Wednesday 5-28-14
I had a
very hard time sleeping last night. It was about one in the morning when I
finally fell asleep, then of course I woke up way before I needed to. But I got
up, spent a little time with Mamaliz when it was quiet, then I got the kids off
and we all saw mom off. Anne and David came by to give her a hug and say safari
njema (good travels).
I let
the kids stay home for the morning. I figure with all the extra work I knew
would be having, I won’t be able to play with the kids as much or give them
quite as much attention as they are used to. So we will have more time in the
morning. They got to relax take their time, and even watch a little of a
favorite movie (teen beach movie) instead of get ready in thirty minutes and
get out the door.
My
morning classes went great. For the most part the kids were listening. I did
have a few students that needed to do sentences as homework for me. One such
student, Robert, just would pay attention in class, then he tried to cheat off
of another kid’s paper. And the kid he was cheating off is one that isn’t the
brightest in the class. Leonard is the sweetest kid, but he is a dope, which
makes Robert an even bigger dope for cheating off of him. So Robert ended up
with 100 sentences of “I will not cheat” and 200 of “I will pay attention in
class”. That one went from one hundred to two hundred because he was trying to
do his homework in class. I told him once not to do it, that homework is for
him to do at home, then he tried to do it again, then lied about it. Silly kid,
as if I wouldn’t know. I am already adopting the “I am the Queen” statement
that mom used to tell them. They seem to listen better when I say that. I told
them in the beginning, before Mamaliz left that when she wasn’t at the school
and it was just me, that I was the Queen and when we are both at the school,
then she is the Big Queen and I am the Little Queen.
Std3
was finished and we accomplished a decent amount in the little bit of time we
have for that class. I grabbed my things and went out of the classrooms to give
the kids some hugs and kisses before they went over to lunch. There were going
to have their ugali, beans, and greens, so they were both excited. I got
outside and everyone had already gone over to the lunch building. I felt
horrible. I guess I took so long finishing the class up that I didn’t get to
see the kids before they went for lunch.
My lunch
break was a much needed relaxing time. I talked to Asa on the computer which I
always need. He helped me to be brave enough to tell my parents about Mamaliz
leaving. I was very worried about this, but I didn’t want to lie to them. He
always helps me see how strong I can be in so many different situations. I
don’t know why I doubt myself so much, but I know I am a very lucky woman to
have a husband that loves me so much that he is always there to let me know
when I am not giving myself enough credit. Whist talking with him I enjoyed a cheese
and mustard sandwich on homemade thick cut white bread with tomatoes on the
side and a nice cup of chai. It was a very good lunch. I even got to upload my
blogs onto Facebook since internet was working enough. It has been a week since
that had happened, so it was nice to finally be able to update everyone.
I went
back to school a few minutes early so that I could be able to see the kids
before they went back into school. I gave them big loves. Std.2 went well, we
made our way through a few topics and found out a couple of the areas that we
will have to continue working on before the midterm. But it was nice that all
three of my classes went well on my first day. It helped a lot with the stress
level I was having before. My pencil and eraser monitors all kept track of the
number there should be in each classroom canister. Crazy how all of a sudden
when the kids are in charge, the pencils and erasers stop going missing. I have
a feeling it was one of the teachers. But the kids are doing a great job,
hopefully it continues otherwise we will have to have their parents start to
buy the pencils and erasers once again.
We went
home after school and I jumped into after school tutoring with some of the kids
with Logan’s help. We had our four that Mamaliz wanted us to try to continue
with, but then two others joined the list and they do need the help, so I didn’t
want to deny them. I did finally have to tell everyone else no and to the few
girls that need/want help in math that we would have to try on another day. It
was 5-5:30 before we were all the way done, that is just too long of a day. I
was able to talk to Mamaliz a little about it and she let me know to tell the
girls to chill out and that they are just fine in their math skills, they don’t
need to be perfect.
I got
the kids a simple dinner. I asked them what they wanted. Jove ended up eating
three bananas, a slice of cheese, and two pieces of bread, one with Nutella and
one with peanut butter. Oh and he drank some tuna juice (gross kid). Ayla had
tuna in a bowl, some bread, and cheese. She is a much more normal child. They
ate their dinner pretty quickly then went outside to play with all the kids.
Luckily most of the kids ended up going just a little away from the house to this
hill Ayla and Jove call the mountain. It is a big hill and they love to slide
down the kill on their butts, sometimes on some pieces of wood, as if the wood
were a sled. I love how anything can be a toy here.
While the
kids played, I decided to make up some cookies and I even cleaned the house a
little.
Anne
from next door came over to invite us over for lunch on Sunday. It was very
nice. My opinion of her has completely changed. She is so very nice, even if
she was politely rude to Mamaliz on a previous visit. She said all her company
will be gone by then and so it would just be like hanging out with a grandma
and grandpa. It was sweet. The kind gesture nearly made me cry. It is because
of them that I still feel safe being here with Mamaliz gone. I have English
speakers right next door that have been here many times and know the ropes
(even though I basically know all I need to know also). I know that if anything
happened they could help me.
Ayla wasn’t
able to finish her tuna so I had the other half of that with a few crackers and
after the cookies were done I had one of those. I was just too tired to cook
anything else. I am going to continue trying to keep up this pace for the next
week, but if I can’t I will have to cut down on some of the after school
tutoring. I just hate to do that because so many of them need it and are
trying. I want them all to do so well.
I talked
to Asa some more while kids were outside playing and I was baking. I have to
say, I love this whole internet working thing. It is quite nice when things
work they way they are supposed to.
I got
the kids bathed and ready for bed, then Logan came back over to get his phone
from the charger (not many places have power here, but we are lucky enough to
have it in the house). The kids were telling him about Jove’s long hair and how
he wears skirts at home and they wanted to show him a picture. So I pulled up
my Facebook pictures and found a few to show him. He ended up staying and
looking at quite a few pictures with us. I know it was good for me to see
pictures of home and everything. It really seemed like it was good for the kids
too. They got to show off their pets, and yard and everything back home. Logan
even seemed to enjoy it. He could not get over Asa’s beard. He just kept saying
how jealous he was. At first he wouldn’t believe me that it was his real beard.
It was funny. He said that sometimes being in a place like Africa, it is just
nice to see the pictures of the life you are normally used to. I agree. It was
very soothing. I may make that a normal practice so long as there is internet.
Just look through my photos. Now, I need to go to sleep because I haven’t had
nearly enough over the past few days and I still need to shower.
If I
can continue to do all of this stuff, this next month is going to fly by. I was
so busy today, but I had such a great day teaching those kids. Knowing that it
was just me in there, no matter what I wanted to teach them today, I could. It
was a very freeing thought. I settled for simply beginning our review of materials
that will be on the midterm next month. I want to see what we will need to
focus on. Lots of greater than and less than, some rounding to nearest tens,
and even some ‘when to use ‘a’ and when to use ‘an’ and when you can’t use
either’. The day was very long, but it really was a great day. I am very
pleased that I got brave enough to accept this. Especially since it would have
been difficult and costly to do otherwise J
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