School Days

The D Family joined us for the usual Friday night Dragonaire dinner. As their last Friday night in Morogoro, we arranged for Little Mango and I to tour the African Inland Church Tanzania School where S and J had been teaching English for the past three weeks. M&M (the parents) were lending their business and non-profit savvy to the Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund which funds projects that "conserve biodiversity for sustainable development." Our family vacations usually involve museums, eating, basking in the Italian sun. That they dedicate summer vacation to such a challenging and tiring endeavor is quite remarkable. What an amazing family! I couldn't help but revert to CMC tour guide mode and convince S to at least visit.

On Saturday we met the D Family on the side of the main road, which still remains nameless to me (and everyone else in Morogoro, I think). Little Mango and I jumped in the bed of the pickup and drove to the AICT School. S and J gave us the lay of the land, including the plethora of books, Bingo sets, foam letters, flashcards, etc. they brought along with them. Next thing you know S and J are full-on instructors, and recitation of the alphabet begins.

A, B, C, D, E, F....Z

"Z" is very exciting and exclaimed 4 decibels higher than any other letter. The volume throughout was overwhelming until about H, at which point the loudest (and smartest) students took over. After the lesson, we headed out to the playground. Students literally fought over who got to hold my hand. Soon after the girls and boys were separated, the boys off to play football (not American football) and the girls to play monkey-in-the-middle. Today, the girls who arrived early were handed brooms, the boys were given two soccer balls.

Lessons were followed by time outside. My entourage--surprisingly large considering the short amount of time I had spent there--settled into a pile of dirt where I practiced letters and numbers to those with an attention span longer than twenty minutes. The attention and/or the dirt may explain the lingering sneezing. Picture taking was another activity during the "recess" portion of the day. The kids went crazy when I pulled out my camera. "Take a pick-ture." They certainly weren't shy, each clamoring to see themselves on the tiny LCD milliseconds after the picture was taken.
I was amazed today when kids from the far end of the playground would come up to me asking for a pick-ture, even when my camera was stowed--completely out of sight--in my pocket. I couldn't oblige anyways, seeings as I ran out of batteries. I was also shocked at how quickly a intruding dog was forced from the school grounds. Mere seconds after appearing on the campus, he was driven away by a mob of students throwing rocks at him. Poor puppy, just wanted to join in on all the fun with the kids!

Of course a teacher never plays favorites but I must confess one little student was particularly charming.
I have a new found respect for teachers, especially nursery school and kindergarten teachers. How they entertain, let along teach, for as long as they do is beyond me. After two and a half hours I was ready for a very long nap...