IST. Iringa. Orion.

Hello Everyone.
I haven't updated in a while, and I have quite a bit to talk about, I guess. Nothing exciting, just a lot of little stuff.

First of all, my IST started last week in Iringa and goes until this Saturday. IST is in-service training which includes more technical training and also PEPFAR training: that is, HIV/AIDS training. You have to bring a "counterpart" - Tanzanian buddy- to IST. I, at first, asked the English teacher at my school. She said yes, which was super exciting because we get along great and she is super active in the school. It was great until I saw that her name was on the "invigilating schedule for midterm exams, which was happening the second week of my IST. So, I just checked her travel plans last Friday, the day I had to leave, and she told me that she couldn't go anymore. 2 hours before I needed to leave. Oh great... Everything worked out fine in the long run, I ended up inviting a woman who I don't talk to that much: but I realize that she's just really shy. And it's been very nice getting to know her this last week. I'm not upset at all that the first woman didn't work out.

But the real reason I told you this story is to highlight a huge difference between Tanzanian and American culture. The first woman obviously knew that she wasn't going to be able to come for about 3 days before I needed to leave, because that is when the invigilating schedule was written. But she didn't tell me. She never actual told me. I needed to ASK her about it. At first I was furious. Absolutely irate. And I'm still annoyed when I think about it. But that's just one cultural difference I need to get used to. Tanzanians aren't the most direct people in the world. It's OK. I just need to watch for the subtle signs that say "hey, I don't think I can go" instead of the big signs. Tanzania: the place where common courtesy means something entirely different.

So, IST has been very beneficial thus far in many ways. First of all, all the sessions have been really helpful. In a mixed group of Tanzanian/Americans we've been able to talk about corporate punishment (the pros and cons...it was a pretty even debate: the Tanzanians supported it, the Americans didn't) and alternatives to corporal punishment (since almost anything is legal here, there were some interesting suggestings: embarass the kids in class, throw their notebooks out the window if the aren't taking notes, make them chote-haul- water or do a lot of farm-work if they're caught cheating on an exam, etc. The tried and true method of sending kids to the principal is counterproductive here because then the headmaster will just hit them...and we're trying to avoid hitting.), we've also started talking a lot about HIV and AIDS, which is really interesting. The infection rate in Mbeya is about 12%, and the national rate is about 6%. Which means, in my area, 12% of the population has a debilitating, deadly disease which is preventable. That is sad. But it is also encouraging. I work with highschoolers. Most of the are uninfected. Which means that if I can give them information and skills that allow them to stay uninfected then the next generation will have a lower infection rate. And then lower during the next. That's the plan at least. And to help implement this plan, my counterpart and I want to start a "health club". Which would just be me and here talking about any health issues that the students may need to know about: malaria, nutrition, gender equality, relationship skills, and of course safe-sex and HIV and AIDS. I think since I'm a female and their all females, it will a great chance for the students to ask me questions that they aren't necessarily comfortable asking other Tanzanians. There will also be an anonymous Q & A box. Then the best 5 girls from the club will be invited to the conference.

The second exciting part of the conference is that I met up with one of the other volunteers who is going home. She has 3 dogs. I am getting one of them! His name is Orion. I know nothing about him. But I am super excited.

It's very nice to be around Americans, eat American food (I had a salad and icecream bar tonight!), go to bars, and speak some English, but to be honest I am very much look forward to going back to site- despite the stack of 150 physics and maths midterms that will be waiting for me! It's nice to get out, but I do miss everyone. I miss the students. I miss the teachers. I miss my own house and eating ugali and greeting everyone in the morning. And being around Americans is a little exhausting. American culture is a little exhausting. I like washing my feet, reading a book for an hour, and then going to bed at 9:30 pm. Trying to keep up with Americans who like to go to bars, is tiring. It's fun, once in a while. But I am definitely looking forward to returning to site, and returning to the calmness of my school and my routine. Especially now that I have a dog. maybe I can add a 5am run to my routine! We'll see.

Anyways, thats what's happening in Africa. I hape everyone at home is doing well and enjoying the beginning of spring. Happy late birthday Mommy, happy early birthday Danny, and Happy Easter to all! Eat an extra cadbury egg, drink some water straight from the faucet without boiling and filtering, speaking extra-fast English, watch some Family Guy and other incredibly American shows , and wear shorts that show your knees for me and remember that I miss you all and will be thinking about everyone!

Heri ya Pasaka kwa wote. Mungu akubariki!

Clubs, Labs, Midterms.

So every Monday night we have "subject clubs" at my school. During the subject clubs, students ask other students questions and try to solve problems. I switch up between going to the Math club and the Physics club. This week, I went to the physics club. One of the questions was about friction, which I just finished with my IIIA class. So one of my students stood up and answered the questions, full with explanation on Normal Force, vectors, and advantages and disadvantages of friction. She even pretended to slip when she said that without friction we wouldn't be able to walk. It was pretty awesome.

I held my first physics lab with my physics class yesterday. Despite being in the same laboratory space as the chemistry lab (which is equipped with battery acid and other nasty chemicals) no body got injured, we didn't start a fire, and we relatively successfully completed the lab. The students had never used a triple beam balance, so we learned how to do that and then how to use my calculator to get sin and cosine. They had a lot of fun.

Thats about all I've been up to. midterms are next week, but I will not be at school, so another teaching is supervising my class. Next week is "In-Service Training". We go to Iringa for 2 weeks with a Tanzanian buddy to learn about HIV/AIDS, writing grants, and farming. It should be fun.

Hope all is well back in the states.

Hot puddles and Bat Caves

Last weekend, I met up with some other volunteers in Mbeya to start planning a girl's leadership conference that we'll be holding in May (exciting, isn't it?) Anyways, as part of the weekend we planned to hike to these hot springs that we've heard all about! So keep in mind that we're in Africa, so white people stick out, especially in large groups. We get off the dala, and are waiting for other people to join us when a guy comes up to us and tells us we need to get a letter from the village council in order to go to the hot springs. BS. Then he told us that the letter cost 50000 shillings - about $50. Total BS! So we just left and start hiking. About an hour later 3 guys catch up to us and tell us we need to pay! We ended up getting the price down yo 10000 shillings for all 12 of us, so it wasn't too bad. But the hot springs were literally warm puddles. Very unimpressive. The bat cave on the other hand, was very cool. It was worth it. Then this weekend, we hiked to a waterfall pretty close to me. It was really awesome.

So besides hiking, things are going well. Like I said, we're planning on girl's conference for early June. I'll bring 5 of my students to Mbeya town for a week, to meet with students from other schools all around the area. We're planning sessions like computer skills, HIV/AIDs awareness, leadership, study skills, team building, womens health: things like that. It should be a lot of fun. The tough part will be choosing which 5 girls to bring.

Teaching is going well. I gave my first math test last week. The grades ranged from 10%-98%. The average of one class was a 76% so I was pleased with that. The average of the other classes was around a 36%, which, unfortunately, is very average here. My physics class asked my to teach them and review material from Forms 1 and 2 on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I've been enjoying that. It's very relaxed and I have 3 hours, between 8pm and 11pm, to teach them and do problems without having to worry about time. They seem to enjoy it to. I think for my math classes, I'll have a once weekly, mandatory "problem" session during prep time (between 8pm and 11pm students are required to be in the classroom studying). I'll hopefully start that soon.

I've finally started figuring out my student's schedule. It's ridiculous. The wake up every morning at 6 am to do school cleanliness, except Monday's and Thursdays when they wake up at 5:30 for mchakamchaka - running. Then they are in the classrooms from 7 am - 2 pm with a 40 minute chai break at 10 am. 2pm-3pm is lunch. Except for Mondays, which is clubs, students then have to be in the classroom from 3pm - 5pm studying during what is known as "remedial time". Then from 5 - 8pm they have some free time and dinner. 8pm - 11 pm is prep time. Then they are done. And have to be up the next morning at 6 am. Isn't that crazy, they are so busy. Except for Tuesdays and Thursdays when I am teaching until 11, I am usually in bed by 10 and up at 6:30. I get like 2 and a half hours more sleep then them and have a lot less to do during the day. Crazy.

But my time on the internet is almost up. I hope everyone is doing well and the cold weather hasn't bogged you down too much!

The Moment You Have All Been Waiting For...

PICTURES:

Go here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2389169&id=9119874&l=41e70cadef

I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them. Actually, I did not take a lot of them. I have realized that the best way to get photos is to let one of the kids borrow the camera for a little while. 20 minutes later, you have 200 photos. Sweet.

A WHAT bit your hear?

So I am getting more and more confident with Swahili every day. And, of course, you all know that I'm an exceptionally classy human being. Both that confidence and that classiness took a serious blow the other day...

The other day, my 13 old neighbor came over the other day to braid my hair and to talk and to visit. After she finished braiding my hair, I was scratching my hear and she asked me (keep in mind, this is all in swahili), "are you trying to undo the braids". I wasn't trying to undo the braids, but my head was itchy. It was itchy because I hadn't washed my hair in 2 days. But I didn't think I needed to tell her this so I lied and said "my head is itchy because an mboo bit it". I was trying to say a mosquitobiyt it. Mbu means mosquito, but my neighbor just stared at me, obviously in shock. Apparently, it is very important to annunciate and say mbu because mbu and mboo mean two very different things. So, long story short: I just told a 13 year old girl that my head was itchy because a penis bit it. Classy Katie, classy. Now I know the difference between mboo and mbu. And I won't make that mistake again. I'm an idiot. Hopefully the girl understands my mistake, and doesn't think I'm this crazy weird American.

So for all of you who are anxiously waiting for pictures, good news is that I have many to post: from the Form 1 welcome dance and from my site. Bad news: internet cafe is down today and I'm using my friends modem internet, but since he needs to pay for internet by the byte, it's super expensive to post pictures, so I'm not going to post them today. Hopefully Tuesday, but this is Africa, no guarantees. Sorry.

Other than that, things are going well. Teaching is going. Slowly and surely. My students are a lot of fun, I've gotten someone to teach me how to cook, which is great. I'll come home and make everyone ugali...the traditional Tanzanian food: cornstarch and water. Yummy. Besides the occasional social faux-pais, my Swahili is improving. So things are good! Miss you all. Hopefully there will be some pictures up on Facebook by Tuesday, but we'll see!

Men with Fish

Story #1 - So I was on the daladala today heading into Tukuyu. I was standing because there were no seats left. A man in the front, sitting next to the driver, started talking to me. By talking, I really mean, yelling across the dala so that I could hear him. I told him my name was Megan (my Tanzanian alias when I don't want to give people my real name) and that I was coming from Kyela (where I say I teach when I don't want people to know where I live) and we went through all the formalities of introductions in Tanzania- still yelling across the dala. He was a nice guy. We had a good conversation. When I went to get off the dala he was like "oh wait, let me give you a fish." At first, I couldn't really connect the Swahili words together and asked him to repeat it. "Let me give you a fish. Do you eat fish?" Afraid that taking a fish from a Tanzanian is the same as accepting a marriage proposal, I politely denied. But I thought it was funnny, in America, would you ever offer to give a random stranger a fish? Ps- the fish here aren't your nice slabs of salmon we see in the States. It's a dried, whole fish - eyes and all, tons of bones, and not very yummy. It's like saying "hey, you're me new friend, let me give you a can of sardines". That's pretty normal here. It made me laugh.

Story #2: Last night I went down to the basketball court at school because I heard people bouncing a ball and I was bored. So there were 5 guys just shooting around. Me, making 6 people, allowed them to play a 3 on 3 game, so they invited me to play. I said yes. So imagine this picture: 5 Tanzanian dudes and 1 white girl. Nobody took me seriously. We played seven games of seven. My team won 5 of them. I scored 3-6 of the points in every game. By the end, one of the guys on the other team just kept yelling, "don't let the mzungu get a basket". It was funny because they were so shocked that a white GIRL could beat them at basketball. It was funny and tt was a little of an ego boost too. It was a lot of fun and it was great to get some exercise.

So enough of the stories, and some of the facts. I actually started teaching this past week. A lot more students have showed up, but still not all. I am supposed to have 3 streams of math and 1 stream of physics. Math is going great. The students are starting to be a little more willing to answer m questions, and more importantly are starting to ask their own questions once in a while, which is good. Like I said, I normally teach 3 streams, IIIA, IIIB, and IIIC. On Wednesday, I walked into my IIIC class and there were no desks or charis or students. So I went to the second master and asked what the heck happened to my class. He had no idea. So I went to the Academic mistress. She said she consolidated the IIIC class into IIIA and IIIB but "just for this week" because there still weren't a lot of students in the classes.. WHAT! It's Wednesday! Is it really worth emptying out an entire classroom for 2 days. Apparently. Anyways, that wouldn't have been too big of a deal, but all three classes were at different lessons. So I had to go back and review starting from the second lesson. But, hopefully the students understand well, since many of them were taught the same lesson more that once.

So that's about it. Still no pictures, although I do have a camera. Hopefully next post. But no guarantees. Hope everyone is enjoying the snow and the cold. Go sledding and build a snowman for me!

Teaching

So school opened monday, January 10th. I was expecting to start teaching Monday January 10. As of yesterday, Friday, 20 of the 90 or so form 3 students had arrived to school. On of my classes only had 6 of the 32 students. Once all the students arrive, it'll be a bit tough. I only count 18 desks in the room. I gave them a quiz. The mean was a 58, with the lowest score being a 21. The highest was a 95! What that means...I'm going to have a tough year teaching Form 3 math and physics, when the students don't understand Form 1 physics. I will make so. All of my students seem very nice and I am really excited to have the students back and to be starting work!

Slowly, I am learning the school rules, learning what is expected of me, and learning the school schedule. Some of the more important school rules, as far as I can gather are: polish your shoes everyday, wash your shirt. Being on time isn't quite as important as polished shoes. I feel like an mshamba (redneck) because I haven't polished my shoes since I've been here. I need to get some shoe polish. I have, right now, 21 periods a week, but, according to the schedule, I am only teaching one of the streams physics, and I think I am supposed to be teaching all of Form 3 physics. So, when that glitch is fixed, I will be teaching 27 periods, which is a good amount. Enough to keep me busy without stressing me out.

So, the main purpose of this purpose was to give you my friend Andrew's blog. http://andrewshooktoafrica.blogspot.com Andrew is the closest volunteer to me and has also posted pictures on his blog! The last 5 or 6 are of my site, so you can see the view from my yard. Good news: I will be getting a camera sooner than expected, so hopefullly will be able to start posting pictures. Enjoy the pictures. Maybe next post, i'll be able to post some of my own!



Next week, I am actually going to start teaching (with or without students)