The Week of June 17th

I'm always anxious about whether or not children will show up on the first day. Not only did I have 8 boys come Monday morning, but half were expecting English lessons. I had changed the week from English to activities so some knew and some didn't. We began playing in the shade of the school. After 20 minutes I got a phone call from an English teacher in a classrom asking me where I was and I realized even bigger mis-communication. She was inside with more children and I was outside directing some games. Final count was 14 children for relay races and a smashing water balloon finale.

It was sunny and hot until Friday when it rained. Only 5 boys came so we spent that morning indoors. Thankfully I had paper and markers in a classroom and brought along marshmallows and spaghetti for building towers as teams. Overall, the week was not something I'm proud of because I lost my patience with the boys. Few have a sense of sportsmanship and one even threatened to kill another boy as they fought over a place in line. These boys range in age from 8 to 13 and most are 10 years old. Really!

I discovered this week that the heat can be oppressive even if you have air conditioning. Host father installed 2 air conditioners in the house but his mother believe you get colds when they are on. Even tho' it's 90 degrees, they are turned them off when nana visits. It gets funny when I'm in my room and I turn on my fan. Host mother comes in, rolls her eyes, and apologizes for her mother-in-law. Then she laughingly stands in front of my fan for a few minutes before going back to the other room. She knows it is an old wives' tale and one of those old wives is in the dining room.

It's been relaxing to return from school, turn on my computer (while America sleeps), and log in to the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) I am taking via the University of Minnesota. It is about Global Food Systems. After it was mentioned in the NYTimes over 10,000 of us signed up for it. It is interesting to e-meet other students as well as read the course content. I'll have some new contacts in MN when I return. The class started June 14 and runs for 8 weeks.

I also continue to plug away at reading Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I think history would have interested me more if teachers had made it come alive like this. I feel like I know Abe Lincoln and his cabinet better than I know Obama. I'd love to visit some civil war sites.

I have a lot of things I want to do for my teachers and host families before I leave here on July 3^rd. I want to make a photo album for my host family and also give some pictures to my teachers. But that means moving lots of photos onto a flash drive and taking it to a print shop. And don't ask me about forgetting my flash drive at the printers. It's been a run-around getting it back.

It's also been a trying week in my relationship with Georgie. He does a lot of bragging and even made fun of a boy with darker skin. I found some tips on sportsmanship and shared that with him. There aren't many children who speak 4 languages at age 13, but I want him to realize that he offends people with his boasting.

I'm looking forward to spending the weekend with Nana #1 in the village of Boradigah and seeing if she can remember what foods she ate 50 years ago when she was 15. I expect to find out more than about food!