One week of normal life.....

Greetings!  Having been here for two months now, I'm already forgetting what parts of school life are different from when I was in Aus.  

Writing on the blackboard (which is just a wall painted black) is normal.
Keeping the light in the 'on' position so I can see when the power comes back on and rush to photocopy is normal.
Double siding every photocopy (manually, but taking it out, turning upside down and putting back in) and keeping count of the sheets used is normal.
Turning on the ceiling fan only to have it shower the students in gecko poo is normal.
Wooden chairs making screeching sounds on the concrete floor is normal.
Having to squeeze sideways between desks in a too small room is normal.
Wiping a film of dirt off everything everyday is normal.
Looking up the next lesson to be taught in a textbook is normal.
Finishing lunch break at 1:00pm and still having 2.5 hours of school to teach is normal.

I can't say I like all the 'normal' things (especially not the last two!) but most are no real problem.  I thought this week I would take photos of a typical week at school - my new version of normal :)

Monday blackboard: Exponential notation

Snack time!  Uji (millet/cornflour porridge) + hard boiled egg

The class have been writing procedures on a topic of their choice. Today they presented to the class, demonstrating at least one step of their instructions.  I learnt so much about each student and loved the diversity of topics!

This gal is such a talented artist!

Demonstrating how to make Chapati - Ethiopian style

Rylee demonstrated how to make Kombucha. 

This student has only been speaking English for 1.5 years....and did an amazing job!

Lunch time is a whole hour to eat yummy food that the cooks prepare for all staff and students.  No playground duty either! 

Today's lunch: Yellow lentils and rice

Monday afternoon is Science followed by a planning period, then home time!  I have a tradition of getting an ice cream at Woodlands (our little local supermarket) each day.  Even if I don't walk home from school (it's about a 45 min walk) I usually walk back to get my after school treat!  Woodlands doesn't have a generator and with power off 50% of the time I'm always super happy to get a sort of frozen version of ice cream :)

Monday after school ice cream - pretty good!

Tuesday blackboard: power off = no photocopying = whole worksheets copied onto the board

Snack time! Uji with oranges (that are rarely the colour orange)

The 6th Grade students learnt about fossils today!  The year 7+8 students are learning about experimental variables and did an experiment looking at how soap affects the surface tension of water.  It's so strange to have two entirely different Science lessons going at once in a class of only 10 students....but must do what the textbook says!

Lunch: Ugali and Machicha + Mac and cheese
 (Tanzania meets 'merica!)

I teach drama 2 afternoons a week to all students K-8.
 I love getting to know these little sweeties.

Today's ice cream: the melted and not quite refrozen version

Wednesday was a public holiday to commemorate the death of Tanzania's first president.  We had some team building stuff at the director's house, but no school!

Thursday's blackboard: each month we have a memory verse to learn and present to the school.
A bit easy for this class, so we are learning ours in Italian  instead
 (our History topic has lots about Italy at the moment!)

Snack time! Uji and hard boiled egg

In History we have been studying the Renaissance and are making a timeline to go around the classroom showing the major people and events.  It's the only subject I can fully teach as a whole class and the kids are learning so much.  It's my favourite subject to teach because I'm learning heaps as well!

Today's lunch: beans and rice with banana

After school ice cream - nicely refrozen

Friday blackboard: more Science....no slacking off in my class...

Snack time! Uji (with lots of sugar - it was a bit burnt today)
and toast

Each Friday we have Book Buddies (carrying on the tradition from LCS!). The students in my class are each paired with one or two "buddies" from the Kindergarten class and spend 20 mins reading aloud to them.  It's great for the Kinder kids but also for my students as half the class are ESL students are are lacking confidence in reading in English.  In this setting if they don't know a word, no problem!  

Today's lunch: beef stew with rice and watermelon

Hanging out in the staffroom/library over lunch :)

So excited for Friday afternoon ice cream..alas, no power all day
 so ice cream would be really mushy.  Still needed a treat though!

And now for a lovely relaxed weekend!  We have parent teacher interviews next Friday (and get a whole day off for them!) so I need to write reports this weekend.  Here's one last photo, showing what a 'report card' looks like on this side of the world.

HALF A PAGE per student for ten students....
teacher friends be very jealous!

God's blessings xxx

Loooong weekend!

This last weekend was not just one day longer but two glorious days....meaning 4 days in total off!  It made the fact that my teacher buddies in Aus are on a two week holiday just a bit easier...haha

I am realising more and more how much of an introvert I am.  Four days was perfect since I could do my own thing on Friday before heading to Arusha as a group on Saturday.  Before I get onto that, I am so happy that I've been able to gain a whole new level of independence.  No more shopping with the group....I know most of the places I want to go in town now, and love the freedom of catching a boda boda (motorbike taxi) and doing Saturday shopping solo.  It has seriously become my happy place!  I love my housemates/workmates, but 7 days of being around people is too much.  Rather than being frustrated by this, I'm learning to accept the way that God has made me and enjoy every moment of solitude and silence that I can get!

That said, Saturday was group outing day and was great fun!  The school directors organise fun trips for the teachers every now and then, with everything paid for.  This time was Arusha, a bigger city about 1.5 hours from here.  It's a bit higher than Moshi, so also cooler and heaps greener.  We could see Mt Meru on the way too.

On the road to Arusha...can kind of see the outline of Mt Meru.....

"Slum Dunk" haha.  And handy signs so we know left from right.

First stop was a super posh coffee lodge for lunch.  The fish and chips were amazing!  Totally touristy but soooo good.

Person trying to stab me: That would be my boss!

Next was the cultural heritage centre and museum.  We got to see Tanzanite (really pretty blue gem) and the guy who owns the whole place was super passionate when talking about it.  He had one gem worth $11 000 000 but I think I'll wait til he's got some bigger items in stock before making a purchase.

Hand-carved out of a tree....wow

I got munched.

Last stop before returning home: icecream!  Just a bit better than the frozen-melted-frozen-melted-frozen again variety I usually get at Woodlands (little local supermarket)

All up it was a great time and returning to Moshi made me realise just how much here feels like home now.  God's blessings on your week xxx

St Margaret's

Last week sometime was my month-iversary of being in Tanzania...time is flying by! Life has become very routine now, with long school days followed by my usual after-school grumpiness (sorry housemates!).  It's so hard to teach all day and actually have energy/motivation left for socialising!

Since arriving here I've been going to an Anglican church called St Margaret's.  It feels more like an interdenominational church, with people from all different countries and backgrounds.  It has a Swahili service at 8am, then the English service at 10:30.  Last week we had a potluck lunch at a couple's place just out of town...such a beautiful setting!  It's been great to get to meet some people outside of school, and I'll be taking Sunday school a couple of times a month too so am looking forward to that as well.  It's about a 40 min walk either way but so worth it!

St Margaret's Church lunch

Such a beautiful place!

Guest choir at St Margaret's last week.  Such amazing voices!

St Margaret's....will replace with a better pic when I have one!

Kili peeking through the trees on the walk home from church.  Always a blessing!

Here are some other random pics of life here.  This week we only have four days of school, then have both Friday and the following Monday off!  God's blessings on your week. xxx

Bessie needs watering every day.  This time she
 inconveniently broke down at the shop :(

"Naked Man River" just down from out house.
Named so after an encounter I had with a guy having a bath :P

Jesus washing his disciples feet makes so much sense to me now....

Hair long enough to braid...oooh!

It took about 2 weeks for me to notice the brand name and logo...hehe

Time for school!

School started for teachers the week before last.  It was really exciting to get in and start setting things up! This is my lovely classroom, looking all ready for students:

 Actually, preparation week turned out to be a rather frustrating week!  [teacher talk begins] Being the only Aussie became quite evident.....curriculum in America-land (or America-land combined with Tanzania-land?) = loads and loads of textbooks/workbooks....even for the little kiddies!  The standards are there, but we don't get much choice in how we meet each standard.  Each time we went through another curriculum area and I walked away with another stack of books, I had to hold my tongue (sometimes not so effectively) and accept that this is how I am to teach.  It was probably made worse by the fact that I am teaching 3 grades across 4 subjects.  My textbook stack is seriously impressive! 

After getting over initial frustrations it was super exciting to meet my class this last week.  I have only 9 students (teachers of the world, be jealous) and a full-time teacher assistant.  Not only that, but my students are really focused and eager to learn.  I hardly know what to do with myself!  I really do love it though.  Grace, my teacher assistant is such a wonderful teacher and often takes groups on her own.  I also get to teach drama 2 afternoons a week for all students from K to 8. It's so nice to get to know the little ones as well.  

My students working hard!

As you can see, my head is well and truly in school mode.  Here are some more pics of the  last 2 weeks...all, of course, pics of school!

My classroom from the outside (attached to admin block)

The main building

School logo!

Stage area where we have chapel and drama

Great playground!

Picnic tables for eating lunch

Oh, and this is Bessie - our teacher transport!  I have mastered driving in Tanzania (being Aussie = same side of the road!) and get to drive us to school each morning (having a "stick" or manual licence isn't common in America it seems).  By now I have memorised all the speed bumps and potholes along the way, and don't even mind the crazy traffic.  So far so good!

The sometimes temperamental Bessie

God's blessings.  More updates soon.....perhaps on something other than school??? 
 xxx