Friday, October 31, 2003
FRIDAY October 31
We were told that the rainy season begins in November. Maybe so, but it is only October 31, and still this morning I woke up to a pounding rain. The dusty paths I walk to get to the Training Center are muddy streams today. With the rain, the sky was full of thousands of strange bugs with long double wings rather like dragonflies. They fly rather slowly, so that the sky seemed crowded with butterflies. On the ground there were lots of little crawling things driven out of the ground by the water - and several very happy, fat frogs, so full that they could hardly hop any longer.
Of course I haven't gotten around to replacing the lightweight folding umbrella I misplaced several weeks ago. I am happy to report, though, that the camping gear I brought with me - quick-dry socks, pants and T-shirt - do a pretty good job of performing as claimed. I'm also glad I brought a good pair of hiking boots so I don't need to change pace or direction to negotiate muddy puddles.
At the moment, I am sitting in class listening to a local School Headmaster talk about official school inspections and going over all the forms that are supposed to be kept: Schemes of work, lesson plans, subject log books, attendance registers and how to fill them out admission registers, etc etc. Important subject, I guess, but boring boring boring. Somehow, I think I can figure out what needs to be done at the time it is needed. It seems most of the people around are reading novels, studying Kiswahili or writing letters. As a group, we have become much more independent and self-directed by now, feeling that we have been through the guts of the training, and anxious to get on-site next week to see how our next two years will shape up.
WEDNESDAY October 29
Not every day begins as a joyful occasion. I spent a lot of last night studying for our big final test today in Kiswahili. But my family chose to play the boom box all night last night, and it was tough going. I woke up this morning in a bad mood, heightened by a headache, only to find that there was no clean water to splash on my face or brush my teeth. Fortunately I had enough left in my canteen. I was a little earlier than usual, and there was no breakfast. I took my malaria medicine anyway, even though it is supposed to be taken with food, grabbed a carrot out of the refrigerator and headed off to the Training Center, where I snapped grumpily at some people who dared to say to me in Swahili, and then promptly went to the choo and threw up.
Things could only go up after a start like that, and so they did. The Kiswahili test was a disaster, but it will be what it is, and I'm sure they won't send me home for having fluffed their language test. But the afternoon was exciting, as we had a big meeting where we all found out where we will be living and working for the next two years. Afterwards we adjourned to the AICC Club for beer and jubilant comparison of our locations and discovery of who will be near each of us.
I will be teaching O-level Chemistry, which is the equivalent of Grades 9-11 in the USA, at Nsumba Secondary School with is 850 students. Ryan, a good friend who taught at Arusha-Meru with me, will be nearby. My location is near Mwanza, the second largest city in Tanzania located on the shore of Lake Victoria. L. Victoria is the largest lake in Africa, and another volunteer has been placed on an island in the lake, near Mwanza. They claim that I will have a large house, and in Mwanza will have e-mail, pizza, ice cream, a casino, and more. This does not sound like a hardship position.
I will spend next week in Mwanza visiting classes, meeting people, and checking the place out. I can't wait!
SUNDAY October 26
Last night we had a party at one of our instructor's homes. It was a toga-ween party. A celebration of having been here for 6 weeks now, combined with a halloween costume party. Actually, it had a lot of the marks of a college beer bash, and there was more than one expression of appreciation to the US Taxpayers for having sacrificed to bring us to this occasion. The costumes included a great giraffe, bubblegum - this was a guy wrapped in our PC-issued shocking pick bedsheets with a shoe stuck on his head - a nature boy clothed in a loin cloth, plenty of cross-dressers, and a priest. That last one was me, and I was glad to take confessions and dispense indulgences throughout the night. I also wore a fez, in recognition of our cross-cultural emphasis.
SATURDAY October 25
Wonders do occur. Our "safari company" finally did come through with a substantial refund for us. We recovered about 1/3 of the original payment to him. It was very welcome to see this money coming back to us, and especially to pick up my part of it.
There seems to be a different attitude among the group of volunteers now. We have completed our practice teaching, our internship. We feel like a part of the organization now, no longer raw trainees. There is more banter in our meetings, a more relaxed atmosphere. A few words of Swahili get interposed now and then, and some of us even understand the Swahili. Not me of course, at least not yet, but ....
We were told that the rainy season begins in November. Maybe so, but it is only October 31, and still this morning I woke up to a pounding rain. The dusty paths I walk to get to the Training Center are muddy streams today. With the rain, the sky was full of thousands of strange bugs with long double wings rather like dragonflies. They fly rather slowly, so that the sky seemed crowded with butterflies. On the ground there were lots of little crawling things driven out of the ground by the water - and several very happy, fat frogs, so full that they could hardly hop any longer.
Of course I haven't gotten around to replacing the lightweight folding umbrella I misplaced several weeks ago. I am happy to report, though, that the camping gear I brought with me - quick-dry socks, pants and T-shirt - do a pretty good job of performing as claimed. I'm also glad I brought a good pair of hiking boots so I don't need to change pace or direction to negotiate muddy puddles.
At the moment, I am sitting in class listening to a local School Headmaster talk about official school inspections and going over all the forms that are supposed to be kept: Schemes of work, lesson plans, subject log books, attendance registers and how to fill them out admission registers, etc etc. Important subject, I guess, but boring boring boring. Somehow, I think I can figure out what needs to be done at the time it is needed. It seems most of the people around are reading novels, studying Kiswahili or writing letters. As a group, we have become much more independent and self-directed by now, feeling that we have been through the guts of the training, and anxious to get on-site next week to see how our next two years will shape up.
WEDNESDAY October 29
Not every day begins as a joyful occasion. I spent a lot of last night studying for our big final test today in Kiswahili. But my family chose to play the boom box all night last night, and it was tough going. I woke up this morning in a bad mood, heightened by a headache, only to find that there was no clean water to splash on my face or brush my teeth. Fortunately I had enough left in my canteen. I was a little earlier than usual, and there was no breakfast. I took my malaria medicine anyway, even though it is supposed to be taken with food, grabbed a carrot out of the refrigerator and headed off to the Training Center, where I snapped grumpily at some people who dared to say
Things could only go up after a start like that, and so they did. The Kiswahili test was a disaster, but it will be what it is, and I'm sure they won't send me home for having fluffed their language test. But the afternoon was exciting, as we had a big meeting where we all found out where we will be living and working for the next two years. Afterwards we adjourned to the AICC Club for beer and jubilant comparison of our locations and discovery of who will be near each of us.
I will be teaching O-level Chemistry, which is the equivalent of Grades 9-11 in the USA, at Nsumba Secondary School with is 850 students. Ryan, a good friend who taught at Arusha-Meru with me, will be nearby. My location is near Mwanza, the second largest city in Tanzania located on the shore of Lake Victoria. L. Victoria is the largest lake in Africa, and another volunteer has been placed on an island in the lake, near Mwanza. They claim that I will have a large house, and in Mwanza will have e-mail, pizza, ice cream, a casino, and more. This does not sound like a hardship position.
I will spend next week in Mwanza visiting classes, meeting people, and checking the place out. I can't wait!
SUNDAY October 26
Last night we had a party at one of our instructor's homes. It was a toga-ween party. A celebration of having been here for 6 weeks now, combined with a halloween costume party. Actually, it had a lot of the marks of a college beer bash, and there was more than one expression of appreciation to the US Taxpayers for having sacrificed to bring us to this occasion. The costumes included a great giraffe, bubblegum - this was a guy wrapped in our PC-issued shocking pick bedsheets with a shoe stuck on his head - a nature boy clothed in a loin cloth, plenty of cross-dressers, and a priest. That last one was me, and I was glad to take confessions and dispense indulgences throughout the night. I also wore a fez, in recognition of our cross-cultural emphasis.
SATURDAY October 25
Wonders do occur. Our "safari company" finally did come through with a substantial refund for us. We recovered about 1/3 of the original payment to him. It was very welcome to see this money coming back to us, and especially to pick up my part of it.
There seems to be a different attitude among the group of volunteers now. We have completed our practice teaching, our internship. We feel like a part of the organization now, no longer raw trainees. There is more banter in our meetings, a more relaxed atmosphere. A few words of Swahili get interposed now and then, and some of us even understand the Swahili. Not me of course, at least not yet, but ....
Friday, October 24, 2003
THURSDAY October 23:
Today there is more scuttlebut concerning our disastrous safari company. It seems that Sammy, the man we contracted with, had misrepresented himself by using the stationery of the company he worked for without authorization. Moreover, at least three of our Land Rovers had been "borrowed" for the weekend without payment or the knowledge and consent of their owners. But the topper is that it appears that Sammy took half of our original payment and "invested" it in Tanzanite that he intended send to friends in the US for resale. The upshot is that we are all supposed to receive a refund of some sort. But I will believe that when I see the Tschilingi in the palm of my hand.
We are now in the sixth week of the Peace Corps training program, here in Arusha. Today was my final day of teaching at Arush-Meru Secondaria, so I devoted the class time to a general discussion of America, my background, what chemists do, etc. The class seemed to appreciate this opportunity - of course the discussion included the inevitable question: Can you help me get to the US to study there? By now most of us are tired of trying to learn the intricacies of Kiswahili, and of living in cramped quarters with our Tanzanian hosts. Next week we will hear where we have been assigned, and everyone is getting anxious about their location. The rumor mill is running full speed. I have been told that I will NOT be on one of the islands - Zanzibar or Pemba - for which I am glad, and that I will be about 4-6 miles from some sort of internet cafe. Now, if I also end up with a good bicycle, I will be one happy camper!
MONDAY October 20:
Well, this past weekend was our BIG SAFARI! Some 55 of us, loaded into 4-wheel drive jeeps, mostly Land Rovers with removable tops, headed out to two big national parks, Tarangire and the Ngorongoro Crater. Tarangire has lots of trees, especially the flat-topped acacia and the incredible thick-trunked beobab, and brush. Great for giraffe and elephant, dikdik and antelope, baboons and monkeys. Of course we were all standing on top of the seats or sitting on the top of our Land Rovers, gaping and photographing all this incredible life.
Ngorongoro is a huge caldera - an bowl some 15km in diameter with a very steep, high rim formed by the final collapse of a dead volcano. Inside the rim it is largely flat grassland with very few trees but numerous water holes and a big, shallow lake for flamingos and all kinds of geese, ducks and heron. But the animal life was just amazing. Everywhere you looked, delicate and beautiful Thompson and Grant gizelles, lots of zebras, wildebeests, elephants, ostrich, hartebeests, and the crazy warthogs that have to kneel on their knees to graze. And also the animals that prey on them, the jackels, hyena, even a pair of languid lions. At a large waterhole there was a huge old bull elephant who came up quite close to us while eating away at the clover or watercress or whatever it was. A little farther away a whole group of hippos were lying mostly submerged, occasionally rolling over in the water. Later we saw wild buffalo and a rhino off in the distance - quite rare because of the poaching to obtain thier horn with its supposed sexual properties.
Of course, it was a total African experience. We had contracted, it turns out, with a "safari company" that had given us a tremendous deal. But the reason was that they had never run a safari before, and so had miscalculated their prices, and their plans were haphazard at best. We left late of course, this IS Africa. At Tarengire we had to negotiate and argue for hours because the company had not realized that the entry fee couldn't be paid with travelers checks made out to the company not Tarangire. Some of our crew bolted at that point and fled back to Arusha. The rest of us stuck it out and had a fabulous time, but when we got to Ngorongoro that night, the delay had put us past the closing time of the park. Tents and dinner were waiting for us inside the park, but we couldn't get in and had no reservations for other accomodations. By now our trucks were split up in several locations and cell phone batteries were going dead, so it took hours and hours to sort all this out. Some people ended up sleeping in dormatory type quarters, a few slept on top of the trucks. The driver of our truck found two rooms for the 5 of us for $8, total. The married couple slept on one of the beds, the two girls on the other, and I slept on the floor since I had my air mattress with me.
So the whole thing set us back financially a bit more than we had anticipated, and there was a lot of angst and rethinking of plans throughout the trip. We never did get to camp out on the rim of the crater. But it was truly memorable, and just one more lesson that in Africa things tend to develop according to their own script, and that the best course of action is to simply roll with the punches, laugh, and when there is nothing else to do, sing some camp songs. My photos are great, the memory spectacular, and the experience unforgettable!
Today there is more scuttlebut concerning our disastrous safari company. It seems that Sammy, the man we contracted with, had misrepresented himself by using the stationery of the company he worked for without authorization. Moreover, at least three of our Land Rovers had been "borrowed" for the weekend without payment or the knowledge and consent of their owners. But the topper is that it appears that Sammy took half of our original payment and "invested" it in Tanzanite that he intended send to friends in the US for resale. The upshot is that we are all supposed to receive a refund of some sort. But I will believe that when I see the Tschilingi in the palm of my hand.
We are now in the sixth week of the Peace Corps training program, here in Arusha. Today was my final day of teaching at Arush-Meru Secondaria, so I devoted the class time to a general discussion of America, my background, what chemists do, etc. The class seemed to appreciate this opportunity - of course the discussion included the inevitable question: Can you help me get to the US to study there? By now most of us are tired of trying to learn the intricacies of Kiswahili, and of living in cramped quarters with our Tanzanian hosts. Next week we will hear where we have been assigned, and everyone is getting anxious about their location. The rumor mill is running full speed. I have been told that I will NOT be on one of the islands - Zanzibar or Pemba - for which I am glad, and that I will be about 4-6 miles from some sort of internet cafe. Now, if I also end up with a good bicycle, I will be one happy camper!
MONDAY October 20:
Well, this past weekend was our BIG SAFARI! Some 55 of us, loaded into 4-wheel drive jeeps, mostly Land Rovers with removable tops, headed out to two big national parks, Tarangire and the Ngorongoro Crater. Tarangire has lots of trees, especially the flat-topped acacia and the incredible thick-trunked beobab, and brush. Great for giraffe and elephant, dikdik and antelope, baboons and monkeys. Of course we were all standing on top of the seats or sitting on the top of our Land Rovers, gaping and photographing all this incredible life.
Ngorongoro is a huge caldera - an bowl some 15km in diameter with a very steep, high rim formed by the final collapse of a dead volcano. Inside the rim it is largely flat grassland with very few trees but numerous water holes and a big, shallow lake for flamingos and all kinds of geese, ducks and heron. But the animal life was just amazing. Everywhere you looked, delicate and beautiful Thompson and Grant gizelles, lots of zebras, wildebeests, elephants, ostrich, hartebeests, and the crazy warthogs that have to kneel on their knees to graze. And also the animals that prey on them, the jackels, hyena, even a pair of languid lions. At a large waterhole there was a huge old bull elephant who came up quite close to us while eating away at the clover or watercress or whatever it was. A little farther away a whole group of hippos were lying mostly submerged, occasionally rolling over in the water. Later we saw wild buffalo and a rhino off in the distance - quite rare because of the poaching to obtain thier horn with its supposed sexual properties.
Of course, it was a total African experience. We had contracted, it turns out, with a "safari company" that had given us a tremendous deal. But the reason was that they had never run a safari before, and so had miscalculated their prices, and their plans were haphazard at best. We left late of course, this IS Africa. At Tarengire we had to negotiate and argue for hours because the company had not realized that the entry fee couldn't be paid with travelers checks made out to the company not Tarangire. Some of our crew bolted at that point and fled back to Arusha. The rest of us stuck it out and had a fabulous time, but when we got to Ngorongoro that night, the delay had put us past the closing time of the park. Tents and dinner were waiting for us inside the park, but we couldn't get in and had no reservations for other accomodations. By now our trucks were split up in several locations and cell phone batteries were going dead, so it took hours and hours to sort all this out. Some people ended up sleeping in dormatory type quarters, a few slept on top of the trucks. The driver of our truck found two rooms for the 5 of us for $8, total. The married couple slept on one of the beds, the two girls on the other, and I slept on the floor since I had my air mattress with me.
So the whole thing set us back financially a bit more than we had anticipated, and there was a lot of angst and rethinking of plans throughout the trip. We never did get to camp out on the rim of the crater. But it was truly memorable, and just one more lesson that in Africa things tend to develop according to their own script, and that the best course of action is to simply roll with the punches, laugh, and when there is nothing else to do, sing some camp songs. My photos are great, the memory spectacular, and the experience unforgettable!
Thursday, October 16, 2003
Every morning now, as I walk through the big field on the way to Arusha-Meru Secondaria Shuleni, I am met by my fan club of little boys. They come running as soon as they see me, shouting MR LEE, MR NICE, MR LEE. Then I am in a swirl of laughing faces and shaking hands as we tug and pull each other. Yesterday some of them did cartwheels when they saw me, and I told them I would have my camera with me today and they would have to do cartwheels again for me. I wish I could post pictures to this site -- they not only did cartwheels this morning, but triple backflips, somersaults and stood on each other's shoulders! Whatever my morning mood - and it is NOT always the greatest - I feel WONDERFUL after this spontaneous welcome !!
Late this morning, two of "my" boys saw me walking along the street. They gave me a big greeting and then followed me for several blocks. I felt a little like the Pied Piper.
Late this morning, two of "my" boys saw me walking along the street. They gave me a big greeting and then followed me for several blocks. I felt a little like the Pied Piper.
Monday, October 13, 2003
Paper is a scarce commodity in Tanzania. The school children all have their Daftari (notebook) in which they scrupulously copy everything the teacher writes on the blackboard. They HAVE to, because that is the only textbook they have! But they have no other tablets or paper. Newspapers are on thin paper, and scarce. Paper in most places with public toilets is strictly BYO. But when I bought karanga (peanuts) from a sidewalk vendor, my 50 cents worth was ladled out from a dixie cup into a very carefully folded and twisted paper cone. After I ate the peanuts - very good, too - I enjoyed unfolding the cone to read page 750 of The British National Bibliography, between the peanut oil spots.
This past weekend I visited the shamba (farm) of one of my Tanzanian teacher colleagues nea Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was WAY out in the country, and we walked along dirt roads and small paths for some 20 km - I am a bit stiff today. Michael Kombe especially wanted me to see how poor the farms are since the collapse of the coffee trade. Coffee was the major crop, but for the past 4 years it has not even been worth picking the crop, and the plants have all gone to ruin. We passed what had been a major cooperative processing plant that is now all rust and weeds. The farmers are trying to substitute corn, but there is not enough water. It really is a major problem in this corner of the world.
This past weekend I visited the shamba (farm) of one of my Tanzanian teacher colleagues nea Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was WAY out in the country, and we walked along dirt roads and small paths for some 20 km - I am a bit stiff today. Michael Kombe especially wanted me to see how poor the farms are since the collapse of the coffee trade. Coffee was the major crop, but for the past 4 years it has not even been worth picking the crop, and the plants have all gone to ruin. We passed what had been a major cooperative processing plant that is now all rust and weeds. The farmers are trying to substitute corn, but there is not enough water. It really is a major problem in this corner of the world.
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
WEDNESDAY Oct 8
Whenever I am walking across the field by the carnival on my way to or from school, there are a lot of color-coded children who are also crossing the field. The green sweaters are headed to Arusha Day School, red sweaters to Arush Secondaria, and the gray sweaters to my Arusha-Meru Secondaria. Many of them try out their English: Good Morning or How Are You. They use Good Morning regardless of the time of day, and in the evening, since I AM to be a teacher here, I will correct them: Morning ni ASABUHI, na JIONI ni EVENING. At this they look surprised, then run off together, giggling about their adventure with the big Mzungu.
I taught my second double class today, and was a bit disappointed. I had given too much simple homework, so the time it took to review it wasn't worth the effort and kept me from getting into the material I really wanted to cover. But I guess that is part of learning, and I'm glad we have three weeks to practice teach this way.
Whenever I am walking across the field by the carnival on my way to or from school, there are a lot of color-coded children who are also crossing the field. The green sweaters are headed to Arusha Day School, red sweaters to Arush Secondaria, and the gray sweaters to my Arusha-Meru Secondaria. Many of them try out their English: Good Morning or How Are You. They use Good Morning regardless of the time of day, and in the evening, since I AM to be a teacher here, I will correct them: Morning ni ASABUHI, na JIONI ni EVENING. At this they look surprised, then run off together, giggling about their adventure with the big Mzungu.
I taught my second double class today, and was a bit disappointed. I had given too much simple homework, so the time it took to review it wasn't worth the effort and kept me from getting into the material I really wanted to cover. But I guess that is part of learning, and I'm glad we have three weeks to practice teach this way.
Sunday, October 05, 2003
SUNDAY, October 5
Last night I got home just in time for dinner, and my Mama here informed me that "We are going to a Going Away at the Police Officers Mess". Now the Police Officer's Mess is a nice bar where I enjoy a beer now and then, but a Going Away? No, it wasn't a bon voyage thing, but I didn't know much else about it. Mama was dressed to the nines, so I thought I'd better at least change out of my hiking boots.
The Going Away turned out to be a wedding reception, and was a fabulous event. The P.O.Mess was all decorated in red and white, with balloons every place you could put them. We sat in chairs set up like a meeting, with the wedding party facing us on a dias. A brass band straight out of New Orleans led in the wedding party and some informal dancing. Next the wedding party and then all the rest of us were treated to a huge buffet. LOTS of food, all eaten without silverware, and DEFINITELY using the RIGHT HAND ONLY. It is a Tanzanian thing, and taken very seriously.
Afterwards, much more dancing to the brass band, who mingled and danced along with the dancers. If I had been dropped into the event I would have sworn I was in New Orleans, except that there wasn't any alcohol - only soda. Very energetic music and dancing, alternating between conga lines and freestyle disco. Blessedly, no chicken dance or electric slide. I was the only mzugu (white guy) there, which didn't seem to be any kind of issue at all, and certainly didn't keep me from dancing along with everybody else. All this continued until after midnight, when the last batches of people were herded into Land Rovers and driven home.
Last night I got home just in time for dinner, and my Mama here informed me that "We are going to a Going Away at the Police Officers Mess". Now the Police Officer's Mess is a nice bar where I enjoy a beer now and then, but a Going Away? No, it wasn't a bon voyage thing, but I didn't know much else about it. Mama was dressed to the nines, so I thought I'd better at least change out of my hiking boots.
The Going Away turned out to be a wedding reception, and was a fabulous event. The P.O.Mess was all decorated in red and white, with balloons every place you could put them. We sat in chairs set up like a meeting, with the wedding party facing us on a dias. A brass band straight out of New Orleans led in the wedding party and some informal dancing. Next the wedding party and then all the rest of us were treated to a huge buffet. LOTS of food, all eaten without silverware, and DEFINITELY using the RIGHT HAND ONLY. It is a Tanzanian thing, and taken very seriously.
Afterwards, much more dancing to the brass band, who mingled and danced along with the dancers. If I had been dropped into the event I would have sworn I was in New Orleans, except that there wasn't any alcohol - only soda. Very energetic music and dancing, alternating between conga lines and freestyle disco. Blessedly, no chicken dance or electric slide. I was the only mzugu (white guy) there, which didn't seem to be any kind of issue at all, and certainly didn't keep me from dancing along with everybody else. All this continued until after midnight, when the last batches of people were herded into Land Rovers and driven home.
Friday, October 03, 2003
Today (Friday) was our second and last day of observing how classes are taught at Arusha-Meru. Monday I teach a double period, then teach double periods again on Wednesday and Thursday. So, 6 x 40 minute periods each of the next three weeks. I am teaching the top level, Form 6, that is somewhere between our high school senior and a college freshman.
The school is basic. Some classrooms have long tables and chairs, others have desks. There is a large blackboard in front of each classroom and a big posterboard in the back. Not much else - no posters, drawings, no poster of the Periodic Table in the chemistry class, etc. There is a special toilet for the teachers and staff - it is kept locked - but there is no running water in the school, and toilet paper is BYO. I'm glad you suggested those travel pads.
There are no textbooks for the students. Anything the teacher thinks they should have in written form is placed on the blackboard for the students to copy into their notebooks. It takes up a lot of time. From my observation, some teachers seek and get lots of class participation, but others just drone on in front of the class. They do not slack off on the material, though. They kids all face National Examinations that are quite rigorous.
A bunch of us Peace Corps volunteers went to the MezzaLuna last night - Arusha's version of an Italian restaurant. It wasn't, and it was pricy for PC budgets but the change of pace was very welcome. They had a live band and pretty much all of us danced and jumped around for awhile.
Some prices here are really cheap. A good meal costs $5-6, a beer ranges from 60 cents up to a dollar for a half liter depending how fancy the place is, and soda costs a quarter. Of course it all sounds expensive since there are 1000 Tanzanian schillings to the dollar.
The school is basic. Some classrooms have long tables and chairs, others have desks. There is a large blackboard in front of each classroom and a big posterboard in the back. Not much else - no posters, drawings, no poster of the Periodic Table in the chemistry class, etc. There is a special toilet for the teachers and staff - it is kept locked - but there is no running water in the school, and toilet paper is BYO. I'm glad you suggested those travel pads.
There are no textbooks for the students. Anything the teacher thinks they should have in written form is placed on the blackboard for the students to copy into their notebooks. It takes up a lot of time. From my observation, some teachers seek and get lots of class participation, but others just drone on in front of the class. They do not slack off on the material, though. They kids all face National Examinations that are quite rigorous.
A bunch of us Peace Corps volunteers went to the MezzaLuna last night - Arusha's version of an Italian restaurant. It wasn't, and it was pricy for PC budgets but the change of pace was very welcome. They had a live band and pretty much all of us danced and jumped around for awhile.
Some prices here are really cheap. A good meal costs $5-6, a beer ranges from 60 cents up to a dollar for a half liter depending how fancy the place is, and soda costs a quarter. Of course it all sounds expensive since there are 1000 Tanzanian schillings to the dollar.
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
WEDNESDAY: 1 October
Last evening I was hurrying home from the internet cafe at dusk along Sokioni Road. Dusk is a very brief period near the equator and I wanted to get home before dark. But there was a smile on my face, just from the improbability of this place, with its stark contrasts. The road was full of local people: women in their beautiful konga wraps with the puffy shoulders, others wearing robes with muslim head coverings, the men mostly in western dress, but some in suits and others very tattered, boys in dirty T-shirts or neat green school sweaters.
Occasional greetings came my way, as usual. Hujambo/sijambo, mambo/safi, and habari/mzuri from vendors and friendly or curious people; then too, the schoolboys trying out their English with a Hello or Good Morning. In all this diversity, a Maasai man, tall and thin, came toward me in typical red and black checked cloak with a staff in his hand. I think he was barefoot, but maybe wearing flip-flops. He had the full necklace and large earrings, bracelets, and silver jewelry in his hair. I stared at him a little longer than is polite as he approached, and he just blew me away with his clearly enunciated Good Evening Sir, How Are You? In this place, precious contrasts like this happen all the time.
We are rapidly approaching our school internships now. This Thursday and Friday I will be observing classrooms, and will begin practice teaching next week - ready or not! The idea of facing a classroom full of very black faces with bright eyes, all wearing identical green sweaters and white shirts is, shall we say, quite daunting. But, if my other 65 compatriots can handle this, I guess I can too.
Last evening I was hurrying home from the internet cafe at dusk along Sokioni Road. Dusk is a very brief period near the equator and I wanted to get home before dark. But there was a smile on my face, just from the improbability of this place, with its stark contrasts. The road was full of local people: women in their beautiful konga wraps with the puffy shoulders, others wearing robes with muslim head coverings, the men mostly in western dress, but some in suits and others very tattered, boys in dirty T-shirts or neat green school sweaters.
Occasional greetings came my way, as usual. Hujambo/sijambo, mambo/safi, and habari/mzuri from vendors and friendly or curious people; then too, the schoolboys trying out their English with a Hello or Good Morning. In all this diversity, a Maasai man, tall and thin, came toward me in typical red and black checked cloak with a staff in his hand. I think he was barefoot, but maybe wearing flip-flops. He had the full necklace and large earrings, bracelets, and silver jewelry in his hair. I stared at him a little longer than is polite as he approached, and he just blew me away with his clearly enunciated Good Evening Sir, How Are You? In this place, precious contrasts like this happen all the time.
We are rapidly approaching our school internships now. This Thursday and Friday I will be observing classrooms, and will begin practice teaching next week - ready or not! The idea of facing a classroom full of very black faces with bright eyes, all wearing identical green sweaters and white shirts is, shall we say, quite daunting. But, if my other 65 compatriots can handle this, I guess I can too.
