Man, I miss people like crazy. But I love the kids here, at least the ones I don't have to teach. Some of 'em I love, but most of them - er, some of them - have this group mentality that they should make fun of me as much as possible. I've fought back a bit of it by beating them at their own game, but they still love to say words - to yell words at me mockingly - that I said incorrectly in class.
I can't imagine that happening in America, but I can't imagine very much that happens here happening in America. I'm constantly trying to draw parallels between my life here and my life back in the States, but all the analogies are useless. Life in the US seems unfairly easy and without real concern for very much except for paying bills, not getting stuck in traffic jams, catching that TV show, and wondering if your son/daughter is out having sex and doing drugs.
The very assumptions we base our lives on here and there are completely different. Education? Here, people struggle to get one due to overcrowding, overworked teachers, ambitious curricula, and well - day to day life. And if you manage to get a high school education, you've probably passed your 20th birthday and have hit middle-age. Those who go on to university are the best, brightest and richest - not to mention usually the youngest. And they are few and far between.
The wonderful thing is that, in spite of all this, the students have a tremendous hunger for knowledge. Even though they cheat a lot, the kids who are really motivated and study, like to be the ones who answer every question in class and ask curious questions after the lessons. They seem to understand the inherent value in education without being lectured about it, and see the respect in getting their diploma. Teachers are held in the highest regard and have quite a lot of power in school and in the community at large.
The school is the center of the town's spirit and is hope manifest. To be a teacher at the nerve center of this town means being looked at in a completely different light - and in my case, compounds the already obvious situation.
In terms of health, every day can be a struggle against malaria, back-breaking labor, hunger, worms, bacteria, parasites, viruses (including the present, but invisible HIV), but even though there's more to worry about, people here worry less about their health than in the States.
Hospitals rarely have doctors, mainly staffed by nurses who give out medication and act as GPs. Typical supplies are, well, in short supply.
And money? Just like the States, most major decisions revolve around the question of money. The major decisions here, however, are much more basic and more impactful.
Of course, there are a billion things which I've only touched on in this journal that affect the underlying assumptions of day-to-day life. The thing I wanted to get across was that the basic approach to life is a world apart, and though many of the results of that approach may seem similar, even a cursory examination of the successful bread store, the gas station with ice cream and full bar or the upscale bank, reveal a society built on a completely different foundation.
Peace
John
