Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Site Visit/ Teaching

Im sorry I havent written in awhile...oops... Anyways, there has been a lot going on.

First of all, last week we went on our site visits to see where we will be living for the next 2 years. I am posted in the Southwest province in this little village called Lewoh and I absolutely looove it. It is really tiny and there is only one small market and no internet but it is BEAUTIFUL. I have a really nice house that has electricity and running water, the hospital is right across the street and the doctor is my next door neighbor. The people there are also really nice and speak english so it will be easy to get to know people hopefully...although you have to change the way you speak english in anglophone provinces. You have to talk really slowly and annunciate your words, we call it our "special english", haha. They also speak pidgin which is basically really messed up and simple english and it is sooo much fun to speak. I am now taking pidgin classes because I have reached my level in french. One sentence I actually learned in class was "My big papa gets three women dem" which means my grandfather has three wives. Also "A be women for America" means I am from America. Fun, n'est pas?

So, after we got back, Model School started which is basically a summer school put on by Peace Corps so that trainees can practice teaching. The first week we just observed other volunteers and Cameroonian teachers and made up our lesson plans. Then, this week, we started teaching ourselves. I am teaching 2 biology classes and one information technology class (IT) and so my total workload is 10 hours of teaching each week. The first day I was TERRIFIED but now it is not so bad. My IT class is really a combination of 2 classes and they are horrendous but I have each of the classes separately for biology and then they arent so bad. I really like teaching and everything has been going pretty well so far. All of the students call me Madam Connie and stand up when I enter the room... its pretty fun.

Only 1 more month of training and then I will officially be a volunteer!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You sound wunderbar! I'm so glad you updated. I think of you so much. So glad things are going well.
A hospital across from your house and the doctor as your neighbor really brings me peace of mind :)
You are much loved by me!
Robin

Unknown said...

I need another update por favor! Even if it is a short mini-one. I miss you!
Kara

Unknown said...

Wow that is so exciting! I am really happy for you and you have inspired me!