An update

I realized that I have been posting a lot of different things, but nothing really qualifies as an update. So here's one...

It's Monday. That means it's the start of a new week- kinda. Fortunately, or unfortunately sometimes, I have now lost all of my free days. There is a program every day of the week for me now. However, I came here to serve and I should spend my time doing it. Here's a glimpse into my schedule.

Sunday- English tutoring, children's program, sports program (when it begins)
Monday- 3 classes at Gugu, children's after school program
Tuesday, Wednesday - 3 classes at Gugu, adult English program
Thursday- 2 classes at Gugu, adult English program
Friday- church, cell group, sports program (when it begins)
Saturday- 2 classes at Gugu, adult English program

This certainly isn't a form of complaining or posting. I just want to give you an idea of what I've been doing each day.

I really love teaching (which is good since I do alot of it). My students are starting to behave better. It's been really hard discipling them because they are used to being hit as a form of punishment. Rather than hitting, I have resorted to positive incentives. It's amazing how far a sticker can go. I hope my supply lasts a long time! I also allow them to listen to music when they behave. They sing along with the music the same way we do in the car- we don't really know the words but we try anyway. I will try to post the videos on this site, but of course uploading anything here takes forever! Not to mention the loss of internet we had in Cairo due to that cable that broke.

My adult classes are going well too. We have more students than I expected which means I have to get more books copied. This is a good problem though. My advanced classes have been interested. Math really is a struggle for them. We even have to review the basics of addition, subtracation, multiplication and division. Our curriculum for the first half is based around October Sky. That means our science unit is about space. It's really hard teaching about the universe and planets when some of my students didn't even know that there was anything beyond where we live. I've been asked questions such as "Can you feel gravity when you are a plane?" "How do cell phones work?" " How can we go into space- do we hit a solid shell as we try to leave?" These are all great questions, but sometimes they catch me off guard. We'll be watching October Sky this week so hopefully that will give them some of the answers. We also are learning about the 1950s- an era of transition for the world and Sudan as it gained its independence in 1956. The students are so willing to absorb everything and willing to take risks in class so it's been great. However, I will never be able to fill the gap they have in their education.

I'll have to give an update about the other programs in a later post. I hope everyone is doing well and thanks for taking the time to read this!

P.S. Cortney is here now which is great. Of course, the landlord raised the rent because there are two Americans in the apartment.