Trying To Recap 3 Month Challenge

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone. I'm going to try to catch up on another 3 months. It's hard to believe I've almost been here 6 months. Anyway, here goes...

I'm working at a senior secondary school in Basse (Nasir Ahmadiyya Muslim Senior Secondary School). To summarize, the 10th graders didn't start class until the 8th week of school. So I had them for 4 weeks before Tobaski and exams. Not ideal, but things went okay. I'm teaching two 10th grade math classes (they say "maths") and two 11th grade computer classes (mostly just Microsoft Word and how to type). It's hard to try to motivate the kids, which is surprising. I imagined going somewhere that looks like the bush of East Africa and teaching kids in a one room school that have never had the chance to go to school and would be really excited to be in school. Instead I am in a large town with kids who would rather be playing soccer ("football") or who have tons of chores to do (the girls) at home so they can't study. However, sometimes I can see that things are making sense and it makes me feel better. This next term I'm going to try to start staying after school and tutor anyone who's interested for an hour or so each day.

I've been getting more interested in agriculture work. If you haven't heard, there's a bit of a food crisis going on. Rice is more expensive and people are still poor. We're encouraged to start gardens in our compounds so our families will have some vegetables in the food bowl without having to buy them in the market (if they even have access to a market). I want to get my school to start a garden. They have space where they used to garden, but they just don't do it anymore. Maybe because the pump is broken. Not sure. But I'm going to look into that more. I mean, not everyone loves maths as much as me and there aren't a ton of jobs here for people who know math. However, if the kids can get some practical education in their agricultural sciences classes, that will be very useful in the future. I'm also trying to take care of a tree nursery that a couple of agriculture volunteers started in Basse as well as a garden.

My host family is nice, especially my host dad. He's tiny and nice and I love him. He tells stories sometimes about how he used to play basketball and he was very good. He was a guard and he was very quick. And he was very good at three point shots. He used to train all the time. And then another time he went into this story about how sometimes at the end of games they would have free shots and sometimes they would choose him. He then proceeded to show me how she shot them...granny style. People laughed, but he was very good. Like I said, he's awesome.

People here think everyone in America is rich. They don't believe that there are homeless people. Everyone has a car. I am rich even though I just got out of college. No one has debt. No one works that much ever. It's sad. And frustrating. Everyone talks about how they want to go to America or Europe. They don't understand how expensive it is and that you need a good education to do well. They think that even if they were farmers in America they would be rich. They don't understand that it's hard for small farmers to make a living anymore. Or how much time people spend at work. I'm rambling. Anyway, it's frustrating.

Day to day schedule (lately at least)...
Wake up around 6:30 or 7. Go water the garden and tree seedlings. Come back and shower and have breakfast. Go to school. Do whatever I do that day. Come home. Eat my lunch around 2 or 3. Get really tired. Usually take a short nap and sweat. Or sit outside with my family. Go water again around 5. Come home and read or something (my family watches tv...I'm not really interested). Go to the Fula kid from Guinnea that sells boiled egg or potato sandwiches. Talk to him in Fula and teach him a few English phrases. Eat a sandwich or two. Go home. Maybe read some more or write some lesson plans, etc. Go to bed (no consistent time, just whenever I'm tired).

Someone who wrote a letter asked what I do for leisure. Well, I don't really exercise because I've been pretty tired. I'm planning on adjusting my diet when I get back to site. That should help. But it's also cold season now so I've had more energy because of that. I don't play soccer, because the guys pretty much already play it all the time. And I don't want to encourage them. I want them to spend some of that time studying. I read a good amount. A couple of books I would recommend are Ancient Futures by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and some other guy, Benazir Bhutto's autobiography. I've read some more but I can't think of them right now. Oh, but back to leisure...gardening. Talking to my host dad and attempting Pulaar conversations with other family members. Biking sometimes. Playing my mandolin. There's a girl nearby who also plays the mando, so we get together and play sometimes. She's much better than me and has taught me a few things, so that's been cool. That's pretty much it. And I'm sure that sounds boring, but it's actually really nice. I don't miss television or even the internet that much. It's nice to be able to communicate with people back home and share information about what my experience has been like, but other than that I enjoy not having it. I like the simplicity.

Okay, so it's almost midnight. I should probably go. No big plans for tomorrow, but I'm tired. I do, however, plan on going to the beach in the morning. If i can't be home I'll at least be on the beach. I'll try to post again before I head back to site if I think about it. I'll rant about tourists giving out candy (minties) or pens or any of a number of other things or something like that. Or tell about what kind of food I get. Or put up some pictures and put a link to them. That would be good. Okay, well I hope everyone is well back home. Thanks to everyone who has written me. I really appreciate it. Mail is great here. That's it. Take care.