I don’t know why I was so out of it when I woke up this morning, but I ended up just lying in bed for about 20 minutes, staring out the window. Luckily I didn’t have to teach until 10:45am, so I had some extra time.
My first class went well. I had them finish interviewing each other and then they presented their partner in front of the class (like yesterday). It’s so cute how nervous they get when they’re in front of everyone! But they did really well!
During lunch, I hurried home to make a dessert for Catherine’s dinner party tonight with the neighbors across the street. However, when Catherine came home for lunch, she informed me that Ralf wasn’t feeling too well today and they were changing the dinner to Thursday. Oh. Good thing the dessert will keep until then!
After lunch I had class with the 7 year olds in the library and I discovered that having the whole class take three deep breaths at the start of the class really helped them calm down. Their class is right after recess, so they are normally pretty hyped up. Today went really well, though, and we got a lot of work done with the colors.
Then I headed upstairs to the class of 10 year olds, where I announced that they would be having pen pals and we discussed how they could actually write a letter. They are always super intimidated with the idea of writing a whole letter in English, when really they know plenty for a basic letter! I also gave them the same survey I gave to Margot’s class yesterday.
Before my last class, Pablo and I went up to Margot’s class to be interviewed for the school newspaper. Margot’s class chose us as their topic, so apparently they’re writing an article about us. They asked us each about 12 questions varying from “Were you scared to teach your first class here” (I said: “YES!! I didn’t get much sleep the night before!”) to “What is your passion?” (“Theatre!”) to “Do you have any brothers or sisters? What are their names?" (to which I replied: “I have a sister named Jessie. I also have some ‘almost’ siblings named Maria—who you all know—Theresa, Gabrielle, Phillip, and Paul.”) I didn’t feel bad about having lots of siblings because Pablo has a bunch of half-siblings who he listed off and he says that he hardly ever sees them. So I’m MUCH closer to my ‘siblings’!
Pablo and I were late to our last class with the 7 year olds. Oops. The interview took longer than they had told us it would take. In any case, I had them review the alphabet and count backwards from 10-1. And then we worked some more on the colors and caught everyone up with the worksheets.
I had a little break after school (during which time I had tea with Margot, and then we chatted with Maria and her Tanzanian friend, Happy. It was hilarious speaking English, French, AND Swahili.....well, not much Swahili... just “hello” or “jambo!”!) and then I headed to my conversation class with the teachers. That went really well! Most people brought pictures to talk about and the ones who didn’t just told about trips they had taken. It was brilliant to just chat about funny travel stories and different customs that we’d encountered during trips. There was lots of laughing, which is always good!
After dinner tonight, Margot and I played cards for a while and watched some funny videos online. We compared the Lion King song “Hakuna Matata” in its English version and French version. Then I watched a TV show with Margot and Catherine.
Also, tonight I ordered on Amazon.fr the French version of the book “The Bridge to Terabithia” for Margot. It makes me sad that she doesn’t read (except for school), so perhaps she would actually read it because I know she enjoyed the story... And, I’d really like to read it again! I also found a really cheap, used dvd of “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” I think she’ll enjoy that movie!
Tonight I watched a few “learning Swahili” videos. It’s such a fun language! There’s a possibility that I will visit Maria in Tanzania in May, and I want to know some Swahili before I go! And, if it doesn’t work out, there’s nothing wrong with knowing more languages! :)
Tomorrow I can sleep in! Oh, how I love having Wednesdays off…..
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