May, 2018.
J. Kept disappointing me as usual. But I will not write about that anymore. When he dropped me at the Dar es Salam airport (he was going to the city anyway so he gave me a lift) he gave me an envelop and said it was for all my work but also for all the inconvenience he might have caused me. As he was damn right, I accepted without arguing.
Why am I in the Dar es Salam airport? I found a new host in a village nearby. This time it is a real school where they need a English teacher (the current one is not coming because the director cannot pay him, so the kids are without a teacher for about one month now). And also it is a real family: Mr. Peter and his wife, Mrs. Astrida. And I am staying with them, at their house.
Going to Peter’s house it is not easy. The roads are unbelievable bad. Far away worse than Majengo, in Kasese. And to make it worse, it is still raining time. Mr. Peter has a big propriety with a few chickens, a rooster, some ducks, one cow and a lot of fruit trees. Every time that I hear the rooster or the cow, it just makes me to want even more my own small place with some animals. The house is quite big. It is all simple but it is nice. I have my own bedroom with a mosquito net and it is all that I need. The biggest problem is always the same: mosquitoes.
Mama Astrida is lovely and they also have a guy to cook, Michael, who treats me nicely. The food is the local one and it is very good. Michael even make some vegetable sambussas which I like a lot.
The school is not far from here and I already know how to go alone. It was quite difficult at the beginning because everything around looks like the same and there are so many different ways to go everywhere.
At the school, the teachers are nice with me but still I feel that there is something else. Sometimes the way that they keep looking at me when I am not looking. Maybe is just because of the tattoos and my clothes and the fact I do not have hair.
The kids are from four up to ten years old. Until now, I just stay two days with them, trying to teach, practicing sports and trying to make them talk. So, the good thing is Mr. Peter is doing a good job putting the teachers to speak with them and trying to make the kids just speak in English at school. Their English is quite good for their ages and a public school. I was checking their exercises and they know a lot. The biggest thing of course is the speaking. I propose to spend about two hours with them in the afternoon, and just try to make them speak more.
Looks like they like me and I have just one of them who did not respect me and refuses to talk so I have to ask for help to the other teacher. Apart of that, I will start to bring some different stuff of mine to make them talk about it. Maybe I will even bring the computer in the future.
It upsets me a little the way that the teachers treat the kids. You see, I know that is their way, is the culture, and actually that just show me why most of every single one African is quite rude. Is not that they do that on purpose, is just the way that they are. And of course they treat the kids in the same way, but oh! It is so difficult to not let that bother me. There is no kind or gentle way, which make looks like there is no affection. Is just too hard for me.
It has been raining almost every day. I just hope that do not ruin my plans of going back to walk every single day. I want to be at least a little back in shape before take the boat to one of the next two countries I want to go. I think it could be a very good thing to help with the seasick and the work on the boat.
