Monday-Wednesday not to bad. Did the Insanity workout video that Scott, Lisa's brother sent. I literally thought I was going to drown in my own sweat!
Then Thursday hit!
I sent a student to our local clinic because she was complaining of headaches and chest pain...not uncommon for this time of year. In the mean time, I was getting ready for our new woodworking club (which is always fun...but a mess when I'm involved!), teaching and doing other stuff at the school. I had had a lot of coffee on Thursday, but when I saw Ben drinking some in the afternoon, I thought I needed another cup. Oh, what a bad idea! You know that "twitchy" feeling you get when you have too much coffee...well I was there.
Just as we were about to begin clubs, we had an unexpected visitor show up, handing out gifts, but throwing off the flow of things a bit. No sweat, I've become used to interruptions.
Then, as clubs were ending, I had the typical 54 students around me. "Teacher can I have some seeds for my garden." My saying, "Oh, yeah....I forgot about that...". "Teacher may I keep this thing we just made?" "You betcha" (which I am always convinced really gets lost in translation). "Teacher, teacher, teacher....." It's fun for reals. That "buzz" is part of what I like about teaching here. Or was that the last cup of coffee....
Anyway, in the midst of all the end of day stuff, one student said..."Teacher, you're needed outside. A student is passed out there." Crap.
So, I ran out and sure enough there was a student down with a few others around. We loaded the student up, took her to the local clinic and then on to the district hospital. This is when I got really angry.
This was my first experience with the Monduli District Hospital. Let me just be succinct in saying I would not feel comfortable going there for many procedures. What really struck me, though, was the ARROGANCE I perceived from the staff. We spent more time talking about who was the "big man" amongst all of us who accompanied our student than we did trying to fix the problem! I got yelled at to get out of the way...but only after they discovered I was "only teacher." "I am not!" I thought about saying. "I'm the chief medical officer at Orkeeswa...." Oh shut up, Seth! One more ego in this mix isn't going to solve anything!
Friday was the last day. Last days are hard for teachers. They makes teachers all over the world want to drink. I did enjoy our end of school party...we had a whistling contest and even gave away two of our very own chicken eggs as a prize to the top whistler amongst the teachers. Personally, I thought the maintainence guy should have won, but you know what they say about art, and all that... We even heard there were elephants near the school. One student came up to me and said "Teacher, I almost had to say goodbye to my parents. I walked between two elephants on the way to school today." You gotta love that! Anyway, we survived and were celebrating after school with the teachers and other folks. That's when we got the call. That student was still sick and needed to be seen to know if we needed to go to a different doctor. So, in the car I go...bouncing through the bush. The student lived WAY out there. We loaded the student in the Land Rover and off we went to Arusha. After some blood work and a couple more IV bags (man, I ought to start taking some of those IV bags instead of coffee...) the student was good to go. Unfortunately since it was 12:30 AM, I wasn't. Plus, I realized I had lost my wallet in the mix.
Finally, we dropped off the student and returned home about 2 AM this morning. I still havn't found my wallet and thank the stars above noone was attacked by elephants. Lisa had made some chocolate chip cookies...so I ate them by myself at 2:30 this morning with some tea. Don't get me wrong... I love this stuff! But, sweet, sweet beaches of Zanzibar, I hear you calling my name next week!
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