White stripes on black legs... it's a bit creepy looking actually, and while they're not as big as the buggers from Minnesota, they certainly pack a punch! And by that I mean they are eating me for lunch on a regular basis, or perhaps a midnight snack would be a more appropriate meal! I am really having terrible trouble with that. But luckily my body is adapting to their poison and the bites now fade really quickly, so I'm not constantly scratching like I have fleas :)
The mosquitoes aren't the only little buggers around with more than four legs. There are a ridiculous number of spiders here--correction, REALLY REALLY LARGE spiders--and they seem to enjoy hanging out in my bathroom! I am the only person living in my building, so I am also the only one who gets to take care of these things. Luckily, I have been informed that they are probably not poisonous... how comforting! And then there are the myriad moths, flies (who are so persistent I think we could learn a lot from them), millipedes, scorpions, cockroaches, termites, and other friends that all happen to exceed my allowed number of legs. If you ask me, anything more than four legs is trouble once you leave the hypothetical world and are talking about real life!
But aside from my non-mammalian roommates, life here in Gaborone is pretty good. I am living in an annex off of the girls' boarding house at the Maru-a-Pula school and eating meals with staff and students... turns out this is a very good deal for my budget! With the money I'm saving on room and board I'll be able to buy a laptop. How exciting! Actually, you can check out my future Watson-mobile at this link: http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=U810. It's going to be great... it will let me access all my data much easier and I'll be able to finish my transcriptions without relying heavily on the technology available at the schools I visit. AND it's just about the smallest laptop EVER.
Work has been a bit crazy! I have been teaching music appreciation courses to groups of Form 2 and Form 3 students (that translates roughly to 6th and 7th graders) and we've been having fun. I just got my first batch of papers to mark (grade), so it's been exciting to be a "real" teacher instead of just a practical teacher. Although, my attention to detail might actually make life harder for the students because I'm a picky teacher. When I assign a task, I expect to get what I asked for! But aside from this torture that I'm putting them through, we're having a good time.
I don't usually have a full schedule with these classes, so I've been spending some time covering for other teachers that are absent. I've done some History classes, some Drama, and I'm helping out in Phys Ed when I get the chance. So far we've done golf, kickball, and (of course) ultimate frisbee. I love this part of my day actually, it's a relief to get out of the classroom for a while to see the sun and just interact casually with the students. Not that I'm an expert at much when it comes to PE, but I do know the basics :).
The Maru-a-Pula school is surprisingly American. Now, maybe you'd expect this from the fact that the Headmaster is an American, but I have been reassured that this has been the case since long before he took over here. The school is very casual compared to most boarding schools in this part of the world... the uniform is very casual and the students don't even have to tuck in their shirts! This is a BIG deal here, believe me! And the school day ends early, 12:45pm, followed by mandatory after-school activities. I think this seems very American... most other African schools I've seen focus purely on academics. But there is a bit of necessity there too, since the school is only partially air-conditioned and it is just simply too hot to continue with classes after lunch. But the consequence is that we start EARLY. I haven't ever had to be up so early since high school myself! Staff briefing is at 6:50am each morning, and breakfast is at 6:10, so if I want to eat in the morning I have to really kick-start my day. All-in-all it has been quite an adjustment for me!
Marimba has been going very well so far. Although I had a bit of a slow start because of a long weekend and then the end of after-school activities for the term, I have spent increasing amounts of time with Alport Mhlanga in "lessons" during the afternoons. Whoooooo, it's so amazing to have the personal attention, but man is it intense! I've never been pushed so hard or fast on the marimba, and it's crazy to move on as soon as I get a grasp on a part or an exercise. For some of you, you'll probably laugh at this, but I'm not used to studying the marimba as such an academic instrument! It is good for me, though. I'm learning all sorts of things, mostly exercises for my left hand to catch up with the facility of my right hand. Turns out that marimba music is only right-hand dominanat in the Pacific Northwest, it sure wasn't in Cape Town and it isn't here! So my lame-duck left hand has to catch up. The problem is, I've developed a sore wrist and I don't know what from. It might be the marimba, but it also might be the typing that I'm doing. The school computers aren't set up well for prolonged typing because the keyboards are too high. But anyway, I'm coping with my wrist and doing the best I can!
In my spare time I have been borrowing a friend's mbira and tinkering around on it with the marimba songs that I know... it's almost hypnotizing sometimes with those circular pieces like Nehmamusasa where you can't always tell even where the beginning of the cycle falls. But I do chuckle a bit thinking of the F-perspective and the C-perspective now and again :).
I have also been dropping by the Chemistry tutoring sessions every Thursday afternoon to get my nerd-fix... which is always fun for me. And three weeks ago Saturday I went out to a town called Otse where there is a school for mentally and physically disabled children. This is a regular service activity run by MaP and it was fun to go meet the children and play with them a bit. It was also nice to see some of the countryside.
I have also been dropping by the Chemistry tutoring sessions every Thursday afternoon to get my nerd-fix... which is always fun for me. And three weeks ago Saturday I went out to a town called Otse where there is a school for mentally and physically disabled children. This is a regular service activity run by MaP and it was fun to go meet the children and play with them a bit. It was also nice to see some of the countryside.
For Thanksgiving I got to go on a real trip, though! Natalie De Sole was in Pretoria visiting her parents (who are stationed there since last year) and I was invited to join them for the weekend. This is a whole story on its own, so it will get its own post... but it was a great weekend.
My wrist won't let me type any longer, so that will have to do for now!
And that's the news, folks!
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