Sorry I haven't updated my blog in a while. This past weekend my friends from US and I went to Livingstone and to Victoria Falls for a little get away. Livingstone was great! We stayed in this really sweet lodge called Jollyboys. On Saturday we went to the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe by the falls and... you probably won't believe me until I show all of you pictures and my dvd, but I jumped off the bridge (I was attached to a harness) and did what is called the gorge swing. So I jumped 100 meters and swung in between Zambia and Zimbabwe down in the gorge. It was so beautiful. Then we went to the falls. That too was incredible. There was so much mist that we were drenched. It was nice to be tourists and wear capris and jeans here. It was good to get away, but it was also nice to return to the Bishop's.
I'm sure many of you are wondering how teaching grade 8 math is doing. Well, it's okay. The students understand my English and have told me to slow down a bit, but they are struggling a lot with math. In one of my classes, I have 61 pupils and my second class I have 55. Not all of the students even have seats and have to fit 4 pupils on a bench for 2. And then to make matter worse, this week at school, the teachers are on strike and that there are only 3 teachers for at least the next 2 weeks, 2 student teachers and myself. The head and debuty (Mrs. Bishop) is still there. The teachers are to come to school, take attendence, go to the staff room and disappear. This really frustrates me because the students have to pay quite a large tuition to attend school, even in grade 1. Although the teachers right now are only (or 'onry' according to Zambians) making 1.2million kwatcha in 1 month which equals about $240US. It's such a tough situation. The schools in Choma could use a lot of prayer, especially Nahumba Basic School.
On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons after school, I go to the Reading room, where I help pupils read and with simple math. One of the pupils that comes is 20 years old and can barely pronounce words. Starting this Friday, I'm also going to be going to help at the orphanage teaching the kids and playing with them for 5 hours.
I feel I am adapting well here and am learning lots. I still feel I have a lot more I can learn. I pray that I can reach the girls at school, because they are so quiet and that I can encourage them to ask questions and participate in class.
Anyway, love and prayers to all of you.
Kristen
Wow...those are big classes. Are they hard to control or are they well behaved? You're going to be over qualified for teaching here when you get back.
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