EXCITING NEWS. i exercised today. hahaha you thought it was going to be something super. BUT it is good, we got a treadmill over the weekend and now us SIMpacters can work out.
We all eat less and yet we are all gaining weight, mysterious i know...
I have a few theories. A) the africans WANT to be fat, yes they think fat is the way to be, so its not like they take care to get rid of fat in food, now that im thinking about it.. i wouldnt be surprised if they purposely add EXTRA fat. or B) because we cant leave the compound after 6 (when it starts getting dark) we get bored. and we eat.. though it doesnt seem like a lot, but its not like we do much activity after 6. and C) the high altitude. i dont know what that would have to do with fatness but im just throwing it in there. ANYWAYS so this is our new and exciting news.. the workout machine, and apparently we are also getting one of those step machines. so i took it for a test run for a half hour today (clearly not running the entire time.. *insert brisk walk*) and it was good.. but .. at the same time awkward .. since the kenyan cleaning ladies were watching me and laughing at me.. i dont know if thats a good.. or bad thing.
not to mention the little girl deena (super cute) came to sit and watch me and kept asking me all these questions and its really hard to answer while your running // slightly out of breath..
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so basically i signed my life away and signed up for every single day this week ( you have to sign up to use it at certain times) soon we're all going to be super fit HA
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ok but lets talk about whats REALLY been going on.. well.. not that that didnt happen, BUT i dont think you really care about the exercise machine..
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so school was good today, the teacher who was mysteriously sick since the day me and elise started is back.. but she never introduced herself so im a little unsure if she either doesnt like us orrrr is still a little under the weather, OR didnt notice that there were two white people (the only ones for miles) in the tiny school.. haha we will find out tommorrow i suppose. Anyways why do i tell you this? because i have been teaching class 3 and four which was needed BECAUSE this teacher was gone, but now that shes back, teaching class 3 (my favorite bunch) im a little unsure of where i should be once again..
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so i spent a little while in class 2 today , (it was the first time i was in standard 2) and some girl drew me a picture and wrote me a note that said(and i quote)

STD2 My Teacher 5/11/07

My teacher is madam jack

She teaches at joyspring education center

She came to teach at STD2

She is a good teacher

We love her

and this folks is all after about 10 minutes of just sitting in the class hahaha i have to say.. i did not mind std 2 at all!! (except for the fight that started in the back[its really hard to stop fights when you dont speak kiswahili and you dont use a cane]) MOVING ON..

so let me backtrack to the morning where i helped in nursery

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i dont know about the school YOU go/went to .. but i know that for our school there were classes that were rowdier and there were good classes..

i was in a seriously good class (i was one of the 'rebels' if you can believe that)

ANYWAYS im seeing its the same at this school

now let me tell you about my experiences with Nursery .. aka preschool

The Facts:

there are 50 4-5 year olds (maybe a 3yr old and a 6yr old or two) in a fairly small room

their teacher pinches their cheeks when they are bad

they only UNDERSTAND kiswahili (though they do math and such in english and can read certain words.. if i speak english .. aside from sit down they have no idea)

i DONT understand kiswahili (or speak it)

they are a little bit scared of their teacher

they are NOT scared of me

i AM scared of them (a little hahaha!! )

the teacher leaves the room to go .. to the store(<- to get the food for the kids NO im NOT suggesting shes a bad teacher just in case that thought crossed your mind..)

i am sitting with 50 kids who are not scared of me, dont understand me, and are cooped up

they start going crazy

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.. dancing.. yelling.. throwing hats... little almost crying children running up to me trying to tell me something frantically about another kid in a language i dont understand... me trying to decide whether to try and gain some sanity in the room.. or just be the cool sub who lets the kids have fun... things getting a little crazier.. even more crazy..me trying to act tough and giving the kids the evil eye (note: the evil eye isnt very effective) and walking around trying to look like i MIGHT enforce some rules (if i KNEW the rules) .. the other teacher comes back in.. sound level goes down a few knotches.. the kids in the aisle get their cheeks pinched.. i sigh in relief.

(i could say this is the end but that would be a lie, because the teacher left again.. i tried to woo the bad kids in the back with a story book i brought.. and i let then try and look at it.. then decided it was a bad choice when 50 kids all of a sudden started piling on top of eachother to look at the book.. and i managed to barely get it[the book] out alive. )

yes all in all nursery is an eventful class. but for some reason i like it

ive always liked the rebel kids

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i just need to learn some more kiswahili to yell something and catch them off guard.

anyways its a good way to spend my mornings (oh yeah..i mark their work if you were wondering what i actually do in that class[and i taught them a song once...])

anyways i really like my standard 3 class and i hope i can get them back at some point.. EVEN though the kids in standard 2 DID ask if they could sing to me..

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today i discovered HOT FRESH chapati (if you recall --like a pita pancake only better)

it was delicious, the nursery teacher bought me one (they make them on the streets---[all the leaving me alone issues were forgotten with the warm chapati])

a mere 5 shillings in kibera.. thats like.. 8 cents what a DEAL

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anyways this is getting a bit lengthy

i DID have a couple more serious things to write BUT i suppose i can just write them next time because its not something that will change

anyways this is a little little taste of what life is like..i could honestly .. (im in the writing mood) sit here and write PAGES on life here right now .. its so different in certain ways yet so the same in others its crazy

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UNTIL NEXT TIME

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p.s. we watched lion king.

and there is DEF. swahili in there..

remember rafiki? asanti sana squashed banana?

yeah..

thank you squashed banana

(it has so much more meaning now)

and who would have thunk it that hakuna matata means no worries for the rest of your days?(for real)

on that note..