For
the past 4 weeks, I’ve been surprised/proud of the fact that I’m not going stir
crazy in my village due to my new resolve to be here and do stuff without PC.
This week, it’s been harder to wake up, and I’m more tired earlier because the
sun (all of a sudden) decided to go down like 2 hours earlier than normal. BAM,
WINTER HAS ARRIVED, it says maniacally. This lethargy also points to the fact
that I’m starting to get antsy being here for so long. I can feel it mostly in
my jaw and my temples- a tingling in my skull bones that indicates that I’m
ready to get out of here soon. I’ve almost run out of dog food and Mpesa (money
in a sort of phone bank account); that’s how long I’ve been here. And adding to
this is the fact that school is starting to drive me a tiny bit bananas by
cancelling classes so that the netball and soccer teams can practice. And one
of the other teachers whacked the stuffing out of the form As today for failing
their science test. They showed me the swollen welts on their hands. Good thing
the alternatives to corporal punishment pamphlet is coming.
The
girls’ club is going well. I’ve introduced secondary targets in the third
class, and my bread is a big hit. Every week, I experiment a little differently
(eggs make it drier, etc).
English
at the orphanage is still going strong. With the older group, we’ve been
practicing describing what people are wearing. They had a workbook we were
going through, but it’s gotten a bit too hard/obscure for them. Having to
explain what every other thing (how do you explain a circus to kids who have
never left a rural village?) is.
I’ve
worked it out, and out of the 7 weeks of school left, I have only 27 days of
school days, as I’m missing a bunch for future long-weekend adventures like
going to Maseru to get my new passport, a murder mystery party, and Bushfire, a
music festival in Swaziland. That’s not even countin the unforetold days off for
sports, snow, and days I won’t be giving exams at the end of the semester.
The
tall grass is a beautiful golden purple, and some pieces whack me in the eye,
it’s so tall. The spiky-seeded plants are also releasing their spiky seeds,
resulting in an always-covered Bo with these long, thin seed pods. And my shoes
and pants are also constantly covered with these things
My
new method of noise control is to write down kids’ names who won’t shut up in
class and keep them inside for lunch detention, which means that they have to
eat their lunch in silence in the staff room while I keep watch. Sometimes it
works, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s an experiment in progress.
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