End of the School Year, Kind of

12^th May 2013

A quick review of my last two weeks in village... And I didn't wait so long to post this time!

Odyssey Club/Team:

The competition is next Saturday!! We leave village, all-together, this Friday Morning! I’ve been super proud of the kids and my counter-part lately.  They’ve all really come a long way in a short period of time.  And they have been super enthusiastic and they can’t wait to strut their stuff in Kara next weekend.  Approaching the long-term problem was more difficult than I thought it would be, and took longer to get the ball rolling as well.  We spent a few meetings just doing practice sketches just because at first they were terrible at them… I’m not supposed to say that, so shhhh! But they would mumble, talk into their hands, have their backs to the audience the whole time, not respect time limits, not have a plot, no jokes/humor… And now, they get it; finally.  Simane and I had them come up with two big sketches on two different themes and then we practiced them both in front of everyone at the school and had them decide which to do in Kara.  I won’t give away too much detail, just in case an opposing team is reading this, but we rock.  And they have been meeting on their own time, without us adults, to practice the sketches.  This past week, I gave them the money that Peace Corps budgeted for each team, and tried to hint on how to manage the money without telling them what to do.  One of the main things behind the Odyssey idea is letting the participants think for themselves and giving them responsibility.  But it was let known that I want reimbursement for the money I put out, so they better not screw up and not get receipts.  We’ve been meeting 2-3 times a week and at the last meeting, we didn’t run through the main problem at all, we just did a bunch of team-building, short-term problems.  It was Simane’s idea and I couldn’t have agreed more that they deserved a fun/bonding day.  I wish I had a working camera so that I could record them on competition day! =(.  I’ve learned my lesson on sticking anything but my cellphone into my solar charger at least –it only took two dead cameras.

Women’s Group:

We had a fun soymilk/beignet-making day last Wednesday! When Rachel showed me how to make soymilk a few weeks ago, I took extensive notes in English, then I condensed and translated those notes into French and then made a “khaki” poster with pictures to guide the process (I do this with any AGR activity because most the women can’t speak French, let alone read/write- so the pictures help).  Emanuel made an appearance and helped translate for us, and got to test the products! I made sure to sneak in a health message on proper nutrition and benefits of the nutrients, particularly protein, in soymilk for children.  We stressed that it’s cheap and easy to make, the adults shouldn’t hoard the milk but share it with the children, and with the left over “meat” of the beans not used in the milk, they can make and sell beignets (savory or sweet bean-cakes) in the market!They loved it so much, they want to “cottiser” money to make it again, so they can make it on their own.  And they did a “bonc-d’amour” for me.

On Sunday, the 5^th, I took a bike ride to Naki-Ouest with two women from the group to attend a women’s meeting there.  Emanuel came on Saturday to make mango jam with me and told me of the meeting but I turned him down because of the time of day of the meeting (it would be too hot to bike there mid-day).  Later that day, I was notified by mama Elise and a bunch of the women that I was indeed going the next day and I was to bring two Tami representatives with me.  We agreed to leave earlier to avoid the heat.  Emanuel was pleasantly surprised, the NakiOuest women were inviting as usual, and the Tami women seemed to learn a few things at the meeting.  I mostly just enjoyed the bike ride to and from Naki with them (the meeting was all in Moba with very few translations for me).           

Health:

Just heat rash off and on, besides that, I’ve been pretty accident/illness-free!

Host Fam:

The new bar seems to be going well, and it’s not driving us too crazy.  I helped my host dad, Francois with inventory this past Wednesday.  My days in customer service jobs finally came in handy here! His “shrink” was significantly lower this week, so he’s been more relaxed since.  That first day he opened the bar and had a huge “fete”, he gave away a lot more beer than was sold, but it definitely helped build a solid customer base.  Although he lost a lot of money giving away free beverages, it was for a good business cause.  Anyway, it was nice to help him that day with my skills, not money/objects, and to be appreciated.

Mama Rachel should be giving birth any day now! She started having contractions last Wednesday but wasn’t ready to give birth yet.  We’re all holding our breaths until she’s relieved… And to find out if it’s a boy or girl!

My host brother, Mamba, is in the Odyssey of the Mind group, so he will be going with me (9 other students and science teacher Mr. Simane) to Kara for the competition! He’s a pretty smart kid and been very helpful in the communication process thus far between me and the other teachers/students. 

Mama Elise was one of the women who biked with me to Naki-Ouest for the Women’s meeting there last Sunday.  That day, she was super proud and adorable.  Majority of the time, she unfortunately seems so angry due to her jealousy/hatred of the second wife, Rachel, so it’s nice to get her out, free and by herself!

Pakiyendou and Marie have been … annoying but cavaaller.   It’s just hard to live in tight quarters (with no privacy)with someone else’s 9 yr-old, 2 yr-old and 13 yr-old.  My room(s) get(s) too hot to stay in during the day; with the bar there are always people out front under the shade of the trees; and on my “porch” area the kids are always coming up/running through, and sometimes other seamstresses come by to use Rachel’s sewing machine if theirs breaks.  People here like to stare (mostly out of curiosity).  Being stared at was not something I have ever been particularly fond of but I’m getting used to it (it will be nice to take that trip to South Africa where there are other white people and I’m not so much an oddity).    Also, it’s also been bothering me that Marie still breast-feeds even though she’s two, can walk, talk and eats solid food.  I know very little about mothering or breast-feeding but it’s just weird to see her walk up and grab her mother to suckle.  I also think it’s making her a little spoiled, like she could be more of a little girl and less of a baby, if she stopped? EVERY time she wakes up she has to whine and cry until her mommy picks her up to breast-feed; it’s annoying when she has the ability to walk.  Someone told me that it’s helpful to the immunity and tooth-development of the child, if they breastfeed longer in a country without many nutrients in the solid-food diet.  That person told me that the teeth of the child will be stronger and they can get vital nutrients longer.  But when is a good age to stop? Maybe this is too controversial of a topic but I’m annoyed.  And don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with the exposed mommy-breast (like some Americans in restaurants/public areas), and I think breastfeeding in general is wonderful (health wise, and mother-child bond); I just think it’s babying the child too much after a certain age (and it could just be that I’m a cranky-childless-selfish-bystander).  Maybe my opinion will change when/if I someday have a child and decide to breast-feed.

Random Choses/ Happenings:

Premier Mai (1^st of May), International Labor Day, is a huge fete here in Togo.  And Tami apparently knows how to fete! I had so much fun that day.  I was able to meet with the Odyssey group that morning (because there was no school), cook with a few of the other teachers, picnic at the school and then party! People were Moba-shaking all over the place… And I Moba-shook so hard that my hip STILL hurts haha.  I joke with my friend Matt, that I joined the old-timers club because we’ve both hurt our hips dancing in Togo.  The next day, only one teacher taught and the rest of us were too much in pain.  People are still coming up to me and begging me to shake with them.  New Tami legend?  Good times.

Emanuel brought over a few huge grafted mangoes and we made MANGO JAM! It’s super simple, cheap and if you seal the container right, it lasts for up a year.  He also brought over my bike tire that day? On the First of May, I was complaining about how I broke another tire tube because I can’t get the hang of this new hand-pump, and so he took it.  I didn’t remember until the next day when my bike mysteriously only had one surviving tire.  He took it to Bike Paul (he lives/works in Dapaong) who fixed it and returned it to him, who returned it to me.  

I had a surprise visit from Bike Paul and Emanuel after that.  They showed up on Thursday to just say hey and enjoy the Tami Market Day.  I was able to join them at my host family’s bar after the Odyssey Team Meeting finished.  I love pleasant surprises. 

Mr. Lare and I completed our last English midterm “epreuve” (exam outline) for the school year.  It took us a bit longer than usual but we finished, turned it in, and the kids took the test this past Friday morning.  And now I have beside me 123 student exams to grade (we’ve had 3 students drop school from my class- and that’s actually a good number).  I’m not sure when the “composition” (end of term exams) week will be, but after those, I will be done translating student handwriting for the year! All those strike days have really screwed up the school year, but no matter what, I’m leaving for South Africa and there’s nothing anyone can do about it (my plans were made before all the craziness).  

That’s all she wrote for now.  (-<)

Oh and just a heads up! This will probably be my last blog until June due to Alyssa coming, South Africa, and other choses.


****AND****
I found a video that shows the Moba shake!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmRqzLVZd9M
The internet is so slow here that I can't get through the whole video so hope it's not too awful quality..