So the festive season is done and, after a Christmas and New Years like none I had ever experienced before, school is up and running again. As expected, school got off to a slow start again this term. First, the start date was pushed back a week from the originally scheduled start date and when school finally did start the turnout, for both students and teachers, was pretty dismal. But now after what was technically the third week of school for the term (2nd actual week of teaching) the students are starting to come back in numbers. Don’t take this commentary as a complaint from me though because I thoroughly enjoyed the extra week of break to rest and recover from a very busy term break. I have to admit though I enjoy keeping busy and have actually discovered I really enjoy teaching and interacting with the students. Despite the still abysmal test scores my students get (don’t worry its not only my students but all volunteer’s students, actually maybe all students in the country) I do feel like I am making a difference in people’s lives here just by showing up to work everyday and interacting in the community. Our presence is as much about giving the people here hope and providing an opportunity for a cultural information exchange as it is about teaching students math, English, or science. So overall, the experience has been a rewarding one for me thus far although it has caused me to completely rethink what I want to do when my service is done, and I am back at square one as far as future plans go. So far one of the most enticing options is opening a guest house on a beach here since Sierra Leone is destined to become a tourist hot-spot again as soon as the infrastructure rebuilds itself at least a little.
So enough self-reflection.. some of you may be wondering what my daily schedule here in Africa is like. So I will enlighten those of you that care to read about it. Everyday, regardless of whether it’s a weekday or the weekend, I wake up by 7 or 7:15 at the absolute latest. Monday through Friday I go to school. Monday thru Thursday I am at school from approximately 8:00 am until 2:30 p.m. On Friday we have a shorter school day because the students and teachers have to go to the Mosque to pray so we end school around 1 or a little earlier. When I first get up I go and take a quick bucket bath, most of the time I’ll just watch my face and then go and get dressed. After dressing I check out the market to see if bread is ready before I go to school. Then I head to school around 7:40-7:45. I am usually the only one there until about 8 and assembly wont actually start until 8:15-8:30 despite the fact that the first period is supposed to start at 8:20. Oh well. Then I teach between 4-6 periods a day which ranges from 3-5 hours a day. Mondays after school I teach extra classes for form 3 from 3-5. The other days I normally go home and rest for a while before jogging around 4 or 5. After jogging I take another bucket bath and sit down to eat the rice prepared for me. Then I kill time until around 7:30 or 8 at which point it is acceptable in Africa to go inside and lay down for the night. So needless to say I am normally sleeping by 9. So yes in the past 7 months I have gone from 22 to 72. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday I cook for myself which is a solid hour or two activity if I actually cook. Sometimes I am lazy and just buy street food or eat a peanut butter sandwich. But on ambitious days (or whenever Mohamed is around) we will cook pasta or rice which takes quite some time.
Okay so new topic. The weather. Overall, I must admit I find the weather here in Africa much more agreeable than the 5 to 6 months of cold and wet and gross weather we got back in Michigan. Here there are only 2 seasons: the rainy season and the dry season. Currently we are in the dry season and I love the predictability of it. In the dry season it hasn’t rained once and in the rainy season it was pretty much guaranteed that it would rain at least once every day. Forget the weather forecast, you just know rainy season means rain and the dry season means no precipitation. Currently the Harmattan winds are blowing a nice cold breeze across Northern Sierra Leone so I am enjoy comfortable weather in the 70s every day/ At night and in the morning it gets a little chilly sometimes but as soon as the sun comes out the place starts warming up and by 11 am it is warm enough to sit out in the sun in a t-shirt and shorts. From what I hear though in a month or two the water pumps will start drying up and then getting water will be kind of a pain. Also, I hear it gets hot even by the standards they have here, which means I will absolutely sweat to death. But all in all I enjoy the heat much more than the cold so the weather change is one adjustment that hasn’t caused me too much distress.
Now on to the subject of food. Unlike the weather, I enjoy the food in America much more than the food here. Don’t get me wrong I have really come to enjoy some of the rice and sauce combinations but really you can only eat so much rice and in my opinion that amount has been far passed here. haha Rice morning, noon, and night everyday is just too much for me. Oh how I miss fresh fruits and vegetables. Only having things seasonally is quite a change for anyone used to growing up in a place where supermarkets provide everything imaginable at any time of the year. Oh well, I guess this experience will just make me appreciate life in America that much more when I return.
Overall though I really am enjoying my time here and could actually see myself staying and starting a business or working with an aid organization. It is a relaxing lifestyle and everyone really is quite friendly. At the very least I think I will have a retirement house here. haha
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