The last term!!! I'm both excited and sad.

After climbing Kilimanjaro I went to Peace Corps for medical checkups. I got a clean bill of health and Anna and I have been approved for extension. So at the end of June I said goodbye to Anna and headed back to site. School wasn't scheduled to start until the 16th so I had some time to relax. But with the beginning of July came the end of service for several volunteers. I made one last visit to Marisa's and we had a bonfire of the stuff she was leaving behind that no one wanted. And it was actually a little bit chilly on the plateau so we enjoyed the heat.

Back at site I went around visiting all my friends who I hadn't seen in a while. Then back to teaching. Or waiting to teach that is. As predicted by the administration and teachers the amount of students who arrived in time for the opening of school was under-whelming. So we didn't start teaching until the second week. And even then I only did terminal examination review since the amount of students was just over half. As well that second week, I was Teacher-on-Duty (TOaD). I've mentioned this in the past and don't really mind it. But that week was hard. It was the first week of classes but a few of the teachers were not teaching. This gives the students too much idle time and promotes bad behavior. How can we tell the students to keep up with their daily chores and go to class if their role models, us teachers, are not following through? Also, being TOaD is very trying on Kiswahili because the kids use a lot of slang. Teachers didn't seem to care too much that students were being a little lazy but it was hard for me to turn off my American expectations.

I warned them that their lack of participation in certain chores would warrant punishment. The kids have to wake up in the morning and run, then clean the grounds, then go to class. They don't get breakfast until 10:35am and it's small. I think this is a little ridiculous but during TOaD week I run with the students and eat when they eat. A lot of them were not doing this, not showing up t morning assembly, and other things. So I went to the second master, the Head of School was at a conference, and presented my punishment idea. We would ring the special assembly bell before lunch, 2:15pm, take roll and explain to the students why they were receiving punishment. Then they would all change into their running clothes as would myself and 3 other teachers. We'd meet back at the assembly field and take another roll count to make sure no one 'escaped'. Then we'd run (one teacher up front, 2 in the middle, one at back) a rather long loop through 2 villages during peak sun hours. It's winter and we live on a plateau so it wouldn't be that hot. Yes, they would be hungry but it's punishment, they shouldn't enjoy it. My second master said, 'OK.' 'Sweet,' I thought, 'I'm not over reacting and this will be a good punishment and a good way to set the tone for next week-the students need to be ready to work.'

'But you know,' my second master started, 'a lot of them are feeling homesick now, they'll be tired and it'll be hot; maybe just tell them if they are lazy again they'll get a harsh punishment.' 'But I already told them they'd be punished,' I responded. 'I'll talk to them,' he said. I was disappointed shocked. My second master is very quick to administer punishment and usually doesn't seem to care about how a student is feeling that day. And he's showing emotional compassion? Homesickness? I should have been happy to find out that he really cares about the students (and I was) but I was tired of still being the mzungu (white person). Sometimes I feel I've learned so much about this culture and could handle anything. Other times I feel out of place. Basically the week left me feeling incompetent and frustrated.

But getting back to teaching has been a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to try and come up with fun ways for the students to review. Until next month,

Justin