1A vs 1B

I must start this entry with an apology that my blog has been inactive for so long. Our internet has been down for the past couple of weeks. Luckily, you didn’t miss a whole lot, as nothing in my life has really changed. I’m still living at Palm Beach and working at MCV, and locals still yell azungu everywhere I go. (I confess that after about 10 months of being the center of attention, I look forward to walking down crowded NYC streets with no one noticing.)

The form 2s finished their exams a couple of weeks ago and started a long summer holiday that goes until January. I reorganized my schedule with the form 1s so that I only teach in the morning, and I am available to work with form 2 students in the afternoon. Many are not able to come in for these afternoon classes, as they have moved back to their home villages, and live too far away. (Distances become too far awful quickly when you don’t have cars and subways. Even bicycles only do so much.) A group of about 10 to 12 students still comes everyday at 2:00 to work on math with me. There are even 3 girls from other schools!! (They heard that their friends were going to free summer classes, and wanted to join.) I enjoy working with a small group of kids who really want to be there.

Meanwhile, the form 1s have been busy competing against each other in just about everything. During sports time we’ve been having the “Gracious Olympics.” 1A won volleyball and netball, while 1B won Frisbee and football. The kids definitely enjoyed the competitions, and are demanding we play 1A vs 1B football again on Tuesday.

We have also started having quiz competitions on Saturday that pit four students from 1A versus four students from 1B. I’m impressed by how many of the teachers are willing to come to work on Saturdays in order to run the quizzes for the kids. We pride ourselves in being much better organized than the quiz master for the national quiz show. We’ve had two competitions so far, 1A won the first and 1B won the second. We pick new students every time, and try to balance the teams so that the competition will be close. Actually so far they were both blowouts, but since each class won once, I think it’s okay.

Not much else to report. Now that the internet is back I’ll try to be better with my updates. Hope everyone’s well back in the States, I’ll be home in less than two months!!