i'm mr. solo dolo

I have a couple of countdowns going on right now: The first is the countdown to the end of the school year (21 days) and the second is the countdown to August 3 (74 days) and a Parisian rendez-vous avec Remus!

The end is nigh!

I have one week left of teaching, the second week will be devoted to exams and the final week will be about grading and wrapping things up. The excitement is palpable among the students and teachers. The teachers are talking about their upcoming vacations in Ouaga or Bobo. And the students, who for the most part will be spending the summer cultivating in Bouroum-Bouroum or the other surrounding villages, are just excited to not have to go to school. My students asked me if, during my youth (I overlook the fact that some of my students are my age or just a few years younger), I cultivated during vacations as well. They were quite surprised to hear that I spent my summers amusing myself, not working. I didn't delve into details (i.e. trips with the family, soccer camps, sleeping until noon, generally being lazy and happy) because the differences between our summer activities are so glaring it's depressing. But cultivate I did not, and that's something that my students have a hard time understanding. What would a person be doing during the rainy season if they didn't farm?

Well, I'm currently writing math and English exams. I've been using some tools I learned from my TEFL training to amp up the excitement in my English class. Too many kids have been falling asleep, but I suspect their fatigue is not entirely due to my being a bore (as all teachers have trouble with sleepy kiddies and said kiddies aren't getting enough sleep because they walk miles to get to school/work at home/work in the market/etc.). Okay, maybe I am a bore but that's a harsh reality, and I will not yield to it! So as a way to catch their interest for an hour or two, we've been leaving note-taking behind (not entirely). Role-playing, group work and pretty pictures! My students like the pictures the best because one, I am always the artist and two, they like to laugh at my artistry. We compare and contrast pictures, I read a short story to the class and they have to reorder a series of pictures according to the timeline of the story, we identify objects in pictures, and we discuss what's happening in them. I also sing and act out scenarios (not part of the TEFL training) but effective nonetheless. And before I know it, my students are pulling out verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs and making grammatically correct sentences! Woot woot!

I recently sent the last batch of my students' letters to my correspondent in Pennsylvania. Most of these kids don't have a mailing address so unfortunately this will most likely be the last letter they receive or give. Those who do have a mailbox in Gaoua or Diebougou were willing to share space, so hopefully some of them can continue with the correspondence.

I've been feeding a calf in village. His mother doesn't produce milk and so whenever I'm over at my friend's house I get to feed him from a bottle. He's messy, he slurps, and when he's finished with each bottle he finds its necessary to rub his face on my pants. I've named him Bruce. He sneezed on me once. It was not pleasant, but not as unpleasant as being twice thrown-up on. I'll take cow snot over human puke anyday. Bruce also likes to chew on my pants and he nibbles on my hand. Big teeth. When he's suffuciently full he runs around the courtyard at top speed, scaring the crap out of my friend's daughter (who, let's face it, is annoying like all little kids). When he runs around like that he reminds me of Suzi, my dog, and the way she used to throw herself across the grass in the backyard even when she was old and arthritic.

Bruce is adorable and he's growing at an alarming rate. I'm already too attached to him, which sucks because I know he'll be food someday soon. It's a good thing I never eat beef here.

Another day, another creeper shunned. It really isn't worth mentioning because it's so commonplace, but I like the sound of that statement. Since we're on the topic though, because I informed this creeper that I'm married, he said that I need to go back to the States and find a white woman to send to him. Yeah buddy, I 'll just FedEx her to you.