I finished my first year as a First Grade teacher!  If you’re wondering why I haven’t written a blog post since October 2016, read that first sentence again.  I’m hoping that the constant stress, exhaustion, and anxiety doesn’t erase the hundreds of amazing memories that were made this past year, so I’m sharing some here just in case.

Teaching in a Developing Country

My day-to-day as a classroom teacher in an extremely impoverished county might look different than some people would expect.  To simplify things, I am not allowed to work in a Tanzanian government school as a non-citizen so I worked hard to get a job at a school that I feel is doing a great job of providing a top education to a student body that is 90% East African.  Yes, it is a well-known, international, private school and therefore very expensive but I have faith that many of our students will positively shape the future of this country.  Working at such a nice school, however, does not come without some interesting challenges that I probably wouldn’t face in the US:

• daily power outages (but we are lucky to have a generator that usually works)
• an entrance road to the school that will make your false teeth fall out when driving on it
• giant centipedes in the classrooms occasionally (and even a baby snake once)
• a very high rate of EAL (English as an Additional Language) and special needs children
• must teach the core subjects from 7:30 – 11:00 a.m. because, after that, their brains are way too tired from the heat (100+ degrees heat index for 4 months, no A/C)
• making almost every single teaching tool from scratch, and getting very creative with trash/recyclables (read: there is no Target or Dollar Tree or Staples here)
• whole-school assemblies being drowned-out by nearby sounds of the mosque’s call to prayer, goats, construction trucks, church revivals, chickens, cows, or music from the bar across the street
• school only being cancelled one day of the year, and that was for flooding that turned our entrance road into a terrifying river
• having children miss school for being sick with things like Malaria or Cholera
• watching mongooses run across the basketball court
• occasional water cuts

Despite these things, and perhaps because I have lived in Tanzania for 3 years so I am extremely patient and flexible, I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather have been for my first year of teaching.  I had an amazing group of kids, great co-workers, a supportive husband, and I’m finally doing what I came here to do full-time – educate (mostly) local children.  That said, thank heavens my first year is finished!

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First Trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Nathan and I were very lucky to travel to some great places during my first year of classroom teaching.  He had training in Addis so I came along during a school holiday and a few things really stick out:

• THE FOOD.  We went on a food tour and I’m even more in love with Ethiopian food now.  Oh, and the coffee is crazy good.
• The history.  From Lucy to Christianity, it’s a very interesting country.  The people also pride themselves on being unique and different from all the surrounding African nations.  I need to go back to learn more!
• The cars.  They made the city feel like a mix of modern Africa and 1955 America.
• Getting robbed to remind us not to get too comfortable just because we have lived abroad for a few years.  Nathan was mugged on our first day there (his first time ever being robbed).

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First Trip to Southeast Asia Together

I’m going to save this one for its own blog post because it was huge.

First Trip to Lesotho 

At the end of my second term (January to April, also summer in the Southern Hemisphere), I was feeling run-down and HOT.  We wanted to go somewhere that traffic police don’t stop you every 30 miles for no good reason, we don’t stick out like sore thumbs, we could use a credit card, and go hiking without a guide.  So, we did a road trip in South Africa and Lesotho!  The trip went so smoothly and living in a developing country makes us appreciate things like interstates, Uber, choices at the grocery store, asparagus, drinkable tap water, and coffee shops.  Traveling there was so easy and affordable compared to East Africa.  Everything just works.  Lesotho felt a bit more like East Africa infrastructure wise, but was still so much more efficient and easy.

We have both been to South Africa several times but for some reason this trip seemed different, I think because we took advantage of every moment to do things that are more complicated in Tanzania.  We drove our rental VW hatchback through a national park with elephants for goodness sakes!

I was also able to reconnect with several friends from my study abroad semester in 2004 in South Africa and meet their sweet families.  A special thank you to Taryn for letting us stay at your amazing place!  It’s been 13 years since we all met, but I know these people will be part of my life no matter how much time passes between each visit.

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We also had some wonderful visitors this year – friends from high school, grad school, and Nathan’s parents.  It’s so nice to spend time with familiar people who have a sense of adventure and be able to show them some of the many reasons we love our current home.  Karibuni y’all!  We have a new apartment in Dar with lots of extra space for visitors!

Nerd Alert!

The Ethiopian calendar starts in September, is very liturgical, has 13 months, and Christmas is in January.  We could never quite figure it out while we were there!

Lesotho is nicknamed ‘The Kingdom in the Sky’ because it is the only country entirely above 3,000 feet sea level.  It is also completely surrounded by South Africa.

The flightless dung beetle in Addo Elephant National Park is endemic to the park, meaning it is not found anywhere else.