Quick Post!
I've been a bit sick of late so it'll just be a quick list of the highlights from the last few weeks- More soon!
1.) Best Gift so far in Tanzania- My friend Dan pulled out all the stops when he happened by my sickroom with a snazzy silkscreened string backpack bearing the image of my favorite footballer ever (spoken like a true junior high student right?) Twin images of Ronaldinho occupy both sides of the bag- In one he stands grinning in his Barca jersey, in the other (bizarrely) he's naked, his hair's tied up in a bun and he's raising his eyes and hands in prayer. Both sexy and chaste at the same time. Very strange, but honestly, it might beat the ipod as the thing I would save first should the house go up in flames.
2.) Best Description of Underperforming Students- "They need to be spoon-fed." This was listed in the official minutes at the last management meeting at Nkuhungu School. I swear, I'm not making fun of their language ability, the vast majority of managment figures at my school have amazing English. This, of course, makes their few slips hilarious, especially given how formal the meetings are here. The context of this one was something like:
"To aid the students and to facilitate their continued achievement, it was decided at the last management meeting that the Form 1 and 3 students will be dividing into 3 streams as follows:
Stream A aims for complete syllabus coverage and mastery, with an additional focus on Mathematics and Science, allowing students to thus compete at the regional level.
Stream B assumes complete syllabus coverage, although time will be scheduled in for remedial sessions and additional tutoring.
Stream C assumes the students will need to be spoon fed to pass."
Great, right? Another good one was where they called the reasons why a fellow teacher had missed too many classes "lame excuses." I almost had to leave the room due to suppressed giggling with that one.
3) Best time to have a tall friend: 9 pm on Saturday nights in Nkuhungu. This was when Dan and I got back from the local watering hole (yeah, no jokes about how I don't have a life, I know it) and discovered that my substitute watchman had fallen asleep in the outdoor toilet. That's right, passed out cold, and despite our yelling and knocking on my gate, he remained fast asleep. My house is surrounded by a huge whitewashed wall topped with intimidated black spikes so after about 20 minutes of pounding, it looked like Dan and I would be heading back into town to find a guesthouse. That is, until he happened upon the brilliant idea of breaking into my house. Grasping the spikes at the top, he somehow, miraculously, hauled his 6'2 frame up and over, nearly ripping his....err, jeans...on the spikes at the top. He managed however to descend safely, let me in through the gate, and there was much rejoycing (as well as confusion on the part of the night watchman who woke up upon hearing us enter the house and stared baffled at the gate for a full 5 minutes while the words "I know I locked it!" ran through his head.)
Okay more soon, love to all!
Katie
1.) Best Gift so far in Tanzania- My friend Dan pulled out all the stops when he happened by my sickroom with a snazzy silkscreened string backpack bearing the image of my favorite footballer ever (spoken like a true junior high student right?) Twin images of Ronaldinho occupy both sides of the bag- In one he stands grinning in his Barca jersey, in the other (bizarrely) he's naked, his hair's tied up in a bun and he's raising his eyes and hands in prayer. Both sexy and chaste at the same time. Very strange, but honestly, it might beat the ipod as the thing I would save first should the house go up in flames.
2.) Best Description of Underperforming Students- "They need to be spoon-fed." This was listed in the official minutes at the last management meeting at Nkuhungu School. I swear, I'm not making fun of their language ability, the vast majority of managment figures at my school have amazing English. This, of course, makes their few slips hilarious, especially given how formal the meetings are here. The context of this one was something like:
"To aid the students and to facilitate their continued achievement, it was decided at the last management meeting that the Form 1 and 3 students will be dividing into 3 streams as follows:
Stream A aims for complete syllabus coverage and mastery, with an additional focus on Mathematics and Science, allowing students to thus compete at the regional level.
Stream B assumes complete syllabus coverage, although time will be scheduled in for remedial sessions and additional tutoring.
Stream C assumes the students will need to be spoon fed to pass."
Great, right? Another good one was where they called the reasons why a fellow teacher had missed too many classes "lame excuses." I almost had to leave the room due to suppressed giggling with that one.
3) Best time to have a tall friend: 9 pm on Saturday nights in Nkuhungu. This was when Dan and I got back from the local watering hole (yeah, no jokes about how I don't have a life, I know it) and discovered that my substitute watchman had fallen asleep in the outdoor toilet. That's right, passed out cold, and despite our yelling and knocking on my gate, he remained fast asleep. My house is surrounded by a huge whitewashed wall topped with intimidated black spikes so after about 20 minutes of pounding, it looked like Dan and I would be heading back into town to find a guesthouse. That is, until he happened upon the brilliant idea of breaking into my house. Grasping the spikes at the top, he somehow, miraculously, hauled his 6'2 frame up and over, nearly ripping his....err, jeans...on the spikes at the top. He managed however to descend safely, let me in through the gate, and there was much rejoycing (as well as confusion on the part of the night watchman who woke up upon hearing us enter the house and stared baffled at the gate for a full 5 minutes while the words "I know I locked it!" ran through his head.)
Okay more soon, love to all!
Katie
posted by Katie at 1:20 PM
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