Don’t worry. I’m still alive! Sorry, I haven’t been able to access my blog page until now. It took me three hours to send a couple of emails the other day. If there’s one thing I’ve learned here it has to be patience… with the internet! Lol! So here I am, ready or not in Tanzania, Africa. I’m so glad I can be here. I’m definitely happy I’m not on those planes (especially the the one that was 12 and 1/2 hours long) for sure! in fact, I got REALLY sick and actually fainted on the plane. I got super dizzy and nauseated. My body kept shaking uncontrollably too. Brianna was so nice, trying to help me in whatever way she could. I don’t know what I would have done without her. Also, we almost missed our first flight! Brianna was having a lively talk on the phone…. Anyway, I’m glad I’m here safe and sound doing well, so praise God for that!
Uncle Jason picked us up and then we stayed a night and the Y and met up with Aunt Antionette and their three girls: Twalisa, Emily, and Shiloh. The next day at 4:30 am (yes, I was exhausted) we left for a ten hour drive. Our suitcases were in the truck as well as piled high on the top of the vehicle and all ten of us squeezed in the ten passenger car. It was really neat thought because we got to drive through a Natioinal Animal Reserve Park of some sort. We saw tons of monkeys, giraffes, baboons, zebras, warthogs, and many other animals.
When we got here, we weren’t exactly sure what we would be doing. It turned out that I would teach at the Primary school. I was thrilled! As some of you may know, I’ve always wanted to be an elementary teacher.. I just love little kids. I get up at 6:00 a.m., have my devotions, and then eat quickly to hopefully leave the house by 7:00. You see we have (or had) to walk all the way to the school to make it by 8:00 which is when school starts. The reason I say “all the way” is because the distance we walk to and from the school is about 5 miles. It’s a long way. I think the combination of walking so far on a dirt road and my shoes, is why I keep getting these big, bubbly, blisters on my feet. I’ve walked the 5 miles barefoot quite a few times. To look on the bright side of things, I am getting tough feet and good calluses! :)
I teach a variety of of grades (standards as they call them) and subjects. I’m mostly with the first and seventh graders. I have some classes with the third and fourth graders though too. When I got here, I expected that there would be a teacher in every class, a book and/or curriculum that they all used, and so forth. Well, I was mistaken. A LOT of the classes had no teacher except for me! If I was lucky, I would find some sort of book to follow and teach with. None of the kids have the books to follow along in either. :/ The language barrier (especially with the little ones) is a real difficult. But, we are coming along.
My favorite class to teach is Math with standard 1. They are also the the hardest class to control and to communicate with. Most of the time we don’t have a translator. Thanks to my Mom’s suggestion we are trying to teach them expectations. I say, “1,2,3 eyes on me!” Then they answer saying “1,2 eyes on YOU!” After this they are SUPPOSED to be quiet. We’re still working on it…. ;) My second favorite class is probably English with standard 7. Unlike standard 1 with over 20 kids, standard 7 only has 9 pupils. They are usually pretty good.
Another thing I’m doing is teaching Brianna’s cousin, Uncle Jason’s and Aunt Antionette’s middle child, Emily (I thought that was ironic. She has the same name as my sister and on top of that her Dad’s name is Jason!) After school each day I homeschool 8 year-old Emily. I’m enjoying it very much. Well, this blog is getting quite long so I will have to tell you more of my adventures some other time. I will post as soon as I have internet again. Thank you for the prayers; they are much needed and appreciated!
