The workshop is officially half way done! Whoo hoo! We had the participants fill out an evaluation form yesterday to see if we could get some clues as to what we can do differently this week and see if we can somehow stir up some enthusiasm in them. There weren’t too many clues in there, but in conversing with some of them, it seems that some of them are not really into it because they don’t see the “material” value in learning how to teach their mother tongue. That is, some of them think that they should be paid more if they become the language “experts” in their schools. Yet, they know that’s probably not going to happen, so they’re sorta figuring “why waste my time”.
So tomorrow we’re going to spend some time talking about the official language policy and see if we can bring some of this stuff out in the open. And hopefully we can make a good enough case for the fact that it’s just a good thing for their learners to be able to learn first in their mother tongue! Anyway, I’m hoping it will be a good discussion, and won’t be like pulling teeth to get them to talk to each other and to me.
These participants are quite funny – they can sit for hours, and I do literally mean hours, on a plastic chair under a tree, chatting away. I haven’t a clue what they’re chatting about, but they’re chatter boxes. But then they get in the classroom… and nothing. They don’t say much in their language, they don’t say much in English. So maybe we’ll just drag all the chairs out under the trees tomorrow and do our teaching that way!
I had a good evening yesterday. It started to rain, for one thing, so it really cooled down quite nicely. And it gave me an excuse to wear my gum boots :) My beautiful blue gum boots. I got in touch with someone that I’ve met back in the big city of Jb. He’s based here, and said he’d take me out to the taste the best grilled chicken in the country. It almost got called off because of the rain – and once we got out there, I could see why! The rain had turned everything to really sticky slimy slippery mud! Even the big old Landcruiser, in 4WD, was sliding around on the main road! I’ve never seen mud like that in the middle of a town. Truly amazing! There were literally vehicles sliding right off the side of the road and into the ditches.
But the chicken was worth it! Hot off the grill, served with some beans, fresh bread and a cold Coke. What more could a girl want? And it’s actually not that far from where I’m staying! I have to admit, it was just really nice to have some conversation with someone from closer to my own culture, as well. While I love my African colleagues, I’ve been feeling a bit lonely for some company of someone who I can understand a bit better! So it was a very nice refreshing dinner out. And it was just fun to wear my gum boots out for dinner!
This morning I slept in a bit. It was pretty humid again, so I was feeling kinda gross and sweaty by the time I got out of my room at 8:00am. My colleagues had kindly left some tea and fried dough for my breakfast near my door. So kind of them to think of me before they all headed out to church. Again, I just didn’t have the energy to sweat through a 4 hour service in a language that I don’t understand! Much more refreshing to stay on my own at home, and listen to a little John Piper and do some reading.
It was also wonderful because I was able to take a good long shower without having to rush to make space for someone else in the bathing room! The air was warm, but the water was still nice and cool, so it was a perfectly refreshing shower this morning.
I also took a little hike to the market this afternoon to see if I could find some more bananas. Alas. There were no bananas. No avocados. Very little of anything, really. There were a few very sad looking pineapples. However, I’ve only got my Swiss Army knife with me and no other implements for chopping into a pineapple. So I left those. But I did find a few little piles of green oranges. I bought several, hoping that they’ll be good. I don’t have such high hopes, but they will probably last a few days so I can at least get a bit of fruit!
I sorta rushed to the market and back because it was really threatening to rain again. So far, though, no rain! It’s gotten a bit cloudy, but the air is so still and it’s humid as anything. But the clouds don’t seem too eager to release their water!
I also did some work this afternoon to prepare for tomorrow. It’s going to be a long week, though I have a feeling it will also go fast! There’s a lot of material to cover, and I am, quite frankly, a little nervous about how the participants are going to deal with it all! I just haven’t quite figured out what they’re all expecting yet! I’ve already rearranged a few bits and pieces of my plans for tomorrow so that they’ll only be sitting and listening to anything for about 15 minutes at a time, before they have to get up and do something with it. Normally adults have a longer attention span than that, but I’ve figured out that these guys have about 20 minutes to sit before their minds go somewhere else!
That also means I have to try to get to sleep early tonight, because it’s going to take all my energy to keep teaching through the whole day, and trying to make sure I keep these guys’ attention all day… in increments of 15 minutes! One of my dear little friends in Uganda suggested that I dress up like a cow to do my teaching, and maybe that would keep their attention! These are, after all, cattle people, and everything, always, comes right back to the cows.
Speaking of the cows, did I mention that I drank some milk on Friday that came straight from a cow? They said it was boiled, so I figured it was probably safe enough to drink. But I did have a few slight regrets about it yesterday. It wasn’t exactly terrible, but enough uncomfortableness that I will avoid the full-on fresh from the cow milk experience in the future. I don’t know if there was something in the milk that actually got me, or if it’s just that my poor little belly isn’t used to so much dairy all at on… anyway, that’s probably way too much information for you.
The generator just came on, it’s starting to get dark, which means I need to run next door to pick up something for supper. Here’s hoping they have a plate of potatoes for me!
No comments:
Post a Comment