Bean Sandwiches and Fish Balls: Weeks 11 and 12

WEEK 11

April 18, 2012

Today Mr. Diallo, the principal of the school/Kadiatou's dad, asked me if I would teach a few math classes a few days a week. After looking over the schedule I decided I probably could do it, even though math is not my strongest subject, to say the least. As if he could tell I was wavering about what I should do, Mr. Diallo then offered me the option of teaching English instead. Clearly I am much more comfortable with this and so I agreed. Now I will be teaching 7th grade and 8th grade English, each once a week.

This afternoon I looked at Kadiatou's English notebook to see what the 8th grade has learned so far. First of all, the last English class she had was in December, so pretty much anything she may have learned, she probably lost. Although this sucks for the students, it makes lesson-planning soooo much easier for me; I can just start at the beginning, which I plan to do, using the same model as for my revision class.

April 19, 2012

Well, today was my first day teaching English for the 8th grade. It went well, although it was a little overwhelming. There are about 45 students in the class (remember, my revision had only about 7) and they all talked at once and asked a million questions. However, the students were all kind, and listened to me and I think they actually understood what I was trying to teach. I felt a little bad at the end, because I told them I plan to give an exam next week, after having only one class in which we covered A LOT of material, but no one complained, and so I hope they are prepared next week.

April 21, 2012

Since I haven’t been working at the hospital, I’ve been spending my days selling bean sandwiches with my host mom. These are awesome sandwiches, simple baked beans on French bread with a sauce made from oil, onions, and I think mashed up fish (it doesn’t really taste fishy, so I’m not sure). They are a nice change from rice and sauce and so I enjoy having them for breakfast each morning. Yesterday my mom also started selling “banti” or meat balls made from fish. These are also delicious, although they take a little getting used to since they are made with the bones of the fish in addition to the meat. Banti are made with mashed rice, onions, mashed whole fish (literally the whole fish, but with the head cut off), and hot pepper. Some people sell these fish balls with a hot pepper/water sauce, which is delicious and is actually what I prefer, although my mother cooks the banti in the pepper water rather than serving it in it.

Each morning I get up around 6:30 to help my mom prepare the beans and fish balls and then we carry everything over the school to sell to students and teachers. It is a nice way to pass the morning because I can talk with my student friends and see the professors I work with (namely Mr. Soumah, my Susu teacher). In the afternoons, once school is out, I help Kadiatou prepare the rice for her family and spend time with her brothers and sister. I feel more a part of their family than my own sometimes, so this is a pleasant way to pass the day. Once the food is finished and we have all eaten, Kadiatou and I get water from the pump and then I head home for the evening.  Mostly I hang outside with my sister,  Namina, and my mom has to cook the beans and prepare the fish balls for the next morning (these things take a couple hours to make so it’s necessary to prep them at night so their ready for cooking the next morning). Sometimes, when Namina has finished her chores and cooking the “cookies” she sells, we walk to the port where a bridge is being built connecting Bintimodia to Katangoro, a neighboring village. I like seeing the progress of the bridge and its nice to be at the river in the sunset hours.

WEEK 12

April 23, 2012

Today I had my first Susu class in about 3 weeks. Mr. Soumah was impressed that I remembered most of what he taught me, and that I have learned new things in the interim. The class progressed smoothly and when we were about finished I received a telephone call from a number I didn’t recognize. I noticed the country code was not from Guinea, so I was curious as to who was calling me and so I answered (normally I would just call back after class, that is the respectful thing to do, after all). Well, it’s a good thing I answered, because it was Raychel calling from Tanzania! It was so great to hear from her and share our PC experiences so far. It was an awesome surprise to get that call, and I look forward to talking with her, and others, again.

April 24, 2012

Every Tuesday there is a “petite marche” in my village where women sell vegetables, food (KeKe, bean sandwiches, etc.), and shoes, amongst other things. It is very small, but everyone comes to buy various things for meals and whatnot. Today was my first time experiencing the market, and it was rather exciting. Let me begin by saying I ate a ton of food. Before 10 am I had already eaten a bean sandwich, keke (shaved manioc with a little sauce and stuff), an avocado salad sandwich, about 6 fish balls, and a couple bonbons glacees. I was stuffed and happy, and could honestly not think of a better place to be at that time than selling beans and banti with all the other women talking in Susu.

Later in the morning, the chef of the health center gave a short talk about the importance of treating water and drinking only this water because there was a recent cholera outbreak in Kamsar, with two deaths as a result. The women all stopped their work and listened attentively while the chef went on about this; but once he was finished, it was back to business and chatting, just like women everywhere.

Today was also my first day teaching English to the 7^th grade. I decided to give the same lesson as I gave the previous Thursday to the 8^th grade. Everything was going well, except for a few disrespectful students, who apparently give all the other teachers a hard time too. This class is smaller than the 8^th grade (about 25-30 students) but it is wayyy more challenging. No one understood anything, or so they said, and no one listened at all. I ended up cutting the lesson a little short because I could tell the students had checked out, and honestly, I had had enough. Hopefully next week goes better, now that I know what to expect from them.

April 26, 2012

Today I gave an exam to the 8^th grade English class. It was awful. The class average was a 10 out of 20. The highest grades were a 19 and 18, but I’m fairly certain these students cheated, as I know the smartest kid only got a 16.5.  I gave a written part, which went ok, and an oral questioning, which went horribly.

Firstly, all the students were talking throughout the whole exam. Second, hardly anyone knew the answers to the oral exam. Thirdly, half the class cheated on the bonus I gave because they were all listening in on the oral exam. This was all very discouraging, but I made it through, and definitely have a better plan for the next time.

Grading papers was again slightly upsetting, once I realized how badly most students did, but this is normal, and I know education is not valued here and so this occurrence is not unique to my class. I was happy with some students, who I know, and who did well, namely Kadiatou who earned a 15.5. Once I got the last few papers, though, I realized there was a major case of cheating. One student’s paper had two different handwritings on it; one belonging to the girl whose test it was, and the other belonging to Kadiatou. I asked Kadiatou if she sat next to this girl, to which she said no. I then asked if this girl is a good student, and Kadiatou replied not particularly. I then flat out asked if Kadiatou helped her with her test, to which she, again, said no. I then told her I knew she did because her handwriting was on the test and the answers she wrote were wrong and unique to her own test. She then admitted that she wrote those answers in to help her friend. I told her they would both receive zeros, because cheating is unacceptable. I feel badly about this, but I know it is right and for the best.