Oops. Late..
Spaced on this one a couple weeks ago. But it means I have more to report... So it's not all bad!
"My job"
My primary job here as a teacher is winding down. I will likely only have a couple of weeks of teaching after the June break before I leave my site. It's been a bit of a task keeping motivated (and keeping students motivated) in this last stretch with the end coming quickly. But it has also been good. My swahili being better now makes communication easier and keeps my students more attentive for the most part. Also, having more experience under my belt and teaching topics for the second time (after having taught them last year) makes me feel like a more competent teacher.
The water/laboratory project has almost been completed. The lab benches have arrived, the small tank is installed and had been filled with water by the gutters, the large tank is going to be finished this week, and all that will be left after that is to connect the water tank to the sink inside!
"Life"
Life has been good these past few months. It's been really busy at times, but that keeps things moving along. I helped hand off the projects of Shika na Mikono to the new group of education volunteers, helped coordinate the site visits of the new group of health and agriculture volunteers (who will be swearing in this week!), and participated in a competition between volunteers over our Easter break!
After the competition, a few volunteers and I went down to Mbeya to check out a place called Matema beach on Lake Nyasa (also known as Lake Malawi). It was a relaxing trip, away from work. We did almost nothing but eat, sleep, swim and play Yahtzee. And that's exactly what we needed. But during this break (and now coming back from it) I realized that I'm exhausted. And it was evident that the type of exhausted I am now can't be cured by an week away from school. It's a tired that I can only maybe compare to the last few weeks of senior year of high school. I am ready for a change in scenery, a change in activities, and a change in lifestyle. So now in the last four months of my time here I'm doing all I can to stay productive in this last stretch.
"Back home"
I feel like I have an unrealistically positive view of what going home will be like and as I'm fighting my senioritis, I'm also fighting these unrealistic expectations of my return.
"Joel, your friends can't drop everything they're doing to go on a cross-country road trip with you just because you've been gone for a while."
"Joel, people don't want you to talk for hours about Tanzania just because a foreign language came up in conversation."
"Joel, your friends don't understand your swahinglish. In fact you're probably really annoying them.."
I've also been reading a lot about how readjustment goes for other returned volunteers. Doesn't sound like the smoothest transition ever. So that's something. Worth preparing myself for mentally. But not worth stressing about probably.
2 biggest challenges
- staying focused
- staying focused
