Earthquakes, midterms, and IST

14-4-2010

I can say I succesfully survived my first earthquake without incident. Last wednesday or thrusday at like 3 in the morning i woke to the sound of my wine bottle candle holders falling over, and my initial reaction was "crap, someones in my house." I was still half asleep so it took me a moment to realize that actually the whole house was shaking. I got up when it stopped, and my neighbors were shouting at me to see if I was scared or OK. I assured them I was both, and then after surveying the mess, I promptly fell back asleep.In the morning I confronted the mess, which was lots of peices of bricks from the dividing wall of my duplex all over my floor and desk. Thankfully my candle holders were intact. Later my neighbors told me it lasted for over a minute so I must of slept through most of it because all that I just related occupied the span of maybe 5 or 10 seconds. Hopefully that will be the last, though it did provide a new topic for conversing with my neighbors for the next couple days.

After the earthquake, I finished grading the midterms that my kids had taken the week before and I was pretty bummed with the results. I gave form 1 physics an almost identical exam to the first one, since weve not made much progress, and a few people did really well, but the vast majority, even some of my better students, did pretty bad. Then form 1 math, the results were about as expected but none of the students who usually did well got higher than a 50, which Im kind of confused about. Some different students did well though which was a pleasant suprise. And then in form 3 physics. I think only 3 or 4 kids (out of 13) passed (which is only a 35 at my school). I was kinda bummed with these results too because I thought they had been doing better in class lately. So now im a bit worried how much all my students will remember when I get back from training because it will have been about a month since our last class.

But right now I'm at IST (in service training) and am having a good time so far. The first two days was just volunteers, and it was great just hearing their stories and being able to relate to their frustrations and getting some good ideas of how to tackle some of my problems. Our counterparts (teachers from our schools that we choose because we thought they would be good to work with on our secondary projects) arrived today, so the dynamic changed a bit and all of our sessions were done in a funny mix of english and kiswahili, but its cool to meet the other counterparts especially the counterparts of the people I hang out with the most. I had heard tons about their counterparts and its nice to finally meet them. We've been eating heaps as well and good food too, and I expect that trend to continue till the end of training. So far Ive had ice cream 3 nights in a row.

Thats all for now, I'll try to post again before I leave here next week, so until then, good day.

New furniture, testing, and pumzika sana

30-3-2010

Hello again. I just got some more new furniture so now my house is
even cosier (though the bats are still there). I got a little book
shelf and a taller kitchen table so i dont have to hunch while
chopping. With a little luck and some thought out arranging of things
i may finally be able to completely unpack. And the furniture was only
2 days late, which is kind of like being done early or at least on
time. He said he was all done and to come get it so me and some
students went to get it but the table was still just boards being cut,
but he still managed to deliver it on the back of his bike an hour
later. They laquered it in my house but at least i got it. Ill post
some photos of the new arangement soon.

I just want to say that as im typing this the teacher sitting next to
me is eating sugar with a spoon.

But anyway, we started midterm exams last week. Ive already graded the
physics exams, and form 1 improved a bit but form 3 regressed a bit.
They havent been cheating as much though, i think because ive been
writing the names of the cheaters down and theyre being punished (ie,
beaten). But i just found a new way they cheat this morning. They
usually write 2 copies of their exams, one rough and one to submit.
Then the students tear the name off the rough copy and give it to
another student who then says its their rough copy. Not a bad idea
except that the handwriting is drastically different.

Since exams started we arent teaching until after easter break. But
the day the school reopens, i start a 2 week training, so ill have
gone a month or more without teaching by the time i start again. So i
plan on heaps of relaxing (-pumzika - to relax). That training will be
super hectic i think, but at least its a break from the frustrations
of teaching. And hopefully ill return refreshed and full of new ideas
to use in the classroom.

For now, adieu.

Photos and Classroom Discipline

20-3-2010

I uploaded some photos to a web album, but I mad it unlisted, so email me if you want the link because I have to share it with you.

And in the classroom. My classes, mainly form 1, are quite unruly, I think largely because I dont beat them like they expect. I know they expect it because when someone is misbehaving and I ask them to stop, they say to just hit them. And usually, its not just one, or even a few who are misbehaving, but like half the class. They just shout and are really obnoxiuos. All the streams of form 1 do this, but 1b is the worst.

In all of them, I threaten to leave if they dont settle down, but then like ten minutes later they are at it again. On tuesday 1b was particularly bad, and I probably should have left then, but instead I said that the first time i told them to quiet down tomorow I was leaving. So on wednesday, I got them to settle down when I got there, but literally as soon as I turned around to write something on the blackboard, they started shouting again. So I told them I had warned them enough and was leaving.

Then I think they tried to tell on me but that plan backfired. The Academic Mistress made them all kneel with their hands above their heads and then went around smacking them in the back. THen another teacher went around smacking their hands with a stick (the normal punishment) and then they were all made to apologize to me. It was quite the punishment, and I had mixed feelings because I think my punishment may have helped, but nevertheless, the next day, all my form 1 classes were impecabbly behaved, 1b in particular.

Thats all for now. Adios

Mahjong, soccer, cooking for one

4/3/2010

Hello all. Its been a little while since I've written but things are still going well. We had monthly exams last week which was basically just two marathon days of exams for all the students. My form 1 math and form 3 physics classes did fairly well, though my form 1 physics did quite bad. The couple physics lessons I have taught form 1 have been far and away my worst lessons. The combination of them not knowing english and me not knowing swahili makes it quite tough. After their exam, I decided to not teach them physics for a couple more weeks, hopefully they will get more used to my teaching and my swahili will improve enough to have more productive lessons at that time.

We had another soccer game vs the students on tuesday, and again, we lost, 3-0 I think. But since the last game, the other people started an actual team, and have been practicing heaps and had subs, so I was kind of the odd man out. I didn't get in til the last 20 or so minutes, but when I did, I played substantially better than I did the first time out. I think it was a combination of playing on a better field and playing for only minutes. It was good fun, but they try to practice I think almost every night. They were playing a different school tonight, but I was so behind on laundry and I didn't want to get hurt before hiking my mountain this weekend, so I stayed home.

While I was doing laundry though, I also baked my first solo loaf of bread, and I must say it turned out quite well. So dinner tonight was bread, peanut butter, and cucumber. This wasn't an ordinary cucumber though. It was round, the size of a small apple, but when you sliced it, sure enough it was a cucumber. Cooking for one is rough though. It seems I go from eating bread only one night to a massive mound of food the next, but I guess it balances out? Like last night, I made this awesome eggplant. It was a bit spicy and the sauce was awesome. But it was probably easily enough for at least 2, if not 3 people. I was originally planning to eat half and then reheat the rest today, but it was just so good, I kept adding “just a spoonful more” until it was all gone.

Thiefs, tire shoes, and banana bread

14-3-2010
Good morning. Sorry its been a bit since my last post, i had one typed
and was going to upload it when i went to town last week but there was
no power. Ill upload that post next time i go.

I went to mnada, our big market that comes twice a month, on friday.
It was extra crowded because its bean season so everyone has money.
When i got there some guy was being a jerk, but thats kinda normal.
But when he walked away another guy was like "wheres ur phone?" and it
wasnt in my pocket anymore so me m that guy started running after
whomever took it. Then the guy who was being a jerk n i think was the
thief just walked up n gave me my phone back. It was really weird. The
only explanation i could think of was that since he didnt get away
cleanly, he didnt want to be murdered by a mob of angry tanzanians,
which is the common fate of unlucky thieves here.

Other than that, the rest of the day was great. I hung out with tara n
amy, two other nearby volunteers who finish soon, n theyre both full
of energy n heaps of fun. I also bought a kithenge to make into a new
shirt next time i go to town. And i got my first pair of tire shoes.
Theyre sandals literally made from strips of old tires and are what
everyone wears here. Im walking around now as i type trying to break
them in a bit.

I also baked a loaf of banana bread the other day that turned out
perfectly. Im getting the hang of this "cooking" stuff, although it
sometimes still takes a bit to get my fire going.

Thats all for now, im gonna go see if the pipe where i get water has
started working yet n if so the rest of the morning will be spent
carrying water n doing laundry. And stay tuned for pictures. Last time
i had internet in town i set up a picassa gallery n uploaded some
pictures but ran out of time before i could make it public. I think
ill be back there in two weeks n ill try n do it then. For now,
cheers.

Showering in the rain

I had a full week of teaching this past week that was probably my best
week of teaching yet though thats not saying a ton. It was also the
first week that i taught my full load of courses now that form one is
under way. I think it should be a manageable load once i get a lesson
planning routine down. Like today, i wanted to do all my lessons for
the week, but i was invited to lunch at someones house. I had done
about 2 lessons n then i left for lunch around 1, thinking id be back
by 4 n could finish then. Well i didnt get back til after 6 so im
trying to do at least one more so ill be covered for tomorow n
tuesday. It was an awesome lunch though. It started raining right when
i got home, n when it rains here it really rains. Since my shower area
is outside, its a pain to go there when its raining so i just lathered
up in my courtyard, in the rain. It was pretty cold so i dont know
that ill do it agaim though. I came in though n put on these awesomely
warm socks my grandma mailed me, made some tea, n now im about to
finish my lessons n go to sleep. And also im all booked for the world
cup, flight with kenya air n camping at some hostel, so now i just
need the OK from peace corps, n ill send them my request next time i
go to town.

mobile updating test

I think im now able to update with my phone so i should be able to make more frequent though probably shorter posts because typing with a phone takes ages.