Liz in Mpwapwa and inspections
on Kev in Tanzania (Tanzania), 25/Mar/2009 05:45, 34 days ago
Here is last weeks actions - I am going away on this weekend and do not want to fall behind with the blog!Monday 16th MarchAs Liz was here with me for the week and I was not teaching we decided to do some shopping and have some lunch at Hafunes. On Sunday I made a banoffee pie again and it was keeping us sustained with its tasty sweetness!In the afternoon we went up the hill with the phone mast (now dubbed 'Tigo Hill' after the Tigo phone company) There were lots of little kids who followed us up the hill and asked us all kinds of questions– it was cute – for a while… We walked a different way down around the back of the hill, all in all some good exercise!In the evening we had a few beers from my crate and watched‘Brazil’ – I love the film, some of the bureaucracy reminds me of being in Tanzania, and it is great escapism!Tuesday 17th MarchI had 2 lessons today so got up early and went in. The lessons were good and the ICT team were nervous as the inspectors were in... They did not watch me but I figure my turn will come...At some point over the weekend Liz had been bitten by something on her face and it was a little swollen so she went to Peters for advice and then to St Lukes to see the doctor. He completely failed to diagnose the problem - in her medical file (which is a school text book - he just wrote 'cause = ?' and 'symptoms = ?' and gave her pain killers!! Good old medical system in Tanzania is was not even a proper Doctor! I dunno what I would do if I broke a bone...In the afternoon Liz was with Peter and his friend solved the mystery of the bite - it was Niarobi Fly so we knew the swelling would die down soon enough.For late lunch Liz cooked for me - a benefit of lovely guests! She made some soyameat and pasta which was actually rather nice!Wednesday 18th MarchHad my last lesson of the week today and after getting up to do my water routines I went into work. At 8.55am (5 minutes before my lesson) Lubuva came up to me and told me that an inspector would like to see my lesson! Bring it on! But my class did not turn up... After 25 minutes - no class or inspector. Then a class turns up but are not mine... Lubuva asks if I will teach them for the inspector! This is Tanzania - I dont mind, lets do it! So I teach an hour lesson on spreadsheets and graphs. The students love it and so does the inspector and he tells me I am enthusiastic and a good teacher (sure he was being polite to me...) He told me it is great to see the students actually using the computers - I wonder what he sees when inspects other places!Figured I had earned a nice relaxing afternoon so went home and took it easy.Went with Liz to Peter's for dinner and taught him to play sh*thead and sevens. Peter liked sevens as he said it was easy to learn.Thursday 19th MarchLiz treated me to a omlette for Brekkie and we had no power so for lunch decided to get some rice and beans at Hafunes. In the afternoon we climbed up the Tigo hill again.In the evening we went over to Peter's place again with some wine as Ben and Thad were there too and Ben was going to make dinner. Due to no power we ended up just drinking and having a fun time arguing about our different opinions. Peter got drunk and went to bed early and Liz and I walked Thad home as he was tipsy too!Friday 20th MarchAnother relaxing day, the days always start early though with collecting water, feeding chickens and watering dry plants. In the evening I figured it was my turn to do some cooking and cooked for Liz (who is a veggie) some veg and gravy - it was yummy!After dinner we watched 'Team America' - I love it and it is great watching a funny film with someone who has not see it before!Saturday 21st MarchNelson was coming today and we met him along with Peter, Charles, Thad and Ben at Habibs where we had dinner, after dinner we went back to Peter's for some cards and chats. It was great to finally get Nelson into Mpwapwa after all our visits to him in Dodoma.Sunday 22nd MarchLiz left at 6am on the Dar bus, I relaxed for most of the day until the support group of Peter, Thad, Ben, Tony and Carla came over at 3pm. We chatted about how things are going and plans for the future.Monday 23rd MarchThe students were getting ready for BTP block teaching practice. I am the teacher on duty for the week and had to inspect their 'teaching aids' as well as this I have to chair the daily staff meetings and there was a big meeting in the hall (with all the students) and I had to open the meeting and introduce people! It was a long meeting 3 hours and I was getting tired by the end!Tuesday 24th MarchMore teacher duties and in the afternoon we had guests visit from Zanzibar and Pemba - they wanted to see our TTC and i ended up doing a short demo lesson for them. They loved it and want me to help them with ICT training!Now it is Wednesday and I am waiting for my holdiays this weekend! Got a visit from Betty the new program manager for education and Dodoma region on Friday. Want to fly from Dar to Pemba on Saturday morning - I hope I can make it in time!!Have a good week and take care!