Into the breach...

School is finally starting, and I’m glad for the occupation of my time. The past two weeks have frankly been rather boring. Even once you accept the daily power outages, water issues (as in, lack thereof), oppressive heat, and general lack of tasty food products, the pace of everyday life is just glacial. Days were filled with sitting, chatting, watching movies, playing games with steamy Titanic playing cards, plotting dirty storylines to accompany steamy Titanic playing cards, fetching water from the near-empty rain barrel, contemplating a shower, deciding a shower can wait two more days, discussing tasty additions to dinner, begrudgingly accepting such additions are impossible, and, every so often, pondering when school will actually get kicking. Trips to town were our main distractions. Walking downhill to town takes fifty minutes; walking back up takes an hour or more on account of lunch, the stifling heat and searing sun, bags laden with groceries, and general accumulated lethargy. It’s a slow four kilometers, for sure.

Although school is certifiably starting now, some drudgery will remain. Eating requires special attention to cleaning raw veggies sporting lurking bad spots (or worse), careful consideration of water safety and quality, and laboriously nannying our single burner hotplate and cheapo aluminum pot and frypan, thin as tin cans and prone to excessive food stick-age and scorching. The pots will likely drive me mad long before some bizarre encephalitis-inducing tropical disease seizes me. Washing clothes in small plastic basins usually takes the better part of a morning: soak, scrub, rinse, ring, rinse, ring, hang, repeat. Clothes dry in no time flat, baking into hard fabric Frisbees creased in two along our spider web elastic clothesline. Keeping the house interior, front (or is it back? I don’t really know) porch, and ‘walled compound’ swept clean is supposedly a daily task. Presently it’s an every third day kind of thing on account of our nasty neighbors, the wasps nesting out either door. Judgment day will soon be upon them, or at least pack-up-and-get-the-hell-out-of-here day. Comfort will continue to be determined by the relative strength of breezes that meekly waft in through our screened double windows. Only when rain is on the way do we get a decent cooling sensation. Our tin roof will still creak and moan like an old rusty trawler lolling in heavy seas. Something about sudden extreme temperature changes. As long as she doesn’t spring a leak.

In case anyone was curious, I will be teaching Senior 4, 5, and 6 English. This is roughly equivalent to our 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. My task will be doubly challenging because English as a taught course at A-level is being reintroduced this year, and end-of-term examinations for Senior 6 (which determine if and where you may pursue post-secondary education) will be conducted exclusively in English. It is a tall order to help my students prepare for examinations and the wider world, but I’m happy and excited to be a part of their maturation and education.

Don’t hesitate to email or Facebook with questions or comments. I’ll respond as quickly and fully as possible. Maramuke from Nyagatare! I will be able to post more frequently now that school is starting up, and magically pictures uploaded today. Hope you enjoy 'em, many more to come.