Wednesday, October 21, 2009

This Just In.

It's been 4 weeks. Things are better!
I’ve started to teach classes regularly now, which really means that most of if not all of my students are showing up. Teaching makes me feel really productive because I’m actually doing something with my time.
So far, it seems the students are well behaved and interested in learning. Usually, I try to include a song at the end of my lesson and the students go crazy over that. The school system here is very teacher-centered. There is student participation but most of the student’s time is spent in silence, copying information from the board. When I want to involve them in the learning process it’s a real struggle; they look at me very confused-as if I’ve gone from trying to teach them English to trying to teach them some ancient dialect of Chinese. But, I can tell they like being involved, writing on the board, clapping all the time, and singing.
At some point there will be an addition to my house! I am going to get a puppy to hang out with. When I get him, I’ll post pictures and maybe he’ll become a guest blogger :)
I have plans up until June of next year. They’re all fun things like vacations with other volunteers and visits from friends and family; it’s great to have some things to look forward to and they will chop up my time here helping it to fly by.
I got a rash! The best way I can describe it is by comparing it to ring-worm except it didn’t have a circular shape, it went every which way and was all over my body. I visited the Peace Corps Bureau in Cotonou, which was very nice because I got to take warm showers and eat good food and be around other volunteers. A dermatologist told me that it was reaction to a chemical released by some bug. Very mysterious I know. Today I’m headed back to my post to insecticide my house and see what happens! I’ll update on this if something else happens.
That’s really about it. I miss everyone, hope all is well, see you around the bend and all that jazz.
Peace

2 comments:

Dave Cowell said...

Clayton, so glad to hear you are feeling better and they have some idea of what was wrong. I just talked to Dave last night and asked if you were doing OK, as you were not blogging!Of course Dave has no internet access at all, but so thankful for Skype! Stay safe and well. (thanks for the shout out in last post- of course we read everything!) Some day we'll meet! Dave's mom

Anonymous said...

REASON IS SAID TO LEND TO REASONABLENESS, KNOWLEDGE TO CREATIVITY, IDEALISM TO IDOSYNCR THINGYS, CAREFUL WHAT YOU CLING TO YOU SOUND LIKE A SINGLE PARENT TUNED INTO SPONGEBOB AND DORA FOR COMPANY WHILE THE SUNSETS SETS, WHILE NOGIN ANNIHILATES ME BRAIN, DUSK TO DAWN BEGS I TOIL A DIFFERENT SOIL, HOW I SMILE WHIMSICALLY AT YOU LIVING MY LIFE, DAD.
YOU STILL GOT THAT VIOLIN, BLOG A RECORDING LA LA TE DA.....