Days of our Dzoole Lives

have officially finished my first term of teaching.... although not my first term of grading :(

My highest grade so far is a 63 percent, but, to their credit, I have only graded 15 (of over 220 exams in English and History... all of which involve LONG essays... yikes)

Every time I come to town, people come and ask me for updates of "Days of Dzoole Lives" because my village is officially a soap opera... it's rediculous.

I proctored (invigilated as they say) my first exam, and was shocked at how open they are about cheating, and how angry, shocked, and flustered they get when you stop it. It really pissed me off though, because I came off as a total bitch invigilating the Math exam, but saw the teachers in charge of my English and History exams leaving the class, taking tea, and not giving a damn that the students were openly discussing answers and leafing through their notes.

One student in my math exam tried to go to the toilet with the test, his note book, and a calculator. 23 students were marked for talking, obviously looking at other papers, and taking other peoples tests to copy. Yes, I mean they literally stood up, walked over, and picked up the test and started copying. I said anyone talking would be marked, yet they continued to talk, over and over and over. As surprised as I was that they were cheating, they were more shocked that I cared.

Last Saturday, there was a field trip to Misisi (about 1.5 hours away) for sports. The truck showed up 4.5 hours late, and the driver was visibly drunk and smelled liek beer. The teacher laughed at this, greeted him, gave him money, and hten hearded 80 students onto the back of the wall-less flat bed truck (a dangerous thing without it being standing room only crowded and on the dirt roads, not to mention with a wastey faced driver. Half way thorugh, I was so stressed I got sick and ended up hitch hiking home. All the teachers could talk about on Monday was the horror of that they were only given one mineral each (soda) and that the snisma they were given was mgaiwa (teh equivalent of brown bread)... they didn't care about the fact that the school's sports master never showed up or that the driver again left us in the market while the kids were getting their lunch (when I decided to leave) to go to a bar.


I also had it confirmed from my favorite student, Justice, that every single male teacher at the school (except for the now departed head master) has had sex with a student. The older teaher Kapalamula suddenly stopped teaching form 2, and there was much fast Chichewa chatter on the subject, that always stopped when I come in the staff room. I asked Justice to clear it up, and he told me that the sophomore girl he was sleeping with stopped, and everyone was makign fun of him, so he slapped EVERY SINGLE person in the class. That night, they stoned his house. They target sophomores, who take junior exams between soph and jr years, and lie and say that if they have sex with them, they will pull strings so that they will pass (of course, there are no such strings, at least none that these teachers can or will pull)

It was nice, as always, to have a break in Lilongwe. On my way in, I got a great hitch from a very attractive Malawian man who just returned from working in the UK and a masters degree in Peace and Conflict resolution from the University of Copenhagen. In fact, I went on a date with him last night! Although I ducked out to meet with an American I had met 2 weeks ago playing softball, to watch a movie that expats use an LCD projector and sound system to project movies on their wall (talk about feeling like you ain't in Malawi anymore). The movie was an Argentinian film called "9 Queen" and I highly recomment it. It was pretty fun. Not sure if the second was a date, but both events were fun, and both have invited me out tonight... the Malawian for dinner and the American for dancing... talk about when it rains it pours :)

Till then, I am really busy researching options for the school lunch program. I am trying to figure ways to get donations for the food and labor... not big costs, but it adds up for 280 students. They can't afford school fees as is, so I dont want to charge them the huge fee my dep head (as I privately refer to as dick head) is pushing for. I have researched plans for a garden that would supplement ndiwo (relish) costs, but that still leaves cooking oil, maize and protein. I am also toying with the idea of trying to find a partnership school in the US or a church or something that could make it a permanent project with annual contributions. Hmm. If anyone has suggestions or knowledge, please let me know or refer me to someone who does!