Challenges- 10/26/10

As I wake up and climb out of bed each morning I am greeted by the African sunshine, the strange calls of birds and buzzing of bugs and a possibility of a whole new set of challenges. I have never been tested and tried more in my life than I have been here. Every passing hour could bring another crisis, stressful situation or pure joy.

For the next month or so Samantha and I will be living with our oldest student Alexia. She is Brazilian and spending this year with her aunt and uncle (who are doctors at the hospital) to learn English. Her aunt and uncle left in the middle of October for leave to Brazil, leaving Samantha and I to enjoy an actual house and personal space.

However, not letting down the African reputation, everything seems to be falling in around us. The first weekend we were here we faced major flooding from the ceiling in my room. Three days later it happened again in a different room. We’ve had to deal with lazy house workers (who think they need to be our nannies), we’ve broken a vacuum, ran out of power, ran out of internet, killed the car, killed the lights in the master suit. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the Araujo’s will come back to their house still standing.

Being a teacher bring another set of challenges. Since we have such a big age range in our classroom (6-12) it is hard to keep everything running smoothly, and quietly. We’ve had to deal with fist fights, yelling parents, depancing of children, bumps and bruises, and tons of arguments.

Even though there are moments where you just want to give up and go home, they are met by moments that remind us why we are here. Like mom’s coming up to us before school and saying they’ve noticed such a change in their children since we’ve come. Their kids use to hate school, and now they can’t wait to come. Or one of our littlest kids (Sasha or Julian) comes and crawls into your lap or tap you on the shoulder and cutely say, “Miss Cassie (or Miss Samantha) watch me (or what is this).” Those moments make it all worth it.