March 12, 2010

March 12, 2010

If I’ve done my math correctly, I believe it has been four months since we’ve been in country. This means, I’ve been here for a third of a year. Holy. Cow.
I got an email from my father recently that said something about how it just feels like I’m a semester away at college. I wonder if the reality of my distance and the length of this term will ever actually kick in, or if it will continue to feel like a few years at college…
Yesterday was a public holiday. I’m still not entirely sure the difference between public and private holidays, but every Mosotho I talked to informed me that it was indeed a public holiday. However, our school decided that instead of having Thursday off and teaching Friday, we would reverse those days to allow us the luxury of a long weekend. (Not gonna say I suggested it first, but I’m pretty sure I was at least second… to which my principal responded it was against the rules… the next day he brought it up in a staff meeting and was met with overwhelming enthusiasm… go figure.)
So now I’m sitting on my computer, sipping a cup of coffee and enjoying the peace and quiet of a Friday morning. Truthfully, it feels a lot like a weekend already, even one that I might spend at home. I have coffee and my computer. I’m still in my pajamas, and I have little motivation to do anything but keep this up. Unfortunately, if my computer battery dies, I’ll have to find an alternate plan.
With my internet connection, I learned of all our group’s plans for World Cup and other vacations, and I’m getting really excited. There’s going to be some quality beach time just south of Durban around Easter, and also some excellent soccer-viewing opportunities during school’s winter break. The only thing left to negotiate (I believe) is transportation. I might be driving some stick-shift and giving lessons to others so I’m not the only driver (I learned from the best, so hopefully my skills will be transferred equally as well).
It’s really crazy to think that I’ve been here for four months. Next weekend, my group (Education 2010) will return to the training center for another week and a half of more training sessions. This will probably include things like grant-writing, more ideas on how to deal with corporal punishment, and tons of things I haven’t even thought about. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this training. On one hand, it’s going to be fantastic to see everyone again. On the other hand, we’re going to be cram-packed into the training center again, and this time, we will have tasted complete freedom. Also, I’m going to be missing ten days of class. Hey! That’s great! I won’t have to deal with talkative chatter in a language I don’t understand, or have to eat school lunches… but I will have to lesson plan for three different classes for those days. That’s approximately 34 (actually it’s exactly 34) class hours that I have to plan for. No teacher is going to want to take over my classes and monitor/teach them for me. This means I have to come up with activities and or notes for students, and then assume that they’ll carry them out themselves. This is really going to be a test of their dedication, and how well they can learn on their own.
Sometimes in my math class, I’ll present a certain concept several times, and it may seem like most students understand well enough to do problems on their own. So I give them practice problems, but inevitably, there will be several students (who are paying attention to my teaching) who say quietly as I pass their desks, “Madam, I am not understanding.” All it takes is for me to explain the same concept the same way, just sitting at their desk next to them, and they catch on very quickly. These are the students I most enjoy helping – it is always so clear when they understand something. That is the single most rewarding moment in teaching. I live for it, to see the light click on for a student, and then see them proud as punch to demonstrate to me that they understand by completing a problem correctly. Even if they’re not the outspoken and or brilliant ones, they are, by far, the most appreciative of any of my students, and that means the world.

I still have not figured out what happened to that girl on Monday. I am still very curious… but I don’t know if anyone will be able to provide the answer I’m looking for…

My hair is still in braids, though they are considerably looser than they were a week and a half ago when they were started. Some of that might have to do with the fact that they’re incredibly itchy. OH MY GOSH, they itch! All the Basotho women I work with always come over to my head, admire them for a few seconds, ask me if I have dandruff problems (because I itch my head and can’t wash my hair as well as I would at home or if I didn’t have these braids!), and then tell me I need to buy “the spray”. What exactly is “the spray” you ask? Well, I’m not entirely sure either. I do know, however, that Basotho women use it to keep their fake hair shiny. Yes, shiny. Now, usually, if my hair is shiny, it means I haven’t washed it for a long time and its greasy and oily and dirty and smelly, and that’s why it’s shiny. But here, apparently they value that. So I guess I’ll fit right in in about… oh, three days.
I have a confession: I did wash it on Thursday. I got up, went for my run, and scrubbed my head like I have never scrubbed it before. I used probably five times the shampoo I normally use and I won’t even describe the water after I’d rinsed my head. (Actually, I think it had a reddish tint since my fake hair is reddish-brown.) The itching subsided, thankfully, but I’ll be honest: I’m ready for everyone else to see these braids so I can take them out. To my family: I will make sure to take pictures so you can see ☺ they are pretty cool, and the Basotho all love that I have them. It gets more comments than anything else, and I think the number of marriage proposals I received in town yesterday more than doubled in the short time I was there. SCORE! (Note to M, C & A: I say that as a complete joke. You know full well I have no intent to marry anyone, clicking, grunting or otherwise… but I am looking for husbands for you, so be nice and you’ll get a winner!)
In other non-Lesotho-related news, I have almost completed Season 2 of The Office and I must say, I have not gotten through a single episode without (literally) laughing out loud. It is too funny for words. I finished Al Franken’s book Lies and the Lying Liars… and enjoyed it for the most part… It did get a little dull in the middle, but the first few chapters had me laughing out loud. Actually, between reading Franken and watching The Office, I’m pretty sure some of my neighbors were wondering what was going on in my house when I just randomly burst out laughing for seemingly no reason (the walls allow a lot of sound to pass through them… I could hear them outside; I’m sure they heard me just fine).
Probably the most exciting part of my week was when a former student approached me on Sunday evening, asking about the librarian position. He completed his C.O.S.C. exams last year, but has decided to study and re-write the mathematics exam in June (or November? I don’t remember), so he’s working with one of the other teachers at my school on math, and looking for other things to do. All the other teachers are very much in support of having him work in the library; he achieved very high scores on his exams, and was library prefect for several years during his years at Sekameng. I’m pumped because it means I won’t have to be the one always in the library. Plus, he probably knows more about it than I do. When I asked the principal how many days he thought this student should be there with the library open, he said, “He should be there five days a week if he wants to be paid.” YES!
Ultimately, it means we’re going to have students there and reading, hopefully every day. I’ll probably have to meet with him a couple times to establish and agree on rules, and figure out how the check-out log works, but that’s the fun part. My ultimate hope is that he’ll be able to train other students this year so that when he’s gone, they can carry on… Selfishly, it means I’ll be able to check books out too; there are quite a few that I’ve been wanting to read since I first saw the library. My hope is that we’ll be able to open it sometime next week, so students can even use it during the weeks when I’m gone, but this is Lesotho and sometimes Basotho time gets the best of even me… Cross your fingers that I get my act together! My students are going to have books!
The poultry project has yet to be launched. I’m getting a little frustrated by this, but I realize I am in Lesotho. Here’s the story. In order to get birds (aka CHICKENS!), we have to withdraw money from the bank, deposit it into someone else’s account, and then wait for some number of weeks so they can get their act together and send us the birds. Rumor has it, we’re only able to afford half of the ultimate total number of birds (so only 100, not 200… yet). Then we’ll be selling eggs like there’s no tomorrow… I’m especially excited for this part because I’m hoping to launch some type of breakfast program at my school. Too many students arrive in the morning after having been awake for several hours (4 or 5am), walking an hour or so, and by the time they have to start learning at 8am, their stomachs are growling so loud I can’t even hear myself think. The idea (thanks also to Joey) for the breakfast program is to buy some of the fresh eggs from the chickens, hard-boil them, and then sell them in the mornings or until they’re gone for just a small profit (enough to pay for the gas used to boil them, I guess?). This would give students a little bit of protein in their tummies so they wouldn’t be beyond ravenously hungry when lunch rolls around (at 1pm). I have no idea what kind of demand there is for these eggs in the school or village otherwise, but hopefully this is a viable plan of action. Ultimately, the chicken/egg program is a great thing anyway, because all profits from the eggs go towards keeping school fees low. I’m told that our school fees are relatively low when compared to other schools of our caliber. I’m proud of that fact, and will do everything I can to keep it that way.
The sports and entertainment committee has met and decided that there will be an inter-school competition. Students will form teams by class to compete in soccer (both guys and ladies), net ball (girls only I think) and volleyball (maybe both guys and ladies, but I’m not sure). How awesome is that! The only downside I can see is that I’ll be at Phase Three, learning about grant-writing while my students are playing games and having a great time. At this point, we’ve opted to alternate afternoon study with practice for these games. Two days a week, everyone is released onto the big field to choose teams and practice. It’s fun to see the other side of students… sometimes those who aren’t the most involved in class are amazing athletes and clear leaders on the field.
We’ve also had several meetings for the Science and Math Club. The district schedule has been set, and there are numerous (monthly-ish) competitions coming up. I’m still not exactly sure how it all works, but the club has a pretty good turn-out, and I guess last year they were invited to the National Competition. Thinking back to my high school days, Math Team was something I always looked forward to, especially the friendly competition with my friend (who I consistently beat, hehe). I had a great time working through those problems with those people, even if SuperMath did meet at 6:30am.
Well, I think it’s probably time to do something (productive) with my life. I’m still working on a way to photo-share with everyone… I pay for internet by the amount of data transferred, and pictures take a fair amount of data. Plus, I only have a so-so internet connection, which presents a problem. It’s in the process though, I hate that nobody can see this place like I see it everyday. I think I’m starting to take some of the country’s beauty for granted… I need to share pictures.
As always, know that I miss and love everyone back at home, and am truly realizing just how important you all are to me, especially now that I’m far far away. I’m lucky to have you in my life, and your support is the only reason I’m still going. Thanks!
All my love from Africa,
Katie