April 14, 2008 (written by Janeen)

Well it seems that it has been a while since I have written a blog. So I hope not to go on forever boring you with details of my life. I’ll first give you a health update. My eyes are not entirely healed despite the fact that I’ve been on meds for over a month. I think the problem is that I still live in a dusty environment and it won’t fully heal until I don’t. So the Peace Corps doctor said that as long as it doesn’t flare up again, I’ll just wait until I go home to see another specialist. Peace Corps will pay for this. If I have more troubles I’ll go back to Bloemfontein.

Not much has been going on. This is the 4th week of second quarter. I’ve already been busy grading my students’ work. It is such a chore! But I know they can’t improve unless they get feedback from me. Also, by grading their work I can see their strengths and weaknesses and base my lessons on that. I’m pretty sure that if the Form C students took the English exam now they’d do pretty decently. We are basically reviewing grammar topics until the exam comes. The only new knowledge they are getting is from literature, which we are almost done with the short stories book. After that it is on to poetry and I am pretty much dreading that. I don’t really enjoy poetry myself and I’m not so sure how well I’d be able to teach it.

Jason and I have two side things going. He just started an income generating project for my school. All students have to have their heads shaved for school. So we bought electric clippers and have students cutting hair twice a week for 5 Maloti. Last year my principal suspended students from an exam until they cut their hair. Students were frantically running around finding whatever they could to cut their hair! Now this should never happen again because hair cuts will be available regularly and we are charging ½ the price that they would get in town. My project is actually a “Healthy Living” Club. So far we have met once and we did aerobics. It was fun. I have 36 members. I even have 5 boys! We are not only doing aerobics. We will also have discussions on how to live healthily (here is where I can get some good HIV/AIDS education in). I also want to give cooking demonstrations on how to eat healthfully. I am really excited about this and so far it seems like fun!

“Waiting is one of life’s hardships.” (Lemony Snicket, Horseradish p. 154) This statement is so true! Grandpa Durkee sent this book to us and it is pretty hilarious, sad, and just the bitter truth! It is full of short sayings about life. It is like a coffee table book. Anyway I wanted to share this quote with you because I’ve been ready to come home since January! Now it is April and I still feel the same way. In the first year we had ups and downs of homesickness. This is by far the longest spout and we’re pretty sure it probably won’t go away until we come home. We have less than 8 months! We know we’ll make it through but are at the point where we want to get on with our lives. I want a baby. Jason wants to go to business school. I’m sure Andy and Mari know exactly how we feel! So at this point we are just waiting. I’m sure the time will pass quickly enough and we’ll still have some great experiences, but we’ll miss out on a lot too!

Winter is approaching. As it is warming up for you all its getting colder for us! The name of the game here is to wear everything you own to keep warm. My outfits are pretty interesting.

Anyway, on Friday (18th) I get to go to Qoaqoa with the Form C students. It is a Basotho cultural village in South Africa. I am pretty excited about it. Jason is headed to Maseru for a meeting that day, so that is why you get to read my update! Well now that I’ve typed a page, I think its time to go. I miss In N’ Out, I miss good Mexican food (Taco Lita, Taco Treat, even Taco Bell), I miss California Pizza Kitchen, I miss pizza with pepperoni, I miss bread sticks from Olive Garden, I miss… the list could go on, my mouth could water and my stomach can grumble more, but most of all I miss YOU!