Second Trimester (Like a Tornado in a trailer park)

January 25, 2010
Hi everyone

Well getting back into the swing of things here has been more than a little crazy. Being away from site for three weeks and then coming back, well you have to pacify a lot of people. The Burkinabè are somewhat touchy when they think that you have been ignoring them. To get back into their good graces, well that requires sitting at the marché for several hours and telling them every detail of your trip. Oh and don't forget to buy everyone something to drink. You really have to love the way things operate here.

School is getting more and more interesting every day. I started off the second semester by giving my kids an hour long lecture on the importance of an education. Good Lord, I am so tired of trying to explain to the why they should want to be educated. I told them not only does it get you a better job in life which means more money and a healthier family, but it is the one thing in life that no one can steal from you. That impressed them to some extent, but not a whole lot. Nope what impressed them about being educated was me going off and telling them all of these random facts about every subject I could think of. The kids had a lot of fun asking me about anything they could think of and hearing what I new about each thing. Now the only down side is my students now think I am somewhat of a freak. They are thoroughly impressed that any one person could know so much information and the fact that I'm a girl as well! Yep I have officially blown the minds of 180 kids here in Boulsa :) Now lets just see if this can get them to be even slightly motivated to learn something.

Tim is having a lot of fun trying to teach his students to type. I must admit that it is a little funny to watch them type. Imagine trying to teach someone who has never used/seen a computer before how to type. Oh it is beautiful. Tim is constantly having to run and answer questions because the thing isn't thinging:) Yes they really do say that in French. He does have his students a little worried since one of their tests for the semester is a typing test. They have to have a typing speed of 20 words a minute to advance to the next trimester.

I have discovered just how flexible I am here. I was suppose to give a test to my class today, but the censeur had left town with my tests locked in his office. No problem though, I was at school 40 minutes before my first class so I would have plenty of time to talk with the proviseur and have him open the office for me. After waiting for 40 minutes for him to finish with a phone call, I had to go to class without talking to him. I did however explain my situation to the secretary and she was going to talk with him when he got off the phone. After my class, I ran back to get my tests since I was giving it right after the 25 minute break. Well that didn't really work out so well because proviseur had went into town. Thus I sat in the secretary's office for 40 minutes watching a documentary in French on the Apocalypse of 2012. I finally abandoned the thought of giving my test today and headed to class 15 minutes late. My class cheered when I told them that I had to move the test to Saturday morning. Tim was really impressed by how I handled the situation especially with my type A personality. Then again, that is a huge part of life here; being as flexible as possible.

Surreal is getting to be quite large now. She is approximately 20lbs now! She is super cute and more than willing to crawl up in anyone's lap if she is allowed. She is starting to leave things alone like a good doggy should too. We have even started to take her to school with us in the afternoons. The kids think that she is absolutely amazing. They had no idea that dogs could be trained to do things. They told Tim and I it was impossible for dogs to learn anything. When we showed them that Surreal could sit, shake, lay down and stay on command, they were completely baffled. Surreal is really turning into one of our best assets over here. Whenever we have a rough day, we just come home and play with her and she can get us smiling again. I can't wait for everyone to meet her next year.

Oh last week, I proved that once again I am most definitely a Turnquist. Coming home from school, I hit a washed out area in the road and flipped over my bike. Nothing too serious, just some road rash on my elbow and knee and of course bruises. Being a klutz is so not fun over here. I do have the kids at school telling me how pretty my scabs are and they are being sincere.