Im trying to laugh it off, but I'm so close to crying: The life of an International Teacher

I’ve always wanted to be a teacher.

I was that little girl who made her siblings play “school” instead of “house”. I worked as a tutor, a camp counselor, a T.A., an after-school teacher, and a Substitute teacher. If it involved teaching in any fashion, I was on it. I did it all.

But there is nothing quite like being a full time teacher. Nothing can prepare you for the heartache, the frustration, the love and emotional roller coaster you will go on with your students. Its great, but God is it hard!

And my first full time teaching gig just had to be out here in Ethiopia. With over-sized classrooms, kids who don't speak English as a first language and with a school culture completely different from what I was used to. As if teaching isn't already hard enough.

I had spent 3 days going over the verb To Be with my students.

Giving them this simple equation and these fill in the blank statements.
Easy right?! All my students should get this, especially because this is review for them. Students in Ethiopia start learning English at a young age, it is included into their school curriculum from the start, and so by High school, they are expected to know the basics.

And most of my kids did.
As I’d be writing the statements out on the board, many students would yell out the answer before I could finish writing the sentence. I smiled to myself thinking that my kids were Gobez Clever and that this year would be a piece of cake.

I assigned homework, and later as I began correcting it I saw


They __have to____ going to school
He ___was___ a very smart student.
She  __he__sleeping


What? I was confused. Now out of 180 students maybe 20 made such mistakes. The majority clearly understood, but mixed up some conjugations and 30 other students didn't even turn in the homework.

The next day I explained to my students that we are ONLY using the verb To Be and ONLY in present tense. And I demonstrated examples.

“ Does everyone understand?”

Silence

“ DO YOU UNDERSTAND? I yelled a little louder.

Silence

“ DO YOU UNDERSTAND, GILSANO?” Understand?

5 gobez (clever) students answer “ yes, teacher it is easy!”

My students refusing to answer, & even avoiding eye contact for fear of me calling on them lol


“ Ok but If any students ever need help, I will stay after school and tutor you. Please ask questions, it is the only way you will ever learn!”

Silence. blank stares and looks of boredom from my students who I know actually get it.

That night as I began checking more classwork and homework, I noticed the same mistakes!
And with every new activity I have given them there are always random or way off answers that make absolutely no sense.

I dont understand it and I dont know what to do. After a month of lessons & 1 quiz I began to question life itself. Am I not clear? Am I that bad of a teacher? Or are my kids just dumb?

I refuse to believe the latter, sure some students need more help than others but EVERYONE can learn. I just haven't figured out the best way to reach my kids who struggle the most.
Its incredibly difficult and as each day passes and I see no progress, my heart aches and I begin questioning my ability to do this.

NO ONE ever asks for help, No students ever show up or ask me about tutoring. The only kids who engage me in discussions outside of class are the gobez kids, because they are the only ones secure enough in their English to actually approach me.

I spoke to a few of the Ethiopian staff members about this issue and how they go about helping the kids who are struggling. But no one seemed to understand my question, the answers I got were all along the line of “yes, there is a huge difference between students and their ability. Some get it and some don’t.”

And that was all many of them had to say about it.

How am I suppsed to teach a class where 25% of the kids understand me pretty well, 50% are a little lost and need others to translate for them and the remaining 25% can barely write their A, B, C's ?!

The gap between students and their abilities is jarring. With a class of 60 it is really hard identifying which kids really need help, especially because Ethiopian students cheat like crazy! Peace Corps warned us about the cheating and how it is done shamelessly here. I don't think the students think of it as cheating, but more like sharing and helping a friend. But it doesn't help at all.

 In an effort to engage all levels of students in my class I decided to create a seating chart. Grouping off the Gobez kids, Average students and those who need the most help. I even started assigning different homework assignments to each group, to reduce the possibility of cheating and to give more challenging assignments to those who needed to be challenged, and easier assignments to those who needed more help.

But I don't see it working yet.

 One kid had the nerve to copy his friends homework, even though they were assigned DIFFERENT HOMEWORKS! The answers did not fit, and I don't think the student even noticed smh.

I have 3 classes, each with 60ish kids in them and many of them are falling between the cracks. Some of them dont even care, they dont take notes in class, they dont even try, and this is sad, but it does not bother me as much. If you dont care, then why should I? But then I have those students who turn in their assignments, who take notes and who I think really want to learn but they are just so far behind! And these are the ones my heart aches for, these are the ones who frustrate me, the ones I get angry at myself over.

I cant make them stay for tutoring, I can't make them go to a Saturday class. These students lives and their stories are so different and unique, and I have to be sensitive about that. Some of the kids in my class work several jobs, some help their parents take care of their siblings or help their fathers out on a farm. Some of my students are parents of their own, they have kids and husbands to attend to.

I’ll never forget the moment when a female student came up to me almost in tears, just begging me to take her late homework assignment. I started to say how I don't accept late work, when she started telling  me that her youngest child had gotten sick and so she had to miss class.

Her story shut me up real quick and reminded me that I'm not teaching in America. Peace Corps told us to be sensitive to our students lives and to consider things that will effect their education that we wouldn't normally think of. Things like your high school student being a parent, wife or husband. Your student having to miss work because it is Harvest season, and they must work in the fields, or on Market days selling goods. I may teach 9th grade English but my kids ages range from 14 to mid 20’s and each student has their own story.

Adjusting to life in Ethiopia is pretty much done, I'm 4 months in and I’ve established a bit of a routine. But adjusting to teaching in Ethiopia has only begun, and I’m constantly searching for new ideas, better approaches and ways to improve. The simplest things like taking attendance becomes a nightmare when you have 60-70 kids in your class, only 42min a period and you spend time stumbling over and pronouncing their names. Giving homework assignments and test become a pain when there is no money to print out such test or homework’s. When you don't get your own office, or your own classroom. I haul 180 notebooks from my school, to my house and back when its time to grade something.

Teaching is hard. Period.
 And it wasn't until coming to Ethiopia and teaching full time did I realize that your students failures become your own. That each missed answer hurts and I feel like my spirit is being crushed just a little every day.These kids futures ride on their grasp of the English language. You have to pass an English exam in order to go to college. And I don't know if Ill be able to do what PC brought me out here to do. I don’t want to lose hope in my kids or in myself, but it is an uphill battle, my own personal Jericho, and the outcome looks bleak.

Wow. I just reread that last paragraph and I sound so defeated. Someone pray for me lol, I think I’ll end this blog post and watch some uplifting movie about a highschool teacher who manages to engage the students everyone else thought was lost… I’ll brb lol

The halls of my school

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Chamber Pot #2

I professed my love for the chamber pot once a few months ago.. and not much has changed. In Wolisso I still use a chamber pot, the little plastic bucket I keep in my room,  and I do love it, but now like all loves, things have gotten complicated…

Many people use a chamber pot, its a common thing here. But many people are not as embarrassed as I am to carry their pee pots from their homes to the shint bet, which is across the compound. I live on a compound with maybe 8 other people, and they carry their pee pots with pride and walk with their heads high. But I get embarrassed... walking with a bowl of pee is strange. So to avoid being seen carrying mine on a daily basis, I end up using my chamber pot over and over and over again, until its completely full. I do this in order to reduce the walks of chamber pot holding shame.

But this ends up making things worse because now here I am walking with a giant pot of pee, an amount so absurd that everyone knows it must have taken days of accumulated pee to get to that full lol

On top of all this, I am then forced to take small slooowww steps all the way to the shint bet, or else my chamber pot which is filled to the brim, starts sloshing all around and wetting my fingers as I hold the bowl... its kind of gross and its safe to say I'm still trying to figure out a way of avoiding my Chamber pot shame.

Vlog #11

Ethiopian food

 

 Injera being cooked

So many people have asked me about the food here in Ethiopia, so I've decided to dedicate a blog post to it. Not tryna call anyone out in particular but, contrary to what some stereotypes may have you thinking.... NO! everyone in Ethiopia is NOT starving lol AND there is a pretty large variety of foods available here (with the exception of hard cheeses).

There is no way I can talk about Ethiopian cuisine without bringing up Injera. It is a national dish in Ethiopia and this sourdough flatbread with its very unique spongy texture seems to unite Ethiopians from every region. There are many different ethnic groups in Ethiopia, all with their own style of dance, dress, music & foods. But Injera seems to be a constant throughout the country. All Ethiopians love it and a meal isn't considered a meal unless injera is involved.

  Injera ready to be devoured

In all honesty I did not like Injera when I first tried it. I avoided eating it for the first 3 months I was in country. It was too sour for me and it just added this extra flavor to other Ethiopian dishes that were already delicious without it, in my opinion. But what the heck did I know then lol. I was wrong, and after giving it a few more tries I realized that I had had a few BAD injera experiences but it normally is pretty good and I even find myself craving it somedays. 

My appreciation of Injera is nowhere near the normal Ethiopian level however. These people eat it for breakfast, lunch & dinner. They love Injera so much that they eat a dish called FirFir, which is pieces of injera, inside injera lol

 

There are spices in firfir and you can get firfir with eggs & meat too, but its very common to see people eating the normal firfir of only injera & berbere (the spice)

Injera the way I like it... with a mixture of veggies, meat, ayb (goat cheese) & kitfo (raw meat)

 

Mahebrawi - the meat lovers dish

mahebrawi is a platter that has a variety of meats all served on top of injera. Sometimes ayb (cheese) is included. Most Ethiopian dishes are served on large platters and several people eat off this same platter.

  

Another Mahebrawi dish

 

Ayb with Gomen (cheese with cabbage)

I really like Ethiopian cheese, I prefer eating it with meat and injera though.

 

Tibs - Lamb meat (usually I think) with a small assortment of veggies (usually kayria & onion) with Injera and mitmita (a hot but yummy spice)

Shekela tibs - most PC Ethiopia volunteers favorite dish. These are tibs that are cooked on this clay pot. They are a little crunchier than normal tibs but they are delicious.

The work that goes into making a cup of coffee in Ethiopia. Wash the beans. Cook the beans. Ground the beans. Mix. Boil and serve them. #peacecorps

A video posted by Ashley Nicole (@ashleysayque) on Aug 8, 2014 at 7:19am PDT

Coffee in Ethiopia is an experience. As this lil video shows it takes time to prepare a cup of coffee, and in Ethiopia they embrace it. My host mom would offer me a cup of coffee and I'd accept thinking it was already made and all she had to do was pour me a cup. But no, she would begin this coffee preparing ceremony JUST for me and put in all this work. She'd put on this dress, have grass on the floor or these plastic green shingles to represent the grass (which is symbolic of good health I think). It was all too much, and I felt bad so I just stopped drinking coffee as much.

 

Traditional Ethiopian food is great, shiro, tegabino, kayowat, tibs, dorowat, etc... But you can also find other dishes. In Butajira one of my favorite foods was this beef shish kebab.

 

The soups aren't too bad either.

You can also find Burgers & french fries (they call them 'chips') but they don't use beef in the burgers just fyi.

 

Unless you are in Addis Ababa and go to a place like Shishu, which has beef burgers with real bacon!

 

The joy that is a Sambousaa

Sambousas are a street food, people will be selling them outside of stores or walking around with some to sell. They are deep fried with lentils & kayria inside. I've heard that they sometimes have meat in them but I've never seen it myself. These are great to grab on the go and the closest thing to fast food here.

 

As far as drinks go, you can easily find Cokes, orange Fanta and sometimes Pinnaple Fanta, Ambo (carbonated water) and flavored Ambo. Mirinda is another popular drink, it comes in orange & apple flavor.

Lawlz Shay (pronounced like -Lawse Shy)

The Us needs to jump on this little treat. Peanut butter tea O.O

Some places have it in country, some places don't. But its definitely worth finding & trying if you can. I've had really good Lawlz Shay & really bad lawlz shay.

The food here is pretty good as you can see, I really don't have anything to complain about. But I still wouldn't mind receiving a package or two with some American goods ;)
I just added a new tab called "wish list", soooo if the Lord puts it on your heart to send me a package, you know where to look lol

Settling into Wolisso

 Wolliso...its growing on me :)

Ive really come to appreciate the privacy of my new home.
I may just be in a 1 bedroom house, with 4 walls and 1 floor that I bathe, cook, sleep, pray AND exercise in, but its MY 4 walls and it is more than enough.

Today I had a praise party, music blaring, me singing along and doing the most ridiculous dances within the confines of my 4 little walls.

THIS is the beauty of having your own spot, I thought to myself as Byron cages “Bless the Lord” blasted in my house.
Needless to say I am starting to love my new found freedom and my new town.

                               One of the suks (stores) I stop by daily in order to buy small goods.

                       
    The market. Market days are Wed & Saturday and its where farmers from other rural areas come into my town to sell their goods. There is a larger variety of fruits, veggies & spices on market day.
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 I am settling in quite nicely. My Amharic is good enough where I can shop by myself, I no longer get lost, I recognize some townspeople, and because school has started all the kids in town and the townspeople know me.

I am greeted daily by kids and adults alike as “Teacher, Teacher!!” or “Ashley”. Its pretty cool :)

Im building a routine and I'm loving it. I workout, watch tv on my computer, play with the kids in my compound, read books on my kindle and I've even met a few Ethiopians who might be potential friends. I'm still figuring out what I can cook and trying to find ways to eat healthy, but so far so good. I even managed to make Fried chicken one night! (Its not healthy, but its nice to know its possible to make such a delicious comfort food for when I may need it)

Im teaching 9th grade at Geresu Duki high school here in Wollisso, and although enjoyable, its something I will also have to get accustomed too, my first week teaching here taught me that much.

I was extremely nervous and worried about teaching in Ethiopia and if I would meet the school staffs expectations, my own expectations and peace corps expectations. It was all a little overwhelming and things seemed highly unorganized.

I had been living in Wollisso for a few weeks now and still had yet to hear from my school director. He told me he would call but I'm guessing he just forgot, so I decided to show up to the school campus randomly one day and I'm so glad I did! He told me that classes would be starting the following Monday, except I was supposed to observe instead of teach for the first few days.

 

The entrance to my Highschool

 

The Library... the book nerd in my wants to cry at how unorganized it is

 

The teachers locker room. Teachers do not have their own offices, but they have lockers to storie their bags and personal belongings...well except for me -_-

When I arrived on Monday, I was anxious to meet my students, and observe an Ethiopian teacher but instead I ran into that infamous teacher from a previous blog post who was my community liaison… yes the one who called me “fat”.

“Ashley! It is so good to see you! How are you? Are you fine?”
“Yes Im fine, thank you”
“Today school starts! and you will be observing a teacher”
“Yes I know, Im going to talk to the director now about watching a female teacher”
“No you will watch me during the morning shift, and you can start teaching in the afternoon!”

Geresu Duki is split into morning and afternoon shifts. The first set of students come from 8am -1230pm and later the 2nd set of students come from 1230 -5pm. The days are split in half and students and teachers both alternate from the morning and afternoon shift weekly. One week Im teaching from 8-1230, the next week im teaching from 1230-5pm. This is done because the school is so overcrowded and there is no way the school could provide classrooms for all the students at the same time.

“No, Ive already talked to the director and I'm only supposed to be here for the morning shift, I can not stay during both shifts”
 He tries to reply but I wave goodbye and tell him I have to meet with the director, there is no way I'm going to entertain this conversation with this man.

I walk into the directors office and he informs me that I would be watch Lem Lem, a Female English teacher and that I am to start teaching whenever I think I am ready.

 

This is Lem Lem, she is 28 years old, a wife, mother and working woman. She has been teaching for about 5 years. Shes an Addis girl, a woman from the big city and her attitude and style of dress capture all that. Her English is pretty good and shes super sweet! I am sure we will become good friends. But back to my story...

I head to Lem Lems class but only find students talking, joking and sitting outside the classroom.

Class was supposed to start at 8am, I glance at the schedule to make sure, then look at my watch, yeah it starts at 8 but its already 830… where is Lem Lem?

I look around and see students everywhere….where are all the other teachers?!
I poke my head in a few classroom doors and see that no teachers have arrived yet.
What is going on?!

 Students just BIG TIME CHILLIN'

Lem lem arrives at 912 and explains to me that this is the first day, many teachers do not teach during the first week and so the students just wait outside. Together we walk over to her classroom and enter inside, only to find another teacher teaching the class.
Lem Lem and this other teacher converse in Amharic and afterwards she explains what happened to me.

“He is a teacher of a different subject and he wants to take my class period for the day”
“Wait, can he do that? You’re supposed to teach English, but he just walked in and took your class? Is that ok?”
“Yes, it is fine, he says he is teaching something very important and needs my period, so he can have it. Come, I am done for the day we can walk home”

I follow Lem Lem in a daze. Wow THAT was a productive day.. smh. If another teacher every tries to steal my class like that, I will definitely have something to say about it.. but Im sure Lem Lem knows what she is doing… and after all its only the first day…


 As we walk home she proceeds to give me insight into Ethiopian school culture and it is something I’ll be eternally grateful for. In Ethiopia and in my school in particular, there are 6 periods a day, at 42min a period. Very similar to an American High school, but at the end of each period instead of the students leaving and going to a new class, the teachers leave and go to their next class. This means that no teachers have their own classrooms, you can not hang up posters, learning aids, behavior charts, or even exceptional class work. The class room belongs to the students and those students sit in that classroom all day, every day with the same kids. It never changes. Because the same kids sit in the same classroom all day long, if you teach that class during 5th period, you know they will be in that same class for, 1st period, 2nd, 3rd, 4th… etc.. and its easy to just walk into that class any period of the day and take over and teach during the period you desire (if another teacher isn't already present)

This makes stealing another teachers class very easy, especially if they are late, or if they just don't show up. Lem Lem missed her earlier class and was late to the second class, so someone stole it. I’ve actually learned to take advantage of this classroom theft, and when I notice that one of my classes doesn't have a teacher during any given period I waltz right in there and just decide to teach an extra lesson… its 1 thing I like about this system, but it doesn't always work. If the teacher comes in late, then I feel sheepish and I have to gather my teaching materials and leave the room.

Lem Lem also told me that there is no money for teachers to print out homework assignments, quizzes or test. The only printed sheet of paper kids get are the end of the semester exams. Anything else has to come out of the teachers own pocket. Teachers do not take attendance, they are not given a roster with student names, and interactive work or group work is nonexistent, because of the incredibly large class sizes.

There are sometimes 80 or more students in a class!

Im supposed to teach 3 English classes per day, all grade 9 students, with about 60-70 kids in each class. The class sizes alone make teaching here a bit of a nightmare. Ethiopian teachers are expected to go into class, lecture, leave and repeat, and Im sure this is partly because of the large class sizes.

When I started teaching after observing Lem Lem, I tried to implement a seating chart - which was a fail. I tried creating a roster so I could know all my students names and keep track of their work, another fail. I slowly started feeling defeated, but I rebuked that thought and instead began to wonder why a simple thing such as a seating chart and roster were not working in my class. Thats when I realized that my students are just super creative and have decided to spell their name differently... every. single. day.

Bethelihem Mokonnen `would transform and become Bethlahim Mekonin
Iyayusalem decided she preferred  Iyuselim every once in awhile

&

Abendzr  and Abendezer are probably one and the same person.

 I realized that the names are basically the same and deciding which English vowel sound fits your Ethiopian name best can be a challenge when English vowels have 2 different sounds, and when your mother tounge is Amharic and it doesnt use the English alphabet but rather Fidel Or when your mother tounge is Oromiffa and it uses the English alphabet but the sounds are completely different. Not to mention that many people in Ethiopia do not write in the vowels. My LCF (language & culture facilitator) who is of course Ethiopian let me know this very early on but it took awhile for it to click in my head. And it took awhile for me to realize why my seating charts & rosters never worked and why it seemed like I had new students every other day haha

*update I have been teaching for a month and a half now and the seating chart works wonders. Im even learning some of my kids names :) (well the ones who sit in the seats I assigned them)



Teaching in Ethiopia is definitely bringing about some challenges but I am adjusting. And luckily I have not come across any cases of abuse or had to deal with seeing any of my male colleagues trying to get with the female students. Katie Puzey, another Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa, had to deal with something like this, and in her attempt to help the girl students and report this man, she was murdered (Read her story HERE). I don't even know what I would do or where to start in such a situation, but I do know that Ethiopia faces similar problems. Teacher - Student relations exist, in rural Ethiopia the teacher often marries the underage student. My male PCV friend has already been asked by his school Principal “So, what are you going to say when your female students come to you for sex?” . This is a sad reality in the US, in Ethiopia and in places all over the world, and so instead of figuring out how I would go about this problem if it ever presents itself, I just steal another classroom, teach an extra lesson and try again to make this seating chart thing work.

Kids in Ethiopia

Living with my host family taught me a lot about kids in Ethiopia. My host sister was 4 years old, and yet she knew more than I did when it came to cooking, or cleaning in this country. I'd watch her sit with my host mom and soak in how to make shiro, how to prepare injera and how to take care of the household. Kids in Ethiopia are like kids all over the world, they play, they joke, they get dirty and they have fun, but the kids here also learn how to work hard from a young age.

 I went on a hike one saturday morning and saw this boy herding his animals and watching them graze the land. I didnt look or think twice when I  first snapped this photo, because its a very common sight in Ethiopia, but later I sat staring at it and thought about what it says about the lives of kids in Africa. When I was his age my saturday mornings were all about epsiodes of Pokemon, Dragonball Z,  Jackie chan adventures and it was my day to sleep in. This childs life, compared to mine and many others looks so different. The kids in Ethiopia wake up early to till the land, to grind teff, and work to make money.







You will oftentimes find kids on the street selling gum, fruits and veggies. Boys from ages 8 to 16, shine shoes on the street, and stand behind the counters in stores selling goods.

 

Because so many parents need their kids to work, some children do not go to school until very late in life. I have 9th graders who are in their early and mid twenties because they started school when they were 10 and 12 instead of 5 and 6. They had to work in order to survive, so school isn't the priority, surviving is.

 

Kids at work, herding animals and selling corn on the street.

 This isnt EVERY childs life in Africa, its not EVERY kids life in Ethiopia, but it is the lives of some. What amazes me is seeing the same kid that sells corn on the street, smiling and playing soccer the next day. Ethiopian youth always find a way to have fun and enjoy life. They may not have an ipad, an iphone, a flat screen TV with every channel imaginable, but they have their creativity.

 Kids here play with tires, mud, empty water bottles and deflated soccer balls. They tie strings to bottles and drag them, they roll tires and run with them and draw outlines in the dirt to play skipping games and with marbles. They say that one mans trash is another mans treasure, and the kids here in Africa have shown me proof of that. In Mozambique a volunteer found out that the kids in her town played with condoms.  They would blow them up like ballons, and use the lubricant in the condom to grease their hair, or put on their skin like a lotion. Its fascinating and very well written, her post is called: If you give a kid a condom, so check it out!


There are about 4 kids of varying ages who live in my compound and I didn't have the nerve to give them a condom to see if they would play with it, but a balloon worked just fine lol