Trying to blend
September 2, 2005
I have been trying to learn a little Bombara. Wow is it hard! They have all these different words depending on the time of day and the gender of the speaker. It seems like every time I think I have a new word down, I find out that you are supposed to say it a different way because it’s no longer morning, now it is afternoon. It’s pretty cool though when I address people using their language. The Malians are friendly by nature, but when they hear you address them in their own language, their smile explodes. They then work hard to correct and cajole me into pronouncing things right. This response makes the process so much nicer.
The first full week of school is over. We are adjusting to our new routines. The challenge of working with such a small number of students still exists, but it gets a little easier as we each figure out what is expected of us. I am the PE teacher here. I teach that on Tuesday and Thursday. Yesterday we did a bunch of calisthenics and my legs are so sore. I tried to move normally and not show the kids how much my legs hurt, but I don’t think they were fooled.
Carrie learned today that two of her five students are leaving tomorrow for six weeks. Their father goes in for emergency surgery in South Africa. That makes my class the largest with four students. It’s rather boring teaching so few kids. Am I a teacher or a tutor? We are thinking that we may have to revise things so that the three teachers work together with all of the kids at once (all nine of them). We certainly can’t complain about discipline issues however. These kids are really well behaved and generally respect the rules that have been laid down.
It’s a busy weekend! Carrie is going to a girl’s night out tonight. Tomorrow we are going on a picnic to a waterfall where the baboons live. I plan on taking lots of pictures. Tomorrow night they are showing Mr and Mrs Smith on the big screen at the club. Then on Sunday we are going to a brunch at a home around the corner. The only weird part about that is that some of my students will be there, but that is something I am going to have to get over since they live across the street and everyone knows everyone else here anyway.
I have been trying to learn a little Bombara. Wow is it hard! They have all these different words depending on the time of day and the gender of the speaker. It seems like every time I think I have a new word down, I find out that you are supposed to say it a different way because it’s no longer morning, now it is afternoon. It’s pretty cool though when I address people using their language. The Malians are friendly by nature, but when they hear you address them in their own language, their smile explodes. They then work hard to correct and cajole me into pronouncing things right. This response makes the process so much nicer.
The first full week of school is over. We are adjusting to our new routines. The challenge of working with such a small number of students still exists, but it gets a little easier as we each figure out what is expected of us. I am the PE teacher here. I teach that on Tuesday and Thursday. Yesterday we did a bunch of calisthenics and my legs are so sore. I tried to move normally and not show the kids how much my legs hurt, but I don’t think they were fooled.
Carrie learned today that two of her five students are leaving tomorrow for six weeks. Their father goes in for emergency surgery in South Africa. That makes my class the largest with four students. It’s rather boring teaching so few kids. Am I a teacher or a tutor? We are thinking that we may have to revise things so that the three teachers work together with all of the kids at once (all nine of them). We certainly can’t complain about discipline issues however. These kids are really well behaved and generally respect the rules that have been laid down.
It’s a busy weekend! Carrie is going to a girl’s night out tonight. Tomorrow we are going on a picnic to a waterfall where the baboons live. I plan on taking lots of pictures. Tomorrow night they are showing Mr and Mrs Smith on the big screen at the club. Then on Sunday we are going to a brunch at a home around the corner. The only weird part about that is that some of my students will be there, but that is something I am going to have to get over since they live across the street and everyone knows everyone else here anyway.
posted by Bronx to Timbuktu at 4:55 PM
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