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Published: September 24th 2009
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 tall beautiful young lady, finally won. The prizes were quite the motivation, bracelets and earrings that one of my former co-volunteers left behind. The girls definitely wanted to win. My advanced students took their test on “singular vs. plural” concepts, as well as the correct forms of “to be” and contractions. Their scores were all over the place, something I’ll have to work on.
There are quite a few quarks that make me smile about my students. They call me a mix of “Miss. Kelsey” and “Teacher.” I answer to both. When they greet me they say “Shokomo Teacher”
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crafts in classwhich is an old Arabic saying that pretty much translates to “May I kiss your feet.” My response is, “Marahaba” which means something to the effect of “Sure, why not.” They also bow when they hand me homework or when I hand them their homework back…it’s hard for me not to grin at the respect that these girls give me. Being a teacher in Africa is a very coveted position, which I feel very privileged to be in. Although, no matter how respectful they are in class, they are sneaky little munchkins outside of the classroom. They have now gotten so comfortable with me that they love to play the “I tickle you and run away while you run after me and try to tickle me” game. I could play that game all day with them. It is an amazing feeling to know that I can be such a positive person in these girls’ lives.
On a different note, we had some other losses here at JBFC…the ducks. We feasted on duck on Thursday. The afternoon beforehand I witnessed Lucy, Mama Niko and Mama Chamilla executing them and preparing them. I figured that they would use a cleaver or
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looking over the work something big to end their lives…oh no. They used a tiny pearing knife, which required a few minutes of sawing, lots of squirting blood and fidgeting of the ducks. Though it was a rough site, I couldn’t look away. I stood their staring at the scene without blinking. First the pig, now the ducks…I think Africa is desensitizing me.
In other affairs, my lovely co-volunteer Jessica gave me a hair cut on Friday, and boy did I need one. With the dead ends off and a few more layers, I felt like a new woman. That is until I started sweating, got dirty while playing with the girls, spilled dinner on my clothes and realized that no matter how short I cut my hair, I am who I am and I’m still in Africa.
Yesterday, I woke up to my first real rainstorm in Tanzania. It started out as a loud pounding on our metal roof, then quickly changed to a lovely symphony incorporating the harmony of the crickets, bullfrogs, and waves on the lake. I rejoiced in the smell of wet African dirt that filled our house, and dozed in bed for another hour. Later that morning
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helping out we went into town, but this time, it was just us volunteers. John, my Tanzanian housemate, drove us to the main road where we caught a Dala Dala (the Tanzanian version of a Tro Tro) to Mwanza. Memories came flooding back as we crammed ourselves into the ancient, falling apart mini-van. As the sweet smell of sweat, gasoline and dirt filled my nose I realized, yet again. how much I love Africa…I think it will forever be in my blood.
We bobbled along on the main road while our fellow passengers stared at and chatted about us in Swahili. I didn’t mind. I was simply amused at how familiar the situation was to my experiences in Ghana. The 80’s music blaring in the background, mothers breast-feeding their babies, luggage crammed underneath the seats and the trunk tied shut. Ah, it’s the simple things in life.
We had a busy day in town, bargaining for taxies, running errands, a breakfast of Chipati (an Indian fried bread), a lunch of Chinese food and more bargaining. All in a days work. However, the ride home was a bit nerve racking. I was scheduled to have a phone interview for a school
in Thailand at 5pm. We finished lunch around 3:00pm, caught a taxi to the Dala Dala station and got their around 3:15. Sat in a Dala Dala and waited for it to fill up until about 4:00pm. On the drive from Mwanza to Lugeye I tried calling Chris and John to come pick us up at the main road so that we could get back to JBFC in time for my interview…no answer. By the time we reached Lugeye (where the main road meets the 'driveway' to JBFC) it was about 4:45pm…I was freaking out at this point. Still no answer from Chris or John.
As we started walking up the 4 mile dirt road to JBFC my morale dropped and I was certain I was going to miss my interview for lack of reception. Though just when I was about to lose all hope, John came driving up like a knight in a shining Land Cruiser. We all piled in the back and expected to fly down the dirt road…that is until someone came up and started a leisurely conversation with John. By then it was 4:50pm and I was all but jumping out of my skin. They
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group work finally wrapped up their conversation and with five minutes to go we barreled down the rocky path. At 4:59 we pulled up to JBFC, I ran inside the house, grabbed my phone, a piece of paper and pencil and ran up to the main house (where I get the best reception). I had made it! I was going to be able to do my interview. I huffed and puffed as I waited for the call…two glasses of water, a candy bar , a lot of panicking and a 45 minutes later, I finally got the call.
Sigh, such is Africa.
Fact of the Day: The Dik Dik is the smallest of the Antelope family.
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Rach
non-member comment
details about eating
As much as I LOVE your blog, seriously...the details related to meal preparation are a little graphic. :) Guess I'll be a vegetarian (again).... SOO- what was the outcome of the call??? Do tell.