Questions?

Since I last wrote, not a whole lot has happened. The school "officially opened," which means that all the O-level students arrived. However, as this is Tanzania where no one takes education seriously (except perhaps me and one or two others), only about a quarter of the students have shown up. Also, only some of the teachers have reported for duty. The school is in a sort of limbo now, as we wait for the rest to show up. The reason behind the absences is singular- money. The students are not allowed to attend classes until they have paid their school fees. Well, as Tanzania is one of less financially succesful countries in the world, the general populace doesn't tend to have a lot of spare change floating around. So what happens is the students' families have to scrounge and save the school fees, and typically by the time school opens, they haven't obtained enough. So the students just wait at home, perhaps laboring, until they have sufficient funds to attend. Well, this has become so widespread that the teachers in fact rely on it, and choose to not teach for the first week or two. Pretty crazy, to me. It seems like there must be some solution in which the students can attend on a per diem or something, until they complete their fees. In any case, this is definitely not the clockwork system (by comparison) of the good old US. But hey, I've got no worries, this only truly affects O-level, whereas I have been teaching for several weeks now. Once I decide what I think about all this teaching nonsense, I'll let you know. Also, I have been taking pains to become the school librarian in addition to coaching and teaching. And eventually I want to start a music program at the school. If I remember correctly, most US schools have, at the least, several years of basic music instruction/appreciation/history. Couldn't hurt to try, right? So that's really been it for me.
Nothing particularly funny or outrageous has happened. I found a baby bat with its hand wedge between a piece or moulding and a door. No idea how it managed that. I freed it using my trusty .75kg hammer, and it just flopped to the floor. Well, I didn't want my cat to go into a frenzy, so I attempted to aid this poor little thing. In the end, I'm pretty sure it died of fright. Ah well, try to do a good thing by saving a diseased mammal.... There are pictures of the bat and cat on my other page.
I suppose now I will answer questions which I have received over the last month or so, and maybe a few that I make up. If you are curious about anything at all, leave me a comment-question and I will answer it. Unless its Shawn and he's asking about things better left unsaid.
Are you only teaching lecture?
No I am conducting lab twice a week as well. Lecture consumes about 6 hours of my time per week, lab another 6 or so. Then I am having study hours for about 6 or 8 hours as well. Since I'm giving the rundown, once we have more balls (for sports) I will be coaching for about 6 hours a week as well. The rest of my time goes to cooking, eating what I have cooked in a slow, savoring fashion, studying physics, and reading. Its easier than working a 9 to 5 job, so far.

What do you do for your free time, such as movies or TV? and Tanzanians?
Myself, I read mostly. I watch movies with Aaron on his laptop on occasion. We have no TV, but have managed to wrangle the first season of Lost, and some Simpsons, etc... It passes the time. Tanzanians...well, I don't really know. Those who don't work (this is many) are usually drinking pombe (locally brewed banana liquor, I hear it tastes awful) by about 8am. As this is a strongly community-based culture, many tend to just socialize in their free time. Also, perhaps the number of little children running around could be explained by the lack of diversions in their society. Hmmm....

What kinds of beer do they have?
Mostly a bunch of different lagers, which all taste the same and have devoted legions supporting them. They have typical African names like "Serengeti," "Safari," and "Kilimanjaro." Nothing special here, they tastes especially awful warm. There is a local beer called "Balimi" which I believe translates to "evil taste, followed by extreme drunkenness." It has a really high alcohol content. Ugh... Thats really it.

Do they have detectives? (this is from Grace)
Yes, they do. In fact, I see them all over the place. But the detectives here all have mechanical arms and legs, and smoke pipes all the time. They are somewhat bumbling, and most of the them have a nemesis named Mr. Claw. I think they made some TV show based on the detectives here.

I'm out of time. Take care and write me.