Guess what... Tarangire!

Well, this trip was a couple months ago now, but I just figured out how to create photo mosaics, so I thought I would post this! Ethan has already very eloquently described our weekend on his blog, Adventures in East Africa, so I'll let you read his account, see a couple of my photos there, and see a cool video he shot of the lioness with a kill.

My new favourite t-shirt sighting... and other adventures

In follow-up to my All things Tanzanian post, I have now spotted my new favourite t-shirt. Yesterday I saw a little girl playing soccer wearing a t-shirt that said, "Ho". Guaranteed no one realizes what that one means! Who is the chick who bought that t-shirt in the first place???

I haven't blogged about my outdoor pursuits trips this year yet... I went on a one night camping trip with our M1 (grade 6) students to get them used to camping, packing a bag, hiking with a pack, and such things as learning to tie hiking boots. (I guess not everyone in the world learns to tie skates by age 5 like we do in Canada!) I also went on a two night trip to the Ngorongoro Crater with students. It was light on exercise, but heavy on site-seeing. We hiked down into Empakaai Crater where we enjoyed spectacular views and saw the lesser flamingos enjoying the alkaline lake. It was amazing how bitter the soda tasted in the breeze. A great chance for a real-life chemistry lesson! We took the student to visit a Masaai village where they had so much fun playing with the children. The children took such delight in playing with one of our student's blond hair, and in seeing their photos on our digital cameras. It was impossible not to giggle along with them. We also had the chance to take a game drive down into the Ngorongoro Crater where the mating ostriches were definitely the highlight of the trip for the kids! The density of game of course was amazing.

My other trip, to Kibo Hut, the highest hut on Kili, was scheduled a couple weeks ago, but was unfortunately cancelled as there were not enough students signed up. Looking forward to next semester and a challenging hike again.

Teaching the Teachers

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to do some work with some local teachers through a great organization called The Foundation for Tomorrow. This organization is dedicated to high quality education for orphaned children. They offer a scholarship program which allows children to attend boarding schools once they have aged-out of orphanages. They also have several partner schools with whom they work closely to help improve the quality of education the children are receiving. A colleague of mine connected me with TFFT when I expressed an interest in helping with teacher training. And so, on Saturday, I gathered in a hot, tiny little classroom with 12 local science teachers to offer a session on science teaching, and the L.E.P. model in particular that I was so blessed to have learned from Dr. Art Stinner and Brian Lewthwaite.

To give you a bit of background, a Tanzanian classroom looks much different than a Canadian classroom. I have not been to visit a government school, but it is not unusual for them to have more than 50 students in one class. (The teachers I worked with this weekend teach at private schools, so their class sizes are more in the range of 30 – 35 students.) Teachers are not paid that well, and therefore it is not a very sought after profession. The requirement to teach at a certain level is that you have passed that level yourself. Therefore many primary teachers have not completed secondary school. In secondary school, there is an almost singular focus on preparing students for the national exam. Constrained by limited education and training, large class sizes, limited resources, and time, traditionally teachers have taught science very algorithmically, and students tend to memorize a lot of isolated facts without great depth of science understanding. Enter the L.E.P. model.

I was really excited to introduce a new approach to science teaching to these teachers. I put a lot of effort into planning three sample lessons that would have knocked Brian's socks off. My first surprise came first thing on Saturday morning when I arrived at Usa River Academy and met the first teacher who was going to be participating in my session - she teaches grade one. Oh. Didn't prepare for that. (I was asked to prepare for secondary science teachers and perhaps a couple upper primary level teachers!) It turned out that about half of the participants were primary teachers. I'm not sure they got as much out of my kick-ass lesson on limiting reactants as I had hoped! And of course, this being Tanzania after all, the power cord for the projector wasn't there. By the time it arrived, the electricity had gone off, so no projector. No matter, we finally got started (about 40 minutes late)…. Karibu Tanzania!

I knew that this type of approach to teaching would be really foreign to these teachers. It was difficult to get them to discuss approaches to teaching rather than science content. I don't know whether this was an attempt on their part to defend their abilities, or an effort to clarify their understanding of scientific concepts, or whether the approach was just too different for them to really take in. At any rate, there seemed to be a few teachers who were quite keen to at least try making some adjustments to their approaches to lesson planning. I will facilitate a follow-up session in February to see how they have implemented the L.E.P. model in their classes. I am hopeful that slowly, slowly they can make some changes. I wish Brian would have been here to help me out!

And the busy life carries on in my own classroom, where currently there is a large pile of marking, lab equipment everywhere, and a stopwatch ringing. Kids just think it is so funny to set the timer on those things to ring after they leave and annoy me …. J

My Tribute to My Winnipeg Jets

This post will have nothing to do with Africa, and everything to do with Winnipeg. On Sunday, after 15 years of grieving and keeping the faith, my Winnipeg Jets returned to the ice. Now for those of you who know me well, you will know that all is now right again in my world. For those who don't, perhaps I should explain myself, and defend my pure and utter ecstasy.

There is something about Peg City. People mock it incessantly, including its own inhabitants. It is cold. Really cold. It is the murder capital of Canada, and yes, there have been some minor gang issues recently. There are a lot of mosquitoes. The downtown has seen better days. It isn't really famous for anything, except maybe for being really cold. Winnipeggers move… to Calgary, to Edmonton, to B.C., and, worst of all, to Toronto. They envy fabulous things like Target, and Ikea, and H & M. They suffer from a serious inferiority complex, and look up to bigger Canadian cities, and like most Canadians, to their rich and powerful neighbours to the south. They love to complain, and their favourite topics are predictably the weather and the mosquitoes. And yet, there is something about Peg City.

Recently, my colleagues and I met over breakfast to discuss an article about "third culture kids". This term refers to children raised outside the culture of their parents, specifically in expat communities. We got to talking about how our own international experiences have changed our perspectives. One of my colleagues commented that she has a hard time relating to people back in the states, and just can't bring herself to care about a football game anymore. While I understood her point, I immediately thought that she doesn't get "it"… she doesn't understand what "it" does for a community, what "it" does for Winnipeg.

Do you remember the 1992-93 season? Everywhere you went that year, people were talking. And here's the thing… I would find myself out in public hearing a couple of strangers talk about Selanne, and I couldn't help but chime in. Did you see that game last night? Did you see that goal? It wasn't conversations about the wind chill I was hearing, but conversations about the Finnish Flash. All the time, everywhere you went. Strangers in line at the grocery store, on the bus, at the game, all talking about Teemu. It was beautiful, fantastic, collective pride, and my favourite hockey memory.

I also, quite strangely, have fond memories of a time three years later, in May of 1995. I remember sitting with my classmates, in our grade 12 year, on the steps of the school after an exam, holding a transistor radio, listening to CJOB. These were classmates I had been in school with for 13 years, people brought together simply and solely due to the fact that we were born in the same town in the same year. Friends who were friends only due to circumstance. And there we sat, huddled around a radio I took from my dad's office, essentially mourning together. Hoping for good news, but knowing it wasn't coming. I remember also attending the May long social in Vita that year. The crowd broke into a chant at least 10 minutes long of "Go Jets Go!" There were high-fives, and hugs, and cheers, and maybe tears shared among all the friends and strangers in that building that night. A true community was created.

In June of 1996, I watched live and in person the last game the Jets won on home ice in game 3 versus the Wings. I loved being a Winnipegger that day, and it is the way I always think of Winnipeg in my heart. We relished every second of that game, together. My community was at its absolute best, mourning and celebrating together at the same time, but most importantly being together. And ever since that day, when someone has asked me who my team is, I have always replied, "The Jets", and each time as I said it, I smiled thinking of how the Jets brought a community together. And they continued to do so whenever we gathered in large numbers, such as at the World Juniors in Grand Forks where we inundated the arena with our chants of "Go Jets Go", and of course high-fived a stranger in the process.

And so, I would have given anything to have been in Winnipeg on Sunday to feel that collective energy of the community brought together, but even though I wasn't there, I felt the warmth of a massive group hug, 700 000 strong. I high-fived a few friends and strangers. I felt the pure and utter ecstasy, and shared it with my community so many miles away. I smiled. What my colleague doesn't realize is that it's not about the game. It's about the sense of community it creates. That's really the point, isn't it? That's really the thing about Peg City… you feel the sense of community, whether it's tossing sandbags together, or having a conversation about the weather, the mosquitoes, how bad a sheet of curling ice is, how great Selanne is, when the Jets are coming back, or how fantastic it is that they are finally home. Welcome home, boys.

The Turd World

Well, this year the "turd world" (as my Irish principal calls it) has become much more apparent to me. While I remain well fed throughout this drought, and therefore won't complain TOO much, we're dealing with major electricity shortages here. The story is that there is not enough water running through the hydro generators, and therefore they aren't producing enough electricity (which they struggle with at the best of times). The area where I lived last year almost always had electricity, but not the case for my new place. The longest stretch I have been without power was 72 hours. I think I had about 30 hours of electricity in 7 days, most of that during the middle of the night. Needless to say I can't keep anything cold, and so my meat intake has dropped dramatically. I am craving steak something fierce. In the meantime, the government has decided to try to regulate fuel prices, and the companies have responded by refusing to sell diesel, gasoline, or kerosene. A bad combination with the lack of electricity as it then became difficult to get diesel for generators. Anyway, it seems the fuel situation has eased for the time being, but it is hard to imagine how the country can progress with such energy crises. And it is hard to imagine how I (or my students) will make it through when I (a) don't have enough coffee in the morning before school, (b) don't have cold beer for after school, and (c) have bad hair pretty much all the time. Oh well, so it goes. I love my new house anyway, and my guests, especially the cute little one who can't pronounce f's and therefore keeps telling me I am "hunny".

Home & Home

Given the Blue Bombers' strong start to the 2011 season, and the rather dismal start of the Roughriders (sorry Bobby), it saddens me that I won't be able to watch the home and home series affectionately known as the Labour Day Classic and the Banjo Bowl this year. But the phrase "home and home" gives me more food for thought than just a couple of football games as I arrive back "home" in Tanzania. During my visit back "home" to Canada, I had an interesting conversation with a dear family friend who expressed how fortunate she feels to be happy when she's at home on Lake Winnipeg, happy when they are in Texas for the winter, and happy when she visits her childhood home in North Dakota. I love my prairie home, and I love my new home even though there is so much contrast between the two. And so, I was oh so sad to leave Canada, but also oh so happy to be back in Tanzania. As I go, I must trade some of my favourite things for some of my other favourite things. I trade Kian's expressive vocabulary for Theo's expressive faces; Winnipeg's majestic elms for Arusha's beautiful Jacarandas; my 2008 Corolla for my 1995 Rav4 (bad trade!); late lingering dusk for quick stunning sunsets; the dogs of Maple Grove for the elephants of Tarangire; Stella Artois at Luxalune for Tusker at TGT; strawberries, blueberries and peaches for passion fruit, avocados and mangoes; football for rugby (tough one); an unimpeded view of the seemingly endless prairie for the shadow of Mount Meru; morning coffee on porch swing at mom and dad's for afternoon coffee on the veranda at the Kinseys'; my cozy little house for my big open breezy house; home for home.

Snake bitten…

Well, I am just enjoying my last few days of break, and then we head back for the home stretch. Only 7.5 weeks of school left… this year has flown by.

Classic Acacia, Tarangire National Park

I didn't have many plans for the break except to spend my birthday in Tarangire where my friend Ethan is doing guide training. For the first several months that I was here, I really missed the Manitoba sky. When I was on the open plain here, the sky was always dull. Not anymore… since the rains began, the sky is a brilliant blue (when it's not raining that is!) with fantastic clouds. I smiled my entire drive out to Tarangire, enjoying the rolling hills that are now green, and the fantastic sky. I have now been to Tarangire three times - September, January, and April. It is quite fascinating to see the changes to the park as the seasons and the rainfall change. There were many more animals in the dry season as Tarangire has a permanent river that draws many animals in search of water. There are not as many animals now, but the park is still beautiful with tall grasses, and the aforementioned fantastic sky. I just love that place.

A brilliant sunset in Tarangire

I spent one night at the Tarangire Safari Lodge enjoying the panoramic view and my fantastic company. The second night I stayed in camp with the guide trainees and had the chance to help teach a couple lessons while I was there. I taught a lesson on light – visible spectrum, refraction, dispersion etc. – which Ethan followed up by explaining how the visible spectrum of organisms varies, and why some animals can see better than others. Some birds of prey can see ultraviolet light, so they see the rays reflected off rodent urine and use that to help find their prey. Cool eh? I also taught them about sound and thunderstorms, and again Ethan took over and talked about sound in the animal kingdom. We made a good team! I also had a chance to go on a couple game drives with the guys. Ethan knows all kinds of fascinating facts, and can spot a cool bird a mile away. In two days I saw (with his help for identification) 43 species of birds.

Love those kingfishers! This one is a gray-headed kingfisher.

Birds = cool. Snakes = not so cool. The morning after I got back to Arusha, I found out that Ethan had been bitten by a black necked spitting cobra during the night. Fortunately he knew what to do and was at the clinic within a couple hours for treatment. He was quite ill before he received the anti-venom, and he was in a lot of pain, but things are looking good now. They kept him in the clinic for 4 days to monitor and administer medication, so I kept him company and helped keep an eye on his arm. He's gone back to Tarangire now, with promises to kill any snakes in camp and make sure his tent is fully zipped. I am now irrationally paranoid.

Today is Easter Sunday and there was a lovely service this morning at the home of a woman who came here many, many years ago as a missionary with her husband who was a pastor. There was another service at church a bit later with beautiful music including a brass band and a choir. The music in the church here is truly exceptional. I will have to spend the next couple days at school, and then back at it on Wednesday. I am planning another night in Tarangire next weekend, and then I will finally get onto Kili the following weekend on an outdoor pursuits trip with students – not to the summit but to the base of Mawenze. These plans will make it a bit easier to go back to school this week!

I have booked a trip back to the great white north from June 20 – July 24. Hopefully it won't be white then, but it will be great! Can't wait to see some familiar faces, both human and furry, and a couple of new faces that will have arrived by then. I also am hoping to see most of the faces across a great big plate of nachos J

All things Tanzanian…



Check that tie!

I giggle every day in Arusha. As I drive through town on my way to work, I feel as though I am in a Richard Scary book. Wherever you look, there is somebody doing something you would never see in North America, and wearing something you would never wear in North America. I find Tanzanians' choice of attire particularly fascinating. For instance, if you are wondering where your toques end up when you take them to goodwill, look no further than Tanzania. Toques are remarkably popular at 30 degrees Celsius. Ditto for your puffy San Jose Sharks Starter parka that was oh so cool 15 years ago, and in all likelihood your prom dress also. Men seem to have no idea how long a tie should be…. It is not unusual to see a tie tied so that it is only a few inches long. Cracks me up every time. Today I spotted a Molson Slowpitch sweatshirt, and I see a Timbits jersey at least once a week. One of my favs was the gas jockey I spotted wearing a "Number One Grandma" t-shirt. But my #1 find was a Hawerchuk jersey I spotted my first week here. When I see that guy again, I'm going to buy the shirt off his back.

  



A bread bike with only a light load

One of my other favourite things to do while driving through town is to see what people are carrying on bicycles. One day I saw a guy with the head of a pig sticking out of the basket on his bike. (It was reminiscent of Lord of the Flies….) Every single day I see at least one bike with beer crates on the back; the height of the stack depends on the courage (or stupidity) of its rider. My favourite, though, are the bread bikes. These bikes will be stacked to ridiculous heights with loaves of bread. More loaves of bread are draped across the handlebars and crossbar. If I am particularly lucky, as I was this morning, enough loaves are draped across the crossbar and the seat that the rider can no longer actually sit on the bike but rather just walks the bike along. Hee hee!

The delightful shop names also provide a good chuckle now and again. If you are looking for "Fancy Electronics", Arusha is your place. (Not to be confused with "Cheap Electronics", for which you need to go to Mombasa). There are two shops called "Bolt & Nut", which, I assume, sell bolts and nuts. Along the road to Moshi, you will find the "Golden Shower Restaurant" which sounds very appetizing, along with the "Black Baby Shop". Not sure what they sell…. There is a pub called "Merry Makers" which I think is quite clever. The grand champion, though, in entertaining names is the "House of Lubricants". Some advertising slogans are equally bad - case in point, the slogan for Savanna beer: "It's dry, but you can drink it."



So inspirational :P


And perhaps my favourite form of entertainment is reading the dhalla dhallas. Dhalla dhallas are minivans that serve as the local form of public transportation. Typically they serve as a constant source of frustration since their "drivers" don't actually know how to drive. However, they are lovingly adorned with unintentionally comical decals. One is labelled "Ars Express", presumably referring to Arsenal. Several are labelled "VIP Shuttle" despite the fact that they don't look to be in good enough condition for a demolition derby. I saw one this evening that proclaimed "Old is Gold" in a red font made to look like dripping blood. Many pay tribute to Led Zeppelin for some reason, but only one is labelled "Led Zepperlin". There is one dhalla that encourages me to "Never Give Up" (while at the same time asking God to "guide me from my enemies"), but there is also a discouraging dhalla that just this morning told me to "Give Up". Another features a picture of Eminem with the advice to "Loose Yourself". One of the greatest has a picture of Tupac on the back window with the words "Me Against World"…. I guess they don't realize that Tupac lost his battle with the world. My all-time fav (which unfortunately has not been seen since Christmas, and may have met its maker) proudly displays "0.00% Real". Oh, the innumeracy! Not to be outdone in the department of ridiculous, I have also seen a full-sized bus with a lovely painting on the back window of a tiger lying in front of Kilimanjaro…..???

I got a hippopotamus for Christmas!

I had been doing such a good job of keeping in touch, and then I became a ghost... sorry it's been so long between posts! After a very hectic last few weeks of school, we let out on December 17, and we had four glorious weeks off. And after 33+ years of waiting, I finally made it to the Serengeti. It was well worth the wait. We caught a glimpse of the wildebeest migration, a leopard walked right under our car, and we saw 7 rhinos within a couple hours in the Ngorongoro crater. Truly, you must all see this in your lifetime as I cannot possibly describe it to you. I also made a trip to the Usambara Mountains with a couple friends for a few days. It is a beautiful area and gave us the perfect chance to get some fresh air and exercise. I had a close encounter with the pavement during our bicycle excursion, but otherwise it was a fantastic trip!

Here is a link to safari pics.

I found Christmas tough this year. It was difficult to be away from home for the first time, and I missed all of our family traditions so much. It did not help that when I called home, Jamie literally picked up the phone, said "Call back later" and hung up! Apparently watching the very sad sight of our Queen's Hotel burning to the ground was much more riveting than talking to her beloved sister :P There was plenty of other sad news from friends at home over the holidays that made me glad to start a new year, and hopeful that 2011 offer healing to many.

Here are some Christmas pics.

After Christmas, I had the pleasure of hosting my first visitor from home. My friend, Coralie, came to visit with the primary goal of climbing Kili. I am proud to say that she summitted, of course, despite her nervousness about the excursion! She was with me for about a week and had a chance to see my school, meet my friends, and we took a quick trip to Tarangire for a glimpse of the magnificent baobabs and the elephants. She delivered to me cheddar cheese, Winnipeg rye bread, DVDs from Jason, gifts from my parents, and a plethora of other treats and I was over the moon!

Just after returning to school in January, I travelled to Mombasa, Kenya, for an IB mathematics training course. It was a great course and a good opportunity to collaborate with math colleagues that doesn't present often when teaching at such a small school. On the last evening, I got a chance to get to the beach for a quick dip and good dinner with new friends.

Here are some photos from January.

Right now I am over my head in marking, behind in my planning, buried in glassware that needs washing... all my favourite parts of teaching. The IB requires that we submit sample assessments and pieces of student work for our grade 10 courses, of which I have two. They then provide feedback on the quality of our assessments and whether we are scoring them appropriately, and the whole school receives this report. It puts the stress of simply administering a provincial exam to shame! I am stressed. This weekend the school is hosting an International Day that features food and entertainment from a host of countries... sounds like a bunch of Folklorama pavilions all wrapped up in one. Seems like it will be a fun event.

I am definitely not in Kansas anymore.... February in Arusha is slightly warmer than Peg City. With bonspiel season in full swing in the Great White North, I am definitely experiencing some moments when I wish I were cold. I would love to throw some rocks and have a Fort Garry Rouge with some of you. In an attempt to get my exercise/competition fix, I've been playing pick up volleyball a couple times a week, and have started swimming quite a bit in the school pool. Friends of mine hosted a Superbowl party that was good fun, but aside from that I have been forced to learn to like rugby. I refuse to give soccer a chance though. Just can't do it. Although I am fantastically happy here, there are things I miss a lot, especially at the end of a tough day. It is not so easy to find a new Bry or Sarge, or Lux or Smitty's.

I'm planning a trip home for about 5 weeks from the end of June to the end of July. In the meantime, know that I miss you and would love to hear from you.