A Day in the Life

The rainy season is here. Each night there is thunder, lightning, and rain that last quite a few hours. This has been coinciding with extended power outages, mud, and bugs everywhere. Despite this unfortunate weather, I am getting the hang of things. Teaching the vocations class is going well. I will give more details about my classes in the future, but I would first like to explain a “typical” day in the life of a GHTA volunteer.

(Of course, nothing is ever typical. Yesterday I saw a stork/vulture-esk bird that was at least FOUR FEET TALL. NEARLY MY SIZE. These are things I thankfully don’t see every day.)

7:30am- Wake up, make toast with Nutella/ peanut butter (yes, they have it here!) or eggs. Take malaria pill. Choose from collection of long skirts to fashion for the day.

9:00am- classes begin. For English and Business, the classes are 1.5 hours and then each switch for another 1.5 hour chunk. Vocations is taught in a three hour (full day) section. The students are divided into three groups (according to general English levels) and work on a rotating schedule between all three classes.

12:00pm- class is over. Students stick around to chat and practice English. Sometimes the volunteers help students set up Facebook accounts or work on homework. Somewhere in here we squeeze in lunch which usually involves last night’s leftovers or some kind of avocado/tomato/mango salad.

2pm to 4pm on Monday and Thursday- the kids arrive! Some of our students bring their kids and some neighborhood kids come over to practice English and most importantly, play! The highlights so far have been watercolors and balloon animals.

Every other afternoon, we usually walk into town (about 20 minutes) and do some errands/shopping, grab coffee, or visit the internet café. We may grab a drink at the local hotel or visit GHTA’s co-op and see how the women working there are doing.

7pm or 8pm- Dinner and Swahili practice. The current volunteers and I have been taking Swahili lessons with Herman, our flat-mate and a program coordinator. (More on how those lessons are going later.) Often times we lose power in the evenings, so dinner and chatting take place by candlelight/flashlight. There is also a good amount of time dedicated each evening to bug catching. Luckily current volunteer Yelena is an expert cockroach poacher.

And on the weekends, we try to plan local adventures and excursions. Last weekend we took a mini hike to the Marangu Waterfall. This weekend we road-tripped to the “big city” of Arusha. And next weekend we will tour a coffee farm on Mt. Kilimanjaro.