I'm trying to start over with discipline - by this I mean that I'm trying the simple stuff again, in larger quantity, to see if it helps. In my first class today, I made about 6 kids stand and told about 3 more to leave. By the end, it was quiet. But does this turma learn? No, they don't get it.
And the material? They barely get it. The curriculum is hard because the students' background is insufficient. Tomorrow I give my first quizzes, so we'll see how that goes.
I still miss people tremendously. That hasn't changed, and I don't expect it to change. People I know back home can offer so much more than people here because of our commonalities and similarities.
A student asked me today about a medical problem. He has to pee every hour and drinks plenty of water. The urine isn't discolored and he's not in pain. Not really knowing what it could be (urinary tract infection?), I told him it didn't sound urgent, but that he should try and talk to a doctor at some point. Looking in my "Where there is no Doctor" book, it seems like his symptoms could be aligned with diabetes, which is rare to develop at about 22 years old, but not unheard of. I'll try and confirm other symptoms tomorrow, then let him know if he should go to the doctor. Sending someone to the hospital here is always tricky, but if he already has a preliminary layman's diagnosis, it could be beneficial. Of course, I don't know really what I'm talking about in regard to medicine, so I'm just trying to stay on the right side of the helping/harming line.
Peace
John
