Jen's email #3

School: So since I last talked about work, we had our first staff teacher workday on Thursday of last week. There are less than 100 staff members so it was a little weird going to something so small. The conversations were a little different as well. The meeting started off by our director telling us he was having a party after school that day starting at 3 until 7 and everyone should come over after work. Then the conversation went into which staff members were the best bartenders and how wild these parties can get. Not your everyday work conversations. They made all the new teachers stand up with a microphone and tell a little about themselves and something interesting about yourself. Of course I immediately start sweating b/c I am not cool in these situations. To make matters worse, Grant went before me and had the whole staff laughing with his charming humor. Whatever, I made it through. So that day we didn’t get much done b/c all everyone wanted to do was socialize. Grant and I walked home for an hour lunch break and before we knew it, it was time for the party. So…um these teachers can drink and be merry. I wish I could describe the party after school. It was catered with Zimbabwian snacks and alcohol. It was a chance for teachers to get to know each other and let loose. I think the walls came tumbling down at that party and we saw all kinds of personality. A lot of the teachers here have great stories and actually most of them are not from the states. Grant and I can’t think of too many places that aren’t covered. Mostly from the Americas, Europe and Africa. So work is going nicely and we have our rooms looking much better. We got our class lists and these are the countries that are represented in my class so far: Ghana, Congo, Zim, Belgium, Macedonia, Pakistan, Denmark, Canada, US. What a class!!!! Grant’s is about the same but also Japan, China, Israel and he has a few students who speak no English.
Home: Our home is coming along as well. We have made a lot of efforts over this holiday weekend to buy things to make it cozier. We have been told that our shipment has docked and we should get our boxes within the next 2 weeks. We had a meeting with our housekeeper Rosemary and gardener, Benson about our contract with them. It is really strange to sit down with people and have a conversation about what you would like done around your house. They are great people though and we are trying to help them as much as possible. I think we will give them a pay raise and pay for their daughter’s schooling. We will also buy them groceries once a month and cover medical issues as they come up. We went to a flea market the other day and found some really cool things for our house. Each morning I wake up to a bird singing a very specific beat. I swear Africans got their musical talent from birds. Every time I hear this bird I can’t stop myself from dancing to it’s beat. I think of Laura (my sister) each time b/c I know she would be dancing along with me.
Adventures; So the after the above mentioned party with teachers ended, we decided to go over to some teachers’ house to have some more fun. We only stayed about an hour and then some of us got tired. We have made very good friends with a couple that are also new teachers: John from Scotland and Danielle from Ireland. We decided that we could get ourselves home (about 10 minutes away) b/c we had a map. Well, that was not the case and it was very dark. They don’t have street lights really so it’s pitch black most places. We were lost for an hour and a half driving around in circles. I mean that literally b/c at one point we were driving around a roundabout for 5 minutes not knowing where to go. We were also laughing so hard b/c we just could not get left. It made me think of National Lampoon’s European Vacation. Anyway, we finally found our way somehow. It was a good bonding moment for the 4 of us and we have been hanging out together since. Continuing to get lost.
Everyone around let’s you borrow their car. Several staff members have come up, introduced themselves, and then offered to loan out their cars. We’re still in the process of car shopping which is both more fun and less fun than you would think. We’ve decided to hold out until we find something that we really like. Anyways we borrowed a big Land Cruiser for the 4 day weekend, and we’ve been getting around town pretty well. Grant is doing all of the driving, on the left side of the road, manual transmission, and with people that tend to walk in the middle of the road. It’s been an adventure, but we have been able to pick up larger items for the house like carpet, plants, yard tools, and more fun stuff. We wandered into a nursery yesterday that was filled with amazing plants and sculptures, all beautiful, and very cheap. We walked around for a long time, and we can’t wit to show it off. They’ve got lots of sculptures from local artists. We went home with a warthog and ostrich made of scrap metal. They’ve got lots of furniture made there as well, all very cheap, plus a coffee house and Belgian chocolate.
Everywhere we go we think about taking visitors. We hope all is well at home, keep us updated.
Gotta go, peacocks are trying to sneak into the room…
Love Jen and Grant