weeks have been the most exciting/stressful weeks of my life. I have had to go from being a flexible teacher to a travel bum to a professional teacher with tons of responsibility and deadlines, all within the last month. I am still having a wonderful time here in Suratthani, but I am fast realizing that the “real world” is not as glamorous as it sounds when you’re a college student. Though, I have been experiencing some pretty great stuff. The cultural richness of Thailand never cease [View Full Entry]

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If I had to describe Thailand in one word it would be: WOW I arrived last Friday after a long and strenuous trip. I flew from Nairobi to Doha, Qatar and sat next to a very nice man and his daughter from Katmandu. They were extremely sweet and bid me a safe journey as they gave me their business card and told me to come stay with them in Kathmandu anytime. I will most definitely be taking them up on their offer. From there I ran straight to my plane and flew from Doha to Bangkok. The flight was not horrible, [View Full Entry]

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Nairobi…the New York City of Africa. I left Mwanza last Saturday and arrived in Nairobi at 11am. On my flight I sat next to a very nice Canadian man who had been working in Mwanza but lived in Nairobi. He filled me in on his family and work, a good connection to have. When I arrived in Nairobi, I was amazed at how posh the airport was. I slipped through customs easily and retrieved my bags. I was greeted by a taxi driver that had befriended Jackie who picked me up and took me to where they were staying. As we [View Full Entry]

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As this week wraps up, I head to a church festival in the small town of Lugeye to witness hours full of singing and dancing. However, some interesting things have happened in the past few days… The Serengeti!! Unfortunately my photos aren’t loading onto my blog at the moment so I will have to try and paint the best picture I can. We (Chris, Ashley, Jessica, the two Sweds, and I) all woke up at 5:30am - before the sun rose - on Wednesday and loaded up the car with supplies. We all piled into the car and drove down the [View Full Entry]

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The rest of last week was actually quite jam packed. Teaching has kept me quite busy. I finished up units with my students and tested them all on Friday. For my beginners I had them take a test on the Alphabet. They all did perfectly, which is a nice pat on the back for myself. If my students succeed, then I succeed. My intermediates had a Spelling Bee on the calendar months. Three girls stood out and won right away (they could spell all of the months). Though the other students wanted a few more tries. After an hour, Anna, a [View Full Entry]

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This last week and a half has been a rollercoaster of experiences and emotions. On Monday we went into town to do some shopping and run some errands. My love for the city of Mwanza grows every time I visit. The streets are always busy and the colors always bright. Because there were six of us wageni, we stood out like sore thumbs, especially me with my blonde hair. However, we were able to buy lots of fabric to have skirts and kangas (wrap around cloths) made. I admit I go a bit crazy in the fabric shops with so many [View Full Entry]

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What a week! So much has happened. First of all, I’m determined to become a member of the Kitongo Choir. I love to watch them dance and I have began to practice with them in the evenings. The other volunteers and I are the token “wageni” or foreigners. We pretty much just get laughed at, but I think I’m starting to get the rhythm. I got to see my first JBFC soccer (or football) practice! Ashley, Chris’ assistant, has started a JBFC soccer team which will play in a Mwanza league. The girls are super excited and practice with Ashley and [View Full Entry]

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On Tuesday my fellow volunteers and I visited the Kitongo Public Primary School which is about a 10 minute walk from JBFC. The school is made up of crumbling buildings that serve over 500 students. As we roamed around looking for the head master we gathered an entourage of Tanzanian children, holding our hands and examining our arm hair. When we finally found him we introduced ourselves and asked if we could observe some of the classes. In broken English he insisted on taking us on a tour of the school. My eyes grew wider in each classroom due to the [View Full Entry]

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Things are starting to fall into place here at JBFC. On Monday we went into Mwanza, which is a small town of about 1.5 million people. The bustling streets reminded me of my experience in Ghana last year, though spiced with Indian undertones and Middle Eastern flavor. Although Tanzania is a bit more conservative in general than most West African countries, the people always greet me with smiles and the cultures is rich. After picking up some groceries and other odds and ends, we all (me, Chris, and two other volunteers) went to a hotel on the shores of Lake Victoria. [View Full Entry]

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