1/17/14

third day treats 

• swahili lessons this morning from sebastian. he was teaching me how to call kids to me. Nothing like the real deal. He called a girl over and made me tell her to come here and then that I would call her back later. It was funny but awkward. 
• cultural lessons about respect. you are supposed to stand up when someone comes into a room (side note... students stand up and say something in swahili for about 10 seconds and then good morning madaam every time i walk in the room. I then have to tell them to please be seated before we can get going. many students also stand up to ask me questions or to answer my questions). The teachers told me it is also normal to bow a little or to kneel for certain people. Also, people with round bellies are highly respected. It’s pretty much the bigger the better here. They are thought to be rich and literate (wise). People that do not have bellies or wear shorts are thought to be poor and illiterate. 
• a ‘boy’ is generally anyone under 30. the only exception is when you have a title or job. Then you must respect that person. 
• I had no clue about the crazy timetable. It doesn’t help that it is not followed most of the time but this morning I just asked Sebastian if it was time for me to teach. He gave me the okay so off i went! 
• It was a great first class. The 3 streams were consolidated into 2, which is nice for me. The students were responsive, they asked questions, did work individually and with others, and 2 people even came to the board to present their work! Students were engaged and they asked one or two very bright questions. Overall, I was impressed. 
• Chai break came around and stayed around. Again, we weren’t following anything close to the schedule. Today, the food just keep on coming. Each day, one of the female teachers has gotten her food first and immediately brings me some. So, I sat down to my chai and two mandazis and then she gave me a chapati. Then after I stealthily stashed the mandazis and half the chapati in my bag, another teacher sat down and wanted to give me the rice cake (kitumbua). I was able politely refuse that offer. Then, at the end of the day, the teachers started getting corn from nowhere and then before I knew it, I had one to eat then and one to take home to Nick. No one can deny their hospitality. 
• after school was over, teachers stayed after for a while and just talked for a while. i got into a long conversation with one teacher about so many things. it was beyond entertaining. topics included corporal punishment, government workers and pay, HIV, sneezing, and more. I know sneezing sounds weird but i have noticed that people here do not say anything after you sneeze and I wondered why. so i asked him this afternoon and he told me that here sneezing is a sign of health so it is almost like it is a good thing. 
• The whole hallway was full in the administrative block waiting for Muhumi. So I just walked into his office and told him that I would walk home today because I didn’t want him to worry about me. The academic master walked with me until we got into town, where he caught a bike home. As we were walking, kids from the villages were continually running towards me and yelling things at me. They were too cute but they were so funny to the academic master. It is somewhat normal for me now but the behavior was completely new to him. 
• I really enjoyed the walk today. We get out early on Friday so I enjoyed the time just walking through the town, seeing the beautiful scenery, getting constantly stared at, honked at, and talked to, etc. :) 
• Nick and I went to get some water from the tank at the school. 3 trips with 3 buckets filled up our two big buckets. 
• Read a little and did the dishes from yesterday. 
• typed up the blog posts for the last few days
• prepped and ate stir fried rice for dinner
• i knocked out divergent in about 2 or 3 days and started insurgent tonight. im ready for a relaxing weekend but ill get a little lesson planning and a little swahili study time in there im sure.