Starting to find the surface

Off and running. That's how it feels, just two and a half weeks after arriving and discovering that my teaching responsibilities had been entirely changed I now have year plans for all 10 courses that I am teaching right now. Whew. That was a lot of work. And it didn't help that I have been plagued with some kind of fever for the past two weeks, it was starting to feel like Dengue, but the blood test came back negative, although apparently that can happen even if you do have it. But it doesn't really matter what the label is, either way I have to rest and drink fluids. It doesn't seem possible to drink enough fluids here. I am so thirsty, all the time. I have never drank so much water in my entire life and my throat is in a constant state of being parched to the point that it's now swollen. It's as if you arrive in Dhaka only to have all the energy and moisture sucked right out of your body.

My Grade 7's are a fun group. They were so quiet on the first day that my goal was to create a classroom community that would allow them to feel comfortable to be themselves and make some noise...I think I have done that already and may need to back up and start laying down the law during work time. haha But I am really happy to see relationships forming and students starting to speak up during discussions. The Grade 7 Social Studies Curriculum covers the topic of empowerment which opens so many doors to really cool conversations. I've already seen some of their views start to change and some awesome questions are being asked.

Teaching music is crazy. First of all, I am required to teach pre-k to Grade 9 music classes equipped only with a keyboard, 20 recorders, and a bag of tambourines and rhythm sticks. So it shall be a very creative music class and I have taken advice from many great peers and mentors who have been very kind in sharing resources. The internet has been one of my greatest resources, without which I don't think I could manage this year.

I also couldn't manage without all the love that is being sent to me from home. The items in my care package and letters are able to lift my spirits every time I start to feel overwhelmed. My room mate has also been great along with the rest of the teaching crew. The other day we went to an ice cream parlour, which I have to blog about because, I love ice cream, and it was probably the highlight of my week.

  

Juxtaposition

She watches me with those eyes, I can't look away. There are so many of them, but she is different, she is quiet. She doesn't ask for anything, she doesn't even approach too closely. Just watches...and follows... at a distance...through the market. We are haggling for oranges, my roommate is pro at getting a good price. I whisper something to her, she looks over at the girl then back to me and nods in agreement. As we walk out of the market with our bag of oranges I slip one into the little girl's hands. Her eyes brighten and a smile stretches across her face. I watch her dash off to show her two little brothers, huddled on a street corner, maybe their parents are working nearby, maybe they don't have any parents. Maybe she was manipulating me, maybe she was really hungry. I'll never know. This is life in Dhaka.

 She whips out her phone and 5 minutes later her driver is at the door ready to take us wherever we want to go. When he gets us there, he waits until we are done, and receives a phone call to bring the car around to take us to our next destination. Upon arriving home, we realize that we're hungry, so we send the driver out with money to bring us food. We have enough clean dishes for everyone as the maid has come today and made everything spic and span. But I don't feel like local food tonight and decide to make some macaroni and cheese purchased for me by a friend at the American Commissary along with my favorite chocolate bars and Ben and Jerry's ice cream. The tailor has arrived in the apartment across the hall, we all rush over and get our measurements taken for the gowns we are having made for the Glitter Ball; a Charity ball put on by the Australian Embassy at a fancy hotel here in town. All the ex-pats go out to these kind of events throughout the year.
This is life in Dhaka.

First Impressions

After much delay and anticipation, I finally received my visa and headed off to Bangladesh. I left my house at 11:30am, Saturday, Sept. 7 and arrived in Dhaka at 5:00am, Monday, Sept. 9. One 2 hour flight and two 10 hour flights later along with an 11 hour time change and I actually did not feel too bad, or so I thought. I stepped out of the air conditioned airport into what felt like a wet rag, welcome to 100% humidity, 24/7. Fortunately, my apartment and the school where I work both have really good air conditioning to keep me cool most of the time, so cool in fact that I actually have to turn it off at night sometimes so I don't freeze trying to sleep with the one little blanket that I brought from home. We arrived at the apartments and were told to rest for a few hours before going to the school. I didn't think I was tired until I started hallucinating flying lizards on my wall that disappeared into thin air...so then I decided to take a nap.

Upon arrival at the school I learned that I would not be teaching Grade 4 but instead Grade 7 Homeroom, ELA, and Social Studies along with music for grades Pre-K to Grade 9 along with Grade 9 Technology and Family Studies. Those last two courses do not have curriculum so it then becomes my job to make up what those courses are supposed to be about. For music I am equipped with a keyboard, a few tambourines and shakers, and a dozen recorders. For technology I have access to pirated copies of Microsoft Office and an eBoard that no one in the school seems to know how to use. When I asked for copies of a book for a novel studied the office literally made photocopies for each student which I am pretty sure costs more in paper and ink supplies than simply buying 9 books. Needless to say, I think I am going to be challenged to be incredibly resourceful and creative this year.

On Tuesday, classes started and I met my 9 Grade 7 students who were so quiet the first day I could not believe it. I gave them an assignment and they all started working on it silently, with no one asking for help, no one tattling, no one tugging at my sleeve...it's just so strange to be working with big kids! And the day ended with a sighting of a monkey outside on the roof beside us holding a kitten that he has taken upon himself to care for. It just made everyone's day because it's impossible to be stressed when you watch a monkey cuddling a kitten.

There are 11 new teachers and a new principal at the school with 5 returning staff. The staff who have been here before have a been a great help for the newbies and of us new teachers about 8 of us just graduated with our teaching degrees and took this as our first job. So we all have a lot of learning to do together. We have one teacher on staff who speaks Bengali and she has offered to teach me in exchange for piano lessons. So far I have learned left and right the fact that there are no words for please and thank-you as it is a very direct and command based language. I am also realizing that hand gestures are part of the language and I feel as though I need to learn them as well in order to communicate properly here.

I thought I would feel a lot more home sick this week with everything that was going on but I have little presents and letters to open on different days and emails from home that make me feel so loved that I don't feel alone at all. In fact, with all the love and encouragement I have received, I feel as though I could take on the world...or maybe just Dhaka for a year. :)