Happy New Year to all. I had a wonderful time lying on the beaches of Zanzibar, but and happy to be back. It was a long time to be away and traveling alone for the most party got to be a bit draining.
Since I have returned I have been kept busy with teaching a bit to the pre-form 1 students that have been here for the last month having a crash course in english speaking and comprehension before school starts next week. It's been good getting to know them a bit and hopefully it's helping their English skills.
I know for sure that I will be teaching a Form 1 and Form 2 Math course at the Seminary school next year along with a 3rd year computer course for the students at the Trade school. I might have another class with St. Benedict's as well, so it looks to be a busy next couple of months.
Outside of teaching I have been working hard with Lew and Paul (the other two volunteers) on promoting the new fundraising project Phoenix Rising. This is a bike trip that Lew and Paul will do in May to raise funds for the schools here at Hanga. Unfortunatley, (or fortunatley from my mom's perspective) I won't be able to take part in the trip because I will be returning to the U.S. on May 10th due to some wedding activities that I need to attend. Regardless, however, I have taken on a rolse of promoting the event and encourage all of you to take a look at the website we have created and read about the journey and the cause that this trip is for:
(just a note you should use internet explorer to view the site)
www.hangaabbey.org/index_files/rising.htm
I've also added a new link of pictures from when I went to visit a student's house last year.
Have a good one!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Merry Christmas
I originally titled this post Happy Thanksgiving, but because of problems with the Internet I haven't been able to post till now, so it is now Merry Christmas. A lot has happened in that time, but I wanted to keep the post somewhat short so I'm jumping around a bit. I had a good Thanksgiving for being in Tanzania. I met up with some friends I have met in Songea and had a little party. There were people there from 6 different countries (Italy, Croatia, USA, Canada, Cuba, and Tanzania) all in this little part of Tanzania. It was a blast getting to meet a lot of other volunteers.
So, I have finished teaching for the year. The students are wrapping up their final exams and I am grading almost 150 math and English tests. Tons of fun! We have been very busy with different volunteers coming from Italy over the last month. Two sets of volunteers from Rome working in the Dispensary have come and one Vet from another school will be here for the next month and a half. It has been pretty neat to meet so many different people from around the world in this little village in Africa.
Last weekend we went for a hike to the nearby mountain and on the hike up we saw about 10 monkeys playing in some trees. It was neat to see them from so far away. On the way back, however, I was running ahead of the group and about 25feet in front of me four big baboons jumped out of a tree and ran across the road. As a continued along with a big stick in my hand I could hear them all hooting and hollering from somewhere in the woods. Needless to say I hurried up on through and thankfully was not chased down!
On another interesting note I attended my first cow slaughter a couple of weeks ago. So far I have seen a chicken, goat, and now cow go under the knife. Here in Tanzania though things are a little less humane than they would be in the US I think. The cow was already sick and could not even stand so it was brought in on a cart. The man who butchered the cow had on no gloves or shoes and began cutting its throat with a knife, only to find out that the knife wasn't quite sharp enough, so he stopped went outside sharpened the knife and finished the job. Words can't really describe it I don't think.
A couple weekends ago I visited the house of a student for the afternoon. It was quite the experience. As an honored guest they had prepared food and bought a soda for me to drink. The family all sat on a couch and me in a chair, and they all watched me eat and drink and refused to eat themselves. AWKWARD! After I finished I toured around the village and visited their farm. I even did a little work and ate some freshly grown fruit. The houses in the village are all pretty bare with no electricity. In fact, most of the village was gathered in front of one house that has a generator and were listening to music.
On Sat I leave for Dar es Salaam and then to Zanzibar for a little over 2 weeks. I will celebrate Christmas and New Years there on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Not a horrible place to be away from home. It's really hard to imagine that it is Christmas time though. Here there are no Christmas trees, no music, no lights, I can't tell the difference between this month and August! I think Zanzibar is a bit more of a tourist place so maybe it will feel a little bit more like Christmas there.
Well, I am continuing to work on updating the website and need to get back to work.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year. I will be sure to update on my travels when I arrive back from Zanzibar.
So, I have finished teaching for the year. The students are wrapping up their final exams and I am grading almost 150 math and English tests. Tons of fun! We have been very busy with different volunteers coming from Italy over the last month. Two sets of volunteers from Rome working in the Dispensary have come and one Vet from another school will be here for the next month and a half. It has been pretty neat to meet so many different people from around the world in this little village in Africa.
Last weekend we went for a hike to the nearby mountain and on the hike up we saw about 10 monkeys playing in some trees. It was neat to see them from so far away. On the way back, however, I was running ahead of the group and about 25feet in front of me four big baboons jumped out of a tree and ran across the road. As a continued along with a big stick in my hand I could hear them all hooting and hollering from somewhere in the woods. Needless to say I hurried up on through and thankfully was not chased down!
On another interesting note I attended my first cow slaughter a couple of weeks ago. So far I have seen a chicken, goat, and now cow go under the knife. Here in Tanzania though things are a little less humane than they would be in the US I think. The cow was already sick and could not even stand so it was brought in on a cart. The man who butchered the cow had on no gloves or shoes and began cutting its throat with a knife, only to find out that the knife wasn't quite sharp enough, so he stopped went outside sharpened the knife and finished the job. Words can't really describe it I don't think.
A couple weekends ago I visited the house of a student for the afternoon. It was quite the experience. As an honored guest they had prepared food and bought a soda for me to drink. The family all sat on a couch and me in a chair, and they all watched me eat and drink and refused to eat themselves. AWKWARD! After I finished I toured around the village and visited their farm. I even did a little work and ate some freshly grown fruit. The houses in the village are all pretty bare with no electricity. In fact, most of the village was gathered in front of one house that has a generator and were listening to music.
On Sat I leave for Dar es Salaam and then to Zanzibar for a little over 2 weeks. I will celebrate Christmas and New Years there on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Not a horrible place to be away from home. It's really hard to imagine that it is Christmas time though. Here there are no Christmas trees, no music, no lights, I can't tell the difference between this month and August! I think Zanzibar is a bit more of a tourist place so maybe it will feel a little bit more like Christmas there.
Well, I am continuing to work on updating the website and need to get back to work.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year. I will be sure to update on my travels when I arrive back from Zanzibar.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Happy Halloween
Well, today is kind of my first real "holiday" here in Tanzania. I can't say that I have really noticed or missed Halloween too much. Time here has a way of just kind of blending together. I don't really notice what month I am in or how far into the month it is. I have become so used to the change in seasons that, with the weather getting warmer here, I think I am still in summer mode as opposed to fall mode. I do miss the sweets that come along with Halloween, but I have been told to be expecting a package from the parents so I can't complain too much and have something to look forward to in the next couple of weeks.
These next two weeks for me will be busy with final preparations for the end of our school year. We are writing final exams and tutoring the kids that slept throughout most of the year and are now scrambling to learn material before the final exams begin in mid-Nov.
My hair has reached the stage of half fro. After shaving it 2 months ago it is now not long enough to fall straight, but long enough to poof. I haven't decided if I will shave it again soon, or just wait and let it grow out for awhile before I go for another cut. (seeing that this is blogable news might give an indication that things are at a bit slower pace here!)
I have been in contact with a couple of different people from different schools that are interested in finding a way to make a connection with the students here. Through my sister and the YMCA the students are sending care packages and letters to the 70 students in my St. Benedict's class (hence the new picture link of all the students and their names). I am begining to be in more contact with Cornelia elementary school and developing a way to connect the students and make the blog I have developed for them more useful. Along with these two I have friends teaching in Wayzata and Chicago that are interested in setting up a pen pal relationship with students here. I think these will be my big projects to try and plan out over our Dec. break before the kids come back for lessons in Jan.
Well, I wish everyone a happy halloween. Take advantage of the sweets and eat a few for me. I will eat some ugali, rice, and beans for you.
Derek
These next two weeks for me will be busy with final preparations for the end of our school year. We are writing final exams and tutoring the kids that slept throughout most of the year and are now scrambling to learn material before the final exams begin in mid-Nov.
My hair has reached the stage of half fro. After shaving it 2 months ago it is now not long enough to fall straight, but long enough to poof. I haven't decided if I will shave it again soon, or just wait and let it grow out for awhile before I go for another cut. (seeing that this is blogable news might give an indication that things are at a bit slower pace here!)
I have been in contact with a couple of different people from different schools that are interested in finding a way to make a connection with the students here. Through my sister and the YMCA the students are sending care packages and letters to the 70 students in my St. Benedict's class (hence the new picture link of all the students and their names). I am begining to be in more contact with Cornelia elementary school and developing a way to connect the students and make the blog I have developed for them more useful. Along with these two I have friends teaching in Wayzata and Chicago that are interested in setting up a pen pal relationship with students here. I think these will be my big projects to try and plan out over our Dec. break before the kids come back for lessons in Jan.
Well, I wish everyone a happy halloween. Take advantage of the sweets and eat a few for me. I will eat some ugali, rice, and beans for you.
Derek
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Website
So after countless hours of interviews and writing Lew and I have decided that we have enough information to publish the website we have been building to the web. While it is an ongoing project that will be continually updated and there are a few glitches here and there, overall I think it is a pretty good site that offers a lot of good informaton about the Abbey and what services it provides to the people of Tanzania. Along with the services it provides a background, information on each of the schools, and information about coming and visiting or volunteering. Check it out and see what you think. I will include a link here as well as on the navigation bar of links:
www.hangaabbey.org
Hope you enjoy!
Derek
www.hangaabbey.org
Hope you enjoy!
Derek
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
It's been awhile
Sorry for the lack of posting. The Internet here seems to work pretty well with some sites, and not so well with others. Blogger just happens to be one that doesn't seem to want to work very often. The last month or so has been a settling down period for me. We had a great trip to Mbamba bay, as you can probably see from the pictures, and now I have about 2 months of just teaching until the end of the school year here.
I have started to make communication with Cornelia Elementary School in Edina and have begun to update a blog for the students at the school there. The information that I will include on that blog will be different from here and provide more information about the differences between what school is like here and for students in the United States. I will add a link on this page to check out if you would like.
I have begun to settle into my role as teaching and am begining to get used to trying to teach with little resources. Math isn't as difficult because so many exercises can be done on the board and figured out by the students, but English has been a bit more difficult. Many students here focus their education strictly on copying notes from the bored and memorizing what they have written. There are some students that can graduate Form 4 and not even be able to speak English, but know all the grammer rules. Coming from America this makes teaching so different from what we are used to. I often find myself getting frustrated that the students aren't able to use any sort of comprehensive thinking to solve problems that I ask that they haven't copied directly off the bored. The lack of enough books for students also hinders their ability to practice reading and speaking.
Many students have commented on how much they have enjoyed having me as a teacher and they are more interested in the subject than they were before. That has had a nice rekindling of my devotion to trying to motivate and find activities that will benefit the students and make learning fun.
The students begin to take final exams towards the end of Nov. and the year ends in Dec. At that time Lew and I hope to travel a bit, but our plans are not yet finalized.
We are very close to finishing the website for the Monastery and the schools here and I am very excited to have that online so people will be able to see and read more about the services that are provided here. As soon as that is done I will add the link as well.
Hope everything is well with everyone!
Derek
I have started to make communication with Cornelia Elementary School in Edina and have begun to update a blog for the students at the school there. The information that I will include on that blog will be different from here and provide more information about the differences between what school is like here and for students in the United States. I will add a link on this page to check out if you would like.
I have begun to settle into my role as teaching and am begining to get used to trying to teach with little resources. Math isn't as difficult because so many exercises can be done on the board and figured out by the students, but English has been a bit more difficult. Many students here focus their education strictly on copying notes from the bored and memorizing what they have written. There are some students that can graduate Form 4 and not even be able to speak English, but know all the grammer rules. Coming from America this makes teaching so different from what we are used to. I often find myself getting frustrated that the students aren't able to use any sort of comprehensive thinking to solve problems that I ask that they haven't copied directly off the bored. The lack of enough books for students also hinders their ability to practice reading and speaking.
Many students have commented on how much they have enjoyed having me as a teacher and they are more interested in the subject than they were before. That has had a nice rekindling of my devotion to trying to motivate and find activities that will benefit the students and make learning fun.
The students begin to take final exams towards the end of Nov. and the year ends in Dec. At that time Lew and I hope to travel a bit, but our plans are not yet finalized.
We are very close to finishing the website for the Monastery and the schools here and I am very excited to have that online so people will be able to see and read more about the services that are provided here. As soon as that is done I will add the link as well.
Hope everything is well with everyone!
Derek
Friday, September 7, 2007
The week ahead
This upcomming week is mid-term break so we have the week off from teaching. Lew, Paul, and I are going to travel to a place called Bamba Bay which is located on Lake Naysa (also known as Lake Malawi). I think we are only going to go for 3 or 4 days so I'm not sure if we will get a chance to do very much stuff besides enjoying the beach where we are located, but I have heard it is very beautiful. I found this informaton and copied it from a different website online.
The lake Nyasa (Nyasa means "lake") is located at the south-west of Tanzania, The lake lies in three countries' territory; Tanzania and Malawi. However, it is bordered by three countries, Tanzania , Malawi and Mozambique. It is the third largest in Africa (after Lake Victoria and lake Tanganyika) with 550 kilometers length and 75 kilometers width, covering an area of more than 11,400 square kilometers. In some parts, the lake is as deep as 700 meters.
The lake lies in the sided walls of mountain ranges: the forested Livingston Mountains and Nyika Plateau, which provide the magnificent view of the lake from far and the landscape for hikers and backpackers.
Lake Nyasa is also among the Great Rift Valley's lakes, which shares some of the characteristics with lake Tanganyika. The lake has a distinctive characteristic: 14 rivers pouring their waters into the lake, and only one river which flows out to the sea, River Shire.
Some parts of the lake offer nice beaches and places to swim. Matema, in the northern part of the lake is considered to be the best beach for people who like to relax swim along the lake shore. In contrast to other lakes the water of lake Nyasa is bilharzias free. There are also caves and interesting waterfalls to see.
Other activities include local canoeing ride down the river, hiking on surrounding mountains.
Though Lake Nyasa does not receive many tourists, the lake is magnificently attractive and is rich in crocodiles and hippopotamus. For Fish lovers, Lake Nyasa is biologically the most diverse lake, containing approximately 30% of world's cichlid species (colorful fish which are easily seen in the lake's clear water).
The lake Nyasa (Nyasa means "lake") is located at the south-west of Tanzania, The lake lies in three countries' territory; Tanzania and Malawi. However, it is bordered by three countries, Tanzania , Malawi and Mozambique. It is the third largest in Africa (after Lake Victoria and lake Tanganyika) with 550 kilometers length and 75 kilometers width, covering an area of more than 11,400 square kilometers. In some parts, the lake is as deep as 700 meters.
The lake lies in the sided walls of mountain ranges: the forested Livingston Mountains and Nyika Plateau, which provide the magnificent view of the lake from far and the landscape for hikers and backpackers.
Lake Nyasa is also among the Great Rift Valley's lakes, which shares some of the characteristics with lake Tanganyika. The lake has a distinctive characteristic: 14 rivers pouring their waters into the lake, and only one river which flows out to the sea, River Shire.
Some parts of the lake offer nice beaches and places to swim. Matema, in the northern part of the lake is considered to be the best beach for people who like to relax swim along the lake shore. In contrast to other lakes the water of lake Nyasa is bilharzias free. There are also caves and interesting waterfalls to see.
Other activities include local canoeing ride down the river, hiking on surrounding mountains.
Though Lake Nyasa does not receive many tourists, the lake is magnificently attractive and is rich in crocodiles and hippopotamus. For Fish lovers, Lake Nyasa is biologically the most diverse lake, containing approximately 30% of world's cichlid species (colorful fish which are easily seen in the lake's clear water).
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
A Mass E-Mail From Lew
Some people might have recieved this from Lew, but for those that did not I thought you would enjoy reading what he has to say so far...
Dear Family and Friends,
Tanzanians aren't exactly accustomed to celebrating birthdays, so it was a special event as the monks tried to provide me with their best renindition of a birthday party this past Tuesday. The cook even prepared a Bunt cake, and although it was a bit more bunt than cake, it was well received. They also sang me the infamous "Cakey" song which sort of goes like this, "cakey, cakey, cakey, cakey (pause), cakey, cakey, cakey, cakey". The night climaxed, however, with the Abbot's teaching of his favourite drinking games. All in all it was a special day and thanks for all of the birthday wishes…I did get them.
Derek and I have been in Tanzania for a little over three weeks now, and apart from the short beds and even shorter doorways, we seem to fit in pretty well here. Life in Hanga is definitely wild…not so much in the "Spring Break Cancun" sense of the word, but more in the sense that everyday holds its new experiences and odd surprises. And since things are so different here, I'm not going to try and give a detailed explanation of what it's like. Instead, I thought I would run through a typical day so that you have of sense of what's happening here. Here it goes…
Having lived at St. John's for a good chunk of my life, I am accustomed to waking up to the calling of the church…and in a way it's the same here at Hanga. I guess the only difference is that instead of the slow ringing of soothing bells, there's a monk outside our windows going to town on a rusty old tire rim with a steel rod…it still works to the same effect however…I'm up.
So at 6:00 AM, I am sitting up in my bed trying to get my bearings in a hurry because I know that in 10 minutes, Guisi, the older Italian lady from across the hall, will be knocking at my door to pick me up for Mass. At this time in the morning it is pitch black out, so my mosquito net has proven to do a better job of keeping me in than the mosquitoes out, as I continually attempt to roll out of bed before untucking it first.
For the past two weeks, Guisi has accompanied me for the brisk (it's really cold here in the mornings) walk to the Abbey Church. Over this period of time we have both become accustomed to our specific roles for the walk; I carry the flashlight to light the way while she goes off about something in Italian (she speaks absolutely no English)…I don't know if she is actually talking me or just jabbering, but just in case she thinks I understand, I make sure to throw in a reassuring "si" whenever she pauses to take a breath.
After Mass and breakfast I'm off to work. It depends on the day, but I'll either be heading to the Seminary/Secondary School/Trade School to teach English and physics or to the farm to tend to the pigs and cows. Now while teaching is my full time job here at the Abbey, I'm really excited to be working with the animals and learning the ins and outs of agriculture. The monastery is self sufficient community, so they have everything here from bananas to sweet potatoes to rabbits. The only thing about the working at the farm that gets to me is that I know I've spent considerable amounts of time getting to know the animals that are being served to me later that day. So this is why having two jobs is nice, because you can change up the pace if one gets a little monotonous. The one odd thing about teaching at the Seminary and Secondary school is that the headmasters complain about the teachers not being strict enough with the students…Br. Allan is not afraid to remind us that if we are not comfortable with corporal punishment we should at least be willing to pinch the "foolish" students (check out the picture, you'll understand).
After work, Derek and I usually head out to the grounds to get some physical activity by playing soccer with the kids. Now there are three soccer fields (more like dustbowls) for the students; one for the good players, one for the okay players, and one for the kids with two left feet. To keep our street credit among our students, Derek and I have relinquished ourselves to the playing with the kids with two left feet. And as not to put any team at a greater disadvantage we have chosen to always play on opposite teams. But although there are more than 40 Tanzanians on the field at one time, Derek and I always have a knack of finding and running into one another. It's like we're polar magnets or something, because no matter where we are on the field it seems that we are always getting our gangly, uncoordinated bodies tangled up in one other…and I'm sure the students are just loving it. So far, I've been on the short end up the collisions and have the scabs on my knees to show for it…but also a couple goals (Me 2: Derek 0).
We've thought about hanging up our soccer cleats and picking up running again, but Derek's run in with a Viper during our last hike in the bush has really put a hamper on our desire to go running in the wild. Plus the locals seem to get enough of a shock just seeing a pair of Wazungu (white guys) walking around…so I don't think they'd know what to do if they saw us running towards them.
Our evenings are spent studying Swahili, hanging out with students, or just figuring out what to teach the next day (we have no books for the classes we teach so this can take some creativeness) until it's time for supper. Now supper is usually the highlight of the day, because beside rice, ugali, vegetables, and bananas there is also some meat, fish or something I've never seen before (all things that are not too common for the local Hanga villagers). After dinner we hang out with the younger monks who teach us Swahili slang and at 8:45 we head to Kompleto. By the time Kompleto is over we are fairly exhausted so we hit the sack around 9:30…and that's all she wrote.
Sorry about the mass email, I dislike sending them, but since our time on the internet is scarce, this will have to do. I hope everything is going well in your next of the woods, and write me if you get the chance. It's always good to hear what's going on in the world.
Baadaye,
Lew
Dear Family and Friends,
Tanzanians aren't exactly accustomed to celebrating birthdays, so it was a special event as the monks tried to provide me with their best renindition of a birthday party this past Tuesday. The cook even prepared a Bunt cake, and although it was a bit more bunt than cake, it was well received. They also sang me the infamous "Cakey" song which sort of goes like this, "cakey, cakey, cakey, cakey (pause), cakey, cakey, cakey, cakey". The night climaxed, however, with the Abbot's teaching of his favourite drinking games. All in all it was a special day and thanks for all of the birthday wishes…I did get them.
Derek and I have been in Tanzania for a little over three weeks now, and apart from the short beds and even shorter doorways, we seem to fit in pretty well here. Life in Hanga is definitely wild…not so much in the "Spring Break Cancun" sense of the word, but more in the sense that everyday holds its new experiences and odd surprises. And since things are so different here, I'm not going to try and give a detailed explanation of what it's like. Instead, I thought I would run through a typical day so that you have of sense of what's happening here. Here it goes…
Having lived at St. John's for a good chunk of my life, I am accustomed to waking up to the calling of the church…and in a way it's the same here at Hanga. I guess the only difference is that instead of the slow ringing of soothing bells, there's a monk outside our windows going to town on a rusty old tire rim with a steel rod…it still works to the same effect however…I'm up.
So at 6:00 AM, I am sitting up in my bed trying to get my bearings in a hurry because I know that in 10 minutes, Guisi, the older Italian lady from across the hall, will be knocking at my door to pick me up for Mass. At this time in the morning it is pitch black out, so my mosquito net has proven to do a better job of keeping me in than the mosquitoes out, as I continually attempt to roll out of bed before untucking it first.
For the past two weeks, Guisi has accompanied me for the brisk (it's really cold here in the mornings) walk to the Abbey Church. Over this period of time we have both become accustomed to our specific roles for the walk; I carry the flashlight to light the way while she goes off about something in Italian (she speaks absolutely no English)…I don't know if she is actually talking me or just jabbering, but just in case she thinks I understand, I make sure to throw in a reassuring "si" whenever she pauses to take a breath.
After Mass and breakfast I'm off to work. It depends on the day, but I'll either be heading to the Seminary/Secondary School/Trade School to teach English and physics or to the farm to tend to the pigs and cows. Now while teaching is my full time job here at the Abbey, I'm really excited to be working with the animals and learning the ins and outs of agriculture. The monastery is self sufficient community, so they have everything here from bananas to sweet potatoes to rabbits. The only thing about the working at the farm that gets to me is that I know I've spent considerable amounts of time getting to know the animals that are being served to me later that day. So this is why having two jobs is nice, because you can change up the pace if one gets a little monotonous. The one odd thing about teaching at the Seminary and Secondary school is that the headmasters complain about the teachers not being strict enough with the students…Br. Allan is not afraid to remind us that if we are not comfortable with corporal punishment we should at least be willing to pinch the "foolish" students (check out the picture, you'll understand).
After work, Derek and I usually head out to the grounds to get some physical activity by playing soccer with the kids. Now there are three soccer fields (more like dustbowls) for the students; one for the good players, one for the okay players, and one for the kids with two left feet. To keep our street credit among our students, Derek and I have relinquished ourselves to the playing with the kids with two left feet. And as not to put any team at a greater disadvantage we have chosen to always play on opposite teams. But although there are more than 40 Tanzanians on the field at one time, Derek and I always have a knack of finding and running into one another. It's like we're polar magnets or something, because no matter where we are on the field it seems that we are always getting our gangly, uncoordinated bodies tangled up in one other…and I'm sure the students are just loving it. So far, I've been on the short end up the collisions and have the scabs on my knees to show for it…but also a couple goals (Me 2: Derek 0).
We've thought about hanging up our soccer cleats and picking up running again, but Derek's run in with a Viper during our last hike in the bush has really put a hamper on our desire to go running in the wild. Plus the locals seem to get enough of a shock just seeing a pair of Wazungu (white guys) walking around…so I don't think they'd know what to do if they saw us running towards them.
Our evenings are spent studying Swahili, hanging out with students, or just figuring out what to teach the next day (we have no books for the classes we teach so this can take some creativeness) until it's time for supper. Now supper is usually the highlight of the day, because beside rice, ugali, vegetables, and bananas there is also some meat, fish or something I've never seen before (all things that are not too common for the local Hanga villagers). After dinner we hang out with the younger monks who teach us Swahili slang and at 8:45 we head to Kompleto. By the time Kompleto is over we are fairly exhausted so we hit the sack around 9:30…and that's all she wrote.
Sorry about the mass email, I dislike sending them, but since our time on the internet is scarce, this will have to do. I hope everything is going well in your next of the woods, and write me if you get the chance. It's always good to hear what's going on in the world.
Baadaye,
Lew
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