Fridays can be great!

My day off has arrived! I have been wondering what to write for the past couple of days because I know how little people would be interested in what I really have to say. Most of my happenings are the mundane parts of life: going to the DFac, attempting to find something other than work to do, hanging out with the students, and thinking about what it really means to be "homesick". Last night, however, something of note did occur. We had a birthday party of sorts for one of the British mentors here. This actually involved me putting off my work and haging out with her and the students for the day. We sat around, drank tea, played cards, and watched activities of some of the other students. It was a great way to get to know some of the students a little better.

 

I am having a little difficulty with this actually. As their teacher I have to be cognizant of how my interactions with them outside the classroom will affect their behavior inside the classroom. When will I become seen as more of a friend then as a teacher? That line is not easy to see, and I flirt with it everyday just by not staying in my room and refusing to interact with them at all. Of course that would be a bad choice all the way around, which is why I have not made it, but each night is becoming more and more difficult.

 

I am now officially the acting site lead as the real one has gone on R&R. It is going to be a difficult task as we have a load of new students coming in today, the local hire teachers have come up to me to ask when they will be able to go home (only once a month), and if it would be possible to get them computer and phone privilages. I am not even sure who to ask about such things, but I am going to attempt to look into this. What a weird way to start my assignment! I hope this is not indicitive of what is yet to come.

 

I was up until 2 - 2;30am last night and still woke up at 5:30 this morning! I am sitting in the office getting more work done... The start of my administrative duties have officially began, and I really do think it will be a wonderful thing!

Boring, but good.

Last night I went to the other side of the base to the American compound because one of the people who tried to get out last night was detained due to weather, but his luggage was on the previous plane which was not! We went to pick up some things he would need for the night, and I got a Caramel Smoothie from the Green Beans. I then went to the Exchange and found what I have been thinking about getting for quite a while now: a different belt for my side arm. I had looked previously, but they didn't have any at that time. This time, however, they had a riggers belt. I was a little hesitant to purchase it because it was $35, and I wasn't sure it would work the way I wanted it to. I put aside this fear and decided to buy it.

 

As it turns out, the belt works PERFECTLY (at least almost!). This was definitely a pleasant surprise, and I don't have to worry about my pants feeling like they are going to fall down all the time because of the weight of the weapon. The wonders of modern technology!

 

In addition to belts, we have computers and the internet. Apparently the internet I paid for is being rather obnoxious! I tried to get online today, and my computer is recognizing the line as some other server than the one I am purchasing my service through, so I am unable to sign in. What kind of rediculousness is that? I am paying top dollar for a service and some other company (or something) prempts the wire? It would be one thing if their service just went down because the line through Pakistan or Iran or wherever they get it from were cut, but to be preempted? Maybe it is the Taliban forcing them to not operate at certain times. This is what they do with the main cell phone company here. They have told them they are not allowed to opperate after 7pm, and so we have to find different ways to communicate after this.

 

The day was interesting. We got in our new teacher, but he won't actually come into my class until tomorrow. I will also, hopefully, give a book quiz. My students do not think they are ready, but they have done everything they need to with proficiency, so I believe they are. I just wish it were easier to get them to realize it. I guess we shall see what happens. The days are not as exciting as they were or could be, but day by day, I live and do what I have to do. This must be more exhausting than I realize because I fell asleep this afternoon and missed dinner... not the best idea, but it is all good!

 

(Hopefully I will be able to get pictures soon, but not until I can get my own interent up and running. I am not able to do it on government computers.)

A New Bed!

Unbeknownst to all of you, I have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for the past few days. I took apart my bed frame and placed it outside the door because I was tired of sleeping on a frame that squeaked every single time I moved! It got to the point that I was waking up my roommates when I got out of bed in the morning. I figured enough was enough and that a mattress on the floor was good enough for me!

Today, I went into the "schoolhouse" and moved the 65" TV off the stand it was on and placed it on a large desk. It seems that this pine structure upon which it was sitting was actually made to be a bed frame! Oh, how fortunate I was to find such a great treasure. As it is pine, it is not too heavy, yet it is sturdy! And no noise! It is also high enough to be able to store my boxes underneath it as well. I am feeling very blessed right now.

As you may be able to tell, I am doing well. The students will be ready to take a test again on Tuesday, and I will take over site lead responsibilities on Thursday. There is a new Afghan teacher coming in, and I will be responsible to mentor him, and then for supervising him; a task I am truly looking forward to!

Until next time, please take care.

Rain on the horizon

As I look just off to the north, I see dark clouds and lightening. Directly above us and in the distance, it is a totally clear, star-filled sky. I am not really sure what to expect, Which seems to be indicative of everything here in Afghanistan. There were a couple of security issues today, but nothing came of them. My students can't help but ask the same questions over and over; the idea of actually listening to what is going on seems quite foreign to them! One is like a child and needs constant attention. And the frustration reigns!

I lost my phone today. I looked all over for it. I checked my desk in the office; I checked my classroom; I checked my living quarters; I checked my pockets. I asked around and just decided to give it up for the night and look again in the morning. It was quite upsetting as I know that if I lose it, I will end up paying $100 for a $20 phone! As I started relaxing, I looked in my pockets yet again, though this time for something completely different. Lo and behold! There was that elusive phone. It was sitting there as calm and innocent as could be, as if it had always been there and I was too stupid to come across it the first two or three times I actually looked there. At least I was able to find it, even if the phone will be able to laugh at me for years to come.

The meals seem to be getting worse. There was almost nothing to eat for dinner. My roommate has been receiving many care packages from the US, and he has put a lot of the sweets that people have sent him into the office. This is not very good for me because it means I have easy access to them, and I tend to snack on the Twizzlers and Gummi Bears. There is even popcorn there as well, but I haven't sampled that yet.

I think I need to start carrying my camera around so I can take some photos and post them. People keep telling me they want to see some pictures. Who knows. I guess we shall see if it actually happens.

Test anxiety!

The students had what one would think was the final test they will ever get to take, and the score of which would determine the outcome of the rest of their life. In reality it is an important test: they need to reach a certain score before they will be allowed to start pilot training, but the scores they received are generally in the range they are supposed to be for the books they are in. They were, however, devastated that they didn't get the 80 they are working so hard for (at least most of them are working hard for).

We have a lot of ideas in the works to help them out, but it is difficult to get them to believe that what they have been doing previously is actually not very helpful in the grand scheme of language learning. They want an easy way, and anyone who can give it to them is the one they are going to listen to.

We have finally received a bookshelf type piece of furniture and large stable tables for the classrooms! Hopefully these will serve their purpose quite well. The students are still not really listening. They have an idea of how things should be done, and they proceed that way no matter what I say! I explain something both verbally and on the board, and the very next thing they ask is the very question I just addressed! Talk about frustrating....

I am learning a lot as well! Eating with the students and also sitting and talking with them outside of class has lead to some interesting conversations and lots of joking! Sometimes I am wonder if I am doing the right thing by joking with them and such, especially as I am their teacher, but it would be difficult not to since we live together and have few other outlets. I rationalize away any possible problems by saying that they students have a positive attitude toward it, use English during this time, and actually participate! I think that these are all huge positives in the language learning dynamic. I hope that it doesn't affect the classroom itself in any negative way.

I am still going strong. I have my good days and my bad days like everywhere else. I am learning about all the things that need to be done as I am the assistant site lead and will be taking over for 2-3 weeks when the site lead is away on R&R. I guess I will finally get the chance to be the one completely in charge and overseeing a program that includes 3 Afghan teachers! It is going to be very strange, but a very good experience, I am sure! As always, more to come later.

 

Great Day?

The day started out pretty much the same as always: I got up, sneaked into the shower, went to breakfast, came back and prepared for the students to come to class. When they returned from breakfast, they stood in formation and were informed they would not be having class this afternoon. This was news to us teachers, but teachers are always the last to find out these things anyway, so that was of no surprise. During the third period of class, one of the military personnel came in to inform us that we would actually be having one hour of class after lunch after all; the person who was coming would be arriving late. Who could be so important that we would take time off to go down to the flight line to speak with? A retired Brigadier General of the United States Air Force!

A retired General would not engender so much interest for Afghan pilots unless this general was a pilot as well, and so he was... and interestingly enough, at 89 years old, still is! But he was not just any pilot; he is a pilot that has flown numerous missions in WWII as well as flown research aircraft and taught Pakistani Pilots. Furthermore, he developed the program to help train NASA astronauts. All of this is interesting, of course, but you probably know him better for being the first person to break the sound barrier: Chuck Yeager.

The students were very excited to speak with him and asked him a ton of questions. He had his picture taken with all of them and even ate dinner with the students a couple of hours later. He seemed like a pretty nice guy with some very interesting stories to tell. All in all, I enjoyed watching the interactions.

For myself, I was told that my bosses from Kabul would be coming for a couple of days to observe classes. While we were waiting, we were told that they wouldn't be coming due to the attacks in Kabul. Apparently they got it under control because they did in fact manage to leave and made it here just a few minutes ago. So, tomorrow I will have a US Army Colonel and a Canadian Lt. Colonel observing my class and looking over the conditions here. I hope they find everything satisfactory. I am not a big fan of when higher ups come to visit, but I figure that if I am doing everything right anyway, there is no need to worry. I just hope I am doing every thing right!

A Night and Day on the "Town"

After turning in our reports and updating the files, the site lead and I decided that we had plenty of time to take the bus to the other side and partake of the food in the large DeFac. It wasn't really that great of a selection this time around, but to make up for that, I had a nice bowl of  mint chocolate chip ice cream! Yes, the ice cream bar is once again open at the DeFac, though there is no telling for how long. It looked like they had about 8 -10 5 gallon containers, so that should last a day or two depending on how many people decide they need the nutrition that such a collection would give them. Perhaps tonight will allow me another opportunity to sample another flavor.

The meal and a stop off at the Exchange and we were off again; back to the small compound we call home. Every time we enter, we are greeted in Dari by the guards. It is almost like we have our own doormen to a luxury location that could be costing us millions. Of course, I would prefer a better neighborhood, but the price was right for this one.

This morning I decided to be productive. I went back over to the other side to the finance office to get my cash card renewed. This is the easiest way (and in some cases the only way) to pay for things here, so it was an important undertaking. I finished that and then stopped by the post office which was next door. I was able to get a couple of envelopes pre-postaged so I could come back to the office and fill out and print some documents that need to be sent out ASAP. I just hope that the weight isn't over 13oz, or I could be in trouble.

I managed to get all that accomplished am now working on updating my resume. It appears that they have now posted openings for permanent positions at DLI, so I may wish to get one of those as opposed to a term position. If they are willing to wait, it could be a good thing. Of course I may also wish to apply for a similar position with them that isn't teaching but looks just as good if not better. All of this while I am waiting to hear back from the State Department about a possible interview! I have so many rods in the fire, I am not sure what is going to happen... I think my brain would explode if I tried to figure it out at the moment. So, I will just enjoy the adventure as it comes my way and wait and see what happens!

Crazy, insane, and even worse :P

No, it really isn't that bad, though sometimes it feels like it. I didn't eat breakfast, but I managed to have a nice lunch. This was after I became frustrated with my students for not listening. I tell them a page number and they just do what they think I should be doing rather than what I asked them to do, and they all think they know the perfect way to teach because of their previous teachers. One told me that back at KELTC (the program they were previously in) things were done a certain way, and that that way was good. I told him he could go back to KELTC if he would only accept that way because I had my style and it did not include doing what I felt was educationally unsound. The students all laughed, but I don't really think they understand or are happy with various things. I guess we shall soon find out. I do attempt to explain my reasons, but they were used to a certain way, and my being different is strange to them.

On the other hand, I am just trying to make it through the day. Today being Thursday means we have a short teaching day. After lunch we don't have classes; the students do whatever it is that the students do, and the site lead and I do the reports and paperwork that we need to send up to our leaders in Kabul. I am not sure what they actually do with this information, but we send it nonetheless. I am still learning the ins and outs of certain things and figure that I should be careful what questions I ask.

The present commander of Thunderlab is leaving very soon and the new guy will be taking over. He seems like a nice guy, but they are looking to send him home soon too. I am not sure who they think is going to run the program, but it doesn't look like they are attempting to leave anybody here to do it. Pretty soon it is just going to be me and the Afghans! Anyway, here is to hoping someone knows what is actually going on. I cannot afford to worry about such things right now, they are way above my pay grade!

Culture Shock: Stage 2

I am down to eating one meal a day. I am just not very hungry, and this seems to serve my purposes well. I am also a tad irritable lately and seem to constantly be tired. These are all common side effects of the medicine I am taking to prevent malaria, but I really have no way of knowing if this is the cause or just a coincidence. I am thinking about stopping the medication to see if the symptoms go away as well.

There has been a lot going on around here, but it usually culminates in nothing. The head of the NATO forces here in Afghanistan was supposed to come visit, but weather was bad, so it was postponed indefinitely. The Afghan leadership did find their way here, however, so the students were able to air some of their grievances to them. Today we had a field trip to the flight line. The previous students of the program were finishing their solo flights and getting certificates, so it was a motivational thing for the students. They really enjoyed it, and it made it impossible to teach them in the afternoon!

I gave a book quiz to my class a couple of days ago. We have a rather small class, and the students must sit really close together. To discourage cheating, I used binders to set between them, and also a role of paper towel with one end wrapped around a water bottle making a little scroll. They were able to stare at the butterflies and dragonflies that decorated this scroll while they attempt to think about the answers to the questions. They mostly did well, so I guess it was an overall success.

Attempting to get anything accomplished around here is like pulling teeth. The military tends to look at us as more of a bother, even though they keep telling us how important what we are doing is. They seem to have brilliant ideas only to implement the exact opposite. I really am not sure just how much more of this I am going to be able to handle! It is going to be a mind game, but I am not on my best at the moment. If I am able to start to sleep and get back to normal, I can handle just about anything they throw at me.... here's to hoping!

A long day, and then one of complete rest!

Yesterday I did nothing! Yes, nothing. I was so tired that the thought of even getting out of bed was overexertion! When I did get up and leave the room, I ran into a couple of my students. Two seconds talking with them, and I was in the worst mood I have been in in years! I decided it would be safe to go back to bed! Of course that leaves laundry for tonight, but I am glad I did it nonetheless.

The previous day was a productive one, however. I helped to test and interview 3 Afghans for teaching positions here. This was quite the task! We had to walk down to the entrance of the base and wait for them to show their paperwork to gain entrance to the base. At this point 2 of the 5 who were supposed to be testing were stopped. One forgot his paperwork and the other one had paperwork where the picture was too old. Then we went through the process of collecting biometrics on them (fingerprints and retinal scans) and getting them visitor passes. After this process, we had to walk the 20 minutes back to the classroom to get them tested. We used this time to assess their oral English ability as well as get background information on them.

The test took about an hour - an hour and a half including instructions and such. The grading was pretty fast, but we didn't do that until later. After the test we walked them back out to the gate so they could leave. We may hire one of them, but we have to see what happens up the chain of command.

After all this, I was able to make my room into the living space it is today. I moved the now empty wall locker and large cubby-like monstrosity to my side of the room, flipped my bed so my gorilla boxes could fit underneath it and strung up my rain poncho to complete the wall. I now have my own private space that my roommates can't constantly peer into! All of this moving was exhausting, but the sense of accomplishment was overwhelming.. I think I should have just went to bed right after that.

Instead, I went to dinner and then sat down with the site lead to discuss the problem of lack of teachers with the probable incoming students. The Colonel is not very happy at the moment because he wants to bring down more students than we can accommodate. Fortunately, we (the site lead and I) may have been able to solve this problem... It seems I am becoming an assistant miracle worker and will take over the job of head miracle worker when he goes on R&R and then eventually goes home. What a position to step into!!

All in all I am alright. I felt really sore yesterday and today (to start). I think it may be due to dehydration, so I am upping my water intake to compensate. I wonder about it though because even in Iraq I seemed to suffer dehydration symptoms when I was drinking plenty of water. Maybe I am drinking too much and am getting hydration sickness. Wouldn't that just be like me? Have to do the opposite and cause problems whenever possible ;)  For now, I am off to meet up with the students for dinner. I hope it is something good! (The ice-cream bar is back at the DeFac at the American compound, but one has to take a bus to get there... maybe Wednesday I will have the opportunity to finally sample some wonderful, cold sweetness then!)

Another day, andother daay

The days are pretty long here after work. I wish they would have kept the 12 hour days! I am going to have to come up with some sort of hobby here. I would do some online studying, but we won't have internet in our room until the next week or two, and even then it will cost about $100 for the equivilant of a 14.4 k modem! I guess I can't complain too much though considering where I am....

 

The students are treating me well and seem to really want to learn. They may not really like how I do it, but they are coming around. I am still gettting used to the time here as well, so I am really tired a lot. I don't really want to go eat dinner around 6pm,. but I go because we go with the students, and it is good for them. The food isn't all that bad, but it isn't all that great either. I am hoping to get out to the other side of the base one of these days because they may finally have the ice cream back over there. The compound I live on is quite small, so it is easy to go stir crazy! As you can probably tell by my typing.

 

We are getting a new British woman in today to help with the supervising and counseling of the female Afghan students who will be coming in in a day or two. It will be interesting to see how that works out. I am really anxious to see how the male students act as well as how the other Afghans who live on the Afghan part of the base react. We have to leave the Nato Training Mission compound, walk through part of the Afghan compound, and then into the American Compound (this side) in order to get to the DFac (dining facility). The logistics of all this still boggles my mind. It was much easier in Iraq to understand. I think because I am working on a NATO mission, it is run quite differently. I am sure it will all come together eventually. At least my portion of it (teaching) is something I can handle.

First day of teaching

Today was my first day of actual teaching. I didn't have all my students yet, so we did some review of the book that comes before the book I will be teaching. I put it this way because it seems that there has been some movement of people up and down within the curriculum based on teacher availability (there are only two of us) and test scores. Some students were in higher books, and while their test scores were technically at that level, they were borderline, so the decision was made to move them down. I never really like having to make decisions based on reasons other than pedagogically sound ones, but this is the real world we are dealing with, and that is what needs to be done. I need to figure out a way to not live in the real world so I can be happy in my own nice, naive, little world.

 

I am still attempting to catch up on sleep. After class today, I went to my room  for something and I managed to fall asleep for a couple of hours. My body still doesn't know what time zone it is in or what is happening around here. The food is good, so I really can't complain about that! Actually I could, but only if I needed to find something to complain about. It is generally pretty much the same stuff all the time, and the dining facility I eat in is quite small, but it does the trick, and I really wouldn't want much bigger. Besides, if I went to the other side of base, I would be able to enjoy all the comforts of a large, impersonal dining facility with way too many places to attempt to choose from, lots of people I didn't know (who would not want to talk with me) and way too much noise and bustle for my fragile mind to take! And they say the grass is always greener!

 

I am part of a program called Thunderlab. It is an immersion program to teach English to Afghan military... I am really excited about the prospect of finally getting started and helping the students here move on to flight training. The students are all attempting to become pilots, so it they are quite motivated. We live on the same compound, which is a very unique thing here. It is a great set-up and sort of reminds me of when I was teaching at university summer camp in Korea where we lived in the same dorm as our students. They have classes at night with others (I am not sure how this works just yet), and we eat dinner, and sometimes breakfast) with them. They get a great deal of exposure to English during this time, and we are hoping that this will help increase their scores so they can meet the requirements sooner rather than later. 

 

My things that I mailed to myself from where I inprocessed are here. They have been at the post office here for a couple of days, unfortunately we were unable to pick them up on Saturday, it is closed on Sunday, and I have no idea if I am going to be able to get over there tomorrow to get my things. I would really like them because I wasn't really thinking when I packed everything, and I didn't leave everything I needed in my 72 hour bag. I can get by, but it is a pain. I also need to go buy sheets (they should hopefully have them at the Exchange). As I am living in a room with 3 other guys, I have little privacy, so I could use the sheets to make a barrier and provide myself some protection from that glass bowl feeling. Of course I am right by the door as well, so everytime it is opened I feel like the world can see me. Not a pleasant feeling by far. Soon, though, soon I will be able to have a little more privacy, and my life will be almost complete! Of course, I live in a room that has an actual roof, walls, and a floor! and the showers and toilets have actual doors! Compared to what I could have, this is like the Hilton!!! I am so grateful for having been placed at this location; there are so many positives! Of course, it is still outside of my comfort zone, but what isn't? It is going to be quite the 6 months - 1 year here... I hope to be able to take you along on the ride with me..