My students were supposed to report to school on August 18th but there was apparently a mix-up, so they came yesterday, September 1st. The students picked their classes and then the teachers sat down to figure out the time table. I was assigned two units, Intro to Programming and Algorithms and Network Essentials. I taught these same two classes last semester so I’ve already prepared notes, assignments, and tests; all I have to do this semester is review/revise my notes kidogo (a bit) and show up to class!
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Kenya
Back in Tala
Well I’m home from my East African tour now. It feels good to be back in Tala after fifteen days of absence, especially since I estimate I’ve sat on five or six buses for a total of around fifty hours in the last two weeks. I was happy to see that everything was still in order at the college when I returned. My students are supposed to come to school next Monday, but they always take their time so I don’t know when I will actually have to start teaching. It’s OK, this is Africa, everything is pole pole (slowly slowly)!
Our adventure started in Tanzania, where we visited the town of Arusha and then immediately hopped on a thirteen hour bus ride to the Lake Victoria port town of Mwanza. Tanzanians don’t speak very much English so I had to rely on my elementary Swahili. We had a good time exploring the town and especially seeing the ocean-like lake there. The lake is 26,000 square miles in total, so it’s really like looking at the Pacific Ocean from the beach in San Diego. I’ve never seen Lake Tahoe or that big one in Michigan, but I assume it must be a similar feeling as you’d get if you peered across those. Buses going from Mwanza to Rwanda were few and far between so we spent a few extra days killing time in Mwanza. The bus ride to Rwanda was terrible of course, as western Tanzania is a remote wasteland with ridiculous dirt roads. It’s also just really far away from everything!
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School’s Out For Summer
What’s a teacher supposed to do when class is over, final exams have been marked, and final grades have been sent in? Vacation! So I’m off to Uganda with my friend Sureel by way of Tanzania and Rwanda starting on August 1st. I have about three weeks before I have to start teaching again, so if I fanya haraka (do it fast) I can be back in ten or twelve days. Half of the adventure is the journey, I know, but I do have a few specific stops in mind:
- Mwanza province in Tanzania to eat some fish and see Lake Victoria which, in addition to being the source of the Nile, is 26,000 square miles. Wow!
- The genocide museum in Rwanda.
- Lake Bunyonyi in Uganda (where the infamous Idi Amin had a house).
So don’t freak out if you call me in the next two weeks and my phone is “disconnected,” I’ll be back soon! Adios, amigos!