Week 6

Greetings friends and family,

I’m having a hard time believing February is almost over, but I find myself writing exams because it is the end of the month. The sixth week of school is coming to a close and its time to find out exactly how much my students have learned. They’ll write math tomorrow, and physics early next week, just in time to welcome March.

This week marked the start of preparation for our track and field day next week; students started practicing running, jumping and throwing. On Monday, we separated boys and girls and took them running. Some of the girls really were not thrilled about having to run and stopped after less than ten minutes, but there are definitely some natural athletes. I’ve run a crowded marathon before, but when I was running with over a hundred girls, I was beyond crowded, plus the ground was really uneven. I think I probably elbowed several girls in the head and may have stepped on a few, but we made it. The most amusing thing to me was that when they run, they all run in sync. Left, right, left, right… and they sing to the beat of their stomping feet while they run. Now, I can carry on easy conversation while I run but singing is out of the question. It was definitely an experience.
On Tuesday, I took the girls running long distances with me on my training run. We went out on one of my favorite routes and stopped to stretch a while before turning back. On the way back, we did a line drill where the last person has to run up and pull ahead of the first person. At first they were confused, but once they understood what we were doing, they ran fast. I guess it didn’t click with them that the faster the first person goes, the faster everyone else has to go too. We sprinted to the finish – the girls I was running the drill with all outran me. They are so lucky to be African and living at such a high elevation. I was amazed so many of them could keep up with me on a training run when so few of them exercise regularly, if at all.
Today we added jumping to the mix. I’ve seen some talented athletes at various track meets, but watching some of these kids jump… wow. Their long jump technique seemed ok (not like I know a whole lot), but the high jump was pretty amusing. Rather than coming at the jump from off to one side, they came at it straight on, and somehow managed to land on their feet (most of the time). I’ll take some photos and video next week when the students compete so I can post them or show you all when I get home. I saw some amazing jumpers today.

Teaching continues to keep me partly busy and pretty entertained. Earlier this week, I was talking with my students about something we did last year in math, and I made some joke about their math teacher last year and teasing them about how lucky they were to have me again this year. A couple of them were so sweet, “Madam, and you will teach us next year for our JC exam!” It broke my heart to tell them that I’d most likely be back in America. “Oh, madam! You can only teach us here for two years?” I said yes, but that I would miss them terribly, and as soon as their exam results were released, I would call Ntate Kolobe to ask how they had done. One boy, sometimes troublesome, but always quick to respond, looks at me and says completely sincerely, “Madam, you can just change your name and come back for two more years!” I almost died.

Today I taught physics in Form A1. Because it was the last class for them before their exam next week, we finished the lesson a little early. I gave them the scope of their exam, and asked if they had any questions. For the longest time, they have been (seemingly) terrified of me, very quiet and respectful in class, hesitant to raise their hands, ask questions, or respond to anything I ask as I teach. Something must have changed recently because all of a sudden they were interested in everything. “Madam, do you speak Sesotho?” “I know some words but I’m not very good at it.” I told them I spoke some Spanish and Italian and they wanted to know if I knew French. One way people ggreet each other here (usually men) is “Ola” … it absolutely blew their minds that “ola” comes from the Spanish “Hola.” The boys were all giggles as I showed them how to say hello or good morning in Spanish, French, Portugese and Italian.
Then came the questions about America. “Madam, how did you get to Lesotho?” … “What do you think – do you think I walked?” … “No, madam, I think you took an airplane!” … “Yes, you’re right, but I actually took three plans.” … “Ach, madam, it’s too many! How many days did you take?” I gave them the condensed version of how I got to Lesotho from Minnesota. Then they wanted to know what I did before I came. When I told them I was a student not so long ago, they asked how many babies I had (by far one of the funniest questions I get). I said, “No babies! I’m too young for babies!” which of course leads to the question about a husband: “Nope, no husband either.” “Ah, but madam, how old are you?!” I like this question too, and my response is always the same: “How old do you think I am?” Their guesses are funny; today’s were especially so. “18!” Nope. “30!” Not quite. “20!” Closer… Finally a student from last year chipped in and they came to 23. Then came a lot of mumbling in Sesotho and I imagine they were thinking of their closest relative who is nearly my age, trying to set us up. It has happened before.
There are a couple boys who are especially characters. Last week when I overheard them speaking in Sesotho (strictly forbidden, especially in the classroom where the language of instruction is English). I asked them, “Gentlemen, why are you using Sesotho? What would Ntate Kolobe think?” They looked up at me and, without missing a beat, one of them responded, “No, madam, it is Afrikaans!” I had to give him credit for that one.

I’m really enjoying having fewer classes this year. I feel like I’m much better able to get to know students and work with the students (and teachers) in other ways. I’ve been able to sit in on Form E math and English lessons so far, and hope to observe more classes as the year progresses. Math class was especially helpful because I got to see firsthand what students are struggling with, even in Form E. Later in the year, I’m really hoping to help lead some study sessions, or just act as a tutor for them. The exams they’ll write in October are pretty challenging, and it really is hard to completely cover a syllabus in one year.
I was helping some students with math problems last weekend. They’d brought in several probability problems and after we’d exhausted those, they pulled out some old exams. There were some questions that I had to think about for a little bit before I could jump in and help them; the key to the proof wasn’t immediately apparent. I followed my intuition and eventually we came to the solution. They were SO impressed. “Ah, madam, you need to be teaching Form D and E, not just A and B!” I cannot even express how good that made me feel. It also made me wonder if they think I don’t know mathematics as well as the other teachers who teach it at higher levels. In any case, I cherish that compliment.

Plans for April are firming up – it’s less than 2 months until departure for Cape Town and the Two Oceans (Half) Marathon! – we have a place to stay in CT as well as a pair of cars rented for the appropriate dates. I need to keep my training up, which shouldn’t be too much of an issue, as long as the rain is reasonable. It’s been raining off and on at night, but thankfully nothing quite as intense as 3 straight days of rain. Sunday was my first long run around home. From the junction with the tar road, I went a ways to a T in the road, then turned around and ran back to school. It was 70 minutes (probably about 8 miles) and I honestly felt great, even though it was the heat of the day (I gobbed on the sunscreen though, so thankfully my face is still on).
Other things to look forward to include: Athletics Day (aka Track and Field Day), next Friday. March 11th is Moshoeshoe’s (moh-SHWAY-shway) Day and rumor has it the teachers might be taking a trip up north to one of the parks. Nothing has been verified but that doesn’t mean it can’t be thrown together in the last minute. Even if we don’t take a trip, I’m sure something fun will come up; after all, it’s a long weekend!

Time now to type up a couple physics exams (so they can be copied tomorrow) and then sleep. Since I was on duty last week, I got used to waking up shortly after 6… a habit that has stuck around well into this week. Anyone who knows me even a little is likely well aware that I love my sleep, and if I don’t get enough, well, it’s not pretty. I’m worried that if I take a nap I won’t sleep at night, so I don’t nap. I just try to sleep earlier and earlier each night, but of course that doesn’t work. After athletics practice, we usually play some soccer. Then cooking, cleaning, classwork… early bed just doesn’t work. Ok, enough complaining. Hope this finds you all healthy and happy in life. I’m thrilled people still enjoy hearing about my remote little life in Lesotho, so thank you for reading.
Love from Africa,
-Katie

iBook#2

Hello from a new (slightly used) computer!
My old iBook finally pooped out. It was close to 6 years old, and after battling the battery every time I wanted to use it without a consistent power source, the display finally stopped... well, it stopped displaying. Thankfully, I have an amazing stepfather, who found a gently-used computer, basically the same as my other one. It doesn't have everything my other one had (yet), but thankfully I managed to back up most of my music and photos on a big external harddrive, so all I need is software. No big deal! The battery on this puppy lasts quite a while, so I can hopefully update this blog more frequently.
We're now in the 5th (I think) week of school. I'm teaching only 14 credits (last year I had 20). I'm teaching Physics to Forms A and B, just like last year, and this year I have half of the Form B Math, B1 only. I like having only one math class - it means we move at their pace without worrying about the other class getting too far ahead or behind. I believe the other teacher is actually ahead of us, but I'm not too concerned yet. It has been quite a blessing to have so few. I've been able to start on some projects in the extra time.
First, I've begun repainting the murals that were done several years ago by the first volunteer at Sekameng. I have 5 liters of paint and I'll have to get more soon, there are several big walls that need to be re-done. I just hope I can do them justice - the murals are stunning! Then there's the school gym that my counterpart and I are working on. The first step was finding a good room to host the gym. Our two options were: a room that is so full of broken desks and doors that it's impossible to enter, and a room that filthy dirty and partly full of the school's old typewriters (they apparently used to offer typewriting as a subject!) ... with help from some of the senior students, we managed to clean out the typewriters and load them (on two different occasions) into the back of the school's truck. My principal then took them to a dump in Maseru somewhere... I don't even want to think about how much of a hassle that must have been, but the important thing is the room is empty! The next steps: finding a way to lock the room, collect containers, buy cement and start playing around, constructing barbells and equipment! If you have any suggestions for creating your own gym equipment, please let me know! Finally, we started a math problem-solving competition last week. Several teachers and I will meet with any interested students each week to give them several problems to try to solve. Last week it was 3; that seemed to be a good number. Each problem is worth one point, and then the student at the end of the quarter with the most points will win some sort of prize (to be determined - again, any suggestions?). It was pretty funny last week watching their faces as they struggled to solve the problems. Most got none correct, and only a handful scored one point - some by luck! I think I'll go for easier problems this week, haha.
The school is still selling eggs. I've still not implemented the br-egg-fast program, but as more and more students are asking to go to the village shop to buy breakfast, I'm becoming more and more convinced that we should. Unfortunately right now the (raw) eggs are in high enough demand that I feel bad buying them and boiling them. I think I'll wait a little while, until there are actually trays to spare.
The external exam results from 2010 for Sekameng were pretty good. We had a few students earn first class (a big deal for the school!) and overall, they scored very well. It helps the teachers because it means we can tell the students to work harder if they want to score well on their exams. In fact I threatened my students to get serious just this morning. The results also brought news for our librarian; he scored well enough on math (the only subject he was rewriting) to apply to (and most likely attend) Accounting School next semester... so we lose Rethabile in June. This year, he has been wonderful. The other day, he asked me to help him teach the new students about the library. He brought small groups of the Form A students in and asked them (very teacher-like) questions about how to use the library, or why someone might come to the library. He explained to them (in good English) how it works and encouraged them to come explore. I was thrilled! We are really going to miss him, but he needs to start the next chapter in his life. He'll do well wherever he is; he works harder than most of the other teachers and is a fantastic role model for the other students. Last weekend I realized the school he'll be attending in Maseru is right across the street from the office, so hopefully if I do need to go to town, we can at least meet up!

The weather continues to be hot, though thankfully not quite as hot (or humid!) as Mozambique was. We've been getting rain fairly regularly, which helps cool things down, but makes running quite a feat. If there is too much rain, the school becomes a swamp and the village a giant mudhole. I'm told it'll start cooling down in mid to late March. I started my countdown. My garden is doing alright except for the fact that it's sort of under a peach tree. This peach tree has produced only a few (nasty looking) hard rocks of peaches... but that seems to be exactly what the students like. So they're jumping around in my garden, crushing my peas, beans, basil, cucumbers, trying to get these disgusting excuses for peaches. I've tried to warn them to stay out (and I'm sure they make fun of me for it behind my back), but they always manage to stomp on something. I have managed to make several batches of pesto. The first was too big for me to eat before it started smelling not so like pesto, so I baked it into bread. The second was a birthday gift for my friend whose basil was apparently eaten by neighboring cows. Ha.

This past weekend, I went up north with several friends to do a massive training run for the half-marathon in April. Two of them are registered for the ultra (something like 34 miles), but the other two of us (Adam and I) are only doing the half. Thank goodness. The ultra runners started at one volunteer's house and ran to meet the other two of us partway between, and then go back to Adam's. They left around 8am. We left around 9am. We ran to the pre-determined meeting point and ended up waiting several hours. I think we finally met up with them close to noon, and were home by 1:30. The route from Adam's was mostly an enormous downhill... so returning was uphill. Needless to say I didn't run much of it... walking suited me just fine. My best guess is that I ran between 9-12 miles, and the crazy two think they put in closer to 20-24 but nobody knows for sure... we haven't quite made it to map-my-run yet. We were all pretty tired (and dehydrated) afterwards. I managed to get sunburned (African sun and all...). Yesterday my forehead was peeling and it freaked my students out pretty bad. "Madam, your face is coming off!" I had to explain that no, it was not "coming off," I just got sunburned and this was natural. I'm not sure they were convinced. Now it's my upper back... thankfully that's easier to cover up with a t-shirt. My legs were pretty sore for a while (I haven't done a long run like that in ages!) but yesterday and this morning I ran and felt pretty good. I think I'm in decent shape for this point in my training, which is reassuring.

I've gotten some emails or facebook messages asking about Cairo... unfortunately Egypt is no longer in the travel plans, even though it might be safe by the time June rolls around. Thankfully, we never actually bought those tickets (though I was concerned about how much the price was going to go up after Christmas - it ended up being for the best). We decided instead to just travel around South Africa (hopefully Cape Town/wine region, Kruger/safari!) and Lesotho (my site and Malealea for the waterfall and hiking). Let's hope nothing too drastic happens in South Africa and we're still allowed to travel there!
I think that's a fairly accurate update of my life right now... I'm just waiting for a software update and my battery to charge... I hope all is well at home. Sending all my love from Africa,
-Katie