Why I Dislike Lizards

               I haven’t always been afraid of lizards – I distinctly remember catching them in my front yard as a little kid.  It wasn’t until I saw an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? on Nickelodeon that I became terrified of lizards.  I cannot even remember what happened in this episode, but the fear of these creatures, big or small, remains.  Unfortunately, I live in an area that is inhabited by both small geckos and terrifyingly large lizards.  I was, however, getting used to the small geckos that live on the walls in my house (they eat the mosquitoes after all)…until the other night.  The power was out (of course!) and I was watching an episode of How I Met Your Mother on my computer.  It was dark except for the light from my computer, and I felt something heavy drop on my chest.  Needless to say, I shrieked and jumped of f of the couch, and a small gecko fell to the floor.  Shivering with disgust, I grabbed a flashlight and made sure there were no more geckos before I returned to the couch.  It didn’t take long for my neighbor to come knocking on my door to see if I was all right.  I contemplated making up a story to explain my screaming, but decided I better just stick with the truth.  Stephen kept saying “oh sorry, sorry,” but I am sure he was thinking “this mzungu is nuts.” 

            My neighbors are probably the greatest people on earth, and they are a big part of why I am enjoying my time here.  Two weeks ago I got really bad food poisoning, and I was truly miserable.  I was violently vomiting, and Stephen came over to check up on me and see what was wrong.  I was curled up in the fetal position on the concrete floor with a bucket at my side – I don’t think I looked too hot.  He ran and got my neighbor Sauya, Sister Francis, and the school nurse.  They all came to take care of me by giving me water, mixing up Gatorade, and calling the Peace Corps medical office.  The nurse gave me a malaria test, which was thankfully negative!  Sauya spent the night on my extra bed and she woke up each time to hold my hair back as well as clean out my sick bucket.  The next day Sister Francis, Sister Goretti, and Sauya drove me to the hospital and then arranged a private hire to take me to the Peace Corps Medical Office in Kampala.  I am so thankful that they were here to take care of me because it was comforting to know I was in good hands.  After two IVs and medicine to stop making me throw up – I felt significantly better.  I was then pampered for two days in Kampala (hot showers!), which was glorious.  When I returned back to my site, everyone came to my house to tell me they were praying for me and that they had all been worried.  For the next week no one would let me work because they thought I had been on my deathbed.  It’s a great feeling to know that my community has my back – makes me feel much more at home. 

            This past Saturday we had a potluck at Bethany’s house for Ryan and Elizabeth’s birthdays.  I think I still have a food baby from the amount of food I ate.  It was great to eat an obscene amount of American food and get a little taste of home.  I made hummus and fried chapati to make tortilla chips (delicious!).  There was guacamole, pasta salad, mac and cheese, fruit salad, cake, and brownies.  Max, however, takes the cake for the best contribution…deep-fried Oreos with powdered sugar.  Unfortunately, it started a bad trend, because then we kept coming up with ideas of things we could fry.  So we fried: banana, banana with peanut butter, chocolate, and cheese.  Then we just started eating the fried batter.  I think I’m ok with rice and beans for the next week because I’m sure my arteries are all clogged. 

            I would have liked to upload photos, but unfortunately, my computer broke this week :( (Yes, I was pissed!)  So it will be a while until I upload again.      

Free Babies

             I have had my fair share of requests to be taken to America.  It's either a marriage proposal or someone asking to be my friend so that I can take them to the US.  Yesterday, however, I was completely caught off guard with a request that I received.  I was walking on the road into town, and I greeted (in Lugwere) a group of women who were walking in the opposite direction.  One of them was so excited that I could speak Lugwere and she came up to me and started speaking really fast.  My Lugwere is not that good at all, so I had no idea what she was saying and just kept nodding my head and smiling.  She hands me her baby, says something about America, and then walks away.  I stood there like a deer caught in the headlights with a baby in my hands.  I was thinking, "Wait, did she just ask me to bring her baby to America?  She isn't really walking away is she? Ok, ya, she is." I had to run after her in order to give her daughter back.  I was shaking my head saying, "no, no, no."  I was trying so hard not to laugh, but I couldn't help it - this woman had just given me her child!  Thankfully, she willingly took her back, laughed, and then walked away. 
           Caroline and I were in Mbale over the weekend to do our grocery shopping, and we witnessed our first instance of mob justice.  We were in the taxi waiting to head home when we start to hear a lot of shouting.  We look at each other wondering what is going on and look outside the window.  There is a mob of people and we see one man in the center getting punched and kicked.  He managed to get away and he starts running past our taxi, and a mob of twenty people start chasing him…all laughing.  The man fell and tripped right beside the taxi and the mob took the opportunity to give him a few more punches and kicks.  Caroline and I of course start screaming, and everyone else in the taxi is just laughing.  The man finally got away and started running again, with the mob running after him.  They were all hysterically laughing because I’m sure it’s some sort of adrenaline rush.  Caroline and I just sat there anxious to get home.
            I have had one too many run-ins with pests these past two days.  I found another rat in my latrine this morning – it was in the same curled, “rock-like” position as last time.  Thankfully, I knew better than to pick it up.  I hit it with a broom and it scampered out.  Ew.  Last night, the power went out and I couldn’t see a thing in my house.  As I was searching in the dark for my flashlight, I stepped on a live cockroach in my bare feet.  Needless to say, I screamed like a little girl.  I washed my feet and then went straight to bed in the safety of my mosquito net. 
           That's all I have for now.  I finally got around to uploading photos:

Rafting...I look like I'm holding on for dear life

The waterfall.  Now I look like I'm having a good time

I love this picture because Wade looks like he is having a terrible time

The boat (from L to R): Rob, Sam, Wade, the greatest person ever (me), Paul, Chris, Layla, and Eugene

When our boat flipped

We were almost about to tip

There we go again - and I'm falling on top of Wade

The Nile

This kayak went from the source of the Nile all the way to the end.  So obviously, the guides said I had to get in it.

The neighbor kids brought me a dead bird.  So thoughtful.

The rat in my latrine.  Looks more like a mouse, but they call them rats here.

I decided to show the kids PhotoBooth on my computer - we had some fun

Say Cheez

            I went white water rafting on the Nile this past weekend, and it was much more successful than the last time I went – I didn’t get sick!  I went with the other intern, Wade, who my friend Kiera works with in Kampala.  White water rafting on the Nile is pretty crazy because it is a lot of class 5 rapids, but it is a wide river with few rocks, so you don’t have to worry too much when you are thrown out.  The first rapid we went down was a 15-foot waterfall.  There is a rapid called the “bad place” because you can be under water for 10 seconds before you pop back up.  The water was too low though, so we didn’t go to the “bad place.”  Instead, we went through “50/50”, which gets its name because 50% stay in the boat, while the other half get thrown out.  We all managed to stay in, but the boat ended up on its side and we were pretty close to tipping over.  The last rapid, called the Nile Special, has a 95% flip rate – so our guide gave us some guidelines.  He told us to hold on, but we would most likely get thrown out and not be able to hold onto the boat.  He also said that once you’re thrown out, you’d be under water for a while, but take a deep breath when you get back up because you’re about to get hit by another wave.  Well…advice I probably should have been paying more attention to.  We of course hit the wave and all get thrown out of the boat and the boat tips over…on top of me.  There was that moment of panic where I thought “uh, now what?”  I managed to get out, but of course I get out and the next wave hits me and I swallow a ton of water.  Yummy.  Of course I finally come out of the rapid simultaneously coughing up water and laughing.  Overall, it was a great trip.  I was so sunburned on my thighs and I am still in pain (I put on SPF 70 too!!). 

            I have been working on the resource room for the school that I work at in an effort to get teachers motivated to add to the room.  I made a math bingo for 60 students, which took forever!  I have also made posters to be used as examples for learning aids that teachers can hang in their classrooms.  Classrooms in most of the schools are completely bare.  I am also putting together binders of fun activities teachers can do in class in order to make lesson plans less boring.  My counterpart wants me to set up a workshop in one of the upcoming weeks to teach the teachers how to use the resources that I have started to put together. 

            On Tuesday I visited two schools with my counterpart in order to observe classes and to see how the school was doing with PIASCY (Presidential Initiative on Aids Strategy for Communication to Youth) and SFI (School Family Initiative).   SFI is a relatively new program initiated by the government as a complement to the US-AID funded Unity.  SFI aims to create families within the school in order to provide guidance to students that do not have a strong support network at home.  The students are divided up among the teachers, who serve as their parents.  They have a family name and they meet once a week to discuss issues they might be having at home or school.  So how did the two schools fare in our observations?  Not so good.  Both schools had no records of doing any PIASCY related activities this past term and neither school had started the SFI. 

            I was only able to observe classes at the first school we visited, and the lessons were...interesting.  I asked to see the teachers’ schemes of work and lesson plans (which are required to be made by the teachers) – neither had them.  The first lesson was P6 Science, and it took me about 10 minutes to figure out what the actual topic the teacher was covering.  He was covering Milk Products, which include: ice cream, powdered milk, evaporated milk, skimmed milk, butter, and cheez.  Yes, that’s right, cheez.  I asked to see a student’s notebook in order to look through what they have covered in the past and to see if the teacher is grading their work.  Well, the teacher is grading their work, but I discovered the students had done this same exact lesson a week before.  Everything that was written on the board had already been written verbatim the week before – and the students were still copying it again!  I was shocked.  In America, students would have immediately called a teacher out.  Not here.  I am sure the teacher had done this lesson in order to make me think his students were really smart and increase class participation.  (When I asked him about it after class he got really embarrassed and started to mumble an excuse.  I just let it go and said that next time I wanted to see a new lesson).  Lessons are only supposed to be 40 minutes long, but the teacher went for 60 minutes before the next teacher finally cut him off to begin his own lesson.  Therefore, the P6 Math class I observed was cut short.  He did a relatively good job for the shortened time frame, until he split up the class for group work.  He divided the class into 3 groups of 27 students to solve one problem each.  The problems were along the lines of “What is 14 squared?”  As you can see, it is not that effective to get 27 students to work together in order to solve this problem.  After observing the lessons, I had to talk with the teachers about their performance and give them feedback.  I have a form to fill out which gives a score to the teachers, and I felt pretty awful handing them a score of 20/50.  I worked with both teachers to come up with different teaching methods for their next classes and I stressed the importance of lesson plans and making a scheme of work.  I am returning next week to the school in order to observe their classes again and I have to fill out another progress report.  My counterpart will be checking on the progress of PIASCY and SFI within the schools, and hopefully they have made more progress.  

            At the second school we visited I was looking over the enrollment records and I noticed that a significant amount of students were dropping out.  P1 had an enrollment of 110 boys and 120 girls, while P7 had 21 boys and 7 girls.  I asked the head teacher why so many students, especially girls, drop out as the move up in Primary School.  He told me that a lot of girls get pregnant and have to leave school, and it has become a big problem.  My counterpart then volunteered me to do sex education with the girls, which the head teacher was immediately thankful for.  While I know this would be a great thing to work on, I hate to say that I am not sure I can do it without laughing.  If I do end up doing the sex education, then it won’t be until next term – so I’ll have some time to work on my maturity.  
             I hope you all had a great 4th of July - I wish I could have been back home for a BBQ at the Knaptons.  I miss you Steve, Penny and Sara!!  (Happy Steven?  That's two shout outs now.)

Raining Ants

            I woke up the other night at 3am to what I thought was another rainstorm.  It was not until I heard my neighbors excited shouting that I realized it was not raindrops pounding on my roof, but white ants.  My neighbors were all running outside with buckets in order to collect the white ants – a real treat here in Uganda.  When the rainy season begins, white ants come out and are attracted to light bulbs.  People run out to collect, roast, and eat them.  They are not actually white, but they get their name from their white wings.  I did not partake in the collection of the white ants, but instead, stayed hidden in my mosquito net and tried to fall back asleep.  I had to sweep up thousands of wings in my house and porch the next morning; confirmation once again that it was not a rainstorm.  My neighbor Betty invited me over for dinner the next day to try the white ants.  I know that these are a real delicacy, but I am not quite so sure how I feel about them.  They didn’t necessarily taste bad, but they did not look that tasty.  It was a crunchy, salty, meaty combo…and all I could think was “I’m eating ants.”  I, however, put on a smile and raved about how delicious they were.  Have a look for yourself…

            Last week while on a run, I met a man, Gowa, who asked me to check out his Community Health Center that he was starting in Namukalo Village.  Namukalo is in the Budaka District, and about a 15-minute bike ride from my house.  The students were taking midterm exams all weeks, so I didn’t have much going on.  I visited the Health Centre and talked with Gowa for a while about his plans and project proposal.  He started the health center because there are a total of 1,432 people infected with HIV/AIDS in Budaka.  Out of those 1,432 people, 160 adults and 375 children are infected within Namukalo Village.  The Gowa Aramanzan Community Health Center (G.A.C.H.C) was started in order to provide basic first aid to the community and HIV/AIDS education.  In addition, many of the households are poor and lack good nutrition, so he is working to provide the resources for small income generating projects.  I am going to be working with him at least once a week and help him get the center going.  I am going to help him with his budget and come up with ways to make the Center self-sustainable.  He told me that the reason that HIV/AIDS is spreading so rapidly in the village is because the men don’t believe in using condoms.  Hence, one of his top priorities is HIV/AIDS education, especially within the schools.  I think I need to introduce those condom slogans to the men of the village like “Don’t be silly, protect your willy” or “No glove, no love.”  I’m not sure how culturally appropriate they are, but I don’t really care – I want to smack some sense into these men. 

            I had a meeting with my counterpart and the head teachers of the 25 schools I will be working with.  My counterpart had each head teacher write down three expectations of a Peace Corps Volunteer.  I am glad that he did this because we were able to clear up some misconceptions at the very beginning.  While most of the expectations were legitimate, we did get a few that were a little out of my realm of work…

            I expect her to:

                        1. Take me to her land and give me a tour.

                        2. Improve our standard of living

                        3. Feed our students

                        4. Find American friends for all of the students

5. Build us new classrooms

            Thankfully my counterpart made it clear that I am here as a teacher, and just because I am an American, it does not mean I have an endless supply of money. 

            Power has been sporadic for the past week, and I have not had power for the past two days!  I am currently in Mbale charging all of my electronics, as well as the cellphones of eight teachers.  Cross your fingers for me that our power comes back soon…

The church next to my school

This is one way of carrying eggs...

My sitting room - I rearranged the furniture and put up photos

My gourmet kitchen

I have the best parents and sister!!  Willysha enjoying the goodies of my 4 care packages

My whale kiddie pool!  I stand in this to bathe...no joke.  Now water doesn't get everywhere :)

The road to my school

My best friend Kiera is doing an internship in Kampala.  She spent the weekend with me, and this is us making chapatti pizza.  Gourmet cooks like our moms!

Tails from the Latrine

            Every morning I find rocks and pieces of coal in my pit latrine.  There is also a lot of rat poop scattered around, so I attribute the mess to rats running around in the rafters.  On Saturday morning, it was relatively dark in my latrine, but I noticed that there was a rock in the corner.  I picked up the rock in order to throw it outside, only to find out that it was not actually a rock.  Imagine my surprise when I picked up something furry that squeaked.  Yes…I picked up a dying rat!  I screamed, dropped the rat, and quickly ran out of my latrine to wash my hands for thirty minutes.  I then contemplated what I should do.  Would it somehow crawl its way out of the latrine to die? Or would it die and attract maggots?  I really did not want to go back and get rid of the rat, but I knew I had no choice.  Thankfully, my neighbor had heard me scream and came to check up on me.  Betty was nice enough to grab a broom and sweep out the dying rat – and with each hit of the broom, the rat and I simultaneously squealed.  Betty thought my reaction was hilarious, and it did not take her long to tell the story to the rest of my school.  One thing I have learned since being here is that as a white person, I am a sort of celebrity.  Everyone knows everything that I do.  I have even had random strangers take pictures of me with their camera phones when I’m out in Budaka town.  When I throw out my trash, it’s a free for all.  The kids swarm the trash pit in order to look through my trash bag.  It is a little strange to go to my neighbors and find my empty can of Sour Cream and Onion Pringles being used as a pencil holder. 

            I finally heard from my counterpart!!  He called me on Tuesday and asked if I was around because he was at the school.  I was in my pajamas and in the middle of laundry...great timing.  So I had a meeting with Cosmas (my counterpart), Sister Goretti, and Steven (the head teacher) in my sweat pants, a baggy t-shirt, and messy hair.  I looked very presentable.  Cosmas looked very skinny, so I think he was actually really sick.  He was pleased, however, that I managed to start my own work in his absence.  Next week I will finally go to my coordinating center and meet with all the head teachers of the schools in my catchment area.  I am going to be getting more work now because I will start to visit the schools and work with the teachers on lesson planning and classroom management.  I am going to work with teachers to implement more critical thinking in classrooms, rather than rote memorization.  As for classroom management, I am going to give teachers methods of maintaining order in classrooms with over 60 students.  (Google is going to be my best friend!)  My counterpart also knows that I am firmly against the caning of students, and he wants me to talk with teachers about alternative discipline methods.  So I will primarily still be at St. Clare’s (the school I live at), but occasionally I will visit the other schools and meet with teachers.

            I still really enjoy teaching, and I have a lot of fun hanging out with students after school. The other day I tried to teach “Duck, Duck Goose” to some P4 students (I called it Lion, Lion Zebra).  I am not so sure that they actually understood the game, but they had fun nonetheless!  Afterwards, Claudia handed me a note, and it is by far the cutest one I have received.  As I said, I'm a sort of celebrity - I receive fan mail.  Claudia’s note was put in an envelope that had “love to love,” “kiss to kiss,” and “read it alone” written on it.  Here is what the note said:

            Dear my best friend,

            Your names are Teacher Nikessa.  I love you so so much.  My names are Akiror Claudia.  I am in P-4. You are beautiful.  You are brown.  I can want to be your friend. Can you want to be my friend?  Circle yes or no.

FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY

Obviously I circled yes.  Seriously, too cute! I am curious to know what “you are brown” means – she is probably referring to my amazing tan (yes, I’m being sarcastic).  “For God and my Country” is Uganda’s national motto for those that were wondering.  

            Teaching the teachers computers started out to be a more difficult task than I expected.  Some of the teachers would show up to class about 45 minutes late and say, “You know us Africans, we can’t keep time.”  Therefore, I usually had two different lessons going on – one for those who showed up on time, and another for the latecomers.  I found a copy of Mavis Beacon, however, which has made it much easier.  Now it no longer matters that teachers show up at all different times.  They were so excited after I installed the program – they love how it tracks your speed and accuracy.  It was like kids in a candy store when I first showed them the program, and now it is all they can talk about.  I told them that if anyone can type faster than me at the end of two years, then they will get a prize.  (As to what that prize will be, I’m not sure…)

            I ran out of water on Wednesday and I decided that for once I would go to the borehole myself.  I walked outside with my jerry cans and as I passed the lower primary block (P1-P4), students rushed to grab my jerry cans from me.  They actually fought over who got to hold them.  I didn’t have to do any work – the students not only cut the line, but they also insisted on pumping the water!  I did, however, carry the full jerry cans back to my house.  I carried two 20L jerry cans at the same time because I didn’t want to make multiple trips.  The students were going nuts that I could actually carry two and were all yelling “LOOK AT NIKESSA CARRY WATER!”  I will say, though, my arms and shoulders felt like they were going to fall off the next day.  After carrying them back to my house, I started to make my way back to the borehole to fetch the last jerry can.  Students, however, were in a huge group all carrying the jerry can back to my house.  I wish I had my camera at that moment because it was the cutest thing to see about eight 6 year olds trying to all carry the jerry can back to my house.

            I have started to send out postcards to people, so email me your addresses if you would like to get some snail mail from yours truly :)

           

Dental Floss and Toothpaste

           I have a newfound love for oral hygiene products because I have discovered they can be used for so many different things!  Last week I developed about 200 hundred photos to put up in my living room.  I hung them all up on my wall with toothpaste.  My living room was minty fresh for a few days and now I get to look at the photos of all the people I love and miss every day.  Last week my power was out for four days and I really had to do my laundry.  Obviously I do not need electricity to hand wash my clothes, but I iron everything because I am paranoid about mango flies.  I decided to hang dry my clothes in my house.  Can you guess what I used for my clothesline?  Dental floss.  Pretty amazing how strong that stuff is; it worked really well!  I do not floss, so I am glad that I finally found a use for all of that dental floss Peace Corps provided. 

            Last week proved to be more successful in the working department.  I never did hear from my counterpart, but I have started teaching at the school where I live.  As to when I will visit the school where I am supposed to work…not so sure.  This is Uganda, so I have to take the initiative to make my own work.  Thankfully, the school where I live needs me to teach!  I am teaching P6 and P7 math three times a week for forty minutes each.  The first day of teaching, I went in completely blind, which was a little nerve wrecking.  Francis (one of the teachers) asked me to come visit his P6 class.  After he introduced me to the class, he asked the class, “Would you like her to teach you today?”  They all cheered, “YES!”  So, he handed me a piece of chalk and said, “They are on long division.  Good luck.”  I was caught off guard and all I could think was, “I haven’t done long division since the fourth grade!  Isn’t this what calculators are for?”  Fortunately, I was able to remember how I was taught how to do long division and I was able to pull off the lesson.  I am glad, however, that I am now able to prepare for my lessons.  As Caroline says, “If you didn’t barf, poop your pants, or show up naked…it was a success.”  

            I really like teaching so far and the students are really excited to have a mzungu as their teacher.  All of my students give me their complete attention, and I even have a few teacher’s pets.  I’ve gotten a few avocados and mangos, which is great.  I always thought teacher’s pets were annoying, but if you are a teacher, they are pretty great.  I am struggling with how students learn here – there is no critical thinking and it is all rote memorization.  When I write anything on the board, they will copy it all down.  If I draw a picture in order to show something, then a student will inevitably ask if they have to copy that down too.  I have learned not to ask yes or no questions because the answer will always be yes.  For instance:

“Do you all know how many minutes are in an hour?” 

In unison, they all responded, “Yes!”

“Ok, how many minutes are in an hour?”

Compete silence. 

            Students do not admit they do not know the answer to a question because they are afraid they will be caned.  Also, they speak so quietly when you ask them an individual question.  I have decided to bring candy to class and I will give it to the students that speak loudly and clearly!  It is going to be a challenge to deal with the education system here, but I think slowly and surly I will be able to make a little bit of a difference.

            I am also teaching the teachers three times a week from 7PM – 9PM in the computer lab.  The school has 15 computers, but they are just collecting dust because no one knows how to use them – hence the students do not get to learn either.  I decided to start a class for the teachers so that they can continue to teach the students when I leave.  My first lesson on Thursday was cut short because the power went out…  I did not get very far in my lesson either because as soon as I started to explain the parts of the computer, the teachers asked me to write it down on the board.  (I’m not kidding when I say they have to write down everything here).  I wish I could make handouts, but I think from now on I will write down the notes on the chalkboard and they can copy it down after class.  I am teaching again today and the lesson is: turning the computer on and off.  I am not joking.  It was a little crazy to me at first because I am so used to everyone knowing at least the basics of a computer. 

            The students are really excited that I am here and I am always invited to their dorms.  I sit on one of the bunk beds, and 50 students surround me and ask me questions about America.

“Are there really flying houses in America?”

“Do you eat matoke? Do you eat posho?” – They are surprised when I say no.

“Do people have HIV/AIDS there too?”

“Can you take me to America?”

“Is everyone rich?”

“Are there black people in America?”

“Do they cane their students in America?”

“Is it true you eat snakes?” – Where they go this, not so sure.  They must be watching Survivor.

“Is there really a High School Musical?” 

And my personal favorite…

            “Sing us a song!”  - I am sure some of you just laughed out loud thinking of me trying to sing to 50 students.  I have not done it, yet.  I always say I cannot think of a song to sing (which is true).  Also, we all know I do not have a good voice, I fear I will make them all deaf.  I don’t think I am going to get out of it though.  I think after the first song I sing, they will no longer ask. 

            It was only a matter of time...I finally got sick.  I think it was from drinking untreated water.  When I went to the P6 dorm, one of the students gave me juice, which she diluted with water.  I didn’t really think anything of it until the next day when I was sprinting to the latrine.  All I could think was, “You idiot, they probably don’t treat their water!”  In all honesty though, I probably would have still drank the juice if the thought had crossed my mind when it was handed to me.  I wouldn’t want to be rude…  What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, right?  Plus, I am fine now!

            I hope you all had a great Memorial Day Weekend two weeks ago – I definitely had my first wave of homesickness not being able to go to Laguna to see the Knapton family.  I could have used a weekend of lying by the pool and a good BBQ.  (There you go Steve, you got your shout out…)

Working in Uganda...Sort Of

            I wish I could write that I started teaching, the students loved me, and I changed the world.  This is Uganda, however, and things don’t tend to go as planned.  For instance, if you have a staff meeting at 10am, it won’t start until 3pm (this is not an exaggeration).  On Monday, I had a feeling that I wouldn’t really start to work.  I called my counterpart about ten times and he did not pick up.  I had no idea how to get to my school that I am supposed to be working at, so I just hung out at the school where I live.  I would say only 1/8 of the students actually arrived, but I was told they would all be there by next week.  Tuesday I finally got a hold of my counterpart, who said his phone was broken and he has “some” malaria.  We planned to meet on Thursday, but that fell through because he is still sick.  I spent the past week introducing myself to the few students that did arrive to school.  We played soccer (I’m awful), volleyball, and I went running with some of the older students (they killed me!). 

            I know that all the people I studied abroad are thinking, “Oh TIA.”  They all know what it’s like to work in Africa where time means nothing and there is no structure.  For everyone else, you are probably wondering how I can possibly handle working here.  I won’t lie; it’s frustrating at times, especially when I know I could be doing something productive.  I have learned to just roll with it and I always bring a book to a meeting because I know it won’t start on time.  I am starting to create my own work too while I wait to get my teaching schedule sorted.  I am teaching PE in the afternoons even though it’s not technically on the schedule, but hey, anything goes here!  I also have started to work on the resource room for the school where I am assigned to work.  I remember my counterpart telling me that it is used as a staff room and there are no resources.  I have started making a math bingo and researching other learning aids.  If any of you have any ideas, then email me!  Hopefully, I will start teaching next week, but we will see.  I think all of the students will have arrived, so that’s a plus.