Frisbees, Experiments, and walks in the dark

Last night after publishing my blog, I realized that Alexa and Steph had not returned from the room and I had to climb the hill to our volunteer house by myself.  Too many this would seem simple but there are no streetlights in Tanzania.  I am crossing a field on a worn path similar to a deer trail with thorns and spiders on either side of me.  Then I need to go over the little hill and find the road.  This is no picnic when you do not have your torch with you and the other ladies also have both keys to the house.  There is no telephone to call for a taxi nor a way to call Alexa and Steph and beg for a torch.  Staying at the center is not an option as they eventually close the library.  So I had to put my chin up and pray that I would make it up the path without incident.  I'm honest enough to say that I sang under my breath most of the way either "Blessed Assurance" or "Awesome God".  I hoped my vocal talents would scare the spiders away.  Going up the hill was easy but it was inky black when I reached the top and I could not find the road.  Panic was rising when a motor vehicle began to drive up the road.  Aha, that was enough light for me to find my path.  I realized that even though I might be in the inky darkness somehow God's light will shine a path for me.  I arrived at the house without incident.  The two ladies were not very happy when I arrived.  Unfortunately the other inhabitants of our house - ant and roaches are still making their presence known.  As long as it is not a spider, I'm ok with it. Steph was not amused with the roach situation in her bedroom.  She sprayed "doom" and decided risking the effects of it later in her life was worth not sleeping with the bugs.  She also has decided that she will only be a missionary in "clean situations" - Good luck with that one sweetie.  I will admit that I often fall asleep with one hand around my cross and one eye on the look-out for spiders.  Tomorrow we will return to Mwangaza and we will not have these worries for three days.  We figured out our stove this morning and I cooked scrambled eggs.  Eggs are different here.  The yolk is white instead of yellow.   We had a wonderful day with our facilitators.  It was the best so far.  We did many experiments using household products.  I truly can not explain the joy in hearing our TZ partners articulate their segments that they will be sharing next week with their colleagues.  It was brought to my attention today that molecular geometry is difficult to teach.  They do not have models in Tanzania.  This causes my creative juices to flow.  What do they have plenty of? students.  I then used my partners to create different molecules.  Linking arms - single bonds, linking arms and touching feet - double bonds.  Then put your head together and we have a triple bond.  We were able to create HCN using their bodies.  We also showed how the molecule of water was bent using their bodies.  What I love most about this as it forces me to think outside the box.  Then I think - what would my students really enjoy -playing with models or acting out the molecular geometry.  I love hearing from my partners, "this is good" Joseph - our physics representative has been teaching for two years and has a diploma in engineering.  His school does not have any lab equipment so they can not do any experiments.  Alexa showed him today how he can use the rim of a glass filled half-way with water in it to make vibrations and pitch.  When he tried it he could not do it.  It was hilarious because Alexa could not figure out why?  Are the fingers different in Tanzania?  Our other two partners, Timothy and Peter could also not do it.  Then we realized they just needed practice.  Finally all three men were able to make the glass sing.  Steph was the only one to figure out the cartesian divers today.  It was a great moment for her to beat me to the solution. I'm not sure what Monday will bring - how many teachers will come or how successful we will be.  However for both the Tanzanians and Americans that have worked together these last few days, we have grown and learned so much from each other.  We have developed a lasting friendship.  We spent some part of our day sharing some of the American landmarks.  All were amazed by tornados ( a little scary that home was experiencing storms again), the Northern Lights,  Geysers, Buffalo, Blizzards, Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, and Sears Tower.  William thought John F Kennedy should be on Mt Rushmore as he was a great American President too.  We often hear this and have yet to figure out why.  I'm wondering if it was due to the Peace Corps or due to the fact that Tanzania became independent while Kennedy was president.  He also thought that the person who carved Mt. Rushmore should be carved there too for doing such good work.  William felt our partners should learn to play frisbee so we would be able to play the game on Monday.  I think this was because William also enjoyed the game.  They had cut our lawn today so I thought it would be safe from spiders to play.  Timothy, Peter, Alphonse, and Joseph loved the game.  William gave grief to Steph  and she gave it right back to him.  That was a great moment!  We played in the hot sun for about an hour.  Unfortunately in our excitement, we also forgot to take a key with us and our door automatically locks behind us.  Oh no!! Luckily Timothy was able to get a spare key from administration and we can once again enter our home. We decided to try to make french toast for dinner instead of facing beans, ugali, and cooked spinach.  After three days of beans, ugali, and cooked spinach, we just could not face it again.  We hope to avoid it next week too.  We plan on stopping in the market on our way to Mwangaza and picking up some rations.  Hopefully we can make spaghetti or grilled cheese sandwiches now that I know how to work the stove. Well this was a very long blog.  We need to go back to the home, finish preparations for seminar, and also pack.  Allen will be picking us up tomorrow at 9:00 am.  We promised Steph some shopping time in Arusha.  Her penpal Joseph arrives this weekend, we will visit Salome's family and celebrate with Anneth her confirmation.  We hope to also visit with Andrew's family and Ishmael.  Kwaheri family and friends.