On Tuesday night, the students moved in with their host families. This was a bit of an adjustment, since at the center they roomed together, and also had wireless internet access, real showers, etc. In the host families, there is no internet access, some of the students don’t have showers, only a room for taking bucket showers. The students did very well; I was so proud of them. They are all really easy-going, flexible, open-minded, and have great, positive attitudes. They were definitely in the “honeymoon” phase and love everything about Africa, but they know that culture shock is likely to follow. They have been interacting with all the staff and other students at the center, and using their Swahili a lot!
Wednesday they started classes, and it became clear that having all 4 students in the same Swahili class was not going to work. The course schedule still hadn’t been straightened out, but still, the students were great.
On Thursday, it was established that starting Monday, the students would be in 3 different classes for Swahili, depending on their level. We also had a meeting on Thursday to sort out the schedule, and I think we managed to do so. We agreed that excursions and residence permits were to be paid for by the onsite partner and billed to the University, so as far as the students were concerned, everything was sorted out by the time I left on Friday night.
On Friday morning, we went to Arusha National Park; by then it had been agreed that the onsite partner would arrange this and cover the cost, and bill it to the University. We saw a lot of monkeys, some zebras and giraffes, and even hippos and flamingos from far away. It was fun but very tiring.
Busybusy eating
Adventures of an Introvert 