Back in Time

This past week I journeyed home with some of my students. The first home I visited was like starring in an episode of Little House on the Prairie (although there were too many mountains around to be considered a prairie). Her home had no modern conveniences. It is interesting what you do without electricity. We cooked and ate by candle light and then spent the rest of the evening sitting around a coal fire to keep our legs and hands warm. One of my favorite parts about the house was the pig pin. Everytime I walked to the squatty or the kitchen I had to talk to the piglets who were squealing away in their bed of hay. The countryside is in a time of drought (though it was drizzling the entire time we were there) so they have to ration their water. They had it rigged up so that all of the rain filtered into a large storage jar. My student had hoped to take a bath upon arriving home, but there just wasn't enough water. One thing they also have enough water for though is washing feet in hot water before going to bed. They found it very odd that I put my socks back on after I washed my feet (but I couldn't let them freeze).

My student's little cousin looks perplexingly at my digital camera.

The extended family gathers for a photo in front of the trying rice hay. They dry everything so that they can use it for cooking. The two college aged girls are my students.

I continue feeding the fire for the vegetables while the father of the home keeps the fire going for the meat.

A good friend feeds the fire in her kitchen with dried corn stalks so that she can finish cooking dinner. There is no light in the house so they cook by candlelight.

This picture is taken in the honey town. I tried to capture the round sun in the sky reflecting into the water, but only the water sun came out.

Back in November I visited a town known for producing honey. The man is scraping the wax off the comb so that the honey can splatter out. It is a messy, sticky job but is sure tastes good!!

New Year's Eve was spent in the girls dormitory. We ate candies, nuts, and oranges while we entertained ourselves with storytelling and singing. Of course we also did some dancing to keep warm. When midnight came they students lit candles and made a wish as they blew them out (I thought that was a birthday tradition).

We Like to Party!

I have found that in the run around of my daily life, hosting parties is a great thing to do. Cooking American food can be laborious if it is just for me, but there is added joy and pleasure in cooking it for people who have never tasted anything like it. So far we have tried Chili, traditional Christmas food, Mexican fajitas, and spaghetti. The students have seemed to enjoy it and the people here are normally pretty honest. The Mexican food was the biggest hit. I wonder what we will think to cook up next.

These are some of the students from my favorite class. They are eating Chili with chopsticks the crazy bunch.

Merry Christmas! The students have fun eating and watching a holiday movie.

Where I Work

I teach EFL in a vocational college. The teachers all live on campus with the students so it makes for a very familial environment. My classes range in size from 35-59 and since the students are used to more of a lecture style format than I, it is a bit of an adjustment for both of us. I will show pictures of the inside of school when the new term begins, but for now the outside will have to do.

This is a picture of my school. The library is on the left and the teaching building is on the right. The picture is taken from infront of my apartment.

This is a view from my sitting room window. The building in the distance is the students' dormitory. They generally sleep eight people to a room. The trees are covering the basketball courts and football(soccer) field/track. As you can probably tell, this picture was not taken in the winter.