It's Getting Hot

General Notes:

• New photos posted on Google Picasa. Check them out (in the usual places).
  
• Bats have been sited going in/out of my latrine as recent as this week.
  
• I am incompetent at keeping in touch. Just been overwhelmed trying to catch up at school since I missed a week and the kids didn't understand negative numbers. So, I apologize for not writing letters/emailing/calling. Also, my network coverage has been terrible. My messages don't go through for some reason or I don't receive them. In fact, some of my fellow PCVs thought I had ETd and gone home because they weren't hearing from me.
  

I have officially finished my second trimester (and then some). This term because I was not pressed to leave for a training/funeral, I actually got to go to the conseil and eat chicken. As I may or may not have previously mentioned, I am the professor prinicipal of a class. It was 4e last term, but now that I no longer teach there thanks to schedule shuffling, I am pp in 5eB.

What does the pp do? All the work that a computer does in the developed world without a computer: calculating weighted GPAs, ranking students, laying the general smack down. All I know is I rock at it... must be the years of organizational skills I developed at my institute of higher learning... or something.

In other news, I finally finished a world map at my school (as opposed to in CLM's village) with her help (pictures in the photo gallery). It took two days and it is beautiful.

General recommendations for those who are interested in doing world maps:

• Less people is better, but more than one is strongly advised.
  
• Having two "adult" figures is good. One for supervising any students that might be there, one for actually directing traffic.
  
• Small brushes are essential for painting countries. Clean brushes often and also immediately after use.
  
• Kerosene is essential for preserving paint and also removing it from your hands.
  
• Don't let the kids draw the grid. For some reason, students are incapable of drawing a whole lot of perpendicular lines (math teachers too, but we got by a little better than the students did).
  
• Old socks are great for wiping off dripping paint.

I got my hair done for Huit Mars (aka Inernational Women's Day) and a fancy schmancy outfit made, but unfortunately didn't get any pictures of the outfit, but I did get the hair. I putzed around all day and then played soccer with the women against the married men of the village. The women won 3-1. We kicked butt. My students came out to cheer me on (after all I am also their gym teacher and they love me anyway).

One of my other highlights since Chinese New Year was my friend B from high school came to visit me in village. That's right, all the way from America. He actually had a hard time getting in touch with me since my phone/coverage stinks, but somehow he actually made it to my village (though in a roundabout ridiculously long fashion). He took lots of pictures which I am hoping he will post soon of me, my students, my village, and friends. So, be ready for the awesomeness... when it arrives. He and his accomplice Brian stayed for the night. They got to chat up with some locals, experience real village life, sleep under the stars (sort of), and check out a funeral (they are a lot of fun around here). Seeing two Americans (with corn starch and old socks) really made my day! Their visit also coincided with our first "rain" of the rainy season. Really by "rain" it is more like mist, but still. Very exciting! Since then it has only sprinkled once.

So, really I just came in for a few days to get out of village, bask in a/c, and get some work done. I will be back next week on Saturday for the day, so be on the lookout for yet another post.