Stuff

I taught full classes this week. Each of my four classes has about 50 students each and it is using a computer lab (the new one). So I taught them basic algorithm development and design..hoping to start teaching them C next week. One of the students printed out Obama's speech and gave it to me..lots of them asked me if I had seen the inauguration. The reason for the late arrival of students last week was due to them having to pay school fees, getting back from Xmas break, and orientations. But schedules here never seem to work.

A case in point: One mama asked me to come over because she was going to teach me to make pumpkin leaves (the various greens here are awesome..luckily I love to eat greens) with peanut sauce..it is real yummy. So I came by her house at time she told me to come and her husband told me that she attends church and won't come home for another hour. So I talked to him about various things, he had taped Obama's inauguration on the VCR because he was at work late (he's one of the school's accountants)so he was watching that. When I told him I did not have a TV he was so surprised. Most TZ peeps here think news is very important and they place a high importance on TV and radio. So he told me that I must get one. Also, he told me that "Africans don't always come when they say they are going to come." Luckily I expected that but some of the people in my apt complex actually are on time so I did not want to assume. She did come eventually and we made the dish..it was wonderful..and we watched the inauguration (I watched it again). I wonder what you all did as I got to watch it live since it was morning in the US when it was night here. Did you all get time off work to watch it or did you all watch it when you got home from work?

Also that same mama saw me in pants and she smiled and complimented me by telling me I am fat. :) See if one heard that in America one would be taken aback but here in TZ it means you have some curves.

On another note today is the first day I saw a lawnmower here in TZ (I saw it at the institute I teach at). They do most of their grass cutting by hand with a machete..it is alot of work and requires alot of people to get it done. It is good to smell the scent of freshly mowed grass. :)

Inauguration

So yesterday I watched the inauguration with other TZs. It was nice that my neighbor actually called me to remind me about it. We watched it live on CNN (most of the people around me have satellite dishes). Some interesting questions were asked about him..mostly involving his race and about what does the word black mean in America. Some questions I did not know how to answer, but it is interesting to known an African perspective or two about the meaning of race. Besides that it was awesome to see his speech..he really does speak well. And his point on making harmony with other countries instead of trying to change them really hits home..especially being in the Peace Corps we are not trying to change cultures but trying to work with them. And that is what America can do in order to work effectively with other countries in this world.

Peke Yangu

I am teaching alone, no co-teacher! I am so happy now..I do not have to coordinate with anyone else and I have sole control over the class. Also I now have 8 hours instead of 4 hours of teaching..so I will actually be a bit busy. I suggested it to the person who was supposed to teach with me and he was alright with it. :) Thankfully.

Touring the World

"Athletes (runners) get to tour, that is the right word yes, tour? They get to tour the world and see places that others who don't run get to see.", said the man I run with to me. We did tour the world alright. Today I saw places that were so beautiful that I did not know existed near me. We definitely ran through some mtns but we started on a paved road running from the institute to Mbalizi and then we went through the beautiful terrain on our way back. We ran a little less than 20 KM (sadly I forget to put on my Garmin GPS) starting at 6:15 AM this morning..the most I have run since Labor Day..but we did so in tough terrain...like terrain I would hike up not run up..but he was inspiring just keeping on running while all I felt like doing was walking. To my credit, I ran most of the time, just a few little spots I walked on.

He also said to me when we finished, "I have never seen a woman like you. Most women can only run a few kilometers and then they start complaining. You could actually run with me without complaining.". Ha..I am nothing..he should definitely see the thousands of runners in the States that do marathons..I am so slow..but I hope to get better. I certainly will get better as here I run at altitude and in mountainous terrain. I think I am more of a social runner when it comes to training, I need someone to run with, to keep me company though I will get competitive with myself during races. He has it in his head that he can train me to compete in some games that the workers here participate in that is put on by the ministry called VETA games..I am not sure if I am allowed to participate as even though I work here I am a volunteer not a TZ resident (at least not yet)..but we'll see. I am totally up to training but I am not sure about this competing thing. He also thinks that because I am a woman and I can run such distance without complaining that I can inspire the woman at this institute to run too. We'll also see about that one. But for now I can just keep on running..it's what makes me feel like I am strong and can conquer anything.

Education is Power

I really like this teaching thing. On Friday I taught that person's class again because it happens twice a week and the person was sick. The students really are interested to learn unlike the classes I am teaching, I think it is due to the fact that these are actually computer engineering students vs the others who are everything but computer students. I have never known students to actually want to be taught and that is refreshing. They asked me to keep the lab open a little bit after class so I did and they asked me if I was there teacher, sadly I am not, and if I would be teaching them any other subject (this year I am not).

On another note, I am a little frustrated at the class scheduling situation here so we are going to try and create a scheduler program here at the institute using PHP and MySQL..when something is broke instead of complaining you should see a way to fix it..so that is what we are going to do..or at least I will try to do. Teachers only teach one or two classes a week leaving their time to do other things..this is one project I will undertake. And another one I was thinking about last night was to take over the school website and make a webpage club to teach students who are interested how to make a webpage and then get them to update the school website. This is just an idea right now it will probably come to fruitation in a few weeks when I am ready, I was inspired by the fact that these students actually want to learn. And of course everyone is interested in the web. Another thing I hope to do is get more females involved with running and engineering..of course that is going to take a bit of time. Maybe create a SWE like thing here? We'll see. I am probably too ambitious..but ambition is good it leads way to new ideas sometimes.

Ninaweza kukimbia tena!

I found someone to run with! You know that sports program I was talking about? Well the man asked me why I wasn't there last week. I told him I was but no one was there..well apparently everyone came..but an hour late! So on Tuesday I showed up at 4:30 PM. We ran around the make shift track (it is basically a path around a field) around the soccer field. And then we did some stretches and short drills. Then I was introduced to this 56 year old TZ man who runs everyday, he lives in the flats like I do. He is the head sports tutor here at the institute. So today I met him at 6 AM in the morning and he ran with me and showed me a route that goes through the back of the school. It is absolutely beautiful and I probably wouldn't have known it existed on my own as it is not near the area I usually go for the market. Also it is good for the knees, somewhat like a trail run but at the same time more packed dirt than a normal trail. There were some short blips (hills) to spice things up. So now I am going to proceed to run with him kila siku (every day). Tomorrow I will bring my Garmin GPS to measure the route, it works here (well at least it did in Morogoro)! We saw his son running too..he definitely looks like a runner..he is a student at school here. I am excited for my new running partner. And I am thinking of taking up soccer...what do you think?

Now some totally unrelated stuff: People here like to get up really early..like 7 AM on weekends! But luckily I am a morning person so I am adapting well. And people like to be real late to things..hopefully it is not a habit I will carry over with me. But things are changing as some people actually are on time but they tend to be the ones who have studied abroad. I found out also that teachers that stay here get a half acre plot to plant whatever they want! No wonder I always see them going to their shambas (farms)! Too bad planting season is starting to end or so they say. Yesterday I found out the TZ gal that I like to hang out with is back from Dar..so I went over her place. She is 25 years old and she quit school young because she was pregnant with her child but she is going back to school. Her kid is the cutest thing! And I love the gal..she is so awesome with her sense of humor and jokes..she is definitely what I call spicy. :) My type of gal..totally..strong minded and independent..

Darasa..Class.

So today is the middle of the week but I thought I would write so that I would not forget as I have finished teaching for the week. Yesterday I taught my first class, there were only a few students so I did a basic introduction to the class. I can't wait to actually get to the meat of the stuff but before I do that I must install the GNU compiler on the new computers. Also I found out that I will have a co-teacher teaching the class with me. He is going to take 2 sections and I will take 2 sections but the bad part is the coordination. Also, we have a new head of department..well you know Corporate America and the meetings we always have..apparently over here they like to have their meetings as well..sometimes at the expense of teaching students! The strangest thing happened yesterday. My co-teacher was supposed to teach the class we taught, but the head told him tell the students to wait because I want to hold our department meeting. I was so surprised! I would have went ahead and taught the class..how can students learn if the teacher won't be teaching..but alas we had our meeting. The meeting was about organization of our dept since it is a new course (which means new subject) here at the institute and about keeping our computer lab open all the time. No one wanted to be the one to keep it open all the time because students tend to steal here in TZ. We don't have this problem as frequently in the States as they do here but that is because we have cameras and alarms, here we replace machines with people (for alot of things). Today one of the teachers was sick and he was supposed to teach at 7:30 AM. I was the lucky one who was here early so the students came up to me and asked me if I would teach their class. I had no idea what I was going to teach but then I remembered this was one of those classes I thought I was going to teach and I had slides prepared just for the introduction...luckily I didn't delete them! So basically I taught this class at the seat of my pants and it was about databases. So I went over the basic concepts (field, record, etc) and then told them to open up Access to play with the sample database a bit. This bit of teaching got me excited for databases! :) I am supposed to work on a database using PHP and yadda yadda to help the school keep track of salaries so in addition to teaching this is something else I have as a project. Yet no more information on this as of yet. I do want to start. And we are supposed to plan an ICT (info communication technology) conference..another thing in the works..we'll see what happens with it. But the real key phrase here is "Be Free".

Za wiki iliyopita?

Lots of things happened this past week. First a professor died so I went over his wife's house with some other TZ peeps from school. After we said our condolensces, we sat in a room full of people (mostly women) who were sharing the sorrow with the wife. Many of them were crying but I could not cry as I did not know the guy but I definitely felt sad for the guy. Unfortunately he was working on his PhD and he died only a few months before finishing at the young age of 40! Pole sana!! :( Some of them also sang some worship songs and I could understand some of the lyrics with the little Swahili I know. School started but students did not show up since they don't usually the first week of school. I asked one of the professors about this and he said that it is because most students are trying to find school fees or are still with parents during the holiday break. Very odd because in the States everyone would be there for the first week of school, but here in TZ things never happen on time so it makes sense that even though it started no one was there. BTW officially I am called a lecturer here not a teacher so I guess my title changed a bit. I went to the post office to get packages from people. Thanks for sending stuff! It is a interesting process here. First I had to go to the post office and pay a fee, then I had to go to customs to open the package and pay a fee. Apparently you don't have to pay a customs fee if you are receiving computers and books. Computers here are very expensive to buy here BTW. Much cheaper in the States but it is because of import/export fees. Next they are starting a sports program at school for teachers but no one showed up but me and the KOICA volunteer. So I just ran with the little neighbor kid and it was fun..he totally beat me! I am not going to do the Kili half marathon this year because of school teaching and other things...going to try for next year. Finally I had a fellow PCV visitor so along with the KOICA volunteers we made brownies and spinach ravioli from scratch! While watching Mama Mia we concoted the brownie dance..'cause brownies are yummy in our tummy! Today is Zanzibar Revolution Day so there is no school. BTW the best time to visit is in January for airline ticket prices and it is very warm here (well not where I am, where I am it gets in the high 70s at most), not yet the rainy season though we still get the occasional rain. Kwa heri! Tutaonana baadaye!

Thoughts on teaching...

Last week I spent most of it trying to figure out what I will be teaching as most things here things happen slowly, but I am getting used to it. Initially I thought I was teaching MS Access and stuff like that, but now it turns out I am teaching C programming to non-computer major students. So I had to change my slides and had to find out the schedule, which I had to rearrange because I have 150 students! I changed it from 2 hours of teaching a week to 8 hours of teaching a week (4 periods vs 1). I hope that will be more manageable as the computer lab is limited in space. They do not break things up into sections here they just have a class and have 3-4 people share a computer, so I made sure that at least in my class they will only have 2 people sharing at most. The funny part is that I am supposed to start teaching this week, yet I had no idea of what I was teaching or of the schedule till last week (most of them didn't have a clue to the schedule either). And I love the name time table master..sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel..basically they are the teachers in charge of making the schedule for the coming semester. My goal is to become time table master for next semester as you know me and my love of making schedules! Here at the institute it is definitely different than college in the States where everything is planned out beforehand. And the schedule can still change till the 2nd week of class!

My goal is to be a tough teacher by giving them lots of homework and quizzes, but at the same time I think tough will help them because in the end I hope that they will pass the final exam. And I hope they will get good jobs..they may hate me during the semester but they will thank me at the end. Can you imagine me being tough? I sure can and if you know me well enough you could too. :)

A word on optimism. Talking to another teacher they told me that the new computer lab (50 students can fit in at a time) should be ready by the beginning of the semester, I told them I don't think so (knowing how things here and elsewhere, like the USA, work). They told me to be optimistic, I told them I am realistic. :) If you think of it if you become too optimistic than you will be pessimistic later in life because nothing will happen on time, it is better to be realistic..a nice middle ground. Of course I didn't explain all of that to them. And right now I am pleasantly surprised the computer lab is not quite ready but I think it should be ready in less than a month which is less time than I was realistically expecting..alright MIST! Unlike schools in the States where they get discounts for computer equipment, here in TZ the vendors charge more to schools and govt because they know they can get their business. I think that really sucks but oh well..such is life.

Can you tell I am excited to teach? This has been a huge research project for me trying to plan out how I am going to execute the topics, come up with programming assignments, and the schedule. Totally my niche as I feel so creative now.

Heri ya mwaka mpya! Happy new year!

My first post of the new year, it better be special right? Ha. I don't care. Anyways can you believe by the end of next year (2010) I will be out of here? I can't..it is going by too fast. I am loving it here so far, who knows what my future holds.
For New Years I went to Tukuyu to visit some PC volunteers, the fellow KOICA (Korean) volunteer came with me too. Tukuyu is 2 hours south by coaster (public bus)and is where the majority of the Nyakusa tribe live in TZ. So I learned a few words in Kinyakusa which is their language, luckily the folks at the Ikuti soko speak that language too so it is very helpful to know. I only know basic greetings (like 5 words) but it is enough to get people smiling and happy that I know anything of their language. It is very green in Tuk but it rains alot so that is why.
On the Eve we baked various American things but on New Years Day we walked down to the Kaparogwe Falls..very beautiful walk with plenty of banana trees and lush vegetation along the way. On our way back we just missed the pouring rain. I also got to see my fellow volunteer's cute kittens..it was a great weekend overall. And along the way back I got 3 pineapples for a dollar in Kiwira! :)