Friday 6-13-14
Today
started out as a pretty good day. The kids were great. They watched more Tinga
Tinga Tales and I had given them mandazi with the powdered sugar stuff on it.
This just made them that much happier and sweeter than they already were. We
had testing today and I got myself prepared for that and even had many of the
problems and questions set up ahead of time so class time would go by easier. I
brought my phone with me today so that I would be able to use the calculator. I
have greatly improved my metal math skills, but still, it is faster and easier
to use the calculator when I am trying to get 21 students from one topic on to
the next.
We got
to school and the teachers and I decided to switch rooms since I am always
getting two of the tables from their room since we don’t have enough space. It
worked out great. I went over to Grace and asked her for the homework I gave
her for lying about why she wasn’t at school all week. Of the 100 sentences,
she had done 13. She now has 200 sentences to give me on Monday. I am not sure
what I will do with her if she doesn’t do them. Mamaliz is having me hold a
meeting with her parents/grandparents or whoever is in charge of her and her
brother, and one other student. They miss so much school for bullmavi
(bullshit) excuses that they are close to getting their scholarships pulled and
kicked out of the school. So I don’t think I can really send her home for not
doing her homework. I also had to give
homework to Albert at one point because after four times telling him to go get
in line, he still managed to cut in front of everyone. Logan didn’t even notice
as he corrected his paper. I was glad I saw, because the kids all think that
because they are bigger, they can shove a smaller child out of the way so they
can go first. This just isn’t acceptable to me and so they don’t get to do it.
Testing
went rough today. The kids were just not that into it. Students that normally
do much better were doing pretty bad today. It wasn’t even big issues; it was
little things they kept doing wrong; carrying a 2 instead of the 3, leaving the
r off of the word teacher. I think they are all ready for their 6 week break to
start on the 28th. I was glad to have Logan in the class with me
because if not, I might have gone a little crazy today with the lack of wanting
to learn I was getting from the kids. But we made it through.
At the
end when everyone was getting ready to go to lunch, Ayla and Jove begged me to
come home with me. I finally caved and told them they could, but I had a lot to
do and I was not going to cook anything for them for lunch. I let them know
they would have to find something on their own. They both agreed, so they came
home with me. On our way home we stopped because I needed to buy some bananas.
The lady had the tiny ones today. I love these ones. Most of them looked pretty
badly beat up, so I only got 9. I needed them to make banana bread for tomorrows
trip to Mikumi, so the banged up aspect didn’t bother me. We got home and the
kids got set up with animal crackers, peanut butter, Nutella, and they wanted a
banana. It turns out it was only the skin that looked rough. Inside the banana
was perfect and they were really good. I got the kids set up with a movie. They
chose to watch “Frankenweinie” I think they wanted to scare themselves. I had
to go back to the school to talk to Teacher Martha and so I told the kids they
would be on their own for about a half hour.
I got
over to the school and as I walked up I see all the kids playing so happily.
They were digging in dirt, jump rope, dancing and singing, and playing soccer.
One of the footballs we brought had broken and the shell is now being used as
bowls for digging in the dirt, and Mbuli was wearing one half as a hat. It was
too funny. I got a great video of a large group of the kids singing some songs,
one of which was “enjoy, enjoy, before you die”. This song just sums up Africa
so well. I spoke with Teacher Martha and watched the kids play a little longer.
Then I decided to see if I could go buy more of the bananas since they turned
out to be so good.
When I
got to the place where the banana lady sits on the side of the road I was sad
to see that she was no longer there. Oh well, I could make do with the ones I
got, I just couldn’t let Ayla or Jove eat any more of them. I finished the walk
back to the house. I walked in to find Ayla and Jove snuggled together under a
blanket because they got a little scared.
I began
right away making the peanut butter banana bread chewy squares. Farida, Joan,
and Samweli came over after school let out from playing and they watched the
end of the movie with Ayla and Jove. They all had a lot of fun. Jove kept stinking
the room up to everyone’s disgust. They call it ‘polluting’ here, so that is
exactly what he kept saying. It was just a crack up. That kid was rotten inside
today though. After the movie, they played around a little doing one thing or
another. I was still in the kitchen, moving from the one bread to my next, a
carrot, apricot, mixed nut, raisin, coconut, chia, guava bread. I know probably
too many things, but I figured make it like a trail mix. It will be great for
keeping us full tomorrow. Farida came into the kitchen and watched me bake. She
was good company. She kept saying that when she comes to America, she will know
how to cook, and she will be okay with the food there since our food and their
food are so different.
I sent
a message to Abdallah to find out if we would have the Land Rover. I wanted to
make sure we had enough room to bring Farida and Joan before I invited them. I
am glad I waited, because Abdallah messaged me back saying that we would be
taking the hands4africa car. I sure hope it ends up being big enough to sit
comfortably. Samweli was already invited and told about the trip, so he is
still coming. If by some stroke of luck we end up with the Land Rover or a
vehicle big enough, I want to still go up and get the girls ready to come with
us. They so deserve to go, and Ayla and Jove would love it so much. Those two
are their best friends here. Joan, Farida, and Samweli took the inner carrot
pieces that were left over from me grating carrots for the second bread. They
were so excited for the little snack. I gave them a few dried apricots as well.
Next I
went into juicing some oranges and some limes to make my sweet and sour sauce I
was going to need for dinner tonight. It was very simple, just those juiced,
ketchup, and sugar, but it turned out great and the kids loved it. Then next
while was spent in the kitchen prepping one thing or another. I got a sweet and
sour eggplant tomato mix simmering. I did my best to break down a chicken into
nugget sized pieces then I coated with egg and flour to make the kids chicken
nuggets to go with the sweet and sour. While I was working on the coating of
the chicken, I hear Jove scream bloody murder from the front yard, then again.
I ran outside as fast as I could (still covered in egg, flour, and raw chicken).
After a little yelling and confusion, the poor guy finally gets it known that
he was stung by a wasp. Mamaliz has a huge wasp nest under her outside front
sink. One actually flew out and at Jove, stung him in the neck, then flew into
his clothes and stung him in the belly. He was just playing in the front yard
with a few other kids. I got his spots cleaned up. Logan and I both went to
find out any special remedy to help the pain on the internet. But there was no
internet. The realization came what happened. I had caught a few younger kids
in the satellite dish fenced off area. They thought it was a toy to be climbed
on, and it hasn’t worked since. Ruth and Frank have come to check it out, so we
will see if it starts working again soon. I decided to call Asa to see if he
knew of anything. He helped me through the situation from across the world J We got lucky and Jove
had no adverse reaction to the wasp stings. I gave him Benadryl and he was fine
after just a little while. By bedtime the spots are almost not even noticeable.
I went
back to my coating the chicken so I could begin frying. When I started to fry
the chicken pieces, I realized that I hadn’t started the rice yet. They kids
were both getting really hungry so I hurried the best I could and it was all
done pretty quick. I don’t think I have ever seen the kids eat their food so
fast or with so many thanks. Ayla told me that it was the best chicken she has
ever had, like in her entire life. It made me feel good knowing I could make
some good chicken nuggets even in Africa. I made sure Logan got a plate of food
as well for all the help he has been lately. He thanked me by doing up all the
dinner dishes, and there were a lot of them. I was very grateful, because after
being in the kitchen for 5 hours (actually 5 hours), I really didn’t want to
clean up in there.
Farida
and Joan came back over to check and see how Jove was doing. They asked if they
could try the chicken, so I got them each a piece. They thought it was very
good. Farida liked the sauce, but Joan made the funniest face and had to wash
her mouth out with water. I gave each of the girls a piece of each of the
breads I made as well. They both liked the banana one, but not the other. It
was just too much flavor for their palates.
I got the
kids bathed, read them a book, and tucked them in. As always it took Ayla
nearly 45 minutes before finally going to sleep, but as long as she isn’t
cranky tomorrow, whatever, she is asleep now and that is all that matters. We
still have no internet, so I won’t even get to post this right away, but hamna
shida, it will happen when it happens. For now, I am going to relax on the
couch and work on typing up the math midterms for standard 1 and 2. I have to
give tests the Monday after this one coming up and Mamaliz still hasn’t sent me
those files. No worries, it shouldn’t take me too long to type up the printed
copy I have.
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