Tuesday, August 23, 2011

So much change

Well, things are slowly wrapping up for us!  We left our host family on Sunday morning.  It was a very sad goodbye for us.  Unfortunately, our host mama's brother passed away unexpected earlier in the week.  So, our last week was spent without her which was very sad for us.  We were able to see her briefly when she got back home, and at about 6:00am the morning we left.  I know that we will definitely miss them so much.

We left our training site and will become official volunteers on Wednesday!  I am proud to say that our training class is the first group to go through in a very long time without having anyone leave early!  We had a nice tour of the Peace Corps office and have been just doing last minute stuff.  This afternoon we met with our the principal of our school.  He seems very kind and understanding.  Our school has about 950 students with 12 professional teachers.  They have around 4 student teachers there and then us.  We learned that our house has no electricity or water and that we are living amongst our colleagues in teacher housing.  We have our own house, but are surrounded by teachers.

There have been two other volunteers at our school before us.  So, the students are accustomed to Peace Corps teachers and are very excited to meet us.  Additionally, the principal was ecstatic to learn that he was getting both of us!  In our school of 950 students, there is one math teacher and Jon.  So, he will definitely have his work cut out for him.  There are two English teachers and me.  So, I also will be quite busy.  However, our principal is very understanding.  As it turns out, we won't even officially start teaching until September 20.  This gives us plenty of time to adjust to our home and make it our own.   I want to get into the school before that, though, and give a self introduction since we will certainly be seeing teachers and students around before we first begin teaching.


That is all for now.  I hope to "write" more than just post pictures when we get to site.  But, the internet is so slow and things are complicated in terms of computer stuff.  So, if this turns into a picture blog, I am sorry!

2 comments:

  1. Yo! you guys look so good! Hope that you are both happy and healthy. Sounds like you enjoyed a nice anniversary.

    We miss you both dearly and Allison just said that she wanted to come to Tanzania to visit you.

    Orientation is in full swing and I miss Sara's advice about everything! Hope that everything goes well with your placement and that you are learning Kiswahili (Swahili?) quickly.

    Much Love,

    Ev & Al

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  2. Congrats on becoming official volunteers and you should tell your whole group congrats on making it through all together. That is rare in any country! If you need any school supplies or posters or anything let me know! Hugs.

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