I Will Bathe Myself Sometime This Year

10 Jan

AMERICA
America is a land of dreams, one that already feels like a dream. I spent 3 weeks in a haze of remembered things, people, places, etc. I think the thing i liked best was belonging. People took me as i was, as just another human rather than "the whitey" or "the foreigner". Nobody shouted, jeered, mocked, whistled, stared, or asked me for shit as i passed them on the street. Nobody paid any attention whatsoever! Anonymity is amazing.
I (un)fortunately both reaffirmed old connections and relationships and made new ones. It's good (great) in theory because these are amazing people but it sucks because i was just getting used to going without, and now i'm back to being without.
SUMMARY OF AMERICA:
10. freedom
9. pavement
8. strip malls
7. beer
6. all the food groups
5. sushi
4. friends
3. boys
2. feeling like home
1. instant gratification

20 Jan

USA officially gets a new president today! I'm excited to watch the inaugeration (streaming live all over africa!). It's a bit weird though because I've gone throught this whole election process from the outside. I YouTubed Obama's acceptance speech when i was home for christmas and it was the first time i've ever heard him speak before. His voice is much deeper and more resonant that i had imagined from the photos.
Today is also the second day of school! I'm only teaching 3 classes this year (2 science 1 math) so I'll have time for other projects. Also I'm the one that made teh school's timetable this year, so i personally have an awesome class sched! No classes early morn, after lunch, or on fridays! woo 3 day weekend! So anyways, what will i do with all this free time? I have many plans:
1) Trees! This is a hanously barren country, and the most offensive part is that my school campus doesn't have a single tree, nothing even near! So I'm applying for a small grant to buy shovels/water cans (which will then be used in the agriculture program) and i'm getting 200 seedlings from the ministry of forestry.
2) Scholarships- I'm trying to get scholarships for school fees for a handful of incredible students who can't afford to come to school anymore. [it's US$65 per year to attend school. If ANYONE reading this wants to sponsor one of my kids, I'll send you letters, background, photos, progress reports, whatever you need. It would make such a huge impact, and not in the amorphous "where's my money going" sally-struthers sort of way. If you're interested, email me for more info: rereilly at gmail dot com]
3) Math Club! I'm going to train some of my best students to become tutors, then I'm going to have a one day a week after school math time, where kids can work on their assignments, get help, and play maths games. (I introduced "multiplication bingo" and they're completely obsessed with it! they want to play everyday, and they want to come after school to play! every time i see them they yell "BINGO!" now. they think it's the greatest thing ever)
4) Thaba-Tseka district is holding a Diversity Camp, where 25 students from around the district come in for a day and a half and do life skillz sessions, HIV/AIDS awareness stuff, career workshops, etc. and i'm excited to help out with it.
5) A tome entitled "Survival for the Teacher Who Isn't" (1984) [type-writered, spiral bound] was unearthed from the peace corps technical library, and it's a great, fairly comprehensive resource for pcvs that teach during their service. The maths and science teachers in my group have taken it upon ourselves to overhaul/revamp/bathe in sparkles this book. I'm super excited about this project because it involves one of my favorite activities: writing about teaching + science! Right now madeline and I are in charge of the "methodology/motivation" chapter. Also I'm doing the visual aids portion, and contributing to the classroom games/science labs and demos/ math teaching techniques sections.