Happy Thanksgiving from Miss Conlee's class to you.

Happy Thanksgiving from a few of us in Miss Conlee's class!

having only a few students also from America, i introduced Thanksgiving as a brand new holiday to many.

we read about Clifford's Thanksgiving visit to his big red mom.

we sang songs about being thankful.

and we practiced cutting out shapes to make turkeys.

paper everywhere. glue in my hair. creations that look far from a turkey. we celebrated.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

last day.

today was my last day with my P 3/4 class.

this is what i have come to learn about them all:

1. they all pick their noses.

2. they smell like turtles after recess.

3. they prefer to eat glue after it has dried.

4. their listening skills have not yet developed.

5. their awful cute.

here's to you P 3/4. you've been fun.

good morning.

i pass a young boys hostel on my walk to and from school each day.

generally in the mornings they are all being filed into line formation at the gate, dressed in white button up shirts, navy blue sewn trousers, and tennis shoes.

inspection is had by the adults over seeing the hostel. assuring their white shirts to be tucked in just so. standing up straight. shoes tied. eyes looking forward.

i seem to pass by every day at the same time. it has become routine that they look for me and i look for them, lined up in a row facing forward. each day, without being caught by the adult holding a whip, the boys near the front always mouth and sometimes whisper, 'good morning!' in my attempts to keep them out of trouble, i softly mouth back, 'good morning to you!' simple words. perhaps only the few they know in English, but upon exchanging greetings, these six and seven year old boys light up with smiles wide.

it has become my new favorite thing of the morning.

shanty town road.

i took a walk down a near by local road yesterday. it's incredible how just a walk away life looks completely different. people making their living by selling fruits and vegetables under a piece of tin held up by limbs.

trash can be found lying in the middle of the road and is eventually raked to the side where it is burned. this is only one large pile i found in passing.
there were many local shops. saloons. dukas. all keeping the town alive.

and on my way back a rainbow stretched in the sky. perhaps a promise and a hope for abundant life over the people in this place.

living simply.
making me once again thankful for the simplicity i'm learning here.
wearing mosquito repellent as frequently as deodorant.
laying my head down at night on a pillow case filled with my dirty clothes.
using a towel for a blanket.

living with little and finding i have enough.
it is well.

science.

we've been conducting science experiments of sorts. learning the steps to the scientific process and the various states of matter. today we had a science exhibition where students displayed their practiced experiments for their parents.

it was grand chaos.
mwoleka even managed to vomit in the midst of it all. due to my teacher's weak stomach at such a sight, i had the pleasure of conquering the clean up!

before all was said and done, we had an experiment for the parents to complete: who could build the tallest tower of bubbles using three different types of soaps and the utensils they were given. they found it quite comical and competitive.

fun was had by all.

laughter.

i was walking home from school yesterday afternoon when a group of seven Tanzanian children ran up behind me and huddled around. they were so hovering i couldn't walk any farther. dressed in hand sewn purple uniforms, all seven of these children were shouting at me in swahili while staring at me with their big brown eyes and gigantic smiles. they began tugging on my arms. all of them repeating the same phrase which seemed to ring as a question.

if only i could have understood what they were saying.

in an unexpected moment, all of my learned swahili seemed to be far off. i managed to spill out a phrase in swahili translating to, 'i don't speak swahili". at that exact moment all of the children stopped and simultaneously errupted in laughter. they pointed at me and made comments to one another. i began laughing with them. having no idea what was being said, and most likely aimed at my unknowing American self, but apparently it was funny.

and so we laughed.

they walked me to my gate. i nearly thought they were going to follow me inside. we said goodbye and off they went. bookbags dragging on the ground and laughter still being shared.

_________________________________________

today was a rather long day of school. i was ready to breathe when the bell rang at 1:05. i rushed to the bathroom shortly after before heading to lunch.

on my way to the duka where i buy my lunch, one of my students approached me in search of her mother. while walking with her, a woman ran up to me. she sputtered off a few sentences to me in German, speaking in a rather frantic state. i was unsure if she thought i was kidnapping the child or what she perceived. thank heavens for hand motions and sign language. after several moments of misunderstanding, i finally gathered from this woman that my skirt was all sorts of tucked into my underoos.

across language barriers we laughed while i secured my skirt and i'm sure turned red in the midst of a courtyard filled with students and adults.

laughter.
it's good for the soul.

a random list of slightly funny happenings.

1. it has rained here the past couple of days. it's almost instantaneous when it rains that the air becomes flooded with moth/mosquito looking dragon flies. i attempted to ask my Tanzanian roommate what they were called. he couldn't think of their name but he said, "OH! those are SO good. we look forward to the rain season because we catch a bunch of them and fry them up for a meal. their a really great source of protein, but just hard to catch!" he's holding out for another rain before i leave so he can force me to try them. gross.

2. i spent half of my sunday afternoon snapping green beans i bartered for at the market yesterday. i cooked a few carrots with a few string beans and called it a meal. delicious.

3. i have taken up a pet lizard. he likes to play hide and seek underneath my bathroom sink. lizards generally cover my walls and any crevice on the floor. he's quite friendly, but a bit shy.

4. this is the staff room where our tea time occurs. daily.

5. i had two cockroaches bigger than the palm of my hand taking up residence in my bathtub. i decided it was time to rid of them. i did so without any assistance. i was proud of myself but it was gross.

6. this is a flower i picked up on the sidewalk today. it was soft and smelled a lot like lemon. the kind people wear behind their ears in hawaii. quite lovely i must say.

7. my friend mika is having a difficult time fighting off the neighborhood monkeys. they like to catapult themselves from a nearby tree and jump onto her tin roof. as you can imagine the noise, the monkeys do a great job of waking her up at early hours. in attempts to save her garden from becoming rubbish and get some sleep, she chased after them, only to find that they chased after her!

8. i gave in. i got a cell phone. i didn't want one. i have enjoyed not having one. but with everything being a walk away - you can often walk to meet someone and in the time it took you to get there they have moved. it happens often. so now i have a british phone. i've somehow managed to finagle it to the english mode. my phone number is 078 5659 926 if you'd like to call. (hahaha!)