the stories that go with the pictures...

NOTE: I was going to try for lots of pictures, but the internet is incredibly slow. These are captions that correspond to pictures that I will try to upload next...wish me luck!

This is the second 500-piece jigsaw puzzle that I finished within the first few days of being here, after I finished the first book I brought to read and before my luggage had arrived with my other books. There isn’t much entertainment around these parts, especially after the sun goes down.

Last Sunday, we visited the market in a nearby village to buy some produce and some kitengis (they’re the colorfully dyed pieces of cloth used as wraps or to make clothes).

Here is a view of part of the school, The Lion of Judah Academy (‘Simba wa Yuda’ in Swahili). [In case I haven’t said this yet, the school is in a village called Bulima, near a larger village called Magu and about a 1.5 hour drive from Mwanza.] From this view you are looking at two of the primary school buildings. They house Kindergarten through Class 5.

On Monday, I started teaching. I met with Class/Grade 3 and 5. I’m a little shy to take lots of pictures just yet, but here is one of Class 5. This class has some characters in it and I think they are losing their pens and pencils on purpose so I will give them one of my pens or mechanical pencils! They’re also obsessed with being marked correct when they do problems during class. If I mark one student’s notebook with a check, they immediately surround me with their notebooks saying, "Madame, will you mark?" I love it!

Also on Monday, I enjoyed a wonderful reunion with my luggage. The other case with supplies for the school arrived, too.

On Tuesday, we visited a girl’s orphanage that is about an hour away. This orphanage is in its beginning stages and was designed by a guy who actually lives in Brooklyn and attends NYU. It’s so funny to travel all the way to Tanzania and meet somebody who is your neighbor.

On Wednesday, it was my birthday! That afternoon, we invited the teachers and some people I know from the theological college to come over for cake and soda. Apparently, this will get any African into your home. So, we had quite a large group over and went through two large cakes and more than a crate of sodas. Here’s me cutting one of the cakes…After eating cake, we taught everyone how to play Pictionary with Bible stories. People were a little shy at first, but they got really into it by the end and we all laughed a lot. It was great.

To finish my birthday off, I helped make a Mexican feast…African style. The tortillas were actually chippati, which is sort of like a pita. I made the guacamole (which was pure happiness to eat). It was delicious!

As I mentioned before, I am teaching three different grades in math, but not every grade has math each day. With my spare time, I’ve been laminating books from the school library to help them last longer. The supplies and materials at this school are pretty limited, so it’s helpful to make things last. Yesterday I laminated for about 6 hours and when I closed my eyes at night, I had only visions of sticky paper and books.

My favorite time here is when I am with the students and getting to know them. I have a shadow named Lydia from Class 3. I have a friend named Sara from Class 6. She was over yesterday and wanted to talk to me about my country, my hobbies and my family. Another friend named Christian chatted with me for a while yesterday, too. She wishes to be a doctor and loves Science!

Tomorrow, I am looking forward to the graduation of three of the students I tutored four years ago. I hear the ceremony is long and in Swahili, but at least there will be singing! I love it when Africans are singing.

All that being said…I miss my friends! I don’t check email too often, but after about 4-5 days I start feeling pretty homesick and need to check email. It definitely helps me to write these updates so I feel that people are more in touch with me in spite of the distance. I hope they are enjoyable to read!