September 27, Good Second Day of Teaching!

Today was a really productive, encouraging day! I started off by doing laundry and sweeping my house. I turned down a man trying to give/sell me vitumbua, and had some nuts for breakfast. Delicious and nutritious.

I taught for 80 minutes rather than the 40 minutes I had planned. (The schedule said that "Physics" would be taught starting at 11:40 so I planned accordingly. Silly me. I confirmed today that there are actually no permanent or temporary science teachers of any kind at my school.) The kids were very eager to answer questions, and they listened well, so it was good!

I went to the market with Saumu and got rightly-priced produce. When I came back I went to see my mkuu in her office. She gave me NECTA and Class statistics for my library project, talked to me about my health, helped me arrange a potential Kiswahili/Kisambaa teacher (JB's wife--I'll find out tomorrow if she'll agree to tutor me), and told me she'd help me buy couch cushions. She also gave me permission to go to Lushoto to get a gas stove this weekend. This makes me feel far less guilty about leaving site again since she told me it's important to get it ASAP.

I made gazpacho and it was delicious! Okay, well, I made something similar to it. I didn't have all the ingredients I needed because they weren't available at the market today. After bathing (It was a super hot bucket bath! Oh, and I'm getting really good at using my charcoal jiko!!) I went over and talked to my mkuu and her nieces. They gave me an avocado to eat while we chatted, and my mkuu and her nieces didn't try to make me eat the dinner they'd prepared. It was great! It would have been a perfect day if I didn't have a number of different stomach problems. My no-vomitting streak ended tragically after I finished eating my gazpacho. A lot of wasted vegetable chopping, but I'm not letting my health problems affect how nice today felt! It's the first time I've truly felt productive in a while, so I'm very excited.

Also, I was complimented on another one of my African-style outfits. I need to have more made since they really seem to appreciate "the effort I'm making to integrate".

ALSO THERE MIGHT BE ELECTRICITY AT MY MKUU'S HOUSE BY JANUARY. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT MEANS MINE TOO BUT I WILL DREAM!
---
School Statistics/Why WE NEED A LIBRARY:

Number of students: 196--Even though that doesn't add up? 

Form 1: 22 Boys; 34 Girls; Total of 56 

Form 2: 17 Boys; 24 Girls; Total of 41

Form 3: 21 Boys; 26 Girls; Total of 47

Form 4: 20 Boys; 28 Girls; Total of 48

Capacity for students per school buildings/classrooms available= 480 

Student: Teacher Ratio: 65:1

Subjects Taught: English, Civics, Geography, History

Subjects Missing: Biology, Physics, Chemistry, KiSwahili 

In 2011 22 out of 52 students failed their NECTA final exam. That means they cannot go on to higher levels of education. 24 students scored "Division 4", which means they can go on to trade schools, but not university.