News from Niger

Things are looking up this week. I found a place to live and a new roommate, my classes are going well, I got paid so I can finally buy groceries and get a haircut, and I went Black Friday shopping. I'm not often in the mood for clothes shopping, I think it's stressful and tiring, but I was feeling good so I went to the mall and found a lot of great stuff. I bought a pencil skirt in darkwash denim. It fit and was only $18 on sale and I've always wanted a pencil skirt to show off what my mama gave me. I'm pumped.

Saw the movie "127 Hours" last night. It was amazing, though not for the faint of heart. It's about a guy who's out hiking in Utah and gets his arm trapped between a boulder and a canyon wall. All he has is climbing gear, a Nalgene of water, and a crappy multi-use tool (Leatherman knockoff) with a dull blade. You can guess what he did to escape.

I also saw "Burlesque," starring Xtina Aguilera and co-starring her silicone-enhanced cleavage (it was everywhere!) Fun movie, though.

I called my friend Darey from Niger. It was great talking to him. I asked about the cows (they lost over half their herd with the drought last spring) and his response was "They're there," meaning "not so great." He said they are patient and when the time is right they'll find a way to get more cows. Then I teased him about his braids (he cut them off last year when his brother died - only old men shave their heads in his culture) and told him I'd give him one of mine and he can attach it to his head. Then I asked him to drink some hura for me (millet with sour milk and spices), and he asked me to eat some American candy for him, then I told him to eat kilshe for me (Nigerien beef jerky, it's amazing), and he told me to eat some potatoes for him. He's still adorable after all this time.

Next I'll call the village to see what's shaking there. I am a bad friend for not calling them on Tabasky (The Hajj holiday) but I was working and also didn't have money to make calls. I'm sure they'll get over it. :)

So yeah, that's the latest.

Stressed

My life's been crazy lately. Some things have been very difficult for me. Not only has there been some bad and sad family news (my dad has cancer, although benign, and my aunt suddenly passed away), but I'm struggling with a new career and now I'm having some roommate problems. Let's just say there's been some miscommunication between us (ahem - mostly from his side) that has evolved into a somewhat sticky situation, and now I need to move out. So I'm looking for a place to stay, as always seems to be the case for me while I'm living in Madison. I'd also like to mention that the first session of my job is a trial period, so I'm not even sure I'll be working there next term, and that further complicates the housing search because I don't want to sign a lease for a place when I may not even have a job in this city. So should I stick it out with my roomie until Christmas, when break begins, or move out asap and live somewhere else for only a month? I swear, my blood pressure has gone up a hundred points in the last week.

Kitties and bags

The first week of classes was rough, but now that I have the hang of things (for the most part), I find myself becoming bored. I'm also living a very frugal lifestyle (read: I'm broke), so I've taken on a couple of hobbies.

I applied to become a foster parent for a cat from the Humane Society. I really want a kitty, but am not willing to commit myself to adopting one for good. I think fostering one would not only help a kitty in need but fulfill my cat-petting cravings without the commitment involved in adopting one. Oh, and sometimes there are mama kitties with babies!! Who wouldn't want a box of kittens in their closet? I meet with the lady from the HS on thursday.

I've also taken up a drawstring-bag hobby that I used to have in Niger. (Team Konni, anyone remember this?) I take colorful fabric scraps and hand-sew them into little bags. I've figured out a way to make them with no visible seams and with liners, therefore they are reversible. Last night I stayed up way past my bedtime making one. It's to hold my laundry soap.

Today my Muslim students were fasting and then, right during our reading lesson, busted out a bag of dates to break their fast when the sun went down at 4:30. Tomorrow's the big day for them. I gotta call my peeps in Niger and congratulate them on celebrating the Hajj.

Early Evaluations

We just finished our second week of school, and the students got to fill out early teacher evaluations for us newer teachers. This is so we can learn how we're doing and find ways to improve during the next 6 weeks of classes.

My evaluations for Reading 500 were good, which isn't surprising because that's my best/ most well-behaved class.

My Reading 400 evals were good, except some people complained about "all the writing assignments" I give them. Seriously? I consider a couple of 2-paragraph book reports to be not that bad. This is supposed to be a college prep course, and if they expect to attend college without ever writing anything about what they read, they're in for a BIG surprise.

As for grammar class, well... let's just say there was a big range of opinions. One guy complained that I didn't remind him to give me his homework and that I don't even know grammar so why am I teaching it? (a really good point, but I'm trying really hard.) I think this is the guy who misses half of each class and was the only student to fail the exam. On the other hand, a different student said I was her favorite teacher. So there. (ha ha) My favorite thing is that since these are ESL students, their grammar isn't all that great. "She not good teacher. She different, " so that just adds even more hilarity to what they're writing.

I am thankful for these evaluations and get to talk to my boss about how to address my students' needs. I'm also looking forward to some classroom management advice. My Reading 400 class is out of control - people yelling across the room to each other in Arabic, the girls talking incessantly while I'm trying to give directions... it's seriously driving me nuts.

A rainy day here in Madison, not that that's stopping all the Badger fans from walking around in their red sweatshirts. My roomie's out of town and I just realized I don't have anyone to hang out with. Hm. So I am chilling out downtown and doing "computer chores."

Still alive!

Wow, I have been really MIA for a couple months. I know what you're asking - "wtf, Crystal?" Yeah, life's been crazy.

I started taking my TEFL course in Madison, WI back in September. It was very intensive but super fun. First, I'll tell you what TEFL means. It's "Teaching English as a Foreign Language." It's what you'd use to travel overseas and teach people English. It's different from ESL (English as a Second Language) because ESL is for people living in an English-speaking country. You need a lot more schooling than what I had to become an ESL teacher. EFL is for people whose countries don't use English.

I had four different classes - Speaking Skills, Reading/Writing Skills, Lesson Planning, and Grammar. The grammar class blew my mind - did you know we have twelve different tenses in English? "I was going to," "I had been wanting to," "I had wanted to," etc. Wow, crazy. Every night I was swamped with homework assignments and lesson plans to hand in the next day. I didn't have good cell phone access at my home and no internet access outside of school. This is the point when I fell off the face of the earth.

Included in the Lesson Planning class was student teaching for two hours a week. The student teaching was my favorite. The school I was enrolled in is connected to a larger ESL school, so I got to practice on some of the students. I taught an intermediate-level conversation class. My students were from a variety of places, but most were from Saudi Arabia and South Korea, as is the norm at this school. They were wonderful and willing to work with me and my clumsy teaching. We had a lot of fun in our class.

BTW, the students at the school are in their early-to-late 20s and are studying English so they can get into a U.S. university. So it's mostly a TOEFL preparation program.

Then I got a job at the ESL school. Apparently they have the highest enrollment they've ever had, and needed more teachers. I started there last friday and have been working there ever since. The first week was hard. I know how to teach a conversation class, but instead I was given two reading classes, a grammar class, and a writing class to teach. Yikes! So I had to figure out how to teach those and familiarize myself with the materials and I only got 1-1/2 days to do it.

But I survived. My grammar class is the most challenging for me at this point because, as a native English speaker, I never had to learn the grammar that ESL students need to know. My reading classes became easy once I figured out the textbooks. And my writing class is my favorite. The students have to write in a journal once a week and I get to read it. Fun!

I've been making friends with a lot of the students. I have a couple of Saudi girlfriends and there's a couple of West African students I like talking to. Last night I saw "The Town" with my friend Ruqayyah, then we went clothes browsing. I taught her what "cougar" is and we talked about the differences between "f you" and "f me" (it was mentioned in the movie.) She's adorable and we had lots of fun.

I've been living with my friend Djam, who needed a roommate in his 2-bedroom apartment. I needed a place to stay, and at only $300 the rent is very reasonable. And it's a good location, next to the library, buslines, a Walgreens, and a grocery store. Djam's a great roommate who makes delicious African food and cleans up after himself. He also makes me coffee every morning while I'm in the shower.

So yeah, things are going well. I'm enjoying my life in Madison. It's so nice to be in the city again.