6-20-07

Teaching is going well. Patrick and I have developed this system of taking turns and using what we see works with each other to modify how we do things. Since we teach the same lesson three times we get chances to change our approach and such. It has been interesting to see how he does things and then how I do the same things but just a little differently and then how we modify ourselves in light of what we learn from each other. I have found it difficult to plan because he is so used to just using the book and there is not a lot of time to be able to do extra activities because its not about depth of knowledge as much as breadth.

Josh, who we call peanut butter, has sort of melded into our family unit along with Jamie. We all end up sitting together at night and talking and such. They are really great guys. Josh is so cute about his girlfriend back home and he will be joining the marines in the fall. Jamie is an intern and he might take a year long job here with IC when his internship is up. He is hilarious and such a sweet guy.

We take turns buying fruit and I cut it up (who would have thunk it) but last night I accidentally got our pineapple mixed up with the one Doreen got for our breakfast. She was not too happy this morning and thought that the staff would be mad. She was able to salvage a lot of the pineapple and no one said anything, I cant imagine them complaining. I felt awful and begged for forgiveness and she granted it. She is such a sweet lady I couldn't believe she could be mad at me for long, especially since the acholi culture is so forgiving.

Margo got really sick last night. She has had diarrhea for about 2 weeks but last night it turned into vomiting. We all felt so bad for her. Phil stayed up with her most of the night because we had morning class. We gave her simpro, which is for travelers sickness or something like that. She seemed to be doing a lot better today so hopefully she can get better soon. It is scary to be sick here but so many people are getting sick. I guess its just par for the course.

the way the acholi culture handles madness (insanity) is they just sort of let those people roam around. I don't know what they do if they are violent, I think they put them in hospitals but for the most part they just sort of give them leftover food and let them stay in the hospital when they want. There are 2 "mad" people that roam around Gulu High. One is a man and I have never really had any encounters with him. The other is a woman named francis. I have had multiple encounters with her. We have decided that she sort of seeks me out. I don't know why. I didn't realize what her deal was when I met her so maybe that is why. Well the other day she was right outside our house when I got home. I was getting off of a boda and all of the sudden she was there. I was just like ok see you later. Well she followed me in the gate. We are not allowed to have people inside the gate, especially people we cant trust. Granted she has never been violent but she is just not stable obviously. I was trying to get her to leave and trying to be loud so someone would hear me because I knew amy and Catherine were home. But they never came. Francis got a little agitated and started asking me for money and things. When I told her I couldn't give her anything and she couldn't come in she got more agitated. She started telling me that I shouldn't love money and that she had some. So she lifted up her skirt and pulled this white something out of her underwear and threw in on the ground in front of her sort of at me. I think she was saying it was money. Needless to say I was way unnerved and didn't know what to do so I just started walking in and she luckily left. I tried to talk to amy and Catherine and they didn't seem too upset. Later I found out that they didn't understand what I was talking about and they thought a kid had tried to follow me in. they were much more sympathetic later. I feel bad because I don't want to be scared of francis but I also don't want anything to happen that would be bad for me or her. All this to say today on my way home she was walking from the school and decided to walk with me. Luckily I had a paper i pretended to read and tried to walk quickly. As soon as a boda rode by I hopped on and was in the gate well before she had reached it. If I see her at school I can usually go into a classroom or the staff room and avoid her. If bryan is around he is really good about blocking her.

The second group of teachers arrive today. I am excited to meet them and to see how the dynamics of the house change.