teachingggggg

So teaching is fun. Im teaching at a school for three weeks to get some practice before heading to my site later on. My students are really well behaved, adn they think its a riot when i say anything in kiswahili or do anything that is non lecture oriented. Im trying to learn their names, but whenever i call on them in class, i try to say their name, which most of them have been whispering, and that brings on more laughter, which is fine with me, becasue it makes me feel so much more comfortable and its not that hard to get their attention back, all i have to do is say, "attention" well maybe a couple times, but thats pretty good... (ive only taught each student once, because each class has biology once a week--that also makes the lesson plans way easier becasue i only have to do one for the week...at least for now). THe other teachers at the school are also pretty cool, and there is a group of them who are in their twenties. Last week I also observed a major battle of the sexes because we had a small group of girls and a small group of guys separately write down their daily schedule and boy were the girls getting after the guys for not making writing down that they made their beds in the morning, and then the girls were saying that they did so many more chores than the guys do, which according to the guys, isnt always true...and THEN of course we had to talk about how the girls had better handwriting on their poster, but they didnt have pictures so the guys poster is better.

Then there is kiswahili time.

It is so confusing for me.

6 oclock am, is 12 am in kiswahilie time. The clock starts when the sun comes up (6am). But you say 12 am. Sorry if this is confusing. Im still confused. So every different time you have to add 6 hours to, so that you get kiswahili time. Then you have to say it in kiswahilie. My mama was really trying to teach it to me, and would ask me what time it was every 10 minutes.

More on mama teachign me. She is a funny lady. when I was learning how to count in kiswahili, it turned into teaching me how to draw numbers, like one looks like a stick. 2 looks like a swan. i forget what 3 is supposed to look like, but i had to remind her that i did know how to write numbers... sometimes the line is blurred. but im starting to think that i should maybe say i dont know how to do things more. Such as ironing. I know how to iron. But she will be so impressed if she thinks i just learn really quickly. And cutting onions...

And then there is still the fact that I have to wash my feet. Im starting to wonder if mama thinks my tanlines from my chacos are dirt. She checks my feet after I bathe. There is a lot of laughing that goes on there.. Speaking of chacos,, im getting a free pair. They broke a little and so did my friends so we emailed chaco... yee haaaaaaaaa. oh , and i passed my kiswahili mid terms. til next time....kwa heriniiiiiiiii