4/27/14
i found out friday that the only reason that we arent changing schools yet is because the district doesn't have the keys yet. the contractor hasn't been paid for his work so he hasn't given them the keys. i’d say thats only fair…
the main project of the day was a movie of my tanzanian experience from beginning to end and it was quite the project. imovie makes it very easy but it still takes time to put it all together. luckily, time is all i have!
i did my last learning module and submitted that. d.o.n.e.
stomach was not feeling too hot… must be that obesity.
and i had an awesome talk with mom today. so fun.
4/28/14
today marks the beginning of 4 weeks of school left. so ready if you cant tell.
much better classes today. i tried to get people who were absent on the day of my exam to take it today but it was quite the struggle. they had no clue what i was trying to say.
marked exams after class. ive been rocking the headphone life recently. it may be rude but i need my sanity.
really busy day which means it was a good day at school. i stayed the whole day and walked home so i didn't get home until nearly 4. is this what the working life is about? ate some veggie sauce (aka spaghetti) when i got home and lentils for dinner.
and i was able to get my music back on my itunes. well most of it anyways. just nothing that i had purchased (including my movies :/)
4/29/14
i went all day yesterday without peanut butter and bananas… this is record breaking folks!!!
so i also did some little workout this weekend and my body didn't completely revolt. i take that as a huge improvement. super exciting.
mom sent another package on the 15th. it made it through customs in tanzania on the 22nd. still no word since then.
my to do list keeps growing and growing but i know every one i check off is one step closer to home.
realized i am going to have all kinds of money my last week here in moshi/dar because we will get paid for the month of may. i will just load up on any souvenirs that i have room for.
awesome revelation on the way home. only 17 more days of school!!!
you are also stuck with more detailled journals for the rest of the time because i really have nothing to do at school again. marking midterms was great while it lasted.
we apparently skipped the rainy season this year. definitely not complaining but it has been getting hotter, quickly.
i talked to mahumi before leaving school today and he asked about my midterm results. so i brought them in to him. he seemed quite pleased, especially since the highest scoring student was a girl. get it, Jesca! but he also wanted to do research on the students that did poorly. he wrote everyones name that got less that a 10. that was 33. 31/33 were in stream a. no surprise there. he said he would gather them to see what was wrong. and he said, if language is the problem, then ah! there is nothing to do. yep, thats the story of my life.
4/30/14
the last day of aprili! wahoo! had a long talk with luchonga about teacher salary, levels, loans, etc. pretty interesting.
48,51,and 44 teachers have signed the attendance registrar this week. so crazy!
some noteworthy names of my students from the midterms… omary, latipha, hocka, jenifa, jackline, petro, barthoromeo, phares, baraka, florida
spreaking of barthoromeo, this is supposed to be Bartholomew or something similar. either way what i want to point out is the spelling and how the r and l are confused. this happens all the time, in speaking and writing. it really doesn't make sense.
and just a quick little reflection on how simple my life is. and i think simple is the perfect word. i wear the same shoes everyday and have a handful of outfits that i wear over and over again. hair is always in a pony tail and the only makeup that every graces my face is mascara and that is maybe once a week. we use a squat toilet and ‘flush’ it by filling up a 5 gallon bucket and dumping some water in it. we have a wood table and chair or a bed. no mode of transportation beside my feet. nothing to do. no deadlines. water, electricity, and internet when its gods will. surrounded by cows, goats, dogs, and roosters and chickens, cornfields, and dirt roads. buy what we want for dinner at the market that day. boil water and throw out all of our buckets at any sight of a chance of rain. hand wash and hang dry clothes. do the dishes every day.
i learned that they eat dried ants and grasshoppers here when they are in-season.
i love the hand shaking, holding, slapping, etc.
i was presented with a tshirt from the teachers workers union today. and i promised i would wear it tomorrow… in my home. its an xl and it actually fit really well.
5/1/14
its mayyyyyyyyyyy! i can officially say i am coming home THIS month! :)
it is also may day or workers day. it s government holiday here so no school. didn't really do much all day. i planned my little moshi trip. keeping it easy. one day kilimanjaro climb. one day adventure of hiking to a water fall and then going to a coffee plantation. and one day i am planning for nothing… so shopping and chilling. had beans and rice for dinner. yep, definitely not rice and beans. katie told me variety is the spice of life and to say that we were having beans and rice instead of rice and beans…. and let me tell you. beans and rice was sooooo much better!
5/2/14
in a good mood today. no complaints here. hope its here to stay for a while. fun/crazy/joking talks in the staff room around break. apparently some women drive hyenas…
think i only have two more weeks of teaching then i will give them the midterm.
walked home and stopped by the post office and and and i had two packages!!!!! the one from ambers dad finally made it and the one from my mom made it today too! yay!!! i called osama, my piki piki driver and got home to start opening up our presents. I tell you, packages here are like christmases and birthdays for 5 years combined. i got into everything and laid it out on the counter. had to take advantage of the photo ops and all that. so much good stuff. we are good to go for this last month…. we are actually pretty much swimming with food. nice for a change. so big thank you to ambers dad!! it is such a great pick me up to get us through the next month. thank you! thank you! moms was also awesome. i got more jelly which is fantastic! some oatmeal! and lots of frisbees that i can give out to make some kids super happy. ill be sure to update you on this whole process.
dinner was cabbage and mchicha. and it was oh so good. we finished you've got mail and catching fire again.
5/3/14
today was a church day with cilas again. this time nick went with me. it was pretty much the same thing on repeat. honorable mentions… we were called on to introduce ourselves again. the tried to translate everything into english for us until i told cilas to tell them that it was unnecessary. it was pretty annoying. however, i was thankful for it for a little while because i was able to understand a completely tanzanian experience. they had already sang multiple times and done the offering where everyone comes up to the front and drops their money/envelope into the wooden bin. then they sang again and then they made an announcement that they needed 500,000 tsh to finish the building and this guy thought they could do it today. 500,000 tsh in one day from just the people in this room?!? anyways, he was up there (with the translator) and they called up groups of people one by one to come up to the front and give money or to promise to bring a certain amount of money. so these groups, all old men, old women, young men, young women. anddddd visitors. it was extremely awkward. they people there were even hesitant to go up to the front. he was calling out everyone! so nick and i thought it was pretty funny so i told him up next they were going to say all visitors from america. all women from america who teach at biashara secondary school. all men from new york with a beard who teach at kidinda. it was totally obnoxious. so they definitely did not get 500,000 but they did get more money at least. after church we went to cilas’ aunts house and had lunch. little bananas, rice, beans, and potatoes. then we went to his house to greet his mothers. then we finally made it back here.
it was exhausting on tanzanian standards and nick and i came back and went straight to our beds. i talked to mom for a little. went outside and played frisbee with some kiddos and then talked to krisit, wendy, moosie, lemon, chuck for a while. internet was doing great today! so it was so much fun and a much needed talk with them tonight. i am so excited to get back!!
5/4/14
i actually have tons of stuff to get done. so now i can check off the blog for the week. i need to get my final made up. i am trying to make it helpful for them but also easier on me to grade since i need to get them back to the students quickly… so i can leave! i need to fill out some insurance paperwork which requires printing and scanning so that will be interesting. select the pictures i want to get printed for the students/ school and get them printed. these are all things on my its-been-fun-but-get-me-outta-here to do list :) see you next week!
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