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13 July, 2000
For this fourth report o'mine (you have received the other three, right?) I have decided, after much deliberation, to test my skills at more conventional forms of communication (i.e. prose). I hope you will find my stationary an interesting substitute form of entertainment for the refined artwork I sent as my first report. Said stationary may appear, to the untrained eye, to be trash. Please, do not be fooled. These mini-canvases, which display my feeble attempts at coherence (oh! How I miss word processing!), are, in actuality, little treasures. If the drudgery of my writing proves to be too much at times, please, take a moment to refresh and titillate yourself with these pieces. A personal favorite of mine is "Marriage Vows." I assure you these vows are not mine. Due to some evidence, I am also lead to believe they belong neither to Kim nor to Betsy. Yet, Sister Florina, in all seriousness, continues to adamantly try to sell us off into marriage. Unfortunately, for us all no one has agreed to pay Sister Flo
rina's stiff demands of 40 cows for our lobola. But, if they do, we have some fun vows.
Anyway, I am still trying to come to grips with how quickly time is moving. Six months already! I am sure it will come as no surprise when I tell you that things have changed quite a bit since my first report. I am sure there is a "stages of development" guide for abroad experiences in Richard Bright's office, but, since I have no access right now, I will try my best to describe my own stage for you.
I no longer experience the daily euphoria I once did from the scenery and people of St. Rodrigue and Lesotho. This is not to say that I am still not happy and excited to be learning, living, and teaching here, it is just that things have become normalized. I really feel like St. Rodrigue is my home. I feel really comfortable and feel as though, finally, I have figured some stuff out. Things aren't so overwhelming. Everything still makes me laugh, but things always did.
Quick aside for future fellows...
Signs that St. Rodrigue is now your home:
- You refer to St. Rodrigue as home.
- People know your name and don't just call you "lelehoa" (whitey).
- People miss you when you leave.
- You miss people when you leave.
- You have to cut vacation short because you miss St. Rodrigue.
- All of your dreams take place in Lesotho.
- You like eating Papa. Okay, this probably won't or can't happen in 6 months.
- Sister Florina worries about you an itsy-bitsy bit less.
- You don't want to leave in another 6 months.
I just realized that most of you will probably not have access to the original text of this report, hence the stationary, so I will label the different sections of this report to aid in your skimming and boredom prevention tactics.
Teaching
Since teaching is supposed to by my primary task here, I suppose this is a good place to start. We just finished the first half of the school year, and I feel pretty good with how things went.
A couple of months after the start of school, I picked up an additional Literature class, and, after the unfortunate and abrupt departure of a teacher, I also added 2 Geography courses to my teaching load. I was nervous at the prospect of teaching Form As (as their English language skills are quite low), but, at the same time, I was excited about teaching the subject (Geography is an amalgamation of many subjects, especially Social Studies and Life Science). Also, if I didn't teach them, the two classes just wouldn't have a teacher, and I figured I could do a better job than nothing. As it turns out, this was the best thing to happen to me so far, and I do believe the girls are learning some Geography. I am having a ball with these two classes; I love the unique energy and enthusiasm of these younger girls, and I love Geography. I just think I have the best synergy with kids ages 12-15.
I am not entirely sure if I will keep the same classes next term (nothing is ever very certain at St. Rodrigue). Sister says we might lose three teachers and we might gain one. We just have to wait for the first day of school and see who shows up. By now I am much more accustomed to this uncertainty and am ready to go with whatever. I really am more flexible than I used to be, and I have just accepted the fact that I may walk into an empty classroom during my scheduled class because my students are collecting stones for a nun.
Something that I really love about teaching at St. Rodrigue is how much freedom we are granted. In short, in the classroom, you can do whatever you want. Although, obviously, not all of my teaching theories and techniques that I developed and learned at Grinnell can be used at St. Rodrigue. I was relieved that I did not have to entirely abandon many of the things I tried during student teaching. My Geography students love my hands on and interactive approach; they weren't the least bit wary of my pedagogy. My older students did find me a bit nutty when I introduced things such as peer editing and writing workshops, but they have gotten used to trying some new things. Of course, those damn national exams always loom above me, and I have to create lesson plans that take these little tools of Satan into major consideration.
The Weather
Cold. Really cold.
Did you guys ever get sick?
I am now an expert in the epidemiology for Lesotho. If you have any questions, or if you would like me to draw you pictures, please, just ask.
News! News!
Monica Lewinsky is still a hot topic for people here.
Travels We have had several opportunities to travel both in Lesotho and throughout Southern Africa. Betsy and I went to Mozambique over Easter. All three of us went to Katse Dam. We went horseback riding at Malealea (and I can't believe I survived). We went on a school trip to Swaziland. We have spent the last few weeks moving about in South Africa.
Katse Dam
Katse Dam is literally an awesome project and site to see, in and of itself, but I found the town equally fascinating. Seeing an American-style suburb erected, literally, across the street from a village was bizarre at the least. We spent time in the suburb with friends as well as in the village visiting a teacher friend of ours who works at the village school. Jonathan Kozal would have a hay-day. Not only did I enjoy making a sociological analysis of the place, but I also enjoyed talking to the teachers about our respective schools. The Katse village school is one of only five government run schools in the country.
Swaziland
We were lucky to be sent to St. Rodrigue on a year that they take a school trip. For five days, we journeyed through Swaziland with about 10 nuns, 10 teachers, and 80 students. It was quite an adventure and proved to be an intense bonding experience for us all. Plus, since Betsy and I fill 2 of the five spots on the Entertainment Committee, we got many opportunities to take charge and make vital vacation related decisions. This solidified the fact that Betsy, Kim, and I really do fit in at St. Rodrigue-as teaches and friends.
I will now pause for a quick game called,
"Which is Stranger?"
Okay, which of the following is stranger?:
1. You go over to visit a teacher friend of yours and find her and her boyfriend watching the movie "Fatal Attraction" projected on a whole wall of the house.
or
2. You end up watching "The Gods Must Be Crazy" with some students, nuns, and teachers in a prison-hostel in Swaziland.
Social Life and Entertainment
The nuns, teachers, and other people in our community provide us with a large pool of friends with whom we can spend time. We also have a solid friend / peer group in Maseru. Maseru provides a nice change of pace, every couple of weeks, from our quiet mountain reality. Opportunities such as dee-jaying at our friends club just would not present themselves at St. Rodrigue. Now, this is not to say that we ever find St. Rodrigue boring. In fact, Betsy, Kim, and I continually talk about how we can always entertain ourselves. I actually like it that there is no TV or hang out spots in St. Rodrigue; it has made Kim, Betsy, and I avid visitors, readers, and letter writers as well as extremely creative individuals.
Compliment?
"You and Brandi are getting fat, fat, fat."
--Sister Angelina. She explains that this is, in fact, a good thing as it proves we are really happy here.
Exile
As it turns out, the manifesto that threatened a "stay aware or Die" in May, due to a lack of elections, proved to be bunk. We were still glad we chose to seek asylum for a brief period of time; we just didn't feel staying was worth the risk. Plus, a week in South Africa, moving about in a racially mixed group, was a fascinating learning experience.
Kim and Betsy MacDonald
Since I am sure both Kim and Betsy are too shy to boast about themselves in their own reports (and I lack the vivid vocabulary and command of language necessary to do either of them justice in my own report), I leave you with praise for Kim and Betsy in the St. Petersburg Times, John Barbham Reviews, and the Library Journal.
"Betsy is a tour de force among teachers...She accomplishes her feats with both humanity and wisdom...She is moving, sometimes hilarious, and unfailingly entertaining."
"Kim displays a widening of compass...She shows breadth, spread, and depth...She may be a product of Grinnell, but she carries far wider meaning."
"Kim is in top form in this capacious mission of personal discovery...She often displays deft realism...Kim is a mature, entertaining teacher."
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