Well, I've finished teaching my first term here in Uganda, and what a term it was. It was a bumpy ride to say the least. My students have trouble understanding my outrageous American accent, and then the material is also difficult, physics and math are tough subjects. They are trying anyway, and I think they enjoy having a mzungu teacher. They have more to laugh about during class than those who don't have me, and really its just because I'm so strange. But I enjoyed it, and am glad to have a new term to think about and new lessons to plan. Now that I have some decent textbooks, thanks Dianne, and the church for sending them, teaching has become a little easier. Logical flow of material and lack of errors and typos is really quite a relief. I think the students will really benefit from this.
Not much new to say here, I'm finally feeling like I somewhat belong, and am making friends among the teachers. I have fed them stir-fry, and they absolutely love it. I also made them macaroni and cheese, which didn't go over so well, and chicken salad sandwiches, which they loved. Well, not so much the sandwich part, but the chicken salad anyway. I'll have to come up with some more dishes I think they'll like. Anything that isn't matooke can be daunting, but they're learning that American food isn't so bad. I even made fried green tomatoes, which were ok, but not the best. My neighbor enjoyed them. I"ll have to try it again, with greener tomatoes and a different batter. I'm becoming quite the experimenter in the kitchen. I"ll let you know if anything turns out well.
So this is a pretty boring post, but I guess learning about my everyday life might be stimulating to others. Who knows, stranger things have happened.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Oh Life
Well, I've had some very interesting conversations as of late. Including immoral sleeping positions, why bicycle riding is bad for your sexual health, and have been told several interesting stories about former student revolts around Uganda. All of these conversations happened in the same day, and what a day it was. I learned alot.
I also had a conversation with a somewhat intoxicated man in Muhanga, the town halfway between my village and Kabale town, about how disturbing certain American's have been to him. He asked me to get a message to George Bush, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Lee, to tell them to go to Muhanga, Uganda immediately to explain to this man exactly why they have been bothering him, or he is planning bodily harm. I said of course I knew these people, and would get the message to them as soon as I could. I was sitting in a stationary car, and since he was promising physical violence, I wanted to placate him. He said he could fire me on the spot, but he wasn't going to. He once again made sure I knew the 'ninjas', and that I was absolutely going to get the message to them, and then staggered away. I was glad he left, but the conversation was stimulating.
Back to the animal front, I now have a cow that is stalking me. She comes to the back door of my house every evening around 5 or 6 and moos loudly. She wants sweet potatoes, but I am currently all out. I suppose it's my own fault for giving them to her in the first place. Now she also comes running whenever she sees me around school, and needless to say its a bit frightening to see a full grown cow galloping towards you. She always stops short, but nonetheless its nerve-wracking. She came to my classroom one day while I was teaching. Now here in Uganda, the teachers move from room to room, and the students stay put. So this took some planning on her part. She stuck her head into the s1 classroom and started mooing loudly at me. The students erupted in laughter, as did I, and I tried to continue my lesson. She wouldn't leave. So I put a problem up on the board, and had a student come up to solve it. Then I tried to push her out of the doorway, but once again, a cow doesn't move so easily. The students laughed even harder. Eventually she got the picture and moved along, but for now I am looking over my shoulder constantly.
There's also a daily goat race at my school. Every day at about 2pm, as I'm resting in the shade after a large lunch, the goats come racing by on their way to eat the banana peels by the canteen. The same goat one for the first 3 days this week, I call him Speedy, but then was overtaken on Thursday and Friday by another. I think I may start taking bets with the other teachers on this daily race. It's entertaining anyway.
A shout out to Scott's mom, he says hi.
I also had a conversation with a somewhat intoxicated man in Muhanga, the town halfway between my village and Kabale town, about how disturbing certain American's have been to him. He asked me to get a message to George Bush, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Lee, to tell them to go to Muhanga, Uganda immediately to explain to this man exactly why they have been bothering him, or he is planning bodily harm. I said of course I knew these people, and would get the message to them as soon as I could. I was sitting in a stationary car, and since he was promising physical violence, I wanted to placate him. He said he could fire me on the spot, but he wasn't going to. He once again made sure I knew the 'ninjas', and that I was absolutely going to get the message to them, and then staggered away. I was glad he left, but the conversation was stimulating.
Back to the animal front, I now have a cow that is stalking me. She comes to the back door of my house every evening around 5 or 6 and moos loudly. She wants sweet potatoes, but I am currently all out. I suppose it's my own fault for giving them to her in the first place. Now she also comes running whenever she sees me around school, and needless to say its a bit frightening to see a full grown cow galloping towards you. She always stops short, but nonetheless its nerve-wracking. She came to my classroom one day while I was teaching. Now here in Uganda, the teachers move from room to room, and the students stay put. So this took some planning on her part. She stuck her head into the s1 classroom and started mooing loudly at me. The students erupted in laughter, as did I, and I tried to continue my lesson. She wouldn't leave. So I put a problem up on the board, and had a student come up to solve it. Then I tried to push her out of the doorway, but once again, a cow doesn't move so easily. The students laughed even harder. Eventually she got the picture and moved along, but for now I am looking over my shoulder constantly.
There's also a daily goat race at my school. Every day at about 2pm, as I'm resting in the shade after a large lunch, the goats come racing by on their way to eat the banana peels by the canteen. The same goat one for the first 3 days this week, I call him Speedy, but then was overtaken on Thursday and Friday by another. I think I may start taking bets with the other teachers on this daily race. It's entertaining anyway.
A shout out to Scott's mom, he says hi.
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