First Day of School

Oh what an afternoon this has been. It was my first day teaching preschool to the toddlers at the baby home. I was so excited! I had everything planned out—what colors they would learn, how well they would sit and repeat after me, how they would giggle while doing the hokey pokey, and how fascinated they would be with the puzzles. Shoe throwing, biting, screaming, crayon eating, peeling things off the walls, and all other misbehaviors were not in my schedule!! Little did I know they would FILL my oh-so-perfectly-planned schedule. Ugh. It was a rough beginning. Thirty minutes into our preschool time I was fighting tears. Thankfully Anika was in there with me keeping the mood somewhat light.

There are so many barriers between me and these kids. I don’t speak Swahili, I’m a stranger, and they are used to volunteers being in and out of their lives. I don’t know! I don’t know what to do! I felt like such a mean person today and I HATE that. Someone was constantly seated inthe naughty corner. I went to Davona’s office after the two hours were up and just cried. She was not surprised which is a comfort to me. She is going to come in with me tomorrow afternoon and give me a proper introduction and explain to the kids that they need to listen to me and follow my directions. I did not think it was going to be this hard but I know that it will get better! I’m sure that they will know and understand “school time” a lot better after 9 months. It’s only one day, the first day, and it will be an uphill battle but the view from the top will be breathtaking, I hope!

On a lighter note, I had a reallygreat weekend! Church was nice, quite long, but I think that’s the usual here. Little Ruth found me again but my fingers stayed in their normal position for the most part. Sabbath afternoon was relaxing. I finished my book and candied some walnuts. They’re delicious! I’m enjoying experimenting with different sorts of foods. Saturday night my roommates and I went out to dinner in Usa. There’s a restaurant that is run by a sweet German couple and they were having barbecue night. The cook made me some spaghetti with veggies. Yum! I ate the salad they had there and I think I’m alright, not too many intestinal difficulties. :)

Sunday was a grand adventure! Anika and I took on the town by dala dala! We decided to go into Arusha all by ourselves. We had never been by ourselves before but we knew we could handle it. It was interesting finding which dala dala we needed to take and learning how the city works. We got a lot of groceries at the Village Market. It’s quite the western supermarket. A lot of the dala dala’s tried to overcharge us but we wouldn’t stand for that. We’re locals!

So there’s a little update on life in Tanzania. Please pray for me and for the baby home. Pray that I will have patience with the preschoolers and will know the best way to communicate with them. Pray that I won’t take everything too personally and I won’t get discouraged. Tomorrow begins 1st grade with Staci! I’m looking forward to it. Pray for that too, please!

I love and miss you all. Write to me! I love hearing from home or from where ever you may be. :)

This is part of the playground. That jungle is our backyard. :)

Delicious candied walnuts!! Makes my sweet tooth so happy!

Shae, Jacqui, Anika, me, Fritz (the restaurant's donkey), Becky, and Ashley out to eat on Saturday night.