Hey Everyone!!!
I have finally managed internet access. I am in the town of Lessos, a 5 minute walk from my school: Lessos Educations Center. It is a private bording school, and today is my second day teaching. Yes, teaching, not sitting on the sidelines. I have a total of 17 classes, 4 secondary (high school) and 13 primary. Today I had 2 early P.E. classes with standards (grades) 1 and 4. It has been amazing how much young kids love mzungos (whites). They are always touching us and chasing us down the road. The other day my roommates (Immy, Libby, and Sophie) and I were walking back after having shopped for some food supplies, and a group of small kids chirped in chorus from about 50 yards away: ''How are you?''. I yelled back ''Fine. How are you?'', to which they screamed and ran away. Very funny. So far the attention has not gottan old and I doubt it will.
In the secondary school, I have a math, english, and history class. I say this in the singular form, because I will only be teaching each subject once a week, and the full time teacher eill be covering it the rest of the time. This means that I have to come to each class prepared to ask them where they left off, and then progress form there. So far I have only taught primary Creative Arts and P.E. I started to plan my history lesson yesterday, which I was excited about, feeling that I could assist the most in this arena. The chapter is ''The History of Communication and Transport''. Alright. I started to read through it, and I felt my confidence falter. It listed each animal that has been used for transport and where. It then expanded upon the develpoment of wheels... Very straightforward. Hard to compare. What is the relevance for this information today? It will be much harder than I thought to encourage the students to question the ideas presented, as they are not ideas, but simply fact. Very challenging, but I am up to it and I have until monday afternoon to expand upon my initial ideas.
The Head Teacher is very enthusiastic about having AV's (people in our program). It seems that they have had excelent AV's in the past, so we have a high standard to breach. The other teachers do not show their enthusiasm so readily, although most have been nice and welcoming. I have been trying to attend the daily tea in the ''teachers lounge'' in order to strike up conversations with the teachers, but I have found my inquires most often lead to a dead end. However, they find me very funny. I'm not sure I'm laughing with them.
Our house is in the middle of the school, and I've been woken up around 6 every day by children running about (they wake up at 4). I have no running water or shelves in my room, but I have found the house to be comfortable. Perhaps this is because I have avoided the shower... but in any case. Dishes have become a routine for us, although laundry is still a bit of a struggle.
I have so much to say, but I will wait to expand for this weekend. All AV's are going to the city Eldoret for a nice shower, food, etc. There I will have fast and easy internet access.
I am reminded of you all constantly. Little things. Especially Bobbi...
I love it here, but I am being safe and forward thinking. I miss you all, but not too much stay in touch. My mailing address is:
Nora Ryan
Lessos Education Center
Box 335
Lessos 30302
Kenya
Cheers.
Nora
Kind of different for a Columbus girl to be exotic, huh? Context is everything!
ReplyDeleteWhat you wrote about the teachers' responses (or lack thereof) to your question sparked a distant memeory from a linguistics class. I recall a discussion of how differently various cultures perceive questions. We mean to express interest in others by asking them questions, but I wonder if people in Kenya see it that way? If not, what do they think? If you can figure anything out on this, I'd love to know.
It's too late for your transportation chapter, but when you have to help the young 'uns learn facts, maybe you could try to get them to place themselves in the shoes of those to whom the facts apply. For example, for the transportation unit maybe get each one to write down the place they would most like to go, then randomly assign an animal or a vehicle you'd been talking about and have them come up with a plan to get from Lessos to wherever with their mode of trasportation. A kid with a camel trying to get to Guam would rally have too be pretty creative, and they might get some insight into what people who travel by camel actually have to work with.
I don't think you have to worry about relevance to today's world in regard to your material. A Humanitites professor I had, a nun with more degrees than you could shake a stick at, talked about ideas as like the pieces of glass in a mosiac, with each new one added nudging the others and changing the relationships among all the elements of the design. You can trust the students to make great designs if you do a good job of delivering the pieces, I think.
Tell us something about the logistics of living without running water! Where do you get the water you have? How do you conserve it? How do your neighbors handle laundry? What a challenge!
Take care and post more news, we're waiting with bated breath.
Love you.