Hello all! I accidentally paid for an hour of internet rather than a half an hour, so i decided to do a quick post.
I am in Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania. It is paradise here. Amazing. I have been snorkeling and swimming in the Indian ocean, drinking cocktails, eating delicious seafood (octopus, squid, barracuda, shrimp, etc) and generally having a great time. While snorkeling I saw dolphins, flying fish and all sorts of other beautiful fish and corals. The only negatives are the heat and the fact that I had to walk for about 45 minutes barefoot through a bed of sea urchins, sharp rocks and broken corals. Long story.
Stonetown, the largest city is beautiful. It is full of narrow winding alleys that i constantly get lost in. The architecture is pretty cool and there are towns of old forts, churches, mosques and museums to visit. Later this week I'm planning to take a "spice tour" to see and sample all sorts of fruits and spices.
When i'm done here, my friend and I are heading to the north of the island for more snorkeling, swimming and partying.
We're leaving Zanzibar on the 14th for Dar, then on the 15th taking the 30 hour bus ride back to Kigali. I can't bring myself to think about it, so i'll have to fill you in on those annoying details later.
Be jealous!
Showing posts with label Rwanda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rwanda. Show all posts
Monday, November 9, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Saying Goodbye
I have finished with Worldteach and Rusumo High School. I am no longer a teacher. I am unemployed. I have pretty mixed feelings about that. It was very sad to say goodbye to a lot of people like my English Club, my students and some of the other teachers, but at the same time, I’m happy to get moving again. After 10 months I’m looking forward to getting home.
But first, Zanzibar! I am leaving tomorrow at 5:30 AM for a 30-hour bus ride to Dar es Salaam. From there I’ll take the ferry to Zanzibar, a tropical island complete with beaches, reefs, ancient Stonetown, snorkeling, seafood and all that. It should be pretty amazing and you should all be jealous!
After that I will take another 30-hour bus ride back to Kigali and after a couple days fly to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for about 3 days before flying back to DC then Toronto. That means I’ll be back in North America in 3 weeks. See you then!
But first, Zanzibar! I am leaving tomorrow at 5:30 AM for a 30-hour bus ride to Dar es Salaam. From there I’ll take the ferry to Zanzibar, a tropical island complete with beaches, reefs, ancient Stonetown, snorkeling, seafood and all that. It should be pretty amazing and you should all be jealous!
After that I will take another 30-hour bus ride back to Kigali and after a couple days fly to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for about 3 days before flying back to DC then Toronto. That means I’ll be back in North America in 3 weeks. See you then!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
DRC and less than two weeks to go
So, first of all, I have less than 2 weeks left in Rwanda. Crazy! I’m going to travel around for about a month before I get back to North America, so it’s still a little while until you can all see me again, but still…AHHHH! I’m in the process of saying my goodbyes and figuring out what I’m bringing back and what I’m leaving here. I’ve finished grading the exams and I’m almost done with the report cards, and that’s all I have left.
When I first came here I made it my goal to visit each country that borders Rwanda. I went to Uganda in April and Burundi a couple of months after that. Two weekends ago I went to the Democratic Republic of Congo. (If you don’t know much about the country, you should look it up. It’s got an interesting story, though pretty depressing, and have been locked in a series of rebellions and civil wars pretty much since it was created. It currently resides as No 3 on the UN’s list of most failed states, behind Somalia and Afghanistan. I tell you that so I can brag that I visited a country with less of a government than Iraq and Sudan.) Anyway, we only spent one night there (in Goma) but spent a good deal of time walking around the town. Let me tell you, it’s not in good shape. In 2004 the town was destroyed by/covered with lava from the volcano just to the north and even now the streets and alleys are covered in piles of volcanic rock. There are UN troops and aid workers everywhere, severely driving up prices making it more expensive than Kigali (which is very expensive compared to other parts of East Africa). There was also a lot more obvious poverty than you generally see in Rwanda. It’s definitely a rough place to live.
We did try two new beers though, both darker than the Rwandese beers. Tempo is quite good, but Turbo King (yes, that is what it is actually called) is disgusting. It tasted like they tried to make an energy drink/beer combination.
The craziest part of the trip though, is that we stumbled upon some illegal gorilla smugglers (not that any gorilla smuggling is legal). The compound bordering our hotel had two baby gorillas in it (so incredibly cute btw!). We asked at the hotel and found out that it was “unauthorized”. The smugglers didn’t like the fact that we took pictures, but we had to get photo evidence, so we took quite a few and walked up a creepy little side street to get the address of the place, then got the heck out of the country. We’re also in the process of trying to report this so some sort of authority.
So, I’m only human, right? Is it so wrong of me to want to know what my students think of me? On their finals, many of them had to write essays or paragraphs about…me. The results were, well, interesting. Mostly a huge ego boost of course, but some strange answers too. Almost every student said that they loved me and that I was a good teacher/the best teacher they’ve ever had. Of course, I know that a lot of that might be fishing for points but I have to believe that some of it is the truth! As for the other things they said…
The extremely obvious:
I’m white.
I don’t like cheating. (I made this quite clear!)
The complimentary:
I have a pretty smile.
I am thought of as a parent of the school.
I am handsome.
I have strength in my arms.
I look like a boxer or someone who knows karate.
The contradictory:
I’m fairly fat.
I am very thin.
I am short.
I am taller than others.
The just plain wrong:
I studied in USA (Union of South America)
I went to Denver University.
I was a secretary for Barack Obama (or Black Obama as several kids think he is called).
I was a teacher of Barack Obama.
I’m going to teach in Tanzania next.
I like to pray to God (or play God – Ls and Rs are difficult) every day and night.
I’m married.
I have two brothers and two sisters.
I live in England.
And the strange/extremely screwed up English:
I have white hair and side beards.
I am brown.
I am yellow.
I have an 84% for weight.
I don’t wear a trouser to school (definitely not true, I just don’t know what he meant!)
I have a good tail.
I have a chocolate head. (WHAT?)
See y’all in a couple months!
When I first came here I made it my goal to visit each country that borders Rwanda. I went to Uganda in April and Burundi a couple of months after that. Two weekends ago I went to the Democratic Republic of Congo. (If you don’t know much about the country, you should look it up. It’s got an interesting story, though pretty depressing, and have been locked in a series of rebellions and civil wars pretty much since it was created. It currently resides as No 3 on the UN’s list of most failed states, behind Somalia and Afghanistan. I tell you that so I can brag that I visited a country with less of a government than Iraq and Sudan.) Anyway, we only spent one night there (in Goma) but spent a good deal of time walking around the town. Let me tell you, it’s not in good shape. In 2004 the town was destroyed by/covered with lava from the volcano just to the north and even now the streets and alleys are covered in piles of volcanic rock. There are UN troops and aid workers everywhere, severely driving up prices making it more expensive than Kigali (which is very expensive compared to other parts of East Africa). There was also a lot more obvious poverty than you generally see in Rwanda. It’s definitely a rough place to live.
We did try two new beers though, both darker than the Rwandese beers. Tempo is quite good, but Turbo King (yes, that is what it is actually called) is disgusting. It tasted like they tried to make an energy drink/beer combination.
The craziest part of the trip though, is that we stumbled upon some illegal gorilla smugglers (not that any gorilla smuggling is legal). The compound bordering our hotel had two baby gorillas in it (so incredibly cute btw!). We asked at the hotel and found out that it was “unauthorized”. The smugglers didn’t like the fact that we took pictures, but we had to get photo evidence, so we took quite a few and walked up a creepy little side street to get the address of the place, then got the heck out of the country. We’re also in the process of trying to report this so some sort of authority.
So, I’m only human, right? Is it so wrong of me to want to know what my students think of me? On their finals, many of them had to write essays or paragraphs about…me. The results were, well, interesting. Mostly a huge ego boost of course, but some strange answers too. Almost every student said that they loved me and that I was a good teacher/the best teacher they’ve ever had. Of course, I know that a lot of that might be fishing for points but I have to believe that some of it is the truth! As for the other things they said…
The extremely obvious:
I’m white.
I don’t like cheating. (I made this quite clear!)
The complimentary:
I have a pretty smile.
I am thought of as a parent of the school.
I am handsome.
I have strength in my arms.
I look like a boxer or someone who knows karate.
The contradictory:
I’m fairly fat.
I am very thin.
I am short.
I am taller than others.
The just plain wrong:
I studied in USA (Union of South America)
I went to Denver University.
I was a secretary for Barack Obama (or Black Obama as several kids think he is called).
I was a teacher of Barack Obama.
I’m going to teach in Tanzania next.
I like to pray to God (or play God – Ls and Rs are difficult) every day and night.
I’m married.
I have two brothers and two sisters.
I live in England.
And the strange/extremely screwed up English:
I have white hair and side beards.
I am brown.
I am yellow.
I have an 84% for weight.
I don’t wear a trouser to school (definitely not true, I just don’t know what he meant!)
I have a good tail.
I have a chocolate head. (WHAT?)
See y’all in a couple months!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Book Reviews
A few of the books I’ve read this year. I wrote this instead of grading papers. I actually have some great stories to tell about a trip I just took, but I’ll have to post that at a future time.
Anna Karenina – My first Tolstoy. Anna is one of the most annoying characters in all literature, IMO. (Spoiler!) She should have jumped under the bus much, much earlier.
War and Peace – My second Tolstoy. Much better than the first. The story is quite riveting and non of the characters made me want to gouge my eyes out. The only problem was Tolstoy’s 100-page rant in the conclusion about how stupid historians are.
Great Expectations – This was a lot easier read than I thought it would be. Dickens genius may not be his stories, but it is definitely in his characters. All of them are such interesting portrayals of different aspects of the human spirit. I did figure out who Pip’s benefactor was after about the 3rd chapter though…
Lord of the Flies – I have read this before, but it was in the pile of books Dad and Sara brought for my school’s library. Always a great book.
The Road – An interesting post-apocalyptic story about a man and his son traveling a road in search of food and safety. Love the idea, but it gets a little repetitive. And there was very little punctuation, which after a year of teaching English bothered me.
Digital Fortress – Dan Brown. One of the worst books I have ever read. It was written like a bad junior novelisation of a bad movie.
Free Willy 2 – A bad junior novelisation of a bad movie, but it was better than Digital Fortress.
The Super Adventures of Wishbone – Awesome. Just awesome.
Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass – Very strange. I enjoyed the two immensely, but Lewis Carroll was definitely on some interesting drugs. As for the Walrus and the Carpenter song, I don’t really see the religion analogy. It seems like it fits on a very basic level, but if you actually read the poem, there’s very little connection.
Audacity of Hope – Quite good. I read this around the time of his inauguration so I was doubly happy. Doesn’t quite deserve the Nobel Prize for literature though, sorry.
The Poisonwood Bible – A great novel about a family of missionaries in Congo/Zaire. It pretty much exactly spells out my feelings about missionaries (not positive!) as well as covering a lot of Congolese politics around the time of their independence. Spoiler – The US screwed that country over pretty effectively.
A State of Blood – Covers Idi Amin’s time in Uganda, written by an ex-comrade.
Hitching Rides with Buddha – A hilarious story by Canadian Will Ferguson who lived in Japan for several years. The book covers his journey hitchhiking from the North tip of Japan to the South tip. Interestingly, much of the cultural confusion he experiences there is directly relatable to things that have happened to me here in Rwanda.
Zanzibar Chest – A good, but a bit pompous story about a journalist in Africa. He covers all the major events in Africa through the 80 and 90s.
The Long Road Down – Ewen McGregor and some other guy ride motorcycles from the UK to South Africa. Meh. Too much pompous actor dialogue.
Krakatoa – An extensive discussion about the Indonesian volcano. A lot of great information, but a bit too extensive.
I read a lot of other books this year but either I can’t remember their names or they didn’t deserve a mention.
Anna Karenina – My first Tolstoy. Anna is one of the most annoying characters in all literature, IMO. (Spoiler!) She should have jumped under the bus much, much earlier.
War and Peace – My second Tolstoy. Much better than the first. The story is quite riveting and non of the characters made me want to gouge my eyes out. The only problem was Tolstoy’s 100-page rant in the conclusion about how stupid historians are.
Great Expectations – This was a lot easier read than I thought it would be. Dickens genius may not be his stories, but it is definitely in his characters. All of them are such interesting portrayals of different aspects of the human spirit. I did figure out who Pip’s benefactor was after about the 3rd chapter though…
Lord of the Flies – I have read this before, but it was in the pile of books Dad and Sara brought for my school’s library. Always a great book.
The Road – An interesting post-apocalyptic story about a man and his son traveling a road in search of food and safety. Love the idea, but it gets a little repetitive. And there was very little punctuation, which after a year of teaching English bothered me.
Digital Fortress – Dan Brown. One of the worst books I have ever read. It was written like a bad junior novelisation of a bad movie.
Free Willy 2 – A bad junior novelisation of a bad movie, but it was better than Digital Fortress.
The Super Adventures of Wishbone – Awesome. Just awesome.
Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass – Very strange. I enjoyed the two immensely, but Lewis Carroll was definitely on some interesting drugs. As for the Walrus and the Carpenter song, I don’t really see the religion analogy. It seems like it fits on a very basic level, but if you actually read the poem, there’s very little connection.
Audacity of Hope – Quite good. I read this around the time of his inauguration so I was doubly happy. Doesn’t quite deserve the Nobel Prize for literature though, sorry.
The Poisonwood Bible – A great novel about a family of missionaries in Congo/Zaire. It pretty much exactly spells out my feelings about missionaries (not positive!) as well as covering a lot of Congolese politics around the time of their independence. Spoiler – The US screwed that country over pretty effectively.
A State of Blood – Covers Idi Amin’s time in Uganda, written by an ex-comrade.
Hitching Rides with Buddha – A hilarious story by Canadian Will Ferguson who lived in Japan for several years. The book covers his journey hitchhiking from the North tip of Japan to the South tip. Interestingly, much of the cultural confusion he experiences there is directly relatable to things that have happened to me here in Rwanda.
Zanzibar Chest – A good, but a bit pompous story about a journalist in Africa. He covers all the major events in Africa through the 80 and 90s.
The Long Road Down – Ewen McGregor and some other guy ride motorcycles from the UK to South Africa. Meh. Too much pompous actor dialogue.
Krakatoa – An extensive discussion about the Indonesian volcano. A lot of great information, but a bit too extensive.
I read a lot of other books this year but either I can’t remember their names or they didn’t deserve a mention.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Winding down or winding up?
My time here is winding up (or down?)! I’m working on the exams that
I will give in less than two weeks and I’m starting review next week.
After that I’ve got to proctor (a word that always makes me giggle)
the exams and mark them, then I’m finished! In less than a month, I
will be finished at Rusumo High School. In less than two months I’ll
be back in North America! I don’t even know what to think!
I still have a fair amount of traveling to do before I leave. There
are still a couple places in Rwanda I haven’t visited, like Gisenyi
and Byumba that I hope to see soon, plus I’m going to be spending a
week in Zanzibar, a tropical paradise. You will be jealous.
Unfortunately, the final debate of the year was cancelled. It turns
out that the Tanzanian school actually had exams during the time we
were planning on going. This was a huge disappointment for the
students and for me. We lost the previous two debates, but I thought
we really had a chance to win this one, and I had been hoping to end
the year on a positive note. We have continued to meet, just to
debate for fun, and the club seems pretty enthusiastic about
continuing next year. We elected club officers and I’m compiling a
list of debate teacher’s phone numbers from around the province so
they can set up debates next year without a volunteer’s help. They
are great kids, and I’ll really miss them.
Things I didn’t want to find on my toilet seat: mating cockroaches, a
giant spider building a web across the hole. Fortunately, that is all
so far.
For some reason, I’ve noticed an increased number of Toronto Maple
Leafs jerseys around Kirehe district. It always makes me happy to see
them until I remember that there probably wouldn’t have been donated
to Africa if they actually won once in a while. Oh, and apparently
the new restaurant, Kirehe Modern Center, has satellite TV and I saw a
clip of a Bruins game on ESPN. The first hockey I’ve seen in over 8
months. It was strange.
I will give in less than two weeks and I’m starting review next week.
After that I’ve got to proctor (a word that always makes me giggle)
the exams and mark them, then I’m finished! In less than a month, I
will be finished at Rusumo High School. In less than two months I’ll
be back in North America! I don’t even know what to think!
I still have a fair amount of traveling to do before I leave. There
are still a couple places in Rwanda I haven’t visited, like Gisenyi
and Byumba that I hope to see soon, plus I’m going to be spending a
week in Zanzibar, a tropical paradise. You will be jealous.
Unfortunately, the final debate of the year was cancelled. It turns
out that the Tanzanian school actually had exams during the time we
were planning on going. This was a huge disappointment for the
students and for me. We lost the previous two debates, but I thought
we really had a chance to win this one, and I had been hoping to end
the year on a positive note. We have continued to meet, just to
debate for fun, and the club seems pretty enthusiastic about
continuing next year. We elected club officers and I’m compiling a
list of debate teacher’s phone numbers from around the province so
they can set up debates next year without a volunteer’s help. They
are great kids, and I’ll really miss them.
Things I didn’t want to find on my toilet seat: mating cockroaches, a
giant spider building a web across the hole. Fortunately, that is all
so far.
For some reason, I’ve noticed an increased number of Toronto Maple
Leafs jerseys around Kirehe district. It always makes me happy to see
them until I remember that there probably wouldn’t have been donated
to Africa if they actually won once in a while. Oh, and apparently
the new restaurant, Kirehe Modern Center, has satellite TV and I saw a
clip of a Bruins game on ESPN. The first hockey I’ve seen in over 8
months. It was strange.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Here we go again…
So it looks like the rainy season is starting again. I was hoping the
dry season would last another couple of weeks but oh well. Back to
the wet, cold and mud, not to mention canceling class because your
students can’t hear you/are getting rained on. Not ideal, but it’s
life!
No big news with the computer lab besides getting a projector set up.
Oh, and that with the wet season back, the solar panels produce a lot
less power and we are expecting even more cuts in the time students
can use the computers.
We had our first debate! It was a success, despite our loss to our
opponent. Both teams did very well, but the English is definitively
more advanced at the other school, and they’d debated four times
already this year. I am extremely proud of our students for how they
did. For most of them, it was their first debate and for the rest,
their second. We had two Francophones on the team, and it is a huge
accomplishment for them to give their arguments and ideas in English.
We also had three Senior 1s and two Senior 2s, so our team was a lot
younger. With some more practice they could be excellent.
The day after the debate, my friends and I went on an epic hike around
the falls. We climbed a mountain, then climbed all the way down to
the river, walked along the river, had a fisherman ferry us up river
in a little canoe when we hit an impassible cliff, then climbed most
of the way back up the original mountain. It took about 5 hours, and
when we finally reached the end, we were exhausted, sun burnt, filthy
and bleeding from several cuts and scratches caused by rocks and
thorns. In other words, it was a great hike! There are some pretty
good pictures and when I get good enough internet, I’ll post a few.
Finally, just a note to any perspective Worldteachers who have found
my blog, don’t join this organization. I know it’s not great form to
be bashing the organization that I belong to, but there is something
very wrong with WorldTeach. We had a few hints at the beginning by
the way they treated us and the lack of information we received during
orientation. We discovered a bit more throughout the year as we
consistently were left hanging when we needed support. (Field
Director leaving the country on vacation during our first two weeks of
teaching is just one example.) Now though, we are fully aware of the
problems that through this organization all the way to the home office
in Boston. Let me be clear: I love my placement, despite the problems
I face, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be here,
but I would not recommend WorldTeach to ANYONE. Find a different
organization. Please
dry season would last another couple of weeks but oh well. Back to
the wet, cold and mud, not to mention canceling class because your
students can’t hear you/are getting rained on. Not ideal, but it’s
life!
No big news with the computer lab besides getting a projector set up.
Oh, and that with the wet season back, the solar panels produce a lot
less power and we are expecting even more cuts in the time students
can use the computers.
We had our first debate! It was a success, despite our loss to our
opponent. Both teams did very well, but the English is definitively
more advanced at the other school, and they’d debated four times
already this year. I am extremely proud of our students for how they
did. For most of them, it was their first debate and for the rest,
their second. We had two Francophones on the team, and it is a huge
accomplishment for them to give their arguments and ideas in English.
We also had three Senior 1s and two Senior 2s, so our team was a lot
younger. With some more practice they could be excellent.
The day after the debate, my friends and I went on an epic hike around
the falls. We climbed a mountain, then climbed all the way down to
the river, walked along the river, had a fisherman ferry us up river
in a little canoe when we hit an impassible cliff, then climbed most
of the way back up the original mountain. It took about 5 hours, and
when we finally reached the end, we were exhausted, sun burnt, filthy
and bleeding from several cuts and scratches caused by rocks and
thorns. In other words, it was a great hike! There are some pretty
good pictures and when I get good enough internet, I’ll post a few.
Finally, just a note to any perspective Worldteachers who have found
my blog, don’t join this organization. I know it’s not great form to
be bashing the organization that I belong to, but there is something
very wrong with WorldTeach. We had a few hints at the beginning by
the way they treated us and the lack of information we received during
orientation. We discovered a bit more throughout the year as we
consistently were left hanging when we needed support. (Field
Director leaving the country on vacation during our first two weeks of
teaching is just one example.) Now though, we are fully aware of the
problems that through this organization all the way to the home office
in Boston. Let me be clear: I love my placement, despite the problems
I face, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be here,
but I would not recommend WorldTeach to ANYONE. Find a different
organization. Please
Friday, September 11, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
My life is computers, debates and moto rides with strangers.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been online, too long. I haven’t
been to Kigali for several weeks now, and the Internet at the District
Office is consistently down whenever I’m around. I’ve felt pretty
disconnected. I’ve almost forgotten how to use the tubes!
I have had some successes with the computer lab! My first attempts
were frustrated by the fact that the wiring in the lab didn’t work and
by administration blowing it off by saying we didn’t have the money to
fix it. All it took though was one call from the District Education
Office telling us that if we weren’t going to use the computers,
they’d take them away, and miraculously we “found” the money to fix
it! (Turned out it wasn’t really broken, the wiring just didn’t
connect to anything). I immediately set up four of the new computers
and began testing all the old equipment to see what works. I’ve now
tested almost everything and we’ve got 9 working out of the 18 or so
that we had, and we’re a little short on mice. And power cords.
Everything here has a different set of plugs, so it’s hard to find
cords that fit in the right places. Anyway, students are now using
the computer lab in small groups, so I consider it a success! Sonya
(VSO) has also been a huge help and is making great visual aids on
rice sacks for the walls of the lab. My next big hurdle concerns
(surprise surprise) the administration again. I think they want to
only let students use the old computers, to which I asked “what about
the 18 brand new computers? What are we going to do with those?” The
reply was, of course, that the teachers can use them! I felt like
crying. What’s the point of having all those computers if they barely
get used? I’m going to have to put my foot down on this one.
I’ve also been busy with debate. We’ve got a lot of good students who
are interested in debate, and we set up two debates this term with
other schools. The first one is this Friday with Kayonza Modern,
another school in our program, and later in September we have a repeat
of our debate with our sister school in Tanzania. This time we are
going there, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to go as well! The only
problem is the expensive visa, but since I’m going in November anyway,
I might as well buy it now! Or, if possible, just get in for free…
Here’s one for you: have you ever gotten on the back of someone’s
moto, thinking that you knew who there were, and talked to them for
the entire 10 minute ride, only to discover that you don’t actually
know who they are? That’s my life! (Note: he seemed to know who I was,
so it was probably my fault that I didn’t recognize him. Nice guy,
though!)
Happy Birthday Aunt Carol!
Oh, and I’ve got less than two months of teaching left, plus less than
a month of traveling until I come home!
been to Kigali for several weeks now, and the Internet at the District
Office is consistently down whenever I’m around. I’ve felt pretty
disconnected. I’ve almost forgotten how to use the tubes!
I have had some successes with the computer lab! My first attempts
were frustrated by the fact that the wiring in the lab didn’t work and
by administration blowing it off by saying we didn’t have the money to
fix it. All it took though was one call from the District Education
Office telling us that if we weren’t going to use the computers,
they’d take them away, and miraculously we “found” the money to fix
it! (Turned out it wasn’t really broken, the wiring just didn’t
connect to anything). I immediately set up four of the new computers
and began testing all the old equipment to see what works. I’ve now
tested almost everything and we’ve got 9 working out of the 18 or so
that we had, and we’re a little short on mice. And power cords.
Everything here has a different set of plugs, so it’s hard to find
cords that fit in the right places. Anyway, students are now using
the computer lab in small groups, so I consider it a success! Sonya
(VSO) has also been a huge help and is making great visual aids on
rice sacks for the walls of the lab. My next big hurdle concerns
(surprise surprise) the administration again. I think they want to
only let students use the old computers, to which I asked “what about
the 18 brand new computers? What are we going to do with those?” The
reply was, of course, that the teachers can use them! I felt like
crying. What’s the point of having all those computers if they barely
get used? I’m going to have to put my foot down on this one.
I’ve also been busy with debate. We’ve got a lot of good students who
are interested in debate, and we set up two debates this term with
other schools. The first one is this Friday with Kayonza Modern,
another school in our program, and later in September we have a repeat
of our debate with our sister school in Tanzania. This time we are
going there, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to go as well! The only
problem is the expensive visa, but since I’m going in November anyway,
I might as well buy it now! Or, if possible, just get in for free…
Here’s one for you: have you ever gotten on the back of someone’s
moto, thinking that you knew who there were, and talked to them for
the entire 10 minute ride, only to discover that you don’t actually
know who they are? That’s my life! (Note: he seemed to know who I was,
so it was probably my fault that I didn’t recognize him. Nice guy,
though!)
Happy Birthday Aunt Carol!
Oh, and I’ve got less than two months of teaching left, plus less than
a month of traveling until I come home!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
2 terms down, 3rd term to go!
I’ve started my third and final term here in Rwanda. Hard to believe it. There’s still so much that I want to do and see. It’ll be hard to fit it into less than 4 months, but I’ll give it a shot!
The first week of the term is now over, although it was supposed to be the second. We had the usual confusion, with neither students nor teachers showing up on time, plus changing the timetable without telling anyone. About on par for most term beginnings I’d say. I’ve got big plans for this term. There are lots of things I want to cover in my classes, plus the Teachers’ English Club and the Debate Club. On top of that I think I’m about to take on another load of responsibility. Now that the library is up and running, and doing pretty well, if I do say so myself, I think I’m going to attempt to revive the computer lab. The solar panels are working again, so we have some power, and considering our students never get to touch a computer, I think I need to do something about that. Not sure how much I’ll get accomplished before I leave though. A lot of what needs to be done needs to be done by the administration, and all I can do is pester them until they do it. We’ll see though, it needs to be done.
I think I’m on my third generation of house lizards now. Possibly the fourth. I’ve just spotted a new tiny baby and will now have to try to protect him from the adults.
Oh, and I found a snake in my room the other day! Ok, after doing some research I figured out that it wasn’t technically a snake, but a different type of reptile called amphisbaenidae. Or something. It was about 4 inches long and it looked almost like a millipede except that it didn’t have any legs. They aren’t dangerous, and I doubt if this little guy could have bitten me if he tried! I did get a photo (not great) that I’ll attempt to post here at some point.
Random thought as I was listening to Tupac and reading War and Peace: I lead a very strange life.
The first week of the term is now over, although it was supposed to be the second. We had the usual confusion, with neither students nor teachers showing up on time, plus changing the timetable without telling anyone. About on par for most term beginnings I’d say. I’ve got big plans for this term. There are lots of things I want to cover in my classes, plus the Teachers’ English Club and the Debate Club. On top of that I think I’m about to take on another load of responsibility. Now that the library is up and running, and doing pretty well, if I do say so myself, I think I’m going to attempt to revive the computer lab. The solar panels are working again, so we have some power, and considering our students never get to touch a computer, I think I need to do something about that. Not sure how much I’ll get accomplished before I leave though. A lot of what needs to be done needs to be done by the administration, and all I can do is pester them until they do it. We’ll see though, it needs to be done.
I think I’m on my third generation of house lizards now. Possibly the fourth. I’ve just spotted a new tiny baby and will now have to try to protect him from the adults.
Oh, and I found a snake in my room the other day! Ok, after doing some research I figured out that it wasn’t technically a snake, but a different type of reptile called amphisbaenidae. Or something. It was about 4 inches long and it looked almost like a millipede except that it didn’t have any legs. They aren’t dangerous, and I doubt if this little guy could have bitten me if he tried! I did get a photo (not great) that I’ll attempt to post here at some point.
Random thought as I was listening to Tupac and reading War and Peace: I lead a very strange life.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
The End is near (of the holidays)
The holidays are almost over, and we are all getting ready to head
back to school for the last term. Mixed feelings of course. The
holidays were great; with monkeys, dead car batteries, new friends, 2
kilos of pork, blisters, a king’s palace, numerous instances of being
ditched, walking until my feet bled, good food and surprisingly little
beer.
For the last couple of days of the break, I’m staying at a friend’s
house in Kigali. It’s kind of a strange situation; there are two
spare bedrooms but no spare beds. Plus the couple that lives there, 3
of us are crashing in the living room. There is a couch and a
loveseat, neither one is big enough to sleep on comfortably. I let
the girls sleep on them. The floor is concrete and horribly
uncomfortable, so I sleep on “chair-bed.” Chair-bed consists of 6
dinning room chairs pushed together, two by two. It is neither
comfortable nor stable, but it’s better than the floor. Oh, and last
night I couldn’t find two of the chairs, so it was just 4 chairs. I’m
quite sore today. The mosquitoes are pretty bad too. Oh, and they
haven’t had water since Sunday. Now, I don’t have running water so
some guy on a bike brings jerry cans full of it. They “have” running
water, so when it goes out, they have no idea where to find some. We
are in the middle of the dry season and water is getting scarce
everywhere in Rwanda except the Northwest, so lots of volunteers are
out of it. Thus we are all pretty grimy and smelly. I’ve showered
twice in the last week and a half.
Anyway, just a short post. I’ll maybe expand on some of the good
stories in later posts, and hopefully I’ll get back to my once a week
schedule once classes start up again. Murabeho!
back to school for the last term. Mixed feelings of course. The
holidays were great; with monkeys, dead car batteries, new friends, 2
kilos of pork, blisters, a king’s palace, numerous instances of being
ditched, walking until my feet bled, good food and surprisingly little
beer.
For the last couple of days of the break, I’m staying at a friend’s
house in Kigali. It’s kind of a strange situation; there are two
spare bedrooms but no spare beds. Plus the couple that lives there, 3
of us are crashing in the living room. There is a couch and a
loveseat, neither one is big enough to sleep on comfortably. I let
the girls sleep on them. The floor is concrete and horribly
uncomfortable, so I sleep on “chair-bed.” Chair-bed consists of 6
dinning room chairs pushed together, two by two. It is neither
comfortable nor stable, but it’s better than the floor. Oh, and last
night I couldn’t find two of the chairs, so it was just 4 chairs. I’m
quite sore today. The mosquitoes are pretty bad too. Oh, and they
haven’t had water since Sunday. Now, I don’t have running water so
some guy on a bike brings jerry cans full of it. They “have” running
water, so when it goes out, they have no idea where to find some. We
are in the middle of the dry season and water is getting scarce
everywhere in Rwanda except the Northwest, so lots of volunteers are
out of it. Thus we are all pretty grimy and smelly. I’ve showered
twice in the last week and a half.
Anyway, just a short post. I’ll maybe expand on some of the good
stories in later posts, and hopefully I’ll get back to my once a week
schedule once classes start up again. Murabeho!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Holidays
I’ve been enjoying a great holiday! We have a three week break between the first and second terms and I’m making the most of it.
The term ended well. The students did relatively well on their exams, and grading papers didn’t drive me completely insane. I finished up early and headed for Kigali for a couples days of relaxing before Dad and Sara came. Their plane arrived at 2:00 am, but I met them at the airport anyway (the coffee shop was still open!) and had a great week!
The gorillas were amazing! It was an hour hike up the mountain, which would have been fun in of itself, but to see those creatures, and to be in the middle of their family was fantastic. The guides told us we were close and I looked up and saw a small gorilla sitting in a tree watching us. We then entered a small clearing and found the second in command silverback. The guides spoke to it in grunts to let it know that we were not a threat and it allowed us to stay. You could see them staring at us and you could see their intelligence in their eyes. They evaluated our presence and decided we weren’t a threat. We had an hour with them and we got so close! There was a young one that was totally hamming it up for the cameras, climbing on the silverback’s back and running by us. We got some amazing photos, a few of which are up know, and hopefully more will follow. It was an experience that I’m so glad I was able to have. Unfortunately these majestic creatures might not be around much longer.
Later we went to Akagera National Park, which was also great, except for the tsetse flies. We got really close to some giraffes, monkeys and buffalo, and saw all sorts of other animals as well. Still didn’t see the elephant though.
Nyakarambi was next, where we went to the falls (my 5th time), toured my school, bought some cow dung art and chilled at home. Had some bad experiences with restaurants (like how the entire town of Rusumo was out of food on a Tuesday afternoon) but overall it was fun! Pretty sure Dad and Sara enjoyed it, but I was very glad to show off my town and school and give them a taste of my everyday life.
We returned to Kigali for the last couple of days, went to the memorial and the Natural History Museum (which was interesting as we had to interpret the exhibits which were in a mix of English, French, Kinyarwanda, Latin and German). It was sad to see them off at the airport, but I had a great week!
Now I’m truly on vacation. Shepherding a couple of tourists around is tiring (no offensive guys) so I’ve been taking it easy the last couple days. I went up to Musanze to visit a friend and went spelunking (which is almost as fun as saying the word spelunking) and narrowly avoided getting guanoed on. I had some delicious burritos to celebrate St Burrito Day, and have been spending a lot of time in coffee shops. Tomorrow I’m heading down south to do who knows what. Plans are for the weak…
The term ended well. The students did relatively well on their exams, and grading papers didn’t drive me completely insane. I finished up early and headed for Kigali for a couples days of relaxing before Dad and Sara came. Their plane arrived at 2:00 am, but I met them at the airport anyway (the coffee shop was still open!) and had a great week!
The gorillas were amazing! It was an hour hike up the mountain, which would have been fun in of itself, but to see those creatures, and to be in the middle of their family was fantastic. The guides told us we were close and I looked up and saw a small gorilla sitting in a tree watching us. We then entered a small clearing and found the second in command silverback. The guides spoke to it in grunts to let it know that we were not a threat and it allowed us to stay. You could see them staring at us and you could see their intelligence in their eyes. They evaluated our presence and decided we weren’t a threat. We had an hour with them and we got so close! There was a young one that was totally hamming it up for the cameras, climbing on the silverback’s back and running by us. We got some amazing photos, a few of which are up know, and hopefully more will follow. It was an experience that I’m so glad I was able to have. Unfortunately these majestic creatures might not be around much longer.
Later we went to Akagera National Park, which was also great, except for the tsetse flies. We got really close to some giraffes, monkeys and buffalo, and saw all sorts of other animals as well. Still didn’t see the elephant though.
Nyakarambi was next, where we went to the falls (my 5th time), toured my school, bought some cow dung art and chilled at home. Had some bad experiences with restaurants (like how the entire town of Rusumo was out of food on a Tuesday afternoon) but overall it was fun! Pretty sure Dad and Sara enjoyed it, but I was very glad to show off my town and school and give them a taste of my everyday life.
We returned to Kigali for the last couple of days, went to the memorial and the Natural History Museum (which was interesting as we had to interpret the exhibits which were in a mix of English, French, Kinyarwanda, Latin and German). It was sad to see them off at the airport, but I had a great week!
Now I’m truly on vacation. Shepherding a couple of tourists around is tiring (no offensive guys) so I’ve been taking it easy the last couple days. I went up to Musanze to visit a friend and went spelunking (which is almost as fun as saying the word spelunking) and narrowly avoided getting guanoed on. I had some delicious burritos to celebrate St Burrito Day, and have been spending a lot of time in coffee shops. Tomorrow I’m heading down south to do who knows what. Plans are for the weak…
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Quick Check-In
Hello everyone! I’m still alive, despite the lack of posts here recently. I’ve been quite busy. I promise that I’ll write a full post soon, but for now just a quick check-in.
School’s out, with one week of my three-week vacation over. Dad and Sara came and went, and I’ll be traveling around the western part of the country for the next two weeks (with plenty of R&R time in Kigali).
The week with the fam was amazing. We visited the gorillas (saw a three-week old baby, plus hot gorilla sex!), we had a short safari, hung out in Nyakarambi and spent some time wandering around Kigali.
School’s out, with one week of my three-week vacation over. Dad and Sara came and went, and I’ll be traveling around the western part of the country for the next two weeks (with plenty of R&R time in Kigali).
The week with the fam was amazing. We visited the gorillas (saw a three-week old baby, plus hot gorilla sex!), we had a short safari, hung out in Nyakarambi and spent some time wandering around Kigali.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Buj and back
Wow, Bujumbura was an amazing idea, and an even better trip! Who says US State Department travel advisories should be trusted? Actually, Burundi can be a very dangerous country, but we were very careful and made sure not to put ourselves into any unnecessary risks. Well, for the most part…
There are many adjectives that one could use to describe the bus ride to Bujumbura, but I believe the best one is TERRIFYING. Take the usual Africa roads (filled with all sorts of vehicles, bikes, pedestrians, animals, potholes, etc) and worse than usual driving and add that to narrow, winding mountain roads and you’ll get some sort of idea. I spent much of the ride staring out the front window of the bus as we careened towards a cliff then swerved away from it, usually into the path of an oncoming truck which we’d then swerve away from back towards the cliff, and so on. Eventually, however, the mountains ended (rather abruptly, actually) and we came into Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, situated on the shores of beautiful Lake Tanganyika. Really, the only real problem we had with the transit was the Burundian border guard who tried to force us to bribe him by almost denying us entry. Much arguing, some harsh words, the help of the other bus passengers and shear stubbornness got us through the border sans bribe. There was no way that we’d support corruption!
We found a pretty nice place to stay for only a little more than we had hoped and in the process met several extremely nice and helpful Burundians. I was a little nervous, due to our experience with a “nice and helpful” Ugandan, but fortunately, they were good people. One important thing in Bujumbura is to stay off the streets at night (take taxis if you do need to go out), so the first night was spend enjoying our hotel, street bread and Burundian Primus (tastes the same).
Interesting fact: automatic weapons and grenades are not allowed in Bujumbura. At least that’s what the sign said. One of the first things we saw upon entering the city was a giant banner in Kirundi (very similar to Kinyarwanda) with a No Grenades and No Automatic Weapons picture (silhouettes of both x’d out). Apparently this didn’t apply to army, police or security guards, because they were everywhere and were always touting weapons.
On the second day we took a trip south of town to the spot where Stanley uttered those famous words “Dr. Livingstone, I presume”. Actually, this was not the real spot. All evidence points to their meeting taking place in western Tanzania, but seeing as this is really all Burundi has in the way of touristy things, I’ll let it slide. The spot was marked by a large rock just off the highway, with names and dates carved into it. We took some pictures, talked to the soldier with the huge automatic weapon that appeared out of the bushes, then headed off to the beach, blowing past cops who tried to flag us down for more bribes.
Let me say, I always enjoy swimming, but there is something quite special about swimming in the Africa Great Lakes. Maybe it was the warm water, maybe it was the possible threat of schistosomiasis or biharzia, maybe it was the beer that I’d had, but jumping off the boat into the water felt amazing. If you are keeping track, that is the 3rd boat I’ve jumped off so far this year, the 2nd being into Lake Kivu and the 1st being onto the sandy beach of Lake Victoria. Unfortunately, I doubt I’ll be able to make it to Lakes Malawi, Turkana, Edward, Albert or any other African Great Lakes. Then again, I’ve never really been to Lake Superior either. Anyway, I’ll be swimming in the Indian Ocean at Zanzibar in November, so I shouldn’t complain.
The bus home combined the same terrible driving and windy roads with an intense smell of vomit. Strangely, the vomit smell permeated the bus before any of the passengers actually started vomiting, and it certainly didn’t get any better afterwards. With the help of some incredibly cheap oranges and strong will power, none of the four of us puked and we all made it safely back to Rwanda.
Like last time, I was glad to make it home. It could be said that Rwanda has less character than it’s neighbours, and there is some sort of forced orderliness and discipline here, which makes the country seem less “African”, but it really is much safer and cleaner, and despite all the complaining I’ve done in this blog, it’s a pretty darn good place to live!
There are many adjectives that one could use to describe the bus ride to Bujumbura, but I believe the best one is TERRIFYING. Take the usual Africa roads (filled with all sorts of vehicles, bikes, pedestrians, animals, potholes, etc) and worse than usual driving and add that to narrow, winding mountain roads and you’ll get some sort of idea. I spent much of the ride staring out the front window of the bus as we careened towards a cliff then swerved away from it, usually into the path of an oncoming truck which we’d then swerve away from back towards the cliff, and so on. Eventually, however, the mountains ended (rather abruptly, actually) and we came into Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, situated on the shores of beautiful Lake Tanganyika. Really, the only real problem we had with the transit was the Burundian border guard who tried to force us to bribe him by almost denying us entry. Much arguing, some harsh words, the help of the other bus passengers and shear stubbornness got us through the border sans bribe. There was no way that we’d support corruption!
We found a pretty nice place to stay for only a little more than we had hoped and in the process met several extremely nice and helpful Burundians. I was a little nervous, due to our experience with a “nice and helpful” Ugandan, but fortunately, they were good people. One important thing in Bujumbura is to stay off the streets at night (take taxis if you do need to go out), so the first night was spend enjoying our hotel, street bread and Burundian Primus (tastes the same).
Interesting fact: automatic weapons and grenades are not allowed in Bujumbura. At least that’s what the sign said. One of the first things we saw upon entering the city was a giant banner in Kirundi (very similar to Kinyarwanda) with a No Grenades and No Automatic Weapons picture (silhouettes of both x’d out). Apparently this didn’t apply to army, police or security guards, because they were everywhere and were always touting weapons.
On the second day we took a trip south of town to the spot where Stanley uttered those famous words “Dr. Livingstone, I presume”. Actually, this was not the real spot. All evidence points to their meeting taking place in western Tanzania, but seeing as this is really all Burundi has in the way of touristy things, I’ll let it slide. The spot was marked by a large rock just off the highway, with names and dates carved into it. We took some pictures, talked to the soldier with the huge automatic weapon that appeared out of the bushes, then headed off to the beach, blowing past cops who tried to flag us down for more bribes.
Let me say, I always enjoy swimming, but there is something quite special about swimming in the Africa Great Lakes. Maybe it was the warm water, maybe it was the possible threat of schistosomiasis or biharzia, maybe it was the beer that I’d had, but jumping off the boat into the water felt amazing. If you are keeping track, that is the 3rd boat I’ve jumped off so far this year, the 2nd being into Lake Kivu and the 1st being onto the sandy beach of Lake Victoria. Unfortunately, I doubt I’ll be able to make it to Lakes Malawi, Turkana, Edward, Albert or any other African Great Lakes. Then again, I’ve never really been to Lake Superior either. Anyway, I’ll be swimming in the Indian Ocean at Zanzibar in November, so I shouldn’t complain.
The bus home combined the same terrible driving and windy roads with an intense smell of vomit. Strangely, the vomit smell permeated the bus before any of the passengers actually started vomiting, and it certainly didn’t get any better afterwards. With the help of some incredibly cheap oranges and strong will power, none of the four of us puked and we all made it safely back to Rwanda.
Like last time, I was glad to make it home. It could be said that Rwanda has less character than it’s neighbours, and there is some sort of forced orderliness and discipline here, which makes the country seem less “African”, but it really is much safer and cleaner, and despite all the complaining I’ve done in this blog, it’s a pretty darn good place to live!
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