slang.

i have picked up on several words and phrases that many speak here in African / British slang. they often make me laugh.
here are a few:
______________________________________________

will you tick my paper? = will you check my paper?

please go put on your swimming costume = please go put on your swimming suit/trunks

off you go! = go get started!

i left a note in your pigeon hole = i left a note in your mail box

you need a full stop at the end of every sentence = you need a period at the end of every setence.

please, may i use the toilet? = may i please use the restroom?

orphanage.

i hiked an hour to an orphanage today. i was able to play with 30 children between the ages of 1 and 2. children were beating one another with sticks and pushing each other over onto the ground. it became quite obvious that even at a young age it's every man for himself in this place. these children are so defensive as a result of learning how to get what they need in a building where food is slim and housing compacted.

i removed dirt chunks from their mouths. taught them ring-around-the-rosie. held them when tears streamed down their face. and had to turn around to shed tears of my own when i saw them being beaten with a shoe for having done something wrong.

my swahili is not fluent enough to have made any conversation with them. but perhaps the smiles, hugs, and kisses were a greater glimpse of love to them, even without words.

Lord let these children know Your love in their lifetime.

play dough and other class activities.

we are currently working on a science unit and doing a wide variety of experiments. creating things. making things explode. figuring out what a procedure is. today we made play dough. it was quite messy but the kids were quite amazed.

roof-top view.

sitting on the roof-top of our house gives the best view of our neighborhood.

you can faintly see mt. kilimanjaro on a clear day, just beyond the treeline.

there is another level to the roof-top - but this is the hand made ladder i am afraid to climb to get there. due to my previous injury record i'm not willing to try.

things i must get used to.

in numbered order, because it's more fun::

1. unreliable electricity. it often will go out - and with it goes our water source which is accessed by use of an electric pump.

2. the howling of dogs and crowing of roosters between the hours of 3 and 6 a.m.

3. tea / coffee / snack break. every morning at 10:15 all of the teachers are allotted 25 minutes of non-contact time with students. teachers gather in the staff room to consume an African treat and sip on a hot drink. you may ding the bell if you have an announcement for all to hear. laughter is shared before class resumes for the remainder of the day.

4. ensuring that all students wear a hat to the playground. due to the direct sunlight, all students are required to wear a hat when outdoors.

5. teaching the specials. classroom teachers are in charge of teaching art, swimming, p.e., and part of library.

6. students calling me by my first name and being asked phrases in a thick British accent, such as: "Savannah, may i use the toilet?" (the words bathroom and restroom are not used here.)

7. students not wearing shoes in the classroom (due to the dirt and dust it would carry in on our concrete floor).

all such things are part of the adventure!

the first day of school

today was my first full day of school in Tanzania. i joined a P 3/4 (primary third and fourth grade combined) class of 22 energetic children from around the world.

school starts at 7:30 - and ends at 1:05. students just ran for lunch and from there have 'clubs' in the afternoon. each student is required to join a club such as drama, swimming, karate, cricket, etc., which is part of their schooling opportunity.

it is somewhat hard for the students to understand me because i have a strong American accent, i've been told. the majority of the students in the class are from Tanzania, Canada, Sweden, and England, although the majoirty of them speak pretty clear English.

we did multiplication and division. read books. created a volcano with mud and watched it explode. they also managed to yank me into the special education classroom where i did a bit of teaching for the morning.

i'm not so certain what i will do with all of my time. being done with school at 1:05 each day leaves many hours remaining. there is an orphanage about a 30 minute walk away - and my roommate Anne and i are planning to take up baby holding several afternoons in the week.

as my monday concludes and yours begins, may it be well to you as it has been to me.

dirt roads and such.

:://a greater glimpse of tanzania\\::

this is my current home in tanzania.

it is quite large and nice. sitting on the rooftop is the best view.

this is the shantee where our watchman sits and sleeps from 7:00 p.m. - 6:00 a.m. while guarding the gate in front of our house. there is also a jagged glass edge around the top of the wall, which would be quite painful in an attempt to jump the gate.

our kitchen.

my bathroom. the first time i took a shower - i pulled the curtain across and it went flying to the other end. it covers about 1/4 of the shower. i laughed.

this is a hand-made broom - used to broom the yard and the front porch.

this is a bundle of bananas i purchased from a local market this morning. they are about 2 - 3 inches long each. altogether they cost 1,000 schillings, which is equivalent to $1.00. they taste sweeter than the average banana. on a daily basis you will see tanzanian women walking the roads, carrying bundles of bananas on their head. if you stop and ask to buy bananas from them, they are cheaper than purchasing them in the market. the additional travel time (walking distance) it takes to deliver the bananas to the market, the higher the cost becomes.

this is the dirt road i walk from my house to get to school. it takes about 7 minutes one way.

the beginnings of africa.

after long hours of restless flights i have landed in tanzania, africa. the days have seemed quite surreal to this point, as i attempt to adjust to much. here is a quick glimpse at the beginning pieces of an adventure.

before leaving America, i took a ride on a giraffe!

this is my bedroom.

this is the view out my bedroom window onto the porch.

when walking out of my classroom, this is a view of the hallway.

i'm beginning to settle here, although it will continue to take some time. i hope to learn some swahili soon, so i can communicate greetings to the locals who are very welcoming. with a lack of appetite, i have not consumed any food beyond peanut butter and jelly, although in the coming days i will have to break outside of my comfort zone. i'm beginning to accept the fact that dirt will always remain between my toes until i return home, and that a hairdryer is a luxury which has gone to the wayside.

on monday i will begin observing and teaching in a 3rd/4th grade classroom, while meeting cute faces of children from around the world.

welcome.

(i apologize the pictures are so small. the internet access here is limited and slow. i will attempt to do better in the future!)

haunted house.

last night my brother, cousin, and i went to a haunted house in argyle (population 100). 

YOU KNOW YOU LIVE IN A SMALL TOWN WHEN::

the various people jumping out of corn stalks and operating rooms with chain saws call you by name in extra creepy voices.

it feels good to be home!

miss conlee's last day.

yesterday concluded my time at lincoln elementary.

my students threw me a surprise pizza party complete with balloons and chaos! root beer floats topped it off at the end of the day.

laughter was had. hugs shared. tears shed.

i will miss these kids. each of them are neat in their own way. 

each of them have great worth and abilities. 

the order of operations and the use of the comma will all be irrelevant -  if they forever remember they are worth it.

 every day. 

children. love them.

i have spent this week floating around to various classrooms. 

observing. playing. creating. laughing. 

monday was spent in kindergarten measuring construction paper bands around children's heads and attaching the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria. thank you for sailing the ocean blue Christopher. 

i continually heard "TEACHER TEACHER, can you help me cut my sails out? there are a lot of corners and their real hard with me scissors.'

and "TEACHER i just cut my sail off? will my ship still sail?

today i was working with kindergartners in a special education classroom.

"thomas, what is this a picture of?"

"i know. um. i know. i know that's a cat-a-ma-pillar! i like me one of them!"

"good job thomas!

this job is irreplaceable. for all of the time and energy it takes. i'd do it all over again. 

i love me some of them children. 

paper chain.

my paper chain tells me i have 8 days remaining in this student teaching placement.

after days like the past two, i am thankful for the number 8.

finding myself exhausted at the end of every day after working with defiant kids.

staying up late to prepare for the next, and even oversleeping due to a lack of rest. 

what will it take for me to slow down?

this all being over?

tanzania?

time itself is unchanging although what is required and consuming of our time changes. daily. moment by moment. 

time feels as if it has a grip on me now. 

time before the paper chain is completed. torn. and finished.

time i beg of you to slow yourself. to a speed where the things around me are no long a blur but a blessing. 

when will it stop.

when will i see.

when will i no longer have a choice.

but to slow down. 

time bomb.

there is a new game being played our classroom. time bomb. timers are frequently used to time progress monitoring test or simply motivate kids to beat the clock.

but alex thinks differently.

after i had asked everyone to take a seat at the table, alex continued to wander around the room. i observed him as he opened the cabinet door and messed with the contents inside. little did i know what he was up to. after class dismissed i walked over to the cabinet which alex was in. he had taken a timer, set it for 10 minutes and hid it under a bundle of math manipulatives. quite sneaky if i might say so myself.

insert miss conlee's creativity. i replaced the stationed time bomb with his pencil box which holds all of his classroom necessities. i then gently reset and placed the time bomb under alex's text books and folders in his cubby. 

after recess alex arrived to class for spelling. he muttered something rather suggestive such as, 'wow, i wonder what i might find in this cabinet over here.' as the door opened, alex found his pencil box.

out of an act of confusion, i shrugged off how strange it seemed and continued on with the lesson. nearly three minutes passed by when suddenly a beeping time bomb exploded. IN alex's cubby. the class was an uproar as one student shouted, 'you got joked on by the teacher!'

miss conlee got the last laugh on that time bomb.

and now the timers live happily ever after in my desk and make an appearance only when needed.