March 31

Exams! Midterm exams occupied the schedule from last Monday to the coming Wednesday (after which school lets out for Easter break. I’ve given my classes a few quizzes in the past, but these tests actually count toward their final grade. The other difference between these exams and prior ones is that we hooked up the generator to the copier and made photocopies to pass out in class. This is partly due to the importance of midterms, and partly because many of the questions (esp. on Form C & E exams) come directly from Cambridge exams from previous years.

Forms A and B had classes earlier in the week, but by Thursday every form was scheduled to test one subject in the morning, then another in the afternoon. This meant there were a lot of classrooms that needed proctors. Except we don’t call them proctors here – we call them “invigilators” and watching a classroom for cheaters is called “invigilating”. I find this hilarious because “invigilate” doesn’t even sound like a word to me – The Invigilator could be a comic book villain. Or a pro wrestling name. Or a kitchen appliance. However, I am alone in my humor because my co-fellow, product of the Indian education system that she is, is accustomed to invigilating and finds the term totally unremarkable. Whatever. I’ll continue to use invigilation as a threat. (“Bring me a candle or I’ll invigilate you!”)

Okay, clearly I’ve spent too much time thinking about this, but I had a lot of time to sit in quiet classrooms and think this week. Most of those thoughts were consumed by telepathically willing my students to do well on their exams. I only wrote half the exam questions for the As (both maths and agric), so I felt extra sympathetic toward the Cs and Es, whose questions came from the Cambridge exams. These are the types of questions they’ll need to be able to answer if they want to advance to Form D/graduate. But some of the questions are really, really tricky. They require the students to really consider how they can apply the principles they’ve learned in class, not just recognize the formulas and patterns they see in the homework. Of course, that’s where math gets really interesting and satisfying, but unfortunately I haven’t had a lot of time to practice these skills with my students because, as I’ve mentioned before, we barely have enough time to cover all the material we should.

The mood at the school was rather gloomy much of this week, a combination of the exams and the weather, which has turned cool and rainy all of a sudden. To me the wind and showers feels a lot like April, which sounds funny because it almost is April, but we’re supposed to be on the cusp of autumn. Instead it’s tough to shake the feeling that I’m moving through the seasons backwards, from summer to spring.

My co-workers have a different opinion of the change in weather. While I have pulled out my rainboots and cardigans, they have donned long winter coats and hats and gloves. That’s really the opposite of what I expected – I thought living in the mountains without heat during the winter would make people very hardy, but that doesn’t seem to be true. The slightest chill turns up and everyone starts dressing like they’re about to run the Iditarod. Anyway, when I was in Hangzhou I got used to telling people “wo bu pa leng” (literally “I do not fear the cold” but the implication is more that I’m cold-tolerant). Hopefully I can come up with a similar shorthand here.

Not much else to report this week – between the tests and the rain there was a lot of reading and drinking hot cocoa and watching the clouds. But I’m writing this post from Bloemfontein (we started Easter break a little early) and it’s already been plenty exciting. Right now I’m sitting in our hostel, which looks a lot like a converted barn, watching a rugby game (“watching” – rugby is second only to cricket in the extent that it befuddles me) with my co-fellow and a visiting bowling team. More details on my travels in a week or two!

Stray thoughts:

• During Theater Club a student was sharing with me a song she wrote and our conversation went something like this:

Student: “I can see the light, I can see the darkness, I can see the cream cheese…”

Me: “What did you say?”

Student: “I can see the green trees…”

Oh, right. Just projecting then.

• Everyone in the whole world loves Adele. Adele and Beyonce.

March 24

Once again Bo Grinnell was blessed with a visitor from far far away! My co-fellow and I skipped school on Monday to pick up our program director, who was coming to check out the Grinnell Corps: Lesotho program and see how it’s doing (his last visit was about 4 years ago). Of course we wanted to welcome our boss at the airport, but we were also angling for a ride home in the truck the nuns sent, and a chance to fill up the back with many bags of canned beans & tomatoes. Because living in rural Lesotho has made us shameless opportunists.

Just as when my co-fellow’s parents visited, having a guest helped me see all the wonderful parts of living in St. Rodrigue with new eyes. I took a moment to asorb how stunning the mountains are, how melodious the students’ voices, how brilliant the stars. Out program director has also had the benefit of watching the program grow and change since its inception, so I also learned some new things about my surroundings. For instance, the peak just north of our house is called Drake mountain, named after George & Sue Drake, who served in the Peace Corps here and founded the Grinnell Corps: Lesotho program. (That’s where one had to walk to get cell phone reception before it reached the house.) He also helped us identify some of the previous fellows in photos on our “fridge” (the tall white cabinet where we store most of our food) and gave us the green light to thoroughly clean out the house. The house is holding up well structurally, but it could do with some freshening up in the maintenance department. So sometime in the future (probably after I’ve left, but that’s okay) Bo Grinnell will get a fresh coat of paint on the walls, new floors, new curtains, and new furniture! And electricity and wifi just kidding. But in all seriousness, our director suggested more improvements than we asked for (when does that ever happen?) and I like the idea of our cozy little home getting a facelift.

We spent a lot of time discussing the Grinnell Corps: Lesotho program – its strengths, its shortcomings, and how it could be improved to address the current needs of St. Rodrigue High School. It felt really great to express my feelings and observations thus far, and I think I learned a lot from comparing my perspectives with those of my co-fellow and director. We hashed out a lot of hypothetical scenarios that could occur as the result of certain changes, and our director also had a long discussion with the principal. In the end, I think we all had very similar views on what aspects were working well and what things needed to change. It’s a little early for me to say here exactly what those changes are, but they will come into effect when the next fellow arrives in July, and I’ll talk more about it then. Because I’ll be transitioning from one phase of the program to another, I will be allowed to continue some of the projects that are going well for me, and I’m grateful for that.

I’m sure that account is annoyingly vague, so I’ll move on to something I can talk about, at least a little. That would be the effect all our discussions about the purpose of the Grinnell Corps: Lesotho program has had on my thoughts about my own fellowship year. After taking a good hard look at how Grinnell Corps fellows can best serve St. Rodrigue High School, I’ve come away with a better attitude about my work. Making an effort to be humble is always a good lesson for me, and it applies again now. I am not here to audit St. Rodrigue and overhaul classes in the manner I see fit. This is a year of service, and my goal is to do as much good as I can in all the ways I can. (John Wesley would have been a superb Grinnell Corps fellow) This week I found out a couple of my team-teachers had already written the exams for next week (which is mid-terms, or the equivalent thereof) and heretofore I might have been frustrated that I wasn’t getting equal control over the class curriculum. But now I believe that if those teachers don’t need my help in writing an exam, I shouldn’t force it on them. In contrast, when I do something simple like type up an exam using my relatively fast typing skills (thanks, years of playing keyboard & keyboard-like instruments!) I receive inordinate amounts of praise and gratitude. So why wouldn’t I just focus on those roles in which I am clearly being most helpful? I’m not implying I’m going to stop teaching and start acting as a secretary, just that I should be attentive to when my help is most appreciated. On that note, word is getting around that I will help anyone with their maths, whether they’re in my classes or not, and at the time of this writing (on a Saturday) I need to go help some students with properties of a circle

(2 hours later)

So when I left to go to the school I found three of the neighbor kids had knocked down the really cool swallow nest on our porch (it appeared to be made entirely of mud) and were holding the three baby birds it once contained. They grinned and held them out saying, “Birds! Baby birds!” then, pointing to two birds perched near the house, “Mother! Father!” I didn’t have a good feeling about their fates, and sure enough I’ve returned to find a porch covered in feathers and a few entrails. Oh well. Such is life and death in St. Rodrigue.

Enough of philosophizing and baby bird massacres; it’s bumming me out. This week was, very simply, a lot of fun. The arrival of a tall, energetic white guy caused quite a stir, and our director was treated to several concerts, both impromptu and planned. Walking around St. Rodrigue we were a magnet for primary school students. The three of us shared some good conversation (it’s always fun to chat with a fellow Grinnell alum). Also, our director served in the Peace Corps in Suriname and shared with us some stories from that experience. I’ll just say that his anecdotes made me feel like our lifestyle in Bo Grinnell is pretty cushy after all. At least we don’t have venomous snakes, crocodiles, tarantulas, or nightmarish parasites.

Yesterday there was a “cultural competition” held just outside the convent. As far as I could tell, students from several different primary schools attended (I could tell by their different uniforms) but I’m not sure what grade the performers were in. I missed the girls’ performances (I was proctoring an exam) which might have helped me figure it out. Anyway I watched several groups of male dancers, which was pretty interesting. They danced to singing/chanting and wore a lot of fringe around their waist and knees, with bells on their ankles. (Video on youtube & pics on facebook: coming soon!)

I’m getting very excited about upcoming vacation plans, although details are still in flux, so particulars will have to wait. But they should include meeting up with the Grinnell Corps: Namibia fellows, which will be sooo much fun! But before that happens the students will have to suffer through a long week of tests. I was a student myself less than a year ago, so I have a lot of sympathy for them. Which is why I’ll be back at the school tomorrow, conducting another study session.

Stray thoughts:

• During an agric practicum (which mostly involves me handing out carrot and spinach seeds to students to plant) a student asked me the English name of a particular fruit. It took me a little while to figure it out, but I’m pretty sure it’s a quince tree! I’ve never seen a quince up close before, and I’m looking for potential recipes now (jam maybe?).

• I’ve been receiving a lot of mail in the last week or so, and I can’t express how excited I am when I see an envelope addressed to me. It is always the highlight of that day. Thank you so much to everyone who has sent me mail! It means so much to me!!

• I am totally hooked on solar chargers. Even when I’m back on the grid I plan to use them as much as possible.