Today went by very smoothly. We’re progressing along nicely with “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Mildred and Bertha still seem to enjoy it. Given convinced Obey to come along with him today for some extra tutoring. Obey is the quietest teenage boy I have ever met. I hardly ever hear him speak. He is so unlike his little siblings, who are both outgoing and very talkative. Even so, he is so much fun to teach.
In English class, I had the ladies give a two-minute speech in English. We’re talking about emotions, so I said they had to describe a time they felt happy/sad/angry/excited, etc. They all picked times when they felt sad, and almost all of them spoke about death. I have noticed this about Zambians (at least with this group); death is so common that they don’t seem to have a problem speaking about it openly. For example, Regina spoke about a time she was in the hospital and she saw a woman in labor lying in the hallway. The nursing staff had gone out shopping or something, so no one was there to take care of her. Regina saw the woman crying for help, but no one could get any medical care for her. The baby ended up dying as a result. Sarah spoke about the death of her mother-in-law, who loved her like a daughter, and just when I thought I couldn’t get any sadder, Ella spoke about her brother who died when he was seven. They are certainly open about their feelings.
Preschool went well, at least for me. We split up into older and younger kids. I had six of the older kids (ages five or six) and Rachel had some younger kids. The group dynamics just worked for me today – the combination of kids I had lent for a very peaceful afternoon spent writing words and reading books. Rachel had all the troublemakers who were extra squirmy. So, I somewhat guiltily had a very satisfying afternoon of teaching while Rachel was a little less happy with it. At the end of preschool, some of the older kids, like Ndamiwe, Junior, and Elias, came in and sat and listened to me read from a Clifford book. I love that about these kids; they aren’t embarrassed to learn, even when they’re three or four years older than the kids around them. I played volleyball with Barnabas and Ndamiwe during play time, and they are surprisingly fast learners. I showed Ndamiwe just once how to properly hold his hands when passing, and he then started teaching other kids the form. They could actually be really good.
I finished up my long day of teaching with my two Barnabases. They both love spelling tests and also asked for math problems. Stereotypically, Mildred and Bertha hate math and would rather read or write.
My tutoring got done a little earlier than Rachel’s, so I went over to the kitchen to help Anne. She had eight or so women helping her get ready for the huge group of people coming in soon. Some of the ladies were scrubbing the floor or making beds. I chopped some vegetables and dried dishes, and then Rachel and I walked around campus for a little while before coming back and helping Anne make our dinner.
The Internet here has been atrocious. The Internet company has been having repairs or something, so it’s been very sketchy and frustrating. I’m hoping I can post this tonight – we’ll see. My evening was spent grumbling at my computer and intermittently watching Sleepless in Seattle.
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