Typing, Meeting, Hitching

No pictures to upload this time. Sorry. Kristy mentioned our early school closing. So we managed to administer a few end-of-term exams. I was on the timetable committee which meant I and two other teachers gathered under the shade trees to schedule the exam times. Each class is supposed to take a test for each subject. So we did that scheduling and determined who would "invigilate" the exams. Terminal exams are typically formal, except I noticed during exam time that some invigilators left their post periodically. Also, it was important for each student to have a paper exam in hand, which meant I used a type writer with misaligned and sticky keys to write my English exam. I typed on stencil paper which produced a carbon copy that could then be duplicated for multiple copies. I made a lot of mistakes on my first try, so I threw it away and tried again. My fingers were sore after this exercise because with a type writer you really have to punch the keys hard. I don't want to do it again, so I may try pushing for alternate ways for student assessment, which I should be doing anyway as teacher developer. The exams that students didn't get a chance to take must now be taken when they return from holiday in four weeks. What are the odds of retention?

I'm looking forward to my first Volunteer Action Committee (VAC) meeting. Our education PCV class of 2007 elected Angela and me to it. I hope for action, but worry there'll be a lot of talk. I've heard Ben, our VAC Chair, runs a tight ship though.

I met with some Head Teachers in the Salima District cluster of secondary schools the other day. I arrived an hour and a half late to the meeting because I was notified about it via text message the night before, and I was already in Lilongwe. I was talking to Mom and Dad on the phone when the text came through. So I packed up again and went back to Salima early the next morning. I got a great hitch from an English Ex-patriot who owns a bar/theater in Lilongwe. He was travelling to Salima in search of some good wood for his bar. He's been here for 12 years so he prefers "First Generation Immigrant" to Ex-pat. "Ex-pat" carries negative connotations sometimes, but I digress. Despite my lateness, I arrived at the meeting before any other teachers, waited a while until some came but not enough for the meeting to take place. It was cancelled. I did, however, achieve my agenda in that I was able to distribute school assessment and teacher opinion survey forms that I created to begin my teacher development duties. The next morning I worked with some teachers who are upgrading their teacher qualifications through a distance education program through Domasi University, and then returned to Lilongwe to reunite with Kristy. Again I got a great hitch straight to the transit house. However, I did have to wait in the afternoon sun about 2.5 hours for it. I'm a beggar and a chooser whenever I take on this endeavor. Example, I noticed a mini bus full of American backpackers. They had hired the mini bus to take them direct from Nkhata Bay to Lilongwe, so they paid twice the amount it would normally cost. I thought they were going to agree to give me a free ride. I was wrong. I got off and waited some more. My eventual hitch passed the mini bus along the way (I had thoughts of making some kind of face to rub it in, but I just smiled internally). So I made it back and ended up going out with KB and Kristy and a Feed the Children NGO worker. I didn't put the two together until I noticed the aforementioned First Generation Immigrant, but we were at his new bar/theater he was talking to me about on the hitch down to Salima. During the course of the night, I said hello, introduced Kristy to him, and pointed to the other two I was with. Before dropping me off in Salima he did say to stop by the bar and tell all my friends about it. Nice, huh?