Teaching (Part 1)

I’ve broken this blog into 2 parts…

Part 1(Teaching):

I’m sitting here drinking my porridge all cozy in my purple bed sheets and BIG checkered blue blanket and I’m wondering where to even begin. It’s been awhile since I’ve written a blog and a lot has happened here in Sipili.

School officially had started around the last time I blogged but I didn’t actually teach my first class until this past Monday! The Monday of the 3^rd week of school.  I’ve come to learn that things take more time over here and it takes a while for all of the students to come.

Two Tuesdays ago we finally had out staff meeting…which lasted from 10:30 until 3 (after sitting in the room from 8am on because I thought it was starting bright and early…suffice to say, I was wrong). Wednesday the time table of when each class would be taught was made and there was no school on Thursday or Friday because of primaries….I wasn’t informed of this but I just hung out with the kids both days and tried to learn names. At the staff meeting we divided classes and subjects and I got my schedule, here is what I’m teaching with the number of times/week that the students have those subjects:

4^th grade: Science (4) and KSL (5)

5^th grade: English (6)

6^th grade: Maths (6)

7^th grade: PE (3)

Also, I found out when the terms are (though they may change if there are problems with the elections and school gets cancelled for any reason) but as of now, they are as follows:

Term 1: 7. Jan to 10 April

Term 2: 8 May to 31 July

Term 3: 28 August to Mid November

My school is a boarding school and so the kids stay here until term ends and then as the next term begins, they trickle in once more.

I was pretty nervous about teaching all different subjects but now that I have one week under my belt, it’s not quite as nerve-wracking thankfully. It is a bit strange teaching the different subjects because thus far, I’m finding it easier to teach Maths and Science! And if you know me, I usually hate math and science so I was looking less forward to teaching those. But teaching KSL is tough because my KSL isn’t top notch yet. Then you have teaching English to kids who are deaf which is hard work because they know the signs really well but matching the signs to the English word can be tough.  Then they’ve got to make sentences with those words that they know the sign…but picking out which word belongs to which sign is rough. It is important they learn English seeing as every exam they take involves directions in English and lots of English word and learning about the outside world is all in English! In their big 8^th grade exam which determines which high school they go to if they pass, they are tested on: Maths, Science, English, Social Studies and KSL…and if I’m correct, the only way they really adapt the test for these kids is to give them slightly more time. So the kids know the answers but reading the questions and then writing a composition…which they have to do in both the English and KSL part of the exam is super hard…especially because for the English part they have to try to remember correct grammar and such things but then right after that they have to write a composition in KSL using totally different sentence structure and grammar! But that is a later task to jump so for now I just have to teach them what I can from their textbooks and hope some of it sticks.

Last Monday, my first day of teaching, I actually only taught 2-3 classes because a group of Italians showed up! We had been expecting them the Thursday before but with primaries going on, he didn’t come until Monday. Father Edward came with a group of 11 other Italians from his parish and parishes around his in Italy. He had lived in Sipili for a bit of time many years ago and now that he’s back in Italy, he sponsors our school. He also sponsors a few other schools in Kenya but he has a soft spot for ours since he lived in Sipili. The interesting part for me was the translating. Only 3 of the 12 Italians knew English and we’re at a Deaf School so the kids only know KSL. So the conversation would go from an Italian asking a question to being translated into English and then my Headmaster would translate it into KSL and then back again to English and then to Italian with the occasional Kikuyu/Kiswahili thrown in there to be translated as well! Craziness indeed!! I just wonder how much got lost in translation, oh well, the Italians were happy to see their money had gone to good use as the building I’m living in right now is what they most recently helped to fund! I didn’t know I’d have so many people looking in and taking pictures of my house but they were happy. My house is attached to what will be the new boys dormitory with the housemothers house on the opposite end-it’s only partitioned inside the building.

So what else? Well, the students are fantastic!! They are super excited I’m here teaching and excited that I’m living on the compound with them. I know most of their sign names and am just working on their actual names now but they love to quiz me on their names and everyone else around them.

The big news for the students right now is that they have their annual Games tournament sometime near the end of the semester and since I was given the title of ‘Assistant Games Master’ I get to help them prepare! I don’t know all the games that are involved but I do know that we compete in netball, volleyball and athletics. Two other teachers are helping them with the ball games and I run with the kids who can/want to every day!! There are few different paths we take and usually we run for maybe 25-35 minutes. They really range in speed with some super fast ones and then some of the girls that go at a more leisurely pace but have a great time with it. The little kids stay back and I’d say an average of 8-15 kids between 4^th and 7^th grade ran with me this past week! It’s been great because I’ve now run every day, I get to hang out with these kids, try to find new ways to motivate/encourage through sign and I have gotten to see more of Sipili which is a truly beautiful place. I’ve been really blessed and lucky to be placed here with these amazing kids and such a pretty environment!!

My Abode! (Part 2)

Part 2 (My House)

The other exciting news is that my house is almost completely finished! I have been living here for 3 weeks and it feels like home now. Last week I got my lights installed and the border on my ceiling finished so I could start actually unpacking because now I don’t have a lot of workers in here. I wont be able to post pictures until the first week of March when we have an ‘in-service training’ (assuming the internet is better quality wherever we’re placed) while schools are closed because of elections. Or I’ll be able to if I visit another volunteer and the internet signal is stronger there. I’m so happy I have the Internet but sadly the signal isn’t strong enough to skype or post pictures. Oh well, maybe the anticipation of seeing stuff will make it better? J

So let me try to paint you a rough picture of my humble abode here on the compound of Sipili School for the Deaf…

My house has 4 little rooms and is the perfect size for me to live in. My bedroom is painted a sky blue on the bottom 1/3 with a cream on top. My bed is covered in a mosquito net so it’s like im tucked into a little cave every night. I have a large wardrobe opposite of my bed and 3 shelves tacked to the wall. I have maybe 15 pictures of family/friends taped to my wall and random quotes scattered about that I cut out from magazines while living in my temporary house with not much to do. They include ‘love actually is all around’ and ‘reach for the stars’. My living room, painted with a teal color on the bottom third, is still waiting for my hammock to be put up but I have a coffee table and bookshelf in there now. Thanks to Jess and Jenny, the previous volunteers in Sipili, I have almost a full shelf of books to read! I also have painted an outline of Africa and written a phrase from the Shakira song ‘Waka Waka, it’s Time for Africa’ on the back wall of my living room…it’s probably my favorite ‘decoration’. Once again, I have a few more pictures and posters of quotes taped up as well including a drawing of an alien that Bethi sent me J My bathroom is, like all my other rooms, filled with quotes but they are bigger and overtake it! I have ‘cause I’m just a teenage dirtbag’ painted in green on one wall and ‘I feel good, I knew that I would’ on the other wall. I also have 2 posters that I wrote Roald Dahl quotes on and had laminated on my other two walls…now I just need my plumbing to work so I can actually use the toilet in my own bathroom. Lastly, my kitchen has an outrageous shade of yellow with hints of blue thrown in, on 3 of the 4 walls with my bedroom blue color on the back wall. Once again, thanks to Jess & Jenny, I have a loooot of spices and pots and pans from them that they left me! I also have 2 shelves on one wall and a counter top across the back. I use a little gas stove and it’s been fun, most nights, cooking for myself whatever I want. I painted ‘making banana pancakes’ above my shelves in red and taped the cut out letters of ‘D to the E to the LICIOUS’ on my other wall from that Fergie song ‘Fergilicious’ hahaha.

I think that about covers it and overall, things have been going well here, I’m getting more and more settled in by the day! Time to grill some cookies…todays batch: choco-chip with half a banana, raspberry-apple-raisin oatmeal and cinnamon! YUM! J

If you have any questions, just ask and I’ll try my best to answer!

Love to all, many kisses from Kenya,

LindeLoo

p.s. In the quarterly Peace Corps Magazine that all volunteers receive I read an article on a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer and her husband who started a fair trade lingerie line. They both had done a bit of work in Africa, she served in Cameroon, and they knew they wanted to do something. They talked to some of the villages started a fair trade line of lingerie which I thought was pretty cool. Just thought I’d throw it out there if anyone was interested because it’s new and it is fair-trade. The website is: BeSexyBuyFair.com or cherieamie.com  à they both go to the same website J

Resolutions and First Day of School

Happpppy New Years to Everyone!!! I can’t believe that it is 2013 already-and I’m in KENYA-that’s totally wild!! I hope everyone had a great New Years and is sticking to their resolutions! My New Years Eve was pretty calm, I watched the movie ‘New Years Eve’ (it’s a combination of stories about people who are connected somehow and they all celebrate in New York) and then I brought in the New Year, here and in America-8 hours later-by talking to my lovely boyfriend! New York is where I spent it last year with Nate and Quevy and now I’m across the globe-watching people celebrate it talking to Nate on the phone. Oh how things change. If only Sipili had a Serendipity Store will Frozen Hot Chocolate ;) Hahaha

I want to share my resolutions in hopes that it might help you stick with yours even just a day longer and because it’s not a birthday wish and I’m allowed to tell J. 

My first resolution is to mail at least one letter to everyone I have the address for in my address book that I brought along. Earlier this week, since I had a looooot of spare time, I labeled each address to an envelope with my address on the back to make sure I wouldn’t miss one this year. Though if you don’t know if I have yours, feel free to facebook or email it to me and I’ll add ya to the list. I want to try and stay in contact with people even if it’s not that frequently-it’s still something. I’m pretty excited about this resolution because I love making cards and everyone loves snail mail! …I think I’m going to find out where and how to get to the Post Office near me by this weekend too so I can actually start sending mail again.

My second resolution is to perform more random acts of kindness. I want to do a few each month to keep myself accountable. I’m not sure how I’m going to go about this one yet but I also am pretty excited about this. And I just noticed on Facebook that other people are trying to do this too-that’s pretty sweet-Pay It Forward!!

My third resolution is to try living day by day as much as possible. This sounds cheesy or whatever, I realize that, but I also think it’s key. I need to expect the unexpected and roll with it. Planning in great extent might not be the best way since now I’m living on Kenyan time. Time to take things day by day, day by day J

Lastly, my fourth resolution, though it isn’t as deep or as thought provoking as the others, it might still prove difficult- (Never underestimate chocolate) -is to not eat anymore processed cookies/biscuits while in Kenya (unless offered by a Kenyan because to not take it would be rude). I am going to only eat cookies if they are homemade. I mean, homemade cookies are so much better anyways and then I can work on improving my recipes, yum! J

So either this weekend or sometime next week I will write about school since it officially started today, however, as usual, it’s running on Kenyan time. Also, hopefully next time I blog I will be sitting in my new house…which I’m still not in.

School starting today was a bit strange. I was not informed of when I should be anywhere or what was going on at all. I sat in my bed, in my temporary house, basically spying on the gate to see when students or teachers would come in. I ended reading an entire book on my kindle though so it wasn’t a wasted morning and I wasn’t totally creepy? Hahaha but either way, I sat there from maybe 7:30am until 11:30am when my headmaster finally showed up. Between that time I’d seen 2 teachers enter and then shortly thereafter, exit the compound and 2 students enter but then they went to the dormitory. So at 11:30 I walk outside, greeted my headmaster/supervisor/counterpart as well as some of the other teachers who had wandered in. There are 6 teachers plus the headmaster and the deputy-all but one of them was there. We go to the staff room because we are to have a staff meeting. Right. They say a prayer, welcome me and then introduce everyone. Maybe 5 minutes later there is no more talk of school topics and Kiswahili/Kikuyu is being thrown around a lot. They did translate some and have parts of their convos in English for me but it was mostly political and hard to follow. Mr. Gikunda, the headmaster, says we can’t decide which classes/subjects we’re teaching because one staff member was missing. Then he proceeds to say that actually we’re going to wait until Monday to pick which classes and subjects everyone is teaching because then most of the students will be there and we’ll know how many students we’re going to have. So now we have a staff meeting to assign classes & subjects to teachers AND classes are to begin. Now if I was teaching at Hogwarts and had Hermione’s special time watch and we could all be in 2 places at once, teaching and in the staff room, this might make sense, but alas, it doesn’t. Expect the unexpected; expect the unexpected, that’s what I gotta do. The staff ‘meeting’ ended an hour later, we all ate lunch together and then had chai and walked back to the school to sit around for a bit more before everyone went home. By late afternoon I’d met 6 students, the rest still have to arrive. It can be hard for the parents to get their children to school so they said it often takes up to a week or so for all of the students to arrive. This is why we can and will start teaching on Monday.

The few students I met were ages 4 and 7/8 and they signed sooo fast! They were filled with such excitement for everything! I am really excited to start teaching but also pretty scared. I need a lot of work on my signing and need to get up to their pace! The few kids I met today and all the kids I remember from shadowing are so sweet and funny! It’s going to alright. Thursday and Friday I think we’re just hanging out with the students anyways since we’re not teaching and just waiting for them to come….and I live on the school compound so I gotta meet my new neighbors right? ;)

Hope everyone is having fun back at school or enjoying the last few days before school starts….and I suppose there are people out there who aren’t teachers or students who read this so hope youre just living up 2013 J

Many kisses from Kenya!!

And remember to send me mail updating me on your lives!!!! Awesome news today speaking of-I got 5 letters!! Thanks everyone!!!! J

Love,

Zabet