Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Christmas Letter
I can’t believe how quickly the past 4 months have flown by! I heard from many people that I would have so much free time here and that I would go through many periods where I am “bored out of my mind.” I guess you could say I have yet to experience that aspect of life in Africa. While there is a slower pace here, everything takes much longer to do here: planning and preparing meals, planning and preparing school lessons, laundry, travelling places, etc. Add to that my desire to “not miss anything” and maybe you get a small picture of my life over here.
Although school is only in session 20 hours a week, I would guess that I spend at least 30-35 hours doing school work, even if that’s just walking to town to print things out at a computer center or making photocopies! I am absolutely LOVING my students and I sometimes fear that I am learning more from them than they are learning from me. I’ve had the chance to share meals with my students’ families on several occasions, which has been so culturally educational. (Two of my students are Korean, one is Japanese, and one is American.) Teaching 4th grade is definitely challenging me…especially with only four students! I always feel like I should be doing more with them in the classroom than I am. This causes me to overanalyze things and spend SO much time contemplating the way we do spend our time in the classroom, always trying to maximize the time we are all together in school. We do have lots of fun, though. We recently had both “Pioneer Day” and “Native American Day” as culminating activities of a couple different units we were studying. We made all sorts of tasty treats, did some crafts, and even played some games! We spent themonth of December preparing for our Christmas program. I worked with the 2nd and 4th graders as we collaborated to create a school program for all the parents to come and see. It included some scripture readings, piano solos, songs played on the recorder and of course the singing of some traditional Christmas carols. The program went well and ended with some festive treats!
The upcoming semester begins January 10th. I’m really excited to be setting up a computer (that was donated by a family here) in our tiny classroom (I’m still trying to figure out WHERE to put it!) so that I can start teaching them some computer skills—not thatI’m extremely qualified, but I should at least be able to teach them some basic keyboarding and some of the basic programs. My students will be super excited that we finally got our penpal letters (from Michigan) in the mail! We’ve also been invited to work on a collaborative project with First Colony Church of Christ (our overseeing church) where my students will attempt to create a powerpoint presentation about what it’s like to be a missionary’s kid in Uganda. I’m looking forward to another busy, fun-filled semester with my 4 fourth graders here in Mbarara!
In addition to school, being involved in “team” life seems to take up lots of my time. “Team” is made up of 6 family units and the 3 single teachers. We really are like one, big, happy family! In addition to our team worship/meeting/lunch times every Saturday, I see team members daily and probably share meals with different families at least 3 times a week. The team has been a huge blessing to get to know and has been such a support network for me. Outside of the team circle, I have been blessed to make other friends—both Ugandans and other “Bazungu”. Working with the Ladies Group and Youth Group at the town church have been wonderful ways of connecting with several people here. I’ve also travelled to several different villages and had the opportunity to meet some wonderful friends that way!
Travelling here (as mentioned before) sure does take a long time, and has given me a greater appreciation for the roads and even traffic in the states! I’ve had the chance to go to Kampala (the capital city) a few times, for weekend “shopping” trips. (FOOD shopping, that is…we go to Kampala to stock up on foods—mainly meats that you can’t get here in Mbarara, unless you like the big hunks of cow hanging in the open air market or the live chickens that you have to kill and cook yourself!) Twice, I’ve had the chance to go to Jinja, the source of the Nile River, so that I could go white water rafting down the Nile River! Twice, I’ve gone to Queen Elizabeth National Game Park for safari. Travelling only about an hour away, I’ve been to a beautiful tea plantation and also to Lake Mburo (a National Game Park where there are TONS of zebras). One of my most memorable trips was a weekend trip to Rwanda, where I got to meet go to the orphanage that Ros Carr runs.
My younger sister, Debbie, came to visit for 2 weeks just before Christmas andI had a great time visiting with her and showing her around. She sure did keep me busy…but most of that was me wanting to show her as much as I could in the short time she was here.
You’ll have to check out my blog: http://bethinuganda.blogspot.com to read more about my adventures here in Uganda and http://photos.yahoo.com/etunick@sbcglobal.net to see all the pictures I post online. Also, you can email me at: beth@everydaychurch.net or send me snail mail (or packages!) to PO Box 518, Mbarara, Uganda. Please keep in touch and let me know how things are going for you and your family. I sure do miss you all, especially at this holiday season when I would normally get to see many of you, even if just for a short visit.
Hope you and yours had a blessed holiday and a wonderful start to the new year!
Although school is only in session 20 hours a week, I would guess that I spend at least 30-35 hours doing school work, even if that’s just walking to town to print things out at a computer center or making photocopies! I am absolutely LOVING my students and I sometimes fear that I am learning more from them than they are learning from me. I’ve had the chance to share meals with my students’ families on several occasions, which has been so culturally educational. (Two of my students are Korean, one is Japanese, and one is American.) Teaching 4th grade is definitely challenging me…especially with only four students! I always feel like I should be doing more with them in the classroom than I am. This causes me to overanalyze things and spend SO much time contemplating the way we do spend our time in the classroom, always trying to maximize the time we are all together in school. We do have lots of fun, though. We recently had both “Pioneer Day” and “Native American Day” as culminating activities of a couple different units we were studying. We made all sorts of tasty treats, did some crafts, and even played some games! We spent themonth of December preparing for our Christmas program. I worked with the 2nd and 4th graders as we collaborated to create a school program for all the parents to come and see. It included some scripture readings, piano solos, songs played on the recorder and of course the singing of some traditional Christmas carols. The program went well and ended with some festive treats!
The upcoming semester begins January 10th. I’m really excited to be setting up a computer (that was donated by a family here) in our tiny classroom (I’m still trying to figure out WHERE to put it!) so that I can start teaching them some computer skills—not thatI’m extremely qualified, but I should at least be able to teach them some basic keyboarding and some of the basic programs. My students will be super excited that we finally got our penpal letters (from Michigan) in the mail! We’ve also been invited to work on a collaborative project with First Colony Church of Christ (our overseeing church) where my students will attempt to create a powerpoint presentation about what it’s like to be a missionary’s kid in Uganda. I’m looking forward to another busy, fun-filled semester with my 4 fourth graders here in Mbarara!
In addition to school, being involved in “team” life seems to take up lots of my time. “Team” is made up of 6 family units and the 3 single teachers. We really are like one, big, happy family! In addition to our team worship/meeting/lunch times every Saturday, I see team members daily and probably share meals with different families at least 3 times a week. The team has been a huge blessing to get to know and has been such a support network for me. Outside of the team circle, I have been blessed to make other friends—both Ugandans and other “Bazungu”. Working with the Ladies Group and Youth Group at the town church have been wonderful ways of connecting with several people here. I’ve also travelled to several different villages and had the opportunity to meet some wonderful friends that way!
Travelling here (as mentioned before) sure does take a long time, and has given me a greater appreciation for the roads and even traffic in the states! I’ve had the chance to go to Kampala (the capital city) a few times, for weekend “shopping” trips. (FOOD shopping, that is…we go to Kampala to stock up on foods—mainly meats that you can’t get here in Mbarara, unless you like the big hunks of cow hanging in the open air market or the live chickens that you have to kill and cook yourself!) Twice, I’ve had the chance to go to Jinja, the source of the Nile River, so that I could go white water rafting down the Nile River! Twice, I’ve gone to Queen Elizabeth National Game Park for safari. Travelling only about an hour away, I’ve been to a beautiful tea plantation and also to Lake Mburo (a National Game Park where there are TONS of zebras). One of my most memorable trips was a weekend trip to Rwanda, where I got to meet go to the orphanage that Ros Carr runs.
My younger sister, Debbie, came to visit for 2 weeks just before Christmas andI had a great time visiting with her and showing her around. She sure did keep me busy…but most of that was me wanting to show her as much as I could in the short time she was here.
You’ll have to check out my blog: http://bethinuganda.blogspot.com to read more about my adventures here in Uganda and http://photos.yahoo.com/etunick@sbcglobal.net to see all the pictures I post online. Also, you can email me at: beth@everydaychurch.net or send me snail mail (or packages!) to PO Box 518, Mbarara, Uganda. Please keep in touch and let me know how things are going for you and your family. I sure do miss you all, especially at this holiday season when I would normally get to see many of you, even if just for a short visit.
Hope you and yours had a blessed holiday and a wonderful start to the new year!
# posted by beth @ 6:07 PM 
