Head, shoulders, knees and toes

June 3^rd, Monday

            Today was just such a great day. I woke up in a really great mood and it stayed with me all of today. When we got to our school the precious angels were waiting for us and walked us to class. The teachers for our Standard 3B class, Ellen and Lana, are seriously so wonderful. They greeted us with hugs and Lana shared her wonderful news with us; she got engaged over the weekend! She was so excited and I was so glad we got to share those few special moments together. The students were a little sassier today than usual; manic Mondays exist even across the world. Even though a little sassy, they were still as precious as always. As we passed out nametags the children were bringing us foods from the market, it was so sweet. Apparently here, students bring food to their teachers as a sign of appreciation. We received a bag of peanuts and a tangerine and both were delicious. Liz and I were so surprised by the gifts and it just gives me another reason to love them more than I already do. Liz and I didn’t make our lesson plan until about 30 minutes before we left but it turned out to be great! We first reviewed the head, shoulders, knees, and toes song and we also taught them Twinkle, Twinkle little star. The way these little ones pronounce some of the words just cracks me up. I have fallen in love with the way they say shoulders, knees, and toes and I wish I could physically show you just how precious it is. Their little accents are definitely going to stay in my heart until the end of time. After we sang the songs we had them come to the front in little groups, hold a note card with a letter on it, and unscramble them-selves to find out what the word was. They did spectacular at it but I did notice that some of the students in the back weren’t actively participating. I was feeling a bit sassy myself so I walked past the million of hands in the front who wanted to participate and went straight up to the group of boys who had their backs to me and told them to get up there and participate like the others in what I think is my serious face. The expressions on their faces were absolutely priceless and I didn’t realize just how fun being a teacher could be. I have come to the point where I don’t feel bad using some discipline because even though they are all so cute (such precious babies), I can kind of see past it now. I never knew how my parents could discipline my sister and I, being as adorable as we were when younger (haha), but now I get it and I commend them.

            After the flash card game we did a couple of labeling exercises using the parts of different plants and even though they knew what plants were, I’m not sure they had learned the parts of them yet so I felt that it was a good lesson to do. After that, Lana taught them some math before their break, which was about 15 minutes. I love watching the students learn a lesson in Chichewa because even though I can’t really understand what they are saying, I can watch their expressions and they look so in their element, which is my favorite way to watch them. The smiles are contagious and I love watching them all crack up from something in Chichewa, I’m just hoping they aren’t making fun of us haha. When the kids went on break they all came right up to Liz and I to give us the most wonderful hugs I have ever received. Their little bodies can give the most loving hugs and just how willing they are to share all of the love they have inspires me. Even though they are allowed to go outside for break they always choose to stay right near Liz and I to share laughs and enjoy one another’s company. It’s crazy how close I feel to each and every one of them with just the short amount of time we have spent together. Just thinking of leaving them makes my heart shatter into little pieces.

            After break Liz and I didn’t really know what to do since we only had about 20 minutes so we just sang songs with them. We did the Hokie Pokie, which they love so much. I taught them the shark song that I had learned years ago from 4H camp and they already knew it, which was so exciting! Liz and I were feeling a little proud so we taught the class the “Lets Go…Hokies” cheer. Liz’s half said “Let’s Go” and my little babies said “Hokies”. They caught on so fast and they refused to stop even when Liz and I were stopping, haha. We had to tell them that we won’t be back until Thursday and they started blowing us kisses and grabbing a hold of my heart even more. After class we went to have lunch and discuss some articles with the VT group. I always forget that this is an actual class because I have been having so much fun that it doesn’t feel like work at all.

            From there we walked over to the Demonstration school to be picked up to head downtown. In downtown Zomba we went by the fabric store and grocery store to pick up water for the week. After visiting some downtown we came back to Annie’s and are going to rest up for our departure tomorrow. It doesn’t even seem real to me that I will be on an African Safari tomorrow and Wednesday but I guess it’ll make it that much better when I actually get there. These experiences that I am getting here are so wonderful that I cannot even put them into words. I am experiencing life of a different culture and I’m getting to meet some of the most beautiful people. I cannot wait to see my parents and loved ones back at home but it’s going to be hard to leave here in less than two weeks knowing I won’t be greeted by “Moni, Moni Azooga” (which means Hello, white people) and crowded by dozens of little African children who just want to share their love with me.

Until then,

xoxo