My first blogpost on Zambia (became a bit too long)

Moving to a new country is always intense (to say the least) so it feels like soo many things have happened since l left Belgium about 10 days ago… Of course it started off with me losing my phone about 5 min after Karen said goodbye to me at the airport. I realised at the gate so I ran to some info desk for help but they just told me to go back to the security check (where I expect I left it) failing to mention there is no way to get there. So I see 2 escalators going down and a lift I get in press the button the doors close and nothing. So I press again still nothing, I press a button to open the doors … nothing. At which stage I half panic thinking I’ll miss my flight and connections plus I will have lost my phone and now I’m stuck. Thank god for the alarm bell. I press like crazy, signal to people out there and soon the doors open and someone helped me to get into a different elevator which gets met to security. There there is no sign of my phone and I get a pamphlet, I ask them the time and my flight is due to leave in 5 min. So I rush away and when I (panting) arrive at the gate the stewardess looks at me and says, she’s here you can stop looking for the luggage and allows me in. No music on the plane for me and my 30 free airtime in Joburg are used on lost and found BXL airport. I got picked up (exhausted) and dropped at my new home. Liz my roomie stayed in for me and turns out to be absolutely lovely and so helpful in my settling in process. She took me to the bank/supermarket and finally to dinner as we had no power at home. First day of work I get told what they had in mind for me and it is FAB! I get to work directly with some teachers (those of the demo schools and some others) to build their competences and hence establish more Zambian examples of “good practice”. Everyone is nice and welcoming. They'd also arranged for me to be able to visit a couple of schools before they close entirely for the holidays. The new school year starts in January. Especially the special needs school made quite an impact. This teacher (a seemingly dedicated and motivated woman) has physically and mentally disabled students in the same class, she "solves" ADHD by locking students in her version of a “home corner” and she checks “art”-work (meaning copy the picture the teacher drew in a small A5 ruled notebook) by drawing a red ballpoint stripe through the drawings. Students’ names are listed in class next to their disabilities so you have a name and then "retardation" for example. A picture of a tree shows who is doing well academically (1 at the top, the kid with the physical disability) and who is NOT (several kids at the bottom of the tree). Needless to say I was blown away by just how much there is still to be done. Nonetheless there were definitely good things going on in that classroom and in the school, for example they try to empower parents to deal with their children’s special needs and they run a home schooling project for children who cannot attend classes. The week flew by, and meanwhile I was trying to get a sim card, get internet through a USB modem and basically survive! On Friday I had a late meeting and my first minibus trip! Everyone was so eager to help me find my way, people are really lovely, especially the women. On Saturday I discovered _during a Skype conversation with my mum_ that roached here are humongous (seriously 4 cm or something) and can fly. Good thing my mum did not die of a heart attack when she heard me shout! These roaches have too much attitude, I swear they look at me and say: “so I’m here_ in the corridor that leads to your bedroom, what’re you gonna do about it, huh?”. My colleague had asked me whether I wanted to be “zwarte Piet” at the “Sinterklaas” celebration the tiny Dutch school here was organising. It was a fun way to meet new people and also odd to dress up like “zwarte Piet” and drive through the streets here. I was baking Piet dressed in blue and holding a pan most of the time (see pic below). Again everyone was super nice and it was lovely to actually celebrate “Sinterklaas” here on my first weekend. (Annelies/Roosje I also ate your chocolates and thought about you. That evening I met up with Nele’s friend Peter and his wife Johanna who also live here for dinner and the last bond movie. Sunday morning I bought doom spray that kills instantly before Liz took me with her to a brunch with her friends. In the late afternoon I was expected at work to leave for a workshop on mentoring which meant being on the outskirts of Lusaka for the rest of the week (see pic below). It was lovely getting to know my colleagues informally over dinner and after dinner chatter, the area was very beautiful and I got to eat a lot of different types of local food. (lots and lots of meat _pork, chicken and beef and some vegetables: mostly boiled leaves but also a lovely bitter aubergine related plant). While talking & planning I got involved in a project with LUCA school of arts (formally known as St Lucas Ghent) which involves a visit of some of their lecturers whom will facilitate a workshop here. It’s going to be FUN! I will also contribute to a Zambian lecturer’s manual for early childhood education based on their new curriculum about which I will also facilitate a workshop. So All hands on stuff which I think I will enjoy and which will undoubtedly keep me very busy at work! My second weekend started with Indian dinner with Liz and her South African boyfriend. Saturday’s mission consisted of buying a bicycle. I took a minibus into “town” instead of going to one of the many malls which are filled with chain- stores and shiny stuff. I found my way in between a hustle of locals doing their Christmas shopping towards the market. It was filled with nice looking fruit, gorgeous textiles and smiling faces. I was not hassled, followed or robbed and peacefully walked around until I found the bicycle section. My new rid weighs a lot and is an Indian made-men’s bike with those fluorescent balls on the spokes like we had when we were little). After buying it, it still had to be properly composed (such as breaks, light, tyres) so I sat and watched this friendly man who was recommended by the shop prepare my bike for me. By the time he was done it was 14:00 and I had only had breakfast. My first bike ride was hellish: not enough energy, the heat burning my skin, driving on the wrong side of the road and in the gutters filled with stones and bumps because there are no sidewalks and cars don’t respect cyclists on the road. I was exhausted when I got home and decided on a power nap. When I woke up strange noises where coming from the cupboard where I had stored the mountain of chocolate I took from Belgium… I should have kept them in our small fridge. Luckily for me Liz her boyfriend volunteered to be my hero (they even especially came home after I called them to ask what I should do). The mouse/mice or perhaps even rat(s) had a clear preference for the white chocolate with tiramisu filling. Most of my chocolate remained untouched and is now stored safely away from rodents. Mice traps have moved up on my “to-buy-list”! Peter and Johanna invited me along to an 80s party (I was glad I packed my MC hammer trousers and my badges) upon arrival I see a familiar face: my only Belgian colleague with whom I taught in Addis has been teaching in Zambia for the past 3 years, it was fun to catch up with Rene (Rozemarijn yes the one that knows your auntie) in addition there were many Dutch people whom I had also met the week before. So it was fun chatting with different people. Now it’s Sunday afternoon, the power has just gone (first time this weekend we were very lucky) and I think I’ll try to go for a swim somewhere!

Harrar

It has been a long time yet again Although many of you have undoubtedly heard me complain about the masters and the workload being crazy etc etc.
My Fabulous school had the full 3 weeks, yes eat your heart out Belgian teachers, but off course two of those were spent in my pyjamas with greasy hair in front of my books or laptop. Yeah =(
The third week however I allowed myself a break and Mika and me went to Harrar, a muslim city in the east of the country. There is a friend of his living there, her name is Sylvie and she’s ½ Ethiopian1/2 Belgian. She was raised here in Addis, left when she was 16 to Brussels studied there a multitude of things amongst which philosophy and has now returned to teach French at the university of Haramaya. Trust me I’ve seen Haramaya town and it’s not big, like 1 street, so she decided she’d live in the nearby Harrar. It was great staying at her place! We cooked talked about French music, Brussels, life and of course about teaching. Besides Harrar is a great place, It has this Arab feel to it and the old walled city is a labyrinth of alleys. The houses are painted in white or something very bright such as green, pink etc. The people are also colourful in every sense of the word. These Muslims are known mainly for their use of “Tsjat” a leaf that if you chew it for long enough is supposed to give you a certain buzz. Judging from the red eyes some have it certainly does something to you but I am not a cow that likes endless chewing so I haven’t really had the Tsat experience yet. I tried it once, it’s food like, what did you expect??? But it tastes awful so that was it for me, I’ll drink some Amarulla to have a nice taste and buzz, thank you!
Anyways 10-year-olds carry the leaves around in the breast pocket of their school uniform. WEIRD!
Some of the highlights of the trip? Feeding hyenas on the outskirt of town with Pepe Yosuf who has been doing so daily for the last I don’t know how many years. I counted fingers and toes and he amazingly still has them all! Besides the “doro wot” the Ethiopian dish although I don’t really get what they like about it so much , is considerably better there. They cook it longer in Harrar which makes the onion caramelise and gives a certain sweetness to the taste, furthermore I had an esprice,( several layers of fresh juice which equals heaven in a glass, it even beats the Amarulla _almost!) with a new fruit called ambeshock or something!!!!! We actually had that juice after a very extraordinary afternoon. Throughout the city I had seen colourful girls with strange make up. They were not Harrari I was told but Argoba. We had decided to go to the bus station that day and ask for a minibus to an Argoba village. The bus was extremely packed and everyone around us spoke Oromo leaving Mika and Sylvie as much in the dark as myself. After an interesting very much nauseating ride we arrived in a dusty area and were told the village was just up the road. This was about noon the sun was burning down on us and the up the road turned out to be an hour walk or so. It was well worth it, don’t get me wrong there was hardly a village but all the kids didn’t know what hit them 2 whitish ‘ferenj’(=Foreigners) in their village. Soon we were surrounded by curious eyes and as we had gone there to watch people in the first place it didn’t bother us at all those were watching us back. It’s very refreshing not to be asked for money for a change. Some spoke a mouthful amharic or 4 words of English but most communication was nonverbal. They were fascinated by my sunglasses, so I took them off to let the kids try them on. Very funny pics of these cute kids with my big shades on. The fact that I have blue eyes really freaked them out and the little ones hid behind their friends and only dared to take a sneak peek. After sitting for about an hour or 2 on a tree trunk in the “centre” of the village and attention we decided to return… All of them came behind us waving us goodbye. Very strange feeling to be treated like a celebrity. Sylvie told us her guard had told her he was raised in what she believed to be a similar village and how he had said with much enthusiasm “ and one day ferenj came!!!” What an experience, remind me to show you the pictures this summer, uploading them with Ethiopian internet is really impossible. Furthermore I discovered camel meet is tender juicy and tasty and Ethiopian movies are really crap! On the bus they entertained us with what could have been a Shakespeare tragedy. Full volume through the speaker: the most annoying thing ever: can’t understand the movie, can’t sleep (too loud), can’t listen to your MP3 ( still too loud)… grrrrrrr.
No honestly the overall experience was great, I have 2 colourful enormous scarves draped over my single armchairs to remind me.
Back to school and in the lasts weeks of module 1 was tough! Especially since some books still hadn’t arrived and were therefore brought back for me by my colleague Anna who went home for X-mas. This did mean still tons of reading to do. It hasn’t been an easy couple of weeks, I’ve been absent from school twice , what a great thing that my 2 teaching assistants can then take over, I feel so lucky! The assignment is due tomorrow I’ll reread it one last time in the morning (Sunday) and that’s it. 6 weeks later they’ll let me know the verdict, on Monday I start module 2.
A New Zealand friend told me that what I do is illegal back there, doing 4 modules a year for an MA of 8 is considered full time studying and you are not allowed to do that on top of working full time. Did I mention the 2 Dutch schools I teach at, So yes it is still busy. And I want to take part in the vagina monologues again this year and rehearsals have started last week (I had to cancel but will go next week!)
On the brighter side my tutor did say the next module involved less reading so I am hopeful. The books have now all come so that can’t hold me back this time…
Big hug to you all!

It’s been ages!
It seems I did sort of get carried away with taking on the masters the 2 Dutch schools one of which is at times ridiculously demanding on top of my full time job. I love the students I have at Sanford: 1 of them didn’t show so I have only 13 now. The one that bit me is a real cutie pie with an extremely expressive face. His dad says he talks a lot about me at home and he’ll cling to my legs and give me kisses which is super sweet. And there are others that are a lot of fun, This is the first year that I start a kindergarten class full time and will also finish it and the bond I feel with my kinds is amazing. The others schools are also fun and so is the MA course it is just a lot. That’s the reason none of you receive mails lately or that this blog isn’t updated often. Even at weekends I don’t do all that much, trying to study and sometimes this leads to wasting time. I had forgotten what a terrible student I was.
Nonetheless I have been doing some things. A colleague of mine was really miserable after the summer holiday, she fell in love with living in Turkey and was doubting about leaving. Me seeing how Melissa felt told her that if she was going to be unhappy here she ought t leave with her daughter. She did and it turned out to be a big mistake. It sucked because she was also missed.
Besides a new nursery class was started in September and the new colleague there, Linda, is very different from me and Anna ( the other nursery teacher) and collaborating doesn’t always go smoothly. Anna and me have a ball though, we were the wicked fairy’s in the school pantomime for primary students ( after our kids had left) and were so scary that we made a year 2 student cry. Hihihi. It was loads of fun. We made the kids do aerobics such as stirring the cauldron on Snap’s “I’ve got the power”.
Since the beginning of December a new teacher arrived taking over what Melissa left behind, called Louiza, she was volunteering in India before, is 27 and I believe she may become a good friend.
When Louiza arrived teaching assistants were swapped because I had a real lousy one that many teachers before me complained about but she is close (= goes to the same church as) some people in administration and is therefore impossible to fire.
It was especially bad because she brought a tension to the class atmosphere. Some of the annoying things she did were: not taking proper care of the kids art work, pasting things in or cutting them out crookedly, not dating them properly, an attitude that felt like spying on me, talking to parents and colleagues in Amharic which I do not speak whilst this is against he rules, reacting defensive towards feedback etc. As a result I had even more work because I could not delegate it to her which added to my stress level. I addressed the issue and was told to document everything and then when Louiza came I would get another assistant. This has happened in the mean time and although Elsie is not the quickest I am incredibly relieved.
Linda, who is in many ways very American, organised a thanksgiving party for whoever wanted. My first time celebrating this holiday was really nice. Mika showed up with his new hairdo: one inspired by a minibus driver Nele, Karen and I saw: braids and a curly Mohawk in the middle! I taught it was quite funny for him to meet my colleagues like this for the first time.
We’ve also hosted a couch surfer, Oliver, I met him the day after GYA fired me ( more than a year ago) and he’s been travelling ever since. He has seen the whole of Africa on motorbike: from South Africa, Capetown to the very north, next he’ll go to India and then around Europe before returning to London. He’s living off, renting out his flat in London, good thing the rents there are high. It makes me feel like travelling even more! A friend of TJ’s( = friend in Belgium who just moved to Jo’burg) in South Africa visited us as well with a delicious portion of pork meat she sent!!!! Yummy I do miss pork here!
The Christmas holiday has just begun but it seems I won’t be doing much more than studying. Hopefully I make enough progress so I can visit Harar just after new year. I’d love to get away for a while.
Nothing left to say but to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy 2011!

Still coughing

Who thought Africa’s air would be cleaner? No way. As it turns out I have another infection of my airways, just like I did last year around this time… PFFFFF
This weekend was Meskel or the finding of the true cross which is why on this Monday I can stay at home and write my blog =)
It was quite cool yesterday, there was a huge fire on the main square which was absolutely packed with people. Especially at sunset when candles were handed out and you saw all the little lights around the fire which was lit shortly after. Pretty. The legend is that the smoke of such a bonfire led them to find the true cross. Now the direction in which the fire falls says something about the harvest for the year to come. ( should be good)
The government decreased the value of the birr (by about 20%) which will make many regular people even poorer. There are some reactions in the newspapers but no real riots about it. To me it makes me feel so sad, so many people have a hard life as it is and now it will be even more difficult for them with all the prices going up… I don’t know much about economy but don’t see the benefits for people not involved in export or another foreign currency paid job. Nobody is getting a pay rise. Thank goodness I am ‘international hire’ by now otherwise I’d earn much less then last year.
And I’ll need my pay his year seeing as I start my ( pricey) MA course next week. It’s got me quite excited and a little scared. I hope I didn’t take on too many things this year.
The Dutch embassy school is quite ok but loads of work. I am finding it hard to be told by a method what to say and how to teach and enjoy my freedom at Sanford even more because of it. I’ll see how it evolves. Enjoy Meskel day!

Happy Ethiopian new year!!!

It’s been a while but luckily I got to see so many people during summer! Thanks to all for making my holiday unforgettable.
I arrived with 10kg bodyweight extra but did, for a change, manage to pack correctly and had (to great relief of Dries again my companion at the airport) no problems checking in. I slept most of the flight seeing as Ethiopian airlines don’t offer you your private tv screen like KLM did on my way to Brussels which is actually quite fabulous. How I longed to go to Belgium in June and now I’m satisfied back in my nest in Addis.
Coming home on Sunday and starting work on that very same Monday wasn’t exactly ideal although otherwise I would have missed the huge great flea market which supplied me with a lot of games to play during the power cuts. Luckily the first workweek was meetings and setting up.
I am still somewhat tired and seem too long to go to bed at the same time my 4 year olds do, meaning around nine. I’ll get to a more normal rhythm at some point I hope.
It was nice to see the people here again, especially my boyfriend off course but I have also met some other cool people. It took Mika and me some time to find our balance back but that’s also coming along now.
As it turns out I have 14 kids in my class, really nice. The first weeks weren’t easy though, many of these kids have never been in an English spoken environment and are thus scared shitless. 1 of them bit me really hard and wouldn’t even let go!!! I was completely at loss for words by the whole thing and now, a full 2 weeks later, still bear the small teeth marks on my underarm. War wounds I suppose. It was scary and exciting to start off my very own nursery class for the first time. I was fortunate, I could actually prepare for it whereas my new nursery colleague’s classroom wasn’t ready until the Saturday night before the students came!
I have good hopes for this to become a fun year.
The other day it was saint Rafael’s day, people want it to rain that day because they say it’s holy water and their prayers were answered not only did it poor it even hailed holy water! I was in a minibus at the time and the driver had no visibility whatsoever no decent ventilation system nor working windshield wipers, without a doubt my scariest 10 minutes in Addis so far! The imam didn’t see Eid on a Thursday which meant 1 day of holiday less for me, darn, however I had fun things planned amongst which making popcorns so it wasn’t too bad.
The new year’s eve (10 September) was quite ok, I went out with some of Mika’s friends and we had a nice time, watched sheik Al Amudi’s firework and went to bed shortly after because I managed to get a severe cold including throat ache, congestion and as a result of that head ache Yahoo= (New year’s day was spent resting on the couch.
Nonetheless I wish you all the very best in this Ethiopian 2003!