As I sit here home alone on a Saturday afternoon, having occupied myself for most of the day (it's now about 4:15 p.m.), I guess I should take some time to write about my first two weeks here in Dar es Salaam. I meant to write after the first week, but I really wasn't "all there" yet, so now another week has passed and here I am.
The first few days in-country were quite a blur. Literally. I was very dizzy for the first, I'd say, four days because of dehydration. So, I didn't do that much, but what I did do I was kind of just a zombie. A quiet zombie. I arrived the morning of Friday, Oct. 1, and went from the airport to the school, Haven of Peace Academy. We were in a lot of traffic and I was ill by the time we arrived at school. After sitting for awhile and drinking water, I got a tour around and met a lot of staff and sat and spoke with the secondary vice principal for awhile before going "home" to the staff compound across the street. There I was greeted by Kate and I think I took a nap after that. Anyway, not really interesting details other than I later met my housemates Crystal, Marie and Erin. (Actually, I had met Erin and Crystal at school earlier that day.) That next day, Saturday, I don't remember much, other than my sleep was way out of whack and I was dizzy. Attempted to eat. Had been invited over to the Larmey's (via Dyan), whose children go to HOPAC and whose parents lead YoungLife Africa. We had tacos and I had a nice time, but I was still really out of it and extremely quiet. Mute. Sunday I slept alot and managed to go out with Crystal and Marie to a restaurant after they returned from church. We went to T Square and that's where I had mishkaki for the first time. Yum. I was still out of it and not much company. But, I was glad to get out of the house, despite still having the dizzies.
Monday through the rest of that first week I had only grade 10. We're doing short stories from "Stories of Ourselves." The students are great. Impressive vocabularies so far. I have 22 grade 10 students. By the end of the week, I was really wrapping my head around the IGCSE (International General Certificate Secondary Education) curriculum and also the Cambridge A and AS level curriculum (which I teach for grades 11 and 12). Here's what I'll be teaching this year:
Grade 9 & Grade 10: "Death of a Salesman" (Arthur Miller play, a review for them), "Stories of Ourselves" (10 short stories), "Songs of Ourselves" (14 poems), "Romeo and Juliet" (Shakespeare play, a review for them), and other English language items that are yet to be determined.
Grade 11: "Jane Eyre" (Charlotte Bronte novel), "Songs of Ourselves" (29 poems), "A Streetcar Named Desire" (Tennessee Williams play), and "The Importance of Being Earnest" (Oscar Wilde play).
Grade 12: "The Tempest" (Shakespeare play); "Prufrock and Other Observations (4)," "The Waste Land," and "The Hollow Men" (T.S. Eliot poems); and "Hard Times" (Charles Dickens novel).
So, there is a lot I'll be covering teaching four grade levels. The way the system is set up is that the grade 9 curriculum carries over to grade 10 for whatever they didn't do in grade 9. I'm not sure what my predecessor did that now allows me to basically teach the same thing to both of those grade levels (less to grade 9 should I choose), but yay. Of the texts I'll be teaching, I have only previously read one: "Romeo and Juliet." Such is the drawback for not being an English major and now being an English teacher. I just today finished "Jane Eyre" and am enjoying reading "The Tempest." I am dreading all poetry. I have 22 grade 10 students, six grade 11 students and a lone grade 12 student. She is really passionate about English and literature, so that makes it fun. I don't know how many grade 9 students I have as I haven't taken them on yet (after break), but I think I'll have about 24. That'll be about 53 students total. A small load of students for sure, but a huge course load.
So, that about brings me to this week. Monday, my second at the school, brought me my grade 11 class. (I had taken on my grade 12 student the previous Thursday.) We had a short week at school because Thursday was a public holiday and the staff's professional development session for Friday was cancelled. We have next week off for midterm break and I resume my classes on Oct. 25. I'm at school from 7:15/7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Students are there until 2:05 p.m.
Places I've been outside school vary. I've walked down to the tailor, gone to T Square (restaurant; with Marie), gone to Shopper's (grocery store and mini mall; with Heather and Jen), gone to Mlimani City Mall twice (in an attempt to get a SIM card for my phone; once with Marie, once with Heather), gone to Shoprite (grocery at Mlimani), gone to Engen (mini-mart) and the ATM there. Erin and I went out for Italian food aka pizza on Thursday night at a place called Saverio's. It was delicious! Yayyy. A little taste of home. It was like a thin-crust brick-fired pizza. Yum.
Food has been OK here so far. I need to start eating better, that's for sure. Ramen, chapati and spaghetti aren't gonna cut it for long. Considering I have zero cooking skills, I'm cutting myself a (big) break for starting slowly.
No new news about moving into the second house. It'll be just Erin and me, and I don't know anything else really right now other than we should make some progress on it before she leaves for a few days next Wednesday. I'm not in a hurry because the house I'm in now is so warm. Duh, it's all settled in already. The new one is like a dungeon. We're working from scratch. Seriously. Ground up. I'm looking forward to buying materials at the market, though, to furnish the house. Crazy.
My Swahili is OK as far as basic greetings. I wrote down key phrases on directions and stuff and am starting to learn my numbers. You really have to work at learning the language here because we're all surrounded at school and at the compound by English speakers. I will make the effort. At the outdoor street market in Tegeta yesterday I had to humble myself to take out my little notebook to make sure I knew what I was saying. But, once I see it and say it enough I will learn.
What I miss most so far is TV and food. How American. Haha Of course, I miss people too. There have been moments of panic, more like feeling trapped, but those seem to pass after about two hours. Try to avoid that feeling every day, so I don't want to write too much about it now. :) Skyping has helped a ton as far as feeling connected. Emailing (and Facebook, I daresay), too.
Love to you all,
L
Skype ID: RememberTZ
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