Tumaini University

Things are going well in my classes. I am teaching two. One is Theology of Diploma and the other one is Bachelor of Divinity. At fist I was lead to believe that I would be teaching communication studies, but what I’m really teaching is English. I was really worried at first! Just because I can speak English does not mean that I can teach it! Well so I am combining both. They read chapters out of a book called A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking. We read through the chapters together then they pick words out of the chapters that they don’t understand. Then, I divide the words between the class and they look them up out of class and then share what they found. One of the emphasizes in the class is to broaden the student’s vocabulary.
I also had both of my classes write me a one page paper about themselves. I was surprised to see how the student’s English skills vary so much. Some of then are not so bad and some of them really need help.
I have pulled a syllabus together with the help of Brian Peterson. He is a Professor of Greek and Theology at a university in one of the Carolinas. He decided to spend his sabbatical teaching at Tumaini University of Iringa.
It is really hard to follow a syllabus. Some times they will just cancel class and you won’t know about it until the day before. Last week because of graduation there were no classes on Thursday or Friday.
At first I felt that the student’s didn’t understand at all what I was teaching them. Now, it’s really rewarding to see that they are learning! We have been talking about audiences and forming your message to fit different audiences. I was floored when a student asked me how to analyze their audiences. It feels good to know that they are catching on!
They were also very shy at the beginning. I would ask a question and they all would just sit there and not say anything. So, I decided to make it part of their grade to talk in class. Also, now that they have warmed up to me a little they talk more.
The Bachelor of Divinity class is a little more advanced in English than the Theology of Diploma class. LOL The Theology of Diploma class and I were talking about the word deceive. I was explaining to them what it meant and I gave an example. I said that when I go to the sokoni (market) and I want to buy a kilo of rice I look until I find a kioski (store) that sells rice. Then I asked the class how much a kilo of rice is. They agreed that it costs about 1,200 tsh. Then I said ok well the shop keeper will tell me it costs 3,000. They all laughed. Then I said the chop keeper deceives me by giving me the wazungu discount. (The wazungu discount is what the shop keeper thinks the “rich” white people should pay.) They all roared with laughter. Then one of the student said that I need to bargain more. I explained that I do bargain a lot but they usually won’t go down to the African price. They all just thought that it was hilarious!
(To solve this problem I have learned what shops to buy stuff from and what ones to stay away from.)
Well, I will be moving to a new office. This will be the 3rd time that I have moved now. I don’t really mind it because all my stuff fits into my bag and is easy to move around. The problem is that I might not have an office for a couple of days, which I cannot do without! I may be able to move my things easily, but I do need a space to correct papers, go on the internet, and plan my up coming classes.
The creepy guy that I shared an office with will now be moving in to the office that I am in. It is really his office, but I don’t know why he didn’t just move to it before. Well he kind of yelled at me yesterday. I was asked to give the janitor the keys to D1. That was the first office I had. Then the creepy guy shared it with me. Well then I was really uncomfortable with this guy starring at me constantly and telling me how pretty I am. So, I got the janitor to move me. He moved me to D8. Like I was saying D8 is really the creepy guys new office. His name is even on the door…… Any ways I gave the janitor the keys to D1 because those were the keys he asked me for. Well, the creep guy stopped me on my way to class and yell at me for giving the janitor the wrong keys. I said he only asked me for the keys to D1. So the creepy guy argued with me for a while not listing to anything that I said. He seems like he is really chauvinistic. Any way I didn’t really want to get yell at anymore for no reason, so I was like I gotta go to class and I walked away. Later on he came back to the office I was in with the janitor and was much more clam now. The janitor and I worked everything out. It was an interesting day yesterday. Lol lol
Um….. I have been the only girl around for the last day. Chrissy and Annika are traveling with the German Bishop and Inga is traveling with her boss. Inga is from Germany also. She is over here learning all she can from a German architect that lives here. His name is Johaun. Lol lol He is 56 and his African wife is 23. And I seen to be the only one around that thinks that there is something wrong with that. I asked Inga about it and she said that his wife Grace really likes to have nice things. So, what I gathered is that she likes his German money, but whatever.
Otherwise everything is going well! I hope all of you are healthy and happy!
-JC