Thursday, August 25, 2005
Hodie is back, but everything does not seem to be OK with her. I had left instructions with Hasan to feed her, let her out during the day and put her in the house at night, where she has a pad to sleep. The problem is that still, after two years, I can’t really communicate with Hasan and the Tanzanian idea of dogs is that they are OK so long as they stay away and take care of themselves. I don’t think that was happening.
When we all arrived here in mid-August, Hodie was here, bouncy and playful. But when I got back here from Dar, she was nowhere to be seen. Hasan said that a woman at the University across the street was taking care of her. I talked to her on Tuesday and she said she would bring Hodie from her house the next day (yesterday). I was on the way to see her yesterday when Hodie came trotting by. She is a thin dog anyway, but she did not look good – much thinner than before and her ribs were showing. She was more interested in scavenging the ground for scraps of food than greeting me. But it is good to have her back, and now I know that I must make much better arrangements for her when I leave for more than a day or so. She is eating well, so she should be back in good form before long.
Yesterday some 29 or 39, I’m not sure, students who were identified by the police were to face a judge, downtown. Adam was going to attend the hearing and intended to come over last night to tell me about it, but he didn’t. I should hear details in the Staff Room today, though. But my neighbor told me yesterday that he does not like the idea of teaching these students again. According to him, they were on the way to get some of the teachers when they were stopped by the police. If true, that is nastier than I heard earlier. He also feels that the school has not talked about re-establishing discipline, so he feels that the issues and insubordination have not been dealt with. Hmmmmm.
My own feeling is that it is a lost season, and I would just as soon chuck it all as a bad deal. I’m not sure how to start in again – the last several lessons were so poorly attended and the period between the terms was so halfhearted – and we are coming up on the pre-National Test time when the students only want to review material by themselves anyway...
When we all arrived here in mid-August, Hodie was here, bouncy and playful. But when I got back here from Dar, she was nowhere to be seen. Hasan said that a woman at the University across the street was taking care of her. I talked to her on Tuesday and she said she would bring Hodie from her house the next day (yesterday). I was on the way to see her yesterday when Hodie came trotting by. She is a thin dog anyway, but she did not look good – much thinner than before and her ribs were showing. She was more interested in scavenging the ground for scraps of food than greeting me. But it is good to have her back, and now I know that I must make much better arrangements for her when I leave for more than a day or so. She is eating well, so she should be back in good form before long.
Yesterday some 29 or 39, I’m not sure, students who were identified by the police were to face a judge, downtown. Adam was going to attend the hearing and intended to come over last night to tell me about it, but he didn’t. I should hear details in the Staff Room today, though. But my neighbor told me yesterday that he does not like the idea of teaching these students again. According to him, they were on the way to get some of the teachers when they were stopped by the police. If true, that is nastier than I heard earlier. He also feels that the school has not talked about re-establishing discipline, so he feels that the issues and insubordination have not been dealt with. Hmmmmm.
My own feeling is that it is a lost season, and I would just as soon chuck it all as a bad deal. I’m not sure how to start in again – the last several lessons were so poorly attended and the period between the terms was so halfhearted – and we are coming up on the pre-National Test time when the students only want to review material by themselves anyway...
