My creativity with titles of blogs is really slipping... I'll have to work on that. Today, I got a lovely set of letters from the second grade class I volunteered in, and it really made my day!! Life at site is going well, and very warm. I feel like the heat is a fairly recurring theme in these posts, but it is hot! Yesterday, my thermometer read 110, and it was so humid that there was a high fog that prevented me from seeing across the little valley that I can normally easily see across. My teaching continues to go well. I should be getting the the textbooks I asked for tomorrow sometime, and am very excited about that. I tend to try to spend time with the students who are further behind. There is one older woman who I have been working with a lot. At certain points the class has to copy words down onto their little chalkboards, and she tries but her heart really isn't in it. She told me that all she really wants to be able to do is write her name. So, I wrote her name out, and I make her copy it over and over again. She throws all her effort into this, and it is actually sort of touching how badly she wants to be able do this. She's getting it down pretty well, and I am really proud of her. I also work with other students by writing letters or numbers on their boards and asking them what they are. And then I'll do simple combinations like "f" and "a" and I try to get them to understand that the name of the letter and the sound that it makes are different, (at least with consonants). The village really enjoys when I play guitar, and I am asked on a daily basis if I am going to play for them that day. I don't everyday because some days I am too tired, and also I only know a limited number of songs, and I think they're going to catch on that I am only playing the same songs, and I don't want them getting bored with it.... Though I honestly doubt that's possible. They love it too much.
My garden is coming along nicely. I have three tiered beds dug, and am in the process of digging out the large rocks of the lowest bed. I hoping we get a good rain before I plant because I want to see how well things drain so I can make adjustments to the design as needed. Also, I still need a gate, but that shouldn't take too long to make. I'll be venturing down to a little town called Woroni tomorrow to check out their waterfalls. Apparently, they are splendid.
I had a pretty large ant colony living under the clay pot I keep my veggies in, and I went to war with them a few days ago. I got bitten a lot, but I won in the end. I had to break out "Rambo" which is probably the gnarliest insecticide ever made. It makes RAID look like water. It comes from Nigeria, and works really, really well. I discovered I can make gravy (sort of) using flavored MSG, onions, and flour. It is delicious, and goes very well with the endless supply of potatoes I have. I think that's about all for now. I'll probably have another update in a few weeks.
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