fadhila kidogo (small favour)

My counterpart has been out sick since school started and had to have surgery last week. She’s home and doing better now but may not be back at school for a while so I’ve taken over her Standard 5 classes.

The kids are always fascinated when I tell them how I got to Kenya and how far away America is. About once a month, they pull out an old (1960’s or 70’s) Worldbook and have me show them where I’m from, where they live, and where the Italian tourists are from. My mom just sent me a book about time around the world and how, when you are at school, somewhere else in the world kids are going to bed or just waking up. So I want to do a unit on that. Then I got an idea that I need your help with…

Pictures!

Lots of pictures!

I want pictures of my friends and family showing that people of all different backgrounds/colo(u)rs/races live together in the US.

I want pictures of places you have lived and visited – other states and countries.

And anything else you might think my kids would find neat or strange or interesting.

The kids are always excited when I get mail and I open letters while I’m at school and then tell my kids if they’re from a friend or family member. Now, we can discuss where the letter came from, how long it took to get to Kenya, and maybe even figure out if the person who wrote it is sleeping right now. The kids will be even more thrilled that my mail is for them too!

I may not be teaching Class 5 by the time I start receiving letters but that’s okay. I’ll make sure all of the kids get to see and discuss the pictures. They don’t need to be quality photographs, of course, just print a few out if you can and I (and the kids) will be forever grateful.

Love and miss you all! And, yes, I know you want pictures too! Pole pole, pole! (Slowly, sorry!)

Erin

PARACHUTE WEDDING

The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human difference.

~Ruth Benedict

April was my month off from school but I kept busy. I went out to visit another volunteer in Embu for a week and we discussed possible projects for AIDS awareness. Then the entire training group got together in Nairobi for more training. And, finally, a bunch of us had a mini vacation on the coast and spent a night on an island, had amazing calamari and pizza, and went snorkeling.

Now I’m back at site and back to teaching. Wednesday was my first day back at school and I decided that the best thing to do would be to tell stories about our time off. Here’s my favorite conversation: (The convo is in caps because it’s translated from sign language.)

Student: “YOU MARRIED?”
Me: “BADO” (not yet)
Student: “I SAW MZUNGU FALL WITH PARACHUTE. LAND OVER THERE.” The best part about this is that he acts the whole thing out.
Me: “TRUE?”
Student: “TRUE! YOU MARRY?”
Me: “HAHA! NO, I’M SCARED. NEVER JUMP OUT OF PLANE. AND ALL THE MZUNGUS IN MALINDI A LOT OLD FOR ME.”
Student: “BUT YOU CAME ON PLANE”
Me: “TRUE BUT DIFFERENT PLANE. NO JUMPING OUT. PLANE LANDS AND I WALK OFF. JUMP NOTHING.” I act this out.
Then we drew people jumping out of airplanes on the blackboard.
Me: “SEE HERE. JUMP FROM PLANE SCARY. THEN PARACHUTE OPEN. YAY! HAPPY! BUT ME NEVER BECAUSE A LOT SCARED. MAYBE PARACHUTE WORK NOTHING.” More acting.
Student: “FALL. DEAD.”
And then I drew the big plane that brought me to Kenya.
Me: “SEE MY PLANE. DOOR OPENS NOTHING. STAYS CLOSED. I SIT. WAIT LONG TIME. PLANE LANDS. I WALK OFF.”
Student: “MZUNGU MEN PARACHUTE A LOT. YOU MARRY.” I’ve yet to see or hear about anyone sky diving here. Maybe I’ll get him to show me some day.
Me: “BUT MZUNGU MEN IN MALINDI A LOT OLD. ME 25. MEN HERE 50! A LOT OLD! ME MARRY NOTHING.”
He seems to be satisfied with this answer but, I know it’s not the last time that I’ll explain that I’m not going to marry every mzungu my students see in Malindi.

Other things my kids find strange:
I’ve never had a baby.
I call my dog my baby.
I sleep alone.
I’ve eaten pig.
They’ve seen me in town wearing trousers.
I don’t like ugali.

I need to get organized. I have a lot of ideas for this semester and I’m excited. Most have nothing to do with the syllabus because it’s pointless to teach solely for a test that is impossible for these kids to pass. I will try to break the copy habit and try to work on games with fingerspelling and word recognition. But, mostly, I just want my kids to enjoy my 2 years.