Week One

After saying goodbye to the group, I moved into a house in Ilboru that is owned by Selian. It took a couple of days to adjust to a quieter lifestyle without 16 other people always around. It's a complicated feeling when you're family leaves you in a foreign country after having spent two weeks touring with them. However, I was able to adjust within a few days and I'm doing great now.

My first day at St. Margaret's Mama Tesha came to pick me up at 7 in the morning. We headed to the nursery school, which is always the first stop, and then on to Kisongo to the primary school. I'm very thankful to have a fellow American and Minnesota by the name of Matt at St. Margaret's at the same time. It's nice to have someone who always understands what you're saying! We didn't do too much the first day, just kind of got acquinted with the teachers and students. We discussed what each of us would be teaching. I am teaching Standard 2 reading and Standard 3 spelling. That afternoon we went back into town to run a few errands (or so we thought) but ended up staying at the nursery school the entire afternoon. At 3:40 when the buses arrived I boarded the bus I would be riding to head back to my house. Doreen (one of the teachers and a good friend of mine) is on the same bus which is great so she walked me back to my gate.

Tuesday I woke up at 6, left the house by 6:40 and walked down the dirt road to the paved road to meet the bus by 7. As I walked down the street for the first time alone, I was greeted by many people along the road, laughed at the chickens running all over, and thought to myself this is something new! I made it to the bus on time which was my first triumph and then settled in for the ride to Kisongo. After making the routine bus stops, we go to the nursery school to drop some kids and pick up a few more. We probably wait about 15-20 minutes there and then drive out to the primary school. All in all it takes at least an hour to get to the school everyday. It's quite the commute!

I went to my first class that day and quickly realized that Tanzanian students do not fit the stereotype I had given them. They are not perfect students! They're kids! They like to talk and they like to fiddle with things by their desks. So I had to change my teaching mindset back to what it would be in the states. I even had to get on some on the kids!

As the week continued and I started actually teaching I came to a fast realization that everything I had been taught in school, all of those awesome teaching strategies, had to be thrown out the window. Due to the lack of resources the teaching is pretty basic. While I would love to try and implement some of the strategies I have used, it would be incredibly difficult because they really have very little past the chalkboard, their exercise books, and a pen or pencil. The teacher teaches the lesson and writes notes on the chalkboard as they go. When they finish, the students copy the notes from the chalkboard into their excercise books and then copy the homework. I have never had to write an entire lesson out on a chalkboard. The other problem I have encountered is that I'm too short to reach the top of the board! So I have to jump to reach the top if I'm erasing something!

To wrap up my first week I have to tell a funny story. That Thursday I was walking down the road to meet the bus. I was almost to the end of the road, seriously, so close...I slipped on a wet spot, lost my balance, tried very hard to catch myself, but continued to fall until I was on the ground on my knees! A lady passing by grabbed the back of my skirt and yanked me up. A few of my students were walking nearby and one came over and said "sorry teacher, sorry teacher." That was cute. When I got to the end of the road I told Doreen what happened. We were examiniing my knees to find they had been scaped pretty badly and one was bleeding. Lucky for me I had a small first aid kit in my backpack and was able to clean my wounds. I kind of felt like a small child running down the street and then boom! they're flat on their face. However, I'm not a small child and I certainly wasn't running...those of you who know me well know that I don't run!