The past few weeks.....

It has been a very long time since I've written in here. I've been busy! My schedule is perfect not too packed. I work in the high school and middle school in the mornings, at noon, I take my lunch break and the afternoons are left free, except for Thursdays when I have my Life Skills course. And lately, I've been feeling really restless as my AMAZING vacation is coming up, so I've been spending time (and money) in Bamako every weekend. But, it's cool.

Anyway, to give a little glimpse of what I've actually been doing, I'll explain my role in the classroom. I never imagined myself teaching, but here I am, teaching and it's kind of thrilling, oddly. I'm teaching a subject that I sorta know, English. I'm not gonna lie, my English is not perfect, but I can do a better job teaching than most of these teachers. And it's thrilling to be in front of the classroom and holding the power to mold theses young minds (mwhahaha!). I also find my creative-juices flowing, trying to come up with ways of making English fun, and this challenges me. So, I'm enjoying myself inside the classroom.

As for my Life-Skills course, this has been my greatest challenge so far. I'm teaching fifteen 7th and 8th grade girls once a week for a 1-hr course, in Bambara! When I was preparing for my first day of class, I had prepared everything in French. I figured, at this age, they have all of their courses in French, so I should be okay. But, just in case, I had my lesson-plan translated partially in Bambara. So, when I got to the classroom, I tested the girls French by asking them for the day's date, that's when I knew I had a problem. Only one or two girls responded! I got nervouse, started sweating as I had to think quickly on my feet. I then wish that I had translated everything into Bambara, but I managed okay. For the next sessions, I knew that I would have to find a translator, and I did! So, now the sessions have been going a lot smoother and I know that the girls understand each lesson.

Aside from working in the classroom, I'm preparing to motivate other schools to participate in a bigger and better "Career Day" event. I would like to have those preparing to go to high school to participate as well. The only problem with having more people, is the costs. So, I hope that others are willing to contribute.