1/13/14

The first day of school that wasn’t the first day. 

Happy Zanzibar Revolution Day! 

This morning I woke up and wrote some blog posts. I tore all the mold off my slice of bread and ate it with my peanut butter, jelly, and banana. I got ready for Mr. Muhumi, my Headmaster, to pick me up and take me to school. He arrived pretty close to on-time and very early on Tanzanian time. He is so sweet and his english is very good. He offered to take Amber along to show her the school so we both got to go on an adventure! The school is past town, about 8km away he said. It is very remote, a good bit away from Bariadi town, and just in the middle of many houses. He took us to the administrative building, where the teacher workroom, discipline office, and Headmaster’s’ offices are. We talked for a while in his office. We both got to sign the guest book and write a little note in another guest book. He showed us the picture book that Catherine, the past volunteer had made for him. So neat! He then asked me which form I wanted to teach. I basically told him that I would teach where he needed me the most.... which is basically everywhere. They have one part time teacher right now and they are trying to get one more. Not too many times do you get to tell your boss what you are going to do, just saying. But anyways, here was the thought process behind which form I teach. No to Form 1 because they will hardly know any english. That left Form 2, 3, and 4. The next no was to Form 2 because it is huge! He said he didn’t know how ‘powerful’ I was. Amber said I was very powerful but we still decided it was best to not teach it. It is just too big. So, then you had Form 3 and 4. I tried to get an understanding of the daily schedule before committing to what I would do. Mr. Muhumi didn’t seem to sure of it what he started going over it with me. But anyways, I told him I would start with Form 4, see how much work that is, and then decide on Form 3. Though that sounds a little odd on US standards, its not odd here. Teachers come and go as they want. Also, Form 3 is not even decided yet. That’s because you have to pass the Form 2 national exam to get into Form 3 and the results of that exam haven’t been released. Im completely rambling right now so I’m just going to leave this by saying I will be teaching Form 4. I’m beyond excited about it because I know that I will be giving these students the best chance of success. 

Mr. Muhumi drove us all around town and pointed out important buildings that all started sounding the same. He took by the hospital and also to his home. He was also constantly pulling over on the side of the road to say hey to people and introduce us. I think he is the head of city council or something like that. Amber told him that he was a celebrity and he was like yeah I’m famous. 

So, I still don’t really know how I am traveling to and from school. Supposedly, Mr. Muhumi is going to pick me up from my house and take me to school. But we don’t know how I am getting home yet. He did mention the bike but he said it was broken and needed a lot of work done on it. I’ll keep you updated. 

End of story, so nice to meet him and I am extremely excited to get going! That just won’t be Tuesday either since we learned that it too is a holiday... the prophet Muhammed’s birthday. And either Wednesday or Thursday will be a holiday too... depending on the moon. We were saying we would have lived for this kind of schedule in the states! 

This afternoon we studied some swahili as we listened to some music and shoveled down some more peanut butter and bananas. Disclaimer: The following sentence sounds horrible. Happiness came and cleaned the house and did the laundry and the dishes. Happiness is about 16 years old and is studying at a school to become a seamstress. Now, I promise, we do all of these things by ourselves as well. It is typical for all houses to have a house maid here and is considered to be such an honor. It also provides a good income for her and helps her pay her tuition for school. However, I really struggled with her working here. Mama taught me well, and this was the first time anyone had ever cleaned my house like that. And being here made it even more uncomfortable for me. 

Tonight we made spaghetti for dinner and it was delicious! A little onion, carrot, green pepper, eggplant, and tomatoes worked some great magic. After dinner, we pulled out the entertainment, moved our oh-so-comfortable wooden seats around the table, and watched an episode of curb your enthusiasm and modern family.