Mayday

Workers of the world unite.

Although, as a government- employed volunteer teacher with a sweet set-up and a 14hr work week, I am sitting on the sidelines this year.  Hope the revolution is still going strong back in Tallahassee (or wherever you may find yourself)

I am sitting on my new wooden love-seat, enjoying a quiet transition from day to night, waiting for my dough to rise so I can eat some simple skillet bread and cassava leaves for dinner.  And while I’d rather be reading my book, I have been thinking about writing a blog post for quite some time, and figured now may be the perfect opportunity to do so.  A very important day passed without recognition from me, so I want to take a moment to go back to April 21st.  Does this day mean anything to you?  For me, it marked my 6 month anniversary in Rwanda.  Unfortunately that means I still have a looming 21 months of service as a Peace Corps Volunteer here, but it felt like a nice little accomplishment nonetheless.  And when I say “looming” I don’t mean to sound overtly negative, it’s just that 6 months out of 27 really isn’t a great percentage, and, well, I’m going to play the role of realist during this post.  What was nice about April 21st was that I was with all the other volunteers in my group, participating in what PC calls IST, or In Service Training.  Actually, I suppose we were on our way home after spending the better part of a week together to talk about our jobs, possible secondary projects in our communities, life, the universe and Mars.  Ok, we may not have actually talked about Mars, but I did get in some good star-gazing/ speculation with some fellow PCVs.  Although I was initially dreading getting together with 60+ other Americans to sit around and talk about teaching for 4 long days in a row, I actually really enjoyed myself and was able to leave IST feeling refreshed, with a solid list of ideas for classes and clubs at school.  

Here are some more fun facts about April in Rwanda:

1. Most of April is a break from school. Here, we begin school in January, and we have 3 terms for the year.  Between each term there is a three week holiday, and the school year ends at the end of October.  Yes, this means I will have nearly all of November and December off from school, and yes, this means I just enjoyed the first three week holiday of the year.
2. April 7th begins the 100 day period of mourning/ remembrance of the 1994 genocide that took place in Rwanda.  During the first week of this period (April 7th- 14th) meetings are held every afternoon at the umudugudu level (neighborhood level) and government mandated discussions take place.  Since this is orchestrated by the Rwandan government, all people are given the same list of discussion topics.
3. Because of the break from school I was able to travel around Rwanda and see and learn many new things.
4. Because this is the genocide memorial period, travel was difficult and I had more unexpected delays than usual BUT during these delays I was able to witness and take part in some of the genocide memorial activities.  Except for the delay caused by a tree falling in the road.  That one just led to me hanging out in a taxi eating pineapple.

As of last week, we are now in our second term at school.  I had a nice full day of teaching today, and all of us (students and teachers) are back on track and ready to go!  The rainy season is still in full force, which makes doing laundry not so fun, and makes for consistently cool nights in my part of the country.  It’s time for me to get up and knead my dough... plus, this new love-seat is still sans cushions, and sitting on wooden slats is starting to hurt.  I have much more to share with you about my travels!  I made a quick list of little happenings and anecdotes while I was traveling around the country so that I could remember them and share them with you crazy kids, so expect another post soon.

Also, tomorrow I will be chaperoning a field trip to the Gisozi Genocide Memorial in Kigali.  It will be me, the Secondary history teacher from our school and 16 students, and we will be attending a day-long seminar/ educational event hosted by the memorial staff and specialized teachers.  After this event I think I will probably have a bit to say about the genocide, and about modern-day Rwanda, so you can also expect a more serious and educational post sometime in the near future.

Did you check out my vacation photos?!?!?! Please do... you can find the link to my Picassa page somewhere to the right of what you’re reading now.  

Love and miss you all!

xoxoxoxo

Ally

April showers

Relishing in the scent of lazy Saturdays.  Fresh rain that is lackadaisically beginning to fall outside.  The small, sweet bananas on the table next to my computer, and the pineapple that is inviting me to cut into it and enjoy its sweet, tangy flesh.  The tea that has turned cold in the mug inches away from my right hand- cold, but sweet and potent and refreshing.  Recounting the sweet moments I had this week... the countless hours spent speaking Kinyarwanda; new friends, old friends, friendships that seem to be blossoming and providing countless moments of fun; journeys to visit friends; and moments at school that make me love my colleagues.  As you could guess, I’m in a great mood today... and I have been for a long time.  I’m really loving nearly every moment of my life here and I’m starting to see the value of this experience.  The above writing may be reminiscent of a cheesy teen romance novel, off the paperback section at your nearest books-a-million, but this is the best way for me to convey how I’m feeling.  And while I’m not aspiring to climb the ranks to seasoned writer, my father mentioned something to me in a recent e-mail that I’m reluctantly allowing to sink in.  He challenged me to be more poetic with my writing, in so many words.  At first I dismissed this as dad being dad, but, like most things I’ve learned from him over the years, once I allowed myself to think about what he’s told me or what he’s trying to encourage me to do, I realized that he makes a damn good point.  So I am resuming this little session of musing through my keyboard after finishing a delicious Sunday breakfast.  It’s dreary and rainy outside, more gray and white than the rest of the mornings we were lucky to experience this week, and it’s affording me a quiet, relaxing morning at home.  We’re on holiday now, and while (since I teach at a day school and not a boarding school) I didn’t get to see a mass exodus of students, all bright-eyed and excited, heading home for the holidays, I did get to see my students gear up for a break in a similar manner as myself.  If you’ve taken a look at my Picassa photo page recently, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  Yes, we teachers were just as excited and ready for a break as the students, and we were able to get in a little celebrating at school accordingly.  Check out the album titled “End of Term 1” if you want details, because, as we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words.  And in this album there are 40 pictures... you do the math.  

My spirits have been incredibly high and consistently so, as of late, and I can’t foresee this trend changing drastically any time soon.  I awoke this morning with the necessary amount of motivation to undertake the task of single-handedly cooking a massive breakfast spread for myself and Jane.  Yes, I do feel that I have to muster a certain amount of gusto and energy before stepping into the kitchen here.  Light the stove, prepare the vegetables (while squatting over the kitchen floor of dirt with a dull knife and a small jerry can of water), orchestrate the cooking line-up so that food is ready in an appropriate sequence and so that when the fire is hottest you’re cooking the items that like hot fire, and make a lot of food with little ingredients.  No, this is not rocket science, but it is an art; an art that I’d like to think I’m beginning to master.  This meal was possibly the best I’ve cooked to date.  We were able to enjoy potatoes with onion and rosemary, chickpeas with a thick tomatoey/ nutritional yeast/ turmeric and rosemary sauce, banana pancakes and homemade pineapple/ ginger syrup.  All vegan, all fresh, all delicious.  The best compliment a chef can ever hope to receive is in the form of a serious recipe inquiry.  “This is good, what did you use to make it?” is always a nice gesture, but what I prefer is “tell me exactly what you did, and when I try to make this at my home and I succeed, I’ll let you know.”  And that last statement, coming from a Rwandan, is enough to make you proud for the day.  I’ve mentioned the food that we consume here to some extent, but since it comprises so much of our lives, I am nearly constantly surrounded by food, talk of food, food preferences and different food preparation styles.  Rwandans like to really cook their food- make it nice and mushy- and they are often not excited to try new food.  That is a gross generalization, I know, but I’m sticking to it.  However, I’ve been lucky enough to make Rwandan friends who like to try the food I make, and who tend to enjoy it.  Spices folks, it’s all about spices.  And variety, and experimentation.  These are things that tend to be absent from Rwandan kitchens and Rwandan sentiments toward food.  But, Jane is very open-minded when it comes to food, and is a pretty great cook herself... again, I’m so lucky that I share my living space with her.  So now she is going to be making banana pancakes and homemade syrup at home for her kids this holiday, and I consider that inspiration to be my good deed for the day.  

The end of the term was nice, but grading was on-par with a task as daunting as transcribing hieroglyphics.  I made a fairly futile attempt to do my grades on the computer.  Spreadsheet are theoretically a great way to organize data and keep yourself on track, but when you’re computer skills are limited and lazy at best, they can make your life more difficult and can be more hindering than helping.  I ended up calling PCV AJ to try to elicit his tech-savvy skills the morning that grades were due.  He was helpful, but I didn’t actually end up fixing the problems that plagued my measly spreadsheets.  In the end, what was supposed to make grading quicker and more organized, made it longer and sloppier.  Oh well, better luck next time.  And maybe next time I won’t wait till the very end of the semester to start plugging my grades into the computer.  

A little funny end of term anecdote:  We have a lovely system here for the doling out of school reports.  It’s called class rank, and it’s a pretty big deal around here.  As I sat on the sidelines, watching my headmaster stand on a desk and address all the students of secondary, I thought back to my days at high school.  At Eastside High School, and other public high schools across America, we got our report cards in homeroom, took a quick discrete look at our marks (which was usually quickly followed with panic or at least a mild dissatisfaction) and hid these little cards in our backpacks.  Friends would talk and compare grades from time to time, or you could see the occasional student approach the teachers to quibble about the point that took them from an A- down to a B+.  Point being, American high schoolers would freak if they had to endure the momentary humiliation that my lovely students are blessed with on mark proclamation day.  Here, the teacher in charge of your class (each class has a head teacher) stands at the front of class and calls off names in order of class rank.  The students walk to the front of class, retrieve their paper, and return to their seats.  This happens after the headmaster calls the top ten (in order) of every class to come stand before the rest of the secondary students.  For the first in the class, I’m sure this is a really proud moment, and it’s nice to be able to honor the students who succeed, but for these students to put up with this every semester- it’s a lot!  

I am trying to brainstorm a way to help my students build their self-esteem and help them maintain a high sense of self-worth.  While many of the teachers at my school are kind and caring and want the students to succeed, they don’t do much to help these kids develop as strong, proud, confident teenagers.  One of my goals for the rest of this school year is to find a way to found a club or group that is geared towards helping my students develop confidence and to help them feel empowered and motivated.  This is not a task that has a quick fix, nor is it something that will produce results that I will necessarily be able to see, but this is something that I feel strongly about, and that I hope to be able to do.  All of the PCVs in my group (Education 2) have a big conference/ training in a few weeks called IST (in service training), so hopefully I’ll be able to get in some brainstorming there, and will return to site with ideas on how to make this little goal turn into reality.

I know this blog post is a little spastic and disjointed (wouldn’t be me if the case were anything but) so I apologize.  I’ve just a few more things to add.  Last weekend I began to make a little list of happenings...  So, here you go!  Now you’ll be able to get a bit of a better idea of what I’ve been up to:  

Good things:

• visit from PCV Katie (girlfriend weekend!) and subsequent visit to PCVs Andy and Carina.  
• girly nail painting.  with Americans K and C and also with Rwandans Clem and Jane
• attempted regional meeting... turned into 3 awesome lady PCVs hanging out for the better part of a Saturday
• walking home Saturday night... after dark! scandalous! we walked only a short distance then got a ride, but still, it’s not often that I’m able to be out and about in the evening
• improving culinary skills on the imbabura (charcoal stove)
• “spring cleaning” of my house and an inspiring rearranging of furniture
• HOLIDAY for almost all of April!
• completion of grades and a celebratory beer drinking with all the teachers and staff from school
• holiday travel plans
• increasing popularity in my village (always nice when people know your name...)
• visits to fellow PCVs (especially those which include my favorite Rwandan colleagues)
• visits to Rwandan friends
• final piece of desired furniture ordered! (pictures soon to follow)
• I’ve been speaking Kinyarwanda more regularly... and while I’m not exactly fluent (no where close) I think I’m slowly improving

Bad things:

• general lack of exercise lately.... thank you rain and laziness
• hardly any students passed my exam/ class
• grading was not the best experience in general
• I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to how Rwandans LOVE to tell me I’m fat... I can laugh at it, but it’s still not my favorite topic of conversation  
• I just did some laundry... and I need to do some dishes.  I think chores are pretty much not so much fun no matter where you live
• I would like a bottle of wine to go with dinner tonight but that’s just not going to happen
• sore throat... I hope I’m not getting a cold!

As you can see, life is good, and this probably explains my good mood and generally favorable outlook on life.  I’m hoping to have some great holiday adventures over the next couple weeks, so I’ll be posting stories and photos again sometime soon.  I hope you all are well. Love from the village. 

here's the link to my online photos: picassa photos!

xoxoxo

I put up a few more pictures on my Picassa. Take a look!

beginning of 2011 in Rwanda

An actual blog post is in the works... We're in the middle of exam week here, then a week dedicated to marking, then 3 weeks of vacation.  Hope you all are well!

Ally

packing packing packing (a retrospective of sorts)

I’ve never been a light packer.  I’d like to think that I’m not entirely high maintenance and instead chalk this up to my indecisiveness.  I just want to be prepared for any and all potential circumstance, even the most unlikely.  That being said, you could maybe imagine that packing to move myself to Rwanda for 2 years was no easy feat (thank you mom for your assistance).  I think that not that I’ve done it, I’ll be much better about packing for big trips in the future, but who knows.  So far, my packing ability has not improved.  In fact, fellow PCV Katie has said that it is one of her personal missions to make it so that I know how to pack by the time we return to America.  

So, let me take you back a few months, to long evenings at my parent’s house spent playing tetris with my luggage and belongings.  Since we are the sort of family that doesn’t own a scale, I used the Wii to weigh the bags.  That, in and of itself, was pretty hilarious.  We used the Wii fit program under the pet setting and weighed the bags like you would weigh your dog... though my parents certainly don’t use that to weigh the dog.  Or do they? Maybe the cats? Ok, that’s beside the point.  We had strict weight restrictions that Peace Corps wanted us to adhere to, along with dimensions for our combined luggage.  Of course, once we got to the airport it seemed a bit less serious, but when I was still in Gainesville, Fl I was really trying to stay within the given perimeters.  Turns out that after what PC refers to as “staging” in Philly (after having to go into the bags and repack and change clothes and get ready for the plane trip from NY to Rwanda) I did some poorly planned rearranging that made my bags too heavy.  Thank god for fellow PCV Matthew Teal.  His bag was extremely under weight, and he let me transfer my yoga mat and some books into his bag so I could avoid excess baggage fees.  So, we made it to Rwanda, avoided extra fees and everyone was happy.  

In a few months Rwanda will be receiving new volunteers.  And Peace Corps sends volunteers out all over the world throughout the year.  If any of those prospective volunteers are reading, I want to share with you a few things I learned during the packing and transportation process.  

1. My yoga mat is the one thing I am perpetually thankful for having brought.  If there’s something you love, that will help keep you you, I suggest you bring it because it will certainly make you happy.
2. An easily compact-able sleeping bag is pretty valuable here, and will be really nice to have while I’m traveling.  I have a North Face down mummy bag that belonged to my mother when she traveled the world when she was my age.  It’s probably not as warm as it used to be, but it still works really well.
3. Hiking boots.  This may just be my personal preference, but I absolutely love my gortex boots.  I found a cheap pair on e-bay right before leaving the states and they work really well here (although they do earn me more funny looks).  
4. Shampoo and conditioner.  You can find acceptable stuff here (or so I’ve heard) but it’s expensive to get stuff that’ll keep your hair nice.
5. Pants. Plain and normal pants.  Skirts and dresses are really easy to find here, but I find that many of my female colleagues wear pants to work and good pants are more difficult to obtain over here.  I’m SURE this varies based on your village- for me, pants are a-ok! (I even wear slightly skinny jeans (watch out!))
6. Reading material.  If you like to read I suggest you find a way to bring reading stuffs with ya.  Many of the PCVs in my group had Kindles (in fact I am going to be receiving one myself in the next couple of months) and those seem to work really well.  I brought some books... they definitely added weight to my bags, but they are really nice to have.
7. Camp towel.  I got an XL one and I use it ALL the time.  You can find regular towels here easily and for little money, but they’re just not as good.  Plus, camp towels are really great for traveling... and for the rainy season when nothing seems to stay dry.
8. Sharp kitchen knife.  I brought 2 and they are very nice to have.  I also brought a swiss army knife.  You can (of course) find knives here, but they aren’t very good and they are expensive.
9. Rain gear.  Could be that the rain beating down on my roof is making me think this is super important, could actually be important.  Umbrellas are easy to find here but I suggest bringing a good rain jacket.  
10. Daypack/ Backpack.  Something to use when you have to go into the next town, if you go out to a park, for short overnight trips... again, you can find them here, it just may be easier to bring one from home.
11. “Appropriate” work-out/ lounging attire.  I found out the hard way that shorts and leggings are both pretty inappropriate (even for sport).  I suggest track pants or looser yoga pants or long shorts.  Nearly anything goes here, but they draw the line at skin-tight lycra pants and short shorts... I guess I can understand that.

Fellow PCV Danny made some comment via facebook before we set off to start this crazy adventure that I actually found to be really helpful.  He said that you should just put everything you think you’ll need into a bag and then take out one of each thing.  Subtract one shirt, do away with one pair of socks, throw out one dress etc etc and it makes a pretty big difference.  I would say, stick with you intuition.  If you think you’re going to (for example) long for your yoga mat and regret not taking it, find a way to make it work!  Anyway, this post is a bit out of the blue, but I’m putting off writing my end of term exam and enjoying the rain and catching up on some typing.  Next on my agenda: e-mail responses. Miss and love ya.  

xoxo

imvura igihe kurwa. it's going to rain.

Yes indeed, it is another rainy day here.  So, naturally I am using up almost all of my internet time by reading articles online and scoping out new blogs to follow.  It gets SO cold here when it rains.  In fact, it's pretty common for people to go home and get in bed in an effort to stay warm.  I think that pair with a cup of tea and a book (and the internet) is my plan for the day.  Yeah, yeah, at some point I'll do some work for school.  Anyway, check out this nice little article on chocolate.  This is mostly stuff you might already know, but the article contains some links to what sound like really delicious chocolate confectioners.

vegnews article on chocolate

xoxo

ndi umutetsi. muri amerika kandi mu'rwanda!

(I am a cook, in American and in Rwanda) 

I was asked recently about what food I’ve been eating over here.  First, thank you Jill for the question.  Sorry I haven’t mentioned the food yet, I guess it’s not something I really think about including in these rambling posts of mine.  Well, it’s not all that exciting to be honest.  Let me first tell you what composes the common Rwandan diet: Rice, beans (various varieties), potatoes, sweet potatoes (not yams like in America, but real sweet potatoes), cassava (both the roots and the greens- prepared separately; also in the form of a traditional type of “bread” called ubugali), plantains (big, savory type), local eggplant (they are small and green), tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, avocado, corn (cooked directly on charcoal (on the cob)), onions, green beans, pineapple (the best in the world, I promise you), passion fruit, bananas, eggs, pasta, tea, milk, fanta and beer.  

The above are usually prepared in a few ways... potatoes will be fried- either in the form of fries (frites) or whole; sweet potatoes are also fried; cassava root is boiled; plantains are boiled and made into a sort of mushy, saucy mash; beans are cooked exactly how you would expect; all types of vegetables are cooked until they turn to mush, and most of the flavors are similar.  Overall, the food is not at all exciting, but it’s not bad either.  Oh! for the meat-eaters, you can find meat on a stick (called brushettes) or different types of meat stews.  

Getting food in a restaurant is best done in a big city.  There is a restaurant that I go to occasionally that’s in the same town I go to to buy bread.  The food there is only ok, but the folks who work there are really nice!  They all know me and like to ask about how I’m doing, which is always nice.  At this establishment you can get the buffet (full of rice, chips, beans, plantains, some nearly unrecognizable greens, a type of sauce to pour on your now full plate-o-food and a genuinely COLD beverage.  Since refrigeration is expensive and highly uncommon, getting a really cold drink every once and a while has turned to a big treat!  In Kigali you can even get smoothies!  Perfect for the occasional lavish city snack.  

I do most of my cooking alone, but sometimes Jane and I collaborate or we’ll take turns.  Every time I cook she enjoys what I make, but she lets me know that according to Rwandans, I didn’t cook the food long enough.  Well yeah, she’s right, I like to have my vegetables remain in some sort of recognizable format.  I like my meals to have some semblance of texture, and varied texture at that!  This is going to be a never-ending debate between me and Rwandan cooking styles.  

Overall, though, the produce is really tasty.  Since everything is fresh and natural, this food is the perfect blank canvas.  And, thanks to my awesome parents, I have spices and hot sauces to help me create some really savory meals.  But at times I am actually surprised by just how good the food does taste.  The other week we made some Irish potatoes and they tasted so good!  I know, it’s crazy that I am praising a potato, but really, they were perfect.  Just like in any sort of farming community, you’ve just gotta know where to find the good stuff.  As far as seasonal produce goes, I know there is some inevitable variance in harvest times, but overall, finding what you want is usually possible.  Although, yesterday when I went to the market there were no avocados to be found.  If I can make me way into Musanze (about 1 hour north by van taxi), I can go to the best market and get tasty, fresh produce of any sort.  They even have apples there!  

So, as long as I do the cooking, the food here is pretty good.  I am able to remain completely vegetarian and feel healthy about the decision.  Hell, I’m remaining mostly vegan, which is awesome!  From time to time I will indulge in some fresh, local cheese, and I think the bread I get uses some sort of butter, but when I cook, it’s entirely vegan. 

Actually, I have a quick little story about drinking milk.  The other afternoon one of my fellow teachers popped into my house for a visit.  He brought with him a small jerry can full of fresh milk from his mother’s cow.  It was still warm... We then had to cook the milk.  I’m glad my Rwandan friends here agree with me on that- we need to cook it to make sure that if the cow has any sort of illness it won’t get passed on to us.  So, we cooked the milk then poured it into a few thermoses.  I then boldly went where I had yet to previously go- I drank honest to god, fresh milk.  It wasn’t half bad, though I will be contributing my recent stuffy nose and excess mucus to the milk drinking.  But, it didn’t hurt my stomach and it tasted ok.  We added some sugar (in true Rwandan fashion) and Jane and I sat drinking our hot, sweet milk.  I mentioned to her that I liked it and she said “well, if you like it we can get Juvenal to bring us milk every week.”  Nope, I told her that I liked it as a special thing that we indulged in every so often.  I didn’t share this with her, but I’d be happy to keep the milk drinking to a twice a year minimum.  It was ok, I’m glad I tried it, but I’m not trying to turn milk into a major dietary staple.  (Warning- vegan ideology to follow).  I am able to get good food most times, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy for me to maintain a super healthy diet.  Logistics just make it a whole lot more difficult to remain as healthy here as I could be in America.  I still firmly believe that I don’t want to depend on another living create for my health, and I think that I honestly don’t need to.  But, I do eat the occasional egg (less now than I did during training) and I indulge in the every-so-often cheese product and bread made with milk or butter.  And, like I just mentioned, I will share a glass of warm milk when the occasion requires.  And I’m ok with making these small diet changes.  I know the cow who’s milk I’m drinking, the chickens who produce the eggs we consume are always clucking around our school grounds and the dairy products used here are manufactured at local establishments using local ingredients.  Also, I would feel like a total prude if I didn’t try some new things here.  This is not changing my ideology, just allowing me to experience some new things (like fresh milk).  Some of you may think that I should try any and every food that I’m offered, but I am going to draw the line at meat.  No thank you.  I don’t think I’ll ever eat that stuff again if I can avoid it.  And fish?  This country is land-locked baby... and being from Florida makes you a potential fish/ seafood snob.  If it’s not super fresh, count me out.    On the other hand, some of you may scoff at my lax food consumption practices.  To that I say whatever, I feel good about the choices I’m making.  I feel like I am remaining fairly healthy while simultaneously experiencing new things and acting in ways that allow me to assimilate.  I don’t mean to jump to the defense, just trying to explain my thoughts a bit.

Anyway, that’s my take on the food here.  Perhaps a little inconsistent, but that’s how I like it.  But, please be aware, that my soon to come wish list consists of mostly vegan snack food items.  I love getting granola bars, chocolate and cookies from my parents- they really do sweeten my day (har har).  One thing I really miss? Vegan ice cream and popsicles... upon my return to America I am going to devote an entire day to eating vegan ice cream.  Who’s with me? :)

xoxo

Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alone

While I’m sure it’s interesting to read my thoughts and feelings about this African life;  get some good ol compare/ contrast courtesy of your’s truly, I would like to step away from my perceptions and emotions for a bit.  I don’t want to tell you about how I passed the time on my rainy day painting my toe-nails and watching Indiana Jones (which may or may not have actually happened)... not now.  Now I want to talk a bit about my job.  My primary assignment as a Peace Corps volunteer is to teach English to Secondary School students.  I am attempting to do exactly that.  I’ve written a few e-mails recently that explore the theory that I will be the one learning in this situation; I will be the one experiencing new things everyday, adapting my habits and experiencing growth throughout my time in this country.  I think this is absolutely true and relevant.  But, I am also here to be a teacher, to try and facilitate some sort of exchange.  Already, I have been shocked into realizing just how different my learning experience was from those of my students.  In the states we get taught at an early age to think for ourselves, to develop our own thoughts and opinions and to express ourselves in the ways we desire.  Now, as we all know, the education system in the states isn’t perfect, but it does lead to the students producing varied responses.  A prime example of this: the other day, PCV Keira (my closest volunteer neighbor) was over, and we were opening packages from our families after she retrieved our mail.  Her mother teaches 3rd grade in Washington, and she had her students write letters to Keira.  Not only were these adorable, they were varied and individualized.  Some kids wrote about cakes, some wrote about stars, some wrote about Keira’s family, some about Africa... and even the ones that were extremely run of the mill were at the very least worded differently from the others.  Over here, when we assign homework that is meant to be creative, meant to try and push the kids to create individualized response, we get the same thing written on 50 different papers.  These kids grow up on bland note copying and rote memorization, and while they are great, intelligent kids, getting them to produce creative responses is like pulling teeth.  Every once and a while a student will surprise me with some elaborate tale that shocks even the other students, but for the most part, these kids are on auto-pilot, writing what they know to be acceptable text book answers.  

The kids I teach are smart, and many of them are quite motivated, but they are reluctant to step outside the box.  Well, that may not be true... it’s probably not reluctance keeping them confined to the box, but rather fear and lack of training.  If these kids were told that they must do things a certain way, then they are going to continue on in that manner until something (or someone) forces them to change.  Enter Allison, their zany American English teacher, with her crazy ideas, difficult to understand accent and rule-bending propensity.  I’m not saying that I’m going to totally rock these kids worlds, but I am already asking them to change their classroom manners.  I want them to SPEAK LOUD and I request this is a LOUD voice so they get the idea.  I start class with a stretch session and a request to “get ready for English class.”  We do lots of group and pair work, and the notes I give them aren’t perfectly copied from a text book.  I don’t want to derail them and go to extremes to make class hard to follow, but I do want to help expand their horizons.  

I am running into my fair share of challenges over here, and as you may expect, I’m no were near perfect at this job.  Once again, dear ol’ mum recently told me exactly what I needed to hear; this time via e-mail. “Hope the week continues to go well for you. It really takes a while to adjust to the dynamics of your classes and to adapt your teaching methods. Every class is different and what works for one might not work for another. Continue to work hard -(it will pay off)- you are making a difference in your kids lives and they are counting on you! You make me proud no matter what!!”  Thanks mama!  And, while this may be the same thing I’ve been told countless times since coming here, it’s always nice to hear.  As much as I don’t want to claim to be making an impact on the lives of my students I’m sure that in some ways, for some students I am.  In the very least, since I’m the first American that these kids have really interacted with, they will remember me for that.  And if I can leave them with one small piece of wisdom or helpful information, I’ll be happy.  I have many grad goals for my teaching practice, but hey are still in a fragile sort of developmental stage; not yet ready to be shared with the internet.  

I mentioned in the previous post that we avoided a surprise holiday yesterday.  These crop up all over the place, and if it’s not a surprise holiday keeping us from class, it’s an impromptu meeting or some administrative task that needs to be completed.  Today I walked into my Senior 1 class to find no students.  They were all outside harvesting the corn that we grow on the school’s property.  Being friendly with the Secretary has it’s advantages... I went to her and said “Jane, do I get students today or will they be harvesting for the rest of the afternoon?”  We laughed about it for a moment then she went to light a fire under their butts to get their share of the task finished so they could come back in for a stimulating English lesson.  

Songs are a good class activity for these kids; and I remember that when I was in High School, learning songs was my favorite part of Spanish class (in fact, I still remember a few of them).  Notes written on the board will get copied and homework will occasionally get done.  Overall they are good at group work and pair work.  The main problems lie in our communication barriers.  It is hard for me to keep my diction and syntax in check and my accent just ices the cake... they really do have a hard time understanding me.  I am working on this but overall there is not much I can do.  Speak slowly, write many things on the board, keep a slow pace in class... It’s not ideal, but it works.  Gone are my visions of conducting classes full of stimulating discussion, conducting innovative and exciting class projects and  eliciting work from my students that is ground-breaking and inspired.  As with everything here, the old African saying applies: slowly by slowly.  The fact that these kids CAN understand 50% of what I say is pretty good.  Their ability to complete work and spend hours studying is impressive.  And the ones who are extra motivated to work hard make my day every time I talk to them outside of class.

In my Senior 3 class we are in the midst of doing a debate segment for their English Listening and Speaking hours with me.  We had a class debate on Monday; topic: no money, no life.  This was a topic that the students chose (next Monday we get to do: birth control; should it be obligatory?).  We had 4 groups of students: support, opposition, judges and spectators.  The spectators from this week will be the participants next week- the only way I could think of logically breaking up the class in to manageable groups.  I never did debate in school, nor do I know ANY of the rules or protocol that accompany “professional” debate... but I can wing just about anything over here.  And, it worked out really well.  These kids have had some sort of debate training (I think they had a small debate club last year) and they needed little guidance from me.  This is proof that all the blood sweat and tears I’m having to put into my Senior 1 classes will one day pay off.  The judges kept track of the arguments and evaluated which side had stronger points, used better English and debated more effectively, and I sat in the back of the class and monitored from there.  

Like I said, I’m not changing the lives of my students, not really.  And I’m not forging new pathways in the realm of English education.  But I am learning a hell of a lot, I am enjoying this (most days) and I am helping my students (at least somewhat).  Now I just need to find the best ways to ACTUALLY help them, and I’ll feel pretty good about this whole teaching thing.  I am certain that this is not going to be an overnight success, and I am quite certain that the only way I’m going to improve my teaching is by allowing myself to make mistakes, to try something new and to hopefully learn from whatever ensues.  I don’t want to think of this as any sort of trial run, because I want my students to benefit, but I think that if I do this correctly, this will be one of the craziest periods of time of my teaching career (which itself may be very short).  

Also, even though it’s far too early in the game to make this sort of decision, I think I am cut out for some sort of less traditional teaching.  Call it informal if that makes you happy... I really like to teach, I do, but teaching in a formal primary or secondary school setting is not my favorite medium.  Can I just go ahead and jump the ranks to professor?  Or maybe I can go back to education via museum programs... OR I can get a job at a fancy private school that has a 10 student maximum class size?  Or, I can turn entirely benevolent and continue to help the students that need it most.  Those that don’t get to go to fancy private schools or universities; those who may never step foot in a museum, yet are still motivated to try and gain a higher level of education than their socio-economic situations predestine.  Who knows... all I can do is keep on trying over here.  Trying and hopefully not failing too miserably.  

All of that being said, if you (like my mother) have any words of wisdom, great class activities, advice or coping strategies you’d like to share, please do so.  

Oh! I am in charge of the newly completed school library.  I will be brainstorming on how to turn this into a functioning resource that will remain purposeful after I leave this place.  This will probably be a bigger focus of mine towards the middle of the school year, but if you have any ideas/ hear anything about how to run an extremely low-budget and resource stripped library, let me know?

xoxo