This morning two of the volunteers (of the seven at my camp) got sick. One hallucinated last night and threw up this morning, and the other one was horribly, violently ill. Yesterday I had felt sick following lunch, but had assumed it was due to the extreme temperature- made worse by the fact I teach in a small, stuffy library room. But now I wonder if it wasn't something we ate. That would be horrible because my budget really counts on the breakfasts and lunches we get at our school.
Today I had both my English classes reread the except from "Bad Boy" paragraph by paragraph while I defined any words they did not understand that *weren't* on the assigned reading list. It's easy to pass by words like "bounce" or "roll" and not even realize none of the kids know what that mean. Then, after a child had read the paragraph, I would make another child attempt to explain what had occurred during the story so far. If they couldn't, I then acted out the events. I also had them each go to the board and write out one of the words without the use of the book. Then I attempted to explain the difference between internal and external conflict. I can't tell whether or not they understood, but they at least were capable of writing in their notebooks about a past "conflict" in their lives. My favorite sentence of the day: "My sister took my sweet love so I was embarrassed." Apparently it's a book according to the volunteer. I think I like that sentence even more than yesterday's "My lovely is crazy." My first class finished early so I used the extra time to play "simon says" and "hangman," but the second class didn't even get to the internal/external conflict stage so I assigned them a worksheet for homework and told them if they completed it I would give them a prize tomorrow (most likely a sticker).
Ok. Now onto The Rant of The Day. The biggest issue I have with being located in Tyre is our lack of reliable transportation. Because taxis here look like regular cars, we are forced to rely on two reliable drivers we know to take us everywhere. This is extremely frustrating as there are 22 of us, and each car holds 6 of us at most. If we all go a restaurant (which happens pretty much every day) then the only way to leave is to get at least 4 other volunteers to leave too. Today a few of us decided to go to the beach, but one of the girls accidentally called a random taxi driver instead of one of our drivers to come pick us up (it's a long story, but basically he drove her to our apartments when she we first got here, and that's how the driver knew where to pick her up since none of the coordinators have been able to give us an address). So then our main driver drove up and got pissed off that we called someone else and refused to drive us anywhere. Then the girl got angry he was taking her mistake so personally and refused to apologize and it got fucking ridiculous pretty quickly. They eventually made it to the private beach with the other driver (minus me and one other girl who got fed up by all the drama), but even so, it's nuts that we can't go anywhere without four other people and that we are forced to rely on two drivers. We are all adults.
Anyway later we all went to the restaurant El Jawed to use internet. They are a good enough restaurant, but they are very expensive for mediocre food, so I decided to go find a cheap, Lebanese restaurant for food and then come back here in order to get one of their delicious giant fruit smoothies. I didn't find any cheap restaurants, but I found our old hangout and just ordered food there. Then they took ages because they couldn't break my 50,000 bill (heh) and when I got out it had started to get dark so of course I got lost. I walked around for about a half an hour kicking myself for not having my phone. I did not freak out or worry, but all the same I didn't advertise my status as a lost American by opening my mouth. Eventually I decided to head back to the old hangout in order to hopefully find someone willing to volunteer their computer in order to let me e-mail the other volunteers where I was. On my way there I ran into one who was searching for me. It turns out two of them headed out to find me when they realized it had been about an hour since I'd left. So now here I am.
Today I had both my English classes reread the except from "Bad Boy" paragraph by paragraph while I defined any words they did not understand that *weren't* on the assigned reading list. It's easy to pass by words like "bounce" or "roll" and not even realize none of the kids know what that mean. Then, after a child had read the paragraph, I would make another child attempt to explain what had occurred during the story so far. If they couldn't, I then acted out the events. I also had them each go to the board and write out one of the words without the use of the book. Then I attempted to explain the difference between internal and external conflict. I can't tell whether or not they understood, but they at least were capable of writing in their notebooks about a past "conflict" in their lives. My favorite sentence of the day: "My sister took my sweet love so I was embarrassed." Apparently it's a book according to the volunteer. I think I like that sentence even more than yesterday's "My lovely is crazy." My first class finished early so I used the extra time to play "simon says" and "hangman," but the second class didn't even get to the internal/external conflict stage so I assigned them a worksheet for homework and told them if they completed it I would give them a prize tomorrow (most likely a sticker).
Also today's photography class went better. I'm still not sure how I feel about submitting my student's photographs to the Palestinian Art Festival in D.C. On the one hand it's a wonderful opportunity for them to advertise their talents and perhaps get funding for their school. On the other hand, it feels a little too much like the plot line of "Never Let Me Go." They shouldn't have to prove they have souls to idiotic Americans, but that's a little what it feels like...
Ok. Now onto The Rant of The Day. The biggest issue I have with being located in Tyre is our lack of reliable transportation. Because taxis here look like regular cars, we are forced to rely on two reliable drivers we know to take us everywhere. This is extremely frustrating as there are 22 of us, and each car holds 6 of us at most. If we all go a restaurant (which happens pretty much every day) then the only way to leave is to get at least 4 other volunteers to leave too. Today a few of us decided to go to the beach, but one of the girls accidentally called a random taxi driver instead of one of our drivers to come pick us up (it's a long story, but basically he drove her to our apartments when she we first got here, and that's how the driver knew where to pick her up since none of the coordinators have been able to give us an address). So then our main driver drove up and got pissed off that we called someone else and refused to drive us anywhere. Then the girl got angry he was taking her mistake so personally and refused to apologize and it got fucking ridiculous pretty quickly. They eventually made it to the private beach with the other driver (minus me and one other girl who got fed up by all the drama), but even so, it's nuts that we can't go anywhere without four other people and that we are forced to rely on two drivers. We are all adults.
Anyway later we all went to the restaurant El Jawed to use internet. They are a good enough restaurant, but they are very expensive for mediocre food, so I decided to go find a cheap, Lebanese restaurant for food and then come back here in order to get one of their delicious giant fruit smoothies. I didn't find any cheap restaurants, but I found our old hangout and just ordered food there. Then they took ages because they couldn't break my 50,000 bill (heh) and when I got out it had started to get dark so of course I got lost. I walked around for about a half an hour kicking myself for not having my phone. I did not freak out or worry, but all the same I didn't advertise my status as a lost American by opening my mouth. Eventually I decided to head back to the old hangout in order to hopefully find someone willing to volunteer their computer in order to let me e-mail the other volunteers where I was. On my way there I ran into one who was searching for me. It turns out two of them headed out to find me when they realized it had been about an hour since I'd left. So now here I am.
 |
Bilbo enjoys the grapefruit smoothie at El Jawed
|
No comments:
Post a Comment