Hello everyone!!
Life is going well here in Laela. Ijust started teaching today - more on that in the next post. For now, I'll try to give you a picture of what life will be like here for me for the next 5 months!
6:05am - Wake up call from the church bells
6:45am - Mass. The church is about 25 steps from my front door. It is even closer here than at home in MN (if that's possible).
7:15am - Grab some bread and tea/coffee for breakfast.
7:30am - Walk to school. The takes about 5 minutes (maybe). I walk past the convent (which is about 20 yards away), through some corn fields, and across a tiny stream (where my "bridge" is a peice of wood that lookds like a balance beam).
7:30-2:30 - At school. Here is my teaching schedule:
Monday - 9:20-10:40
Tuesday - 12:30-1:50
Wednesday - 8:00-9:20 and 11:20-12:30
Thursday - 8:00-9:20
Friday - 8:00-9:20
Thats it! During breaks I plan lessons, study swahili, talk with teachers, or socialize with the students. How school works here is all the students in Form 1 (which is equal to freshman in high schoool .. the age I teach) stay in the same classroom all day. The teachers go in and out according to what time they teach their subject. My "desk" is in a large room with all the other teachers desks. The room has desks, a tv (which doesn't work becuase there is hakuna umeme-no electricity), and a large map on the wall. Pretty simple. We have a break at 10:40-11:10, which consists of tea and some bread for the teachers. Lunch is at 2:30, and I can either eat at home with Fr. Leonardo or at school with the other teachers.
2:30-7:30 - sometimes I will stay at school and talk with the students/other teachers. Sometimes I will walk the 20 min (also through corn fields) to the internet cafe. And sometimes I will walk the 25 min into the village (not through corn fields this time, haha. I pass a lot of houses made of mud, bricks, and straw, though).
7:30 - Dinner with Fr. Leonardo. Dinner is usually rice, chicken/some sort of meat, in some sort of soupy sauce, and (if I'm lucky) 'chipsi' - or fries.
7:30-9:00pm - Read, journal, study swahlii, etc. I usually sit in the "living" room at the parish house becuase I don't have electricity in my room. The parish house is about 10 steps away from my front door. We share a cortyard.
9:00 BEDTIME!
Well there ya have it! Questions? Comments? Concernts? Let me know! What I do on weekends will vary, but I'll keep you posted on those! Please, keep sending me emails and leaving comments! (Aparently I accidently said you should be discouraged from doing this in my last post... but I meant to say you should NOT be discouraged. Don't worry, that is fixed now!)
Miss you all!
As Fr. Ndasi says, I am now officially a 'villager'!
Sarah Samaki (Sarah 'Fish')
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Sarah Samaki,
ReplyDeleteIt's so great to hear some more about what your life will be like for the next 6 months. I can't wait to hear how your first experience teaching was! Do you speak in English for your class, or do you use some of your newly-learned Swahili, too? Keep the updates coming! I get excited when I see you have a new post =]
Love, Michelle
P.S. Be glad you're in nice, warm Tanzania and not Minnesota...at CSB it was a whole 1 degree today! Haha
Dear Ms Samaki,
ReplyDeleteIt is so good to hear that you made it safely to Laela & that all is well. What a great teaching schedule you have! How many other teachers are there? Do they each teach a subject or do some of them teach multiple subjects? How old are the other teachers? Do they speak English? So many questions from your Aunt Donna :)
I laughed when I read that you told people to be discouraged to comment on your posts (we all knew what you mean)! Even teachers make typos!
Michelle is right - it is COLD here! I'm in my nice fleece jacket staying warm. I bet you are glad you could leave yours home.
Keep up the wonderful job with your blog. I love hearing about your experiences!
Lots of love,
Auntie Donna
Samaki -
ReplyDeleteI love it. Totally your new nick-name. I miss you tons. I am glad that you gave us an overview of the day. I hope you aren't getting too lonely or hating the food. Haha. We will totally have a welcome home meal of whatever you want when you return. I am especially missing seeing you and talking to you every day. Sounds like you are doing well and settling in nicely. Very proud of you. Muwah.
Nikki
So, would I be Karen Samaki or Mom Samaki?? I loved hearing about your schedule during the day. Now, I can imagine what you are doing during the day.
ReplyDeleteDonna, thanks for asking all of the questions :) They were some of the ones I was thinking about. It's fun to hear all of the details.
It's going to be interesting hearing about what the classes are like that you are teaching. Are the kids really polite and well-behaved? I would guess so. Are the teachers all nuns or brothers? Do they speak much English?
Well, enough questions:) Dad and I are at a Caribou waiting for Danny & Whitney to get home from work. Florida was great and today in Atlanta Dad & I went to the really interesting Atlanta History Museum and the Botanical Gardens. Tomorrow is more sightseeing, than back to COLD Minnesota on Friday AM.
Take care...
I love you tons!!!!
Mom