Teaching has become my weekly routine now, I'm getting up at 5am every weekday to catch the school bus which stops directly outside my gate. Our neighbours children, Joanna and Anna both attend my school, they are beautiful, friendly children who are always so bright and bubbly, coincidentally the bus stops outside our gate specifically for these kids, so I also am able to hitch a ride. The Kids at my school are amazing, just like the Bill Cosby show, kids say and do the darnedest things, they are so much fun it makes working with them more of an enjoyment than a job, they are always smiling and greeting you with joy even at 5 in the morning!
The drive to school is something else, as Ive said the roads are rocky and sandy, uneven, full of puddles, animals, rubbish and a collection of who knows what, this makes for quite the bumpy ride as we swerve all over the road dodging pot hole and other obstacles. The driver is a Swahili man who seems to follow his own set of road rules, he loves the sound of his bus horn which he uses to get the waiting children's attention, to alert pedestrians and other road users of his presence. Pedestrians here are expected to get out of the way of any vehicle travelling on these roads, this is not an easy task as there is often no footpath besides the sandy road itself. So early in the morning the driver is tooting all about the neighbourhood at all the local as they scurry out of his way, I think he really enjoys this task as he sometimes swerves non-existent obstacles. The way the driver deals with traffic is also unbelievable, there doesn't seem to be any give way rules in Tanzania, but surprisingly as of yet I have not seen any crashes. When our bus comes to a busy intersection the driver just drives out in front of traffic enthusiastically using his horn hoping I guess that others will stop or slow down, I have seen many interesting gestures directed towards our vehicle which leads me to believe that this is not common courtesy, however he is efficient and we always tend to arrive on time. With a bus full of children ud think he'd take it easy, but no, not our driver that's not his style, strangely though I always feel safe and feel a crash is unlikely. The only problem with this form of transport has been the fact that it weaves through so many streets without names that look so similar that by the time we reach our destination I have no idea where in the world we are, so I am forced to take this bus until I become direction savvy. The country side that I get to experience on the trip is great, it gives you a feel for a third world capital. We stop at some very plush houses including the deputy Attorney Generals, which are nothing like the squalor of some neighbourhoods.
Today I began my seminars with the soon to be rugby coach, it took all my power to bring my explanations back to the basics, what is a scrum, lineout ruck, mall etc... I'm trying not to overload the poor man so I'm easing him into it. I brought pictures of New Zealand over to the school and they have become a real hit with the teachers, most of whom believed our beloved country was a part of that semi/marginal continent of Aussy. The Maori people and their culture really strike a chord with the locals here as many of the concepts can be seen in their own traditions and history.
It rained from about lunch time onward today, I tell you the whether here is extreme, if it decides to rain, it really decides to rain, but if it wants to be hot you'll also know all about it, I actually think their sky gods have a few attention issues. One of the great things about rain is that it turns alot of the roads into rivers, so as if the morning dilemmas on the bus weren't enough, try adding lots of water to the mix, conclusion=getting stuck. Yep, we pushed that bus out of the mud three times today and I expect that we will be doing it again before the end of term. It is hilarious, me and the Swahili driver are the only ones old enough to give direction to this procedure and yet we cannot understand each other for the life of us... ah the beauty of communication barriers...
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