This week started out very hot; we made liberal use of our spray bottle, hoped for a breeze and drank as much water as we could. We even brought the spray bottle in, to the amusement of other teachers. We forgot to bring a deck of cards and have been searching for some since we arrived, and found none in the big city. Being a deeply religious country they have proven to be very hard to find; Gambling is a sin! We were shocked and very excited to find some right under our noses in the little shop we visit most days. After we finished dinner we pulled out the cards for our first game of dishes. Almost as soon as we started, it seems we had indeed made God unhappy. Sasha though she saw a flash of light in the distance but wasn’t sure so we continued on. As we played the flashes got more intense and began to be accompanied by deep rolling thunder. We forged on determined to finish our game (which Sasha won). Then came the soft pitter patter of rain on our aluminum roof. We had been told that there was no chance it would start raining until December at the earliest. We ran outside startling our resident porch watchmen who looked at us like we were crazy for being excited for rain. They had quickly moved to immediately outside our door. We gave them cushions to sit on, then walked out into the shower in our PJs and smelled that wonderful smell that can only be experienced after a first rain. We took a walk down to the Football pitch and watched as the lightning snaked its way across the sky. The thunder occasionally rolled on for 20 seconds or more. The air was fresh and cool, and we could see stars for the first time. Its never cloudy, but there are too many particulates in the air usually. We came back to the house slightly dripping but happy to have been reminded of our rainy Seattle. And yes, we did play “The Rains Down in Africa”. Hopefully the rain will help our two little bean sprouts grow big and strong!
At the school we were able to wow one of our fellow teachers (Justice) with the laser pointer that we brought from home and he was, in turn, able to take it to his physics class for a demonstration on the properties of light. They kept asking, “but what is it for? Why did you buy a laser?””for fun” is not a satisfactory answer. We asked if they knew any puns- Sasha was considering informing her class as to why Helium, Curium, and Barium are the three medical elements (because if you can’t helium, and you can’t curium, you barium!) but it has proven best to test things like this out on teachers first. She did have to explain but got a chuckle at the end. Ryan asked “why is 6 afraid or 7?” to very confused looks. After repeating the punch line twice, we got knee-slapping, rib-aching, head-back laughter.
Sasha brought the French Press again, and the social studies teacher brought the coffee grounds. Justice says he is lying about enjoying it as he never drinks it at home, but she decides he is truthful about sharing her passion. Most are excited, and always add about 2 heaping teaspoons to a small cup. The boredom has been difficult, but this month is Inktober so Sasha has a new , drawing every day.
Our students are starting to warm up to us, or at least understand what we are saying in class sometimes. Some of them even laugh at our jokes! If we write them on the board. Since the start of the year we have been telling students to come to us for help after school. This has been especially frustrating when we get back quizzes and homeworks that are regularly under 30% correct (the teachers say, once 40% kinda get it, youre good). Late this week though we had a 7 or 8 students who came by for tutoring. It was great to teach them in a more relaxed setting where they could ask the questions they were too afraid to ask in class. This was especially inspiring since earlier in the week around half the students walked out of Sashas form 3 class. Turns out they had decided to drop chemistry. Sasha was unsure of the rules, but turns out they can drop after the third term. So they had decided to drop chemistry, but since they cannot yet, were being forced to sit through class “incase they discover are good at it”. She wants them out of class, as teaching a dedicated 15 students is easier than an unenthusiastic 40. She gave a quiz to see where they are at, and only 5 began doing it right away. She had to walk around and demand students produce paper, and then to take away textbooks and notebooks from other classes. They write down all questions first before attempting any- it is infuriating! Many would stare into the distance. One boy walked forward with his hand under his shirt “where are you going?” “I must ring the bell” “No you don’t, sit down” but he had made it to the door and ran for the hills. After 40 minutes of pushing them forward, she gave a 5 minute, 2 minute, 1 minute warning. She came to collect and students refused to give them up. She gave a brief review of Ionic and covalent bonds, and said you learned this last year, see me if you don’t know it. It was the two cleverest kids that came by after school to say they did not understand, dragging along the textbooks, so that is very disappointing.
At home more and more locals are starting to recognize us and we are rarely charged the Mzungu price anymore. Small steps! We have been pushing to get a more varied menu for some time and we finally got our chance this week to teach our cooks how to make Asian fried rice. They seemed very skeptical when we told them we would add the vegetables to the rice and even more confused when we broke a few eggs into the mixture. Usually everything is served separately. We gave them a plate to share as well and asked them to tell us what they thought of it. We thought it was fantastic. They still haven’t commented on it. In less happy news we have noticed an odd pattern with the various creepy crawlies that visit us in the night. They seem to come in waves. There will be nights, even several nights in a row where there are no critters to speak of. But some nights we are suddenly visited by a swarm of little bugs that seem to perch on our nets and then die in mass quantities. Other nights we listen to the scurry of cockroaches as we fall asleep. Last night, Sasha reached for her waterbottle right next to her head, inside the mosquito net. It moved. It was a cockroach. It scurried to her knee where it stayed. Sasha froze not wanting to kick at it and have it go the wrong way. She settled on shaking, and it ran under the bed. She turned the light on and found another sitting on the waterbottle. It paused then ran to the mosquito net and hung there. Ryan got up from his bed, opened the door for the cat, while selecting a shoe. It ran underneath the bed as well, were the cat lay in wait. A few seconds later, we hear loud munching. One cockroach down. We faded into an uneasy sleep. Last night we also saw our first, second, third and fourth centipedes of the trip. They come in numbers one night and disappear for several nights afterward. The only constant is the buzz of the mosquitos.
Ticket to Anywhere 