Beginning of School...

School started on Tuesday! The students began to arrive Monday evening and then Tuesday morning we had our first assembly at 7 and then the students cleaned the campus until 11AM. (As the students cleaned the campus I spoke with another teacher and he asked me if we did the same type of thing in the US and I said no, that most of the students probably would not clean the school. He looked at me shocked and said who cleans. I told him we have a maintenance staff and he was amazed.) Classes then began and I stood in front of an African class for the first time! It was fun. I have been ready for classes to begin for awhile so I was excited for school to start. However, this week we are still using the schedule from last year because the new one is not yet ready. Therefore, many of the classes I am supposed to have now I will not have next Monday. Also, the Form 1, or first year students will not arrive until the first week of October, so for now, things are beginning, but they will change in the next few weeks. Regardless, I did get to teach one class yesterday, one class today and, I think, three classes tomorrow. Something that I am finding to be very nice and interesting to me is that (even though it is early) despite how different the two cultures are, the students are remarkably similar. The same things that I say in the states that the students laugh at, the students here laugh. The same things that I use at SHG to get students attention, work here too. Granted I have not been in the classroom long, but I thus far find it neat that the cultures are as about as opposite as can be, but that the students are so very similar. I am excited about the teaching and am anxious to really get into in the weeks to come.