Put It In Drive and Set the Cruise Control

Below is another picture from the Malian mask ceremony we were lucky enough to witness. The guy in front brings to mind the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

This is an ancient Dogon village on the side of an escarpment. No one lives there anymore.

This is a staged fight between two of my students taken during my English Club. Can't work all the time :). For more information about the club, see below (especially Mrs. Artz's class).

Shown below are my English World Club students, working diligently to write letters (in "English") to Mrs. Artz's class at Leighton Elementary in Oswego. That's them waving to all of the students who sent letters from her class! The letters were humorous, and a lot of them were just copying the sentences that Mrs. Artz's students had written, but I was actually very impressed with some of their work. I mean, come on, these kids are in the equivalent of 7th grade and they were able to correspond in English. I love it. To the students at Leighton, expect to see some of these letters soon! Sorry it took so long, but keep the letters coming.

This is CEG Kemon, where I teach. The teepee is there to protect what I believe are burgeoning mango trees. No, there are no doors and windows on this building, but there are in the other buildings on the school grounds. And believe me, you really appreciate the open space on a hot day, which is every day.

This is me in my Tuareg getup in front of a Dogon village in Mali. Awesome.

A Hazy Shade of Winter

My English club is finally underway! If you find yourself sitting at a restaurant or bar, perhaps reading this blog on your Wifi-enabled cellular phone, be sure to toast the fine students of CEG Kemon who were generous enough to make my first session a rousing (if somewhat tardy) success. Here is a recap of what was and will be done (hopefully).

My partner in this endeavor told me that he would pick me up to bring me to the club on his moto. I hesitantly agreed, but I believe that he is far more punctual than my other colleagues, and decided to leave my timely arrival in his hands.

He didn't come. Well, he did eventually come, but he arrived at my house to pick me up approximately 15 minutes after our club was scheduled to begin AT SCHOOL, a mile away. Needless to say, I had since given up on this mode of transportation and biked the way, no doubt uttering not-quite-inaudible choice phrases under my breath en route. And when I arrived, 4 minutes late, I found that I was alone. No, not even the crickets were chirping.

But they came. Little by little, 15 out of the 17 invitees arrived, the last one arriving slightly past the 1 hour mark (thus giving him less than a half hour to actually BE there). But I was happy to get anything after my initial shock of the empty classroom. Coincedentally, my late partner, who is also a teacher at my school, arrived 30 minutes late and then proceeded to chastise those who arrived even five minutes later than him. "Why are you late? We started at 13h30." I bit my tongue.

So here's the gist of it. My club is entitled "The English World." I wanted to have an English club, to which I could invite my most promising students, but I didn't want it to focus solely on the production of English words and the study of the language. I decided to bring this into a more personally-intriguing realm by incorporating an element of geography. I was thus able to teach English structures and idioms while also expanding the students' knowledge of how English fits into this big, confusing world. Here's the gimmick: each week, I will work with three or four students to prepare a presentation, probably in French, about a certain English speaking nation. We can incorporate a bit of history, a bit of economics, talk about commerce and opportunities available in each nation, and also prepare dances or food to create a world that can be more literally "experienced." We will start with the mother of all English nations, if I do say so myself: the U.S. That will take place next Wednesday. After that, we will continue with Nigeria, then England, then Ghana, etc. I'm really looking forward to the research and the preparations. Plus its a rare chance to give students the opportunity to showcase their creativity in front of a group of peers. I'm really hoping that this first group will go off without a hitch. One of my best students, Benoit, was chosen for this group, so I think it may be a successful trial run.

I'm trying to import books right now for the school library. If ever you send a package and have a spare French-English dictionary handy, I would be forever grateful if you would be so kind as to slip it in the package. It doesn't need to have considerably difficult vocabulary... Also, if anyone has any ideas about organizations to partner up with in order to import French novels, I would love to chat with you. Things are starting to move now that lockdown has been lifted, and I'm really looking forward to the new opportunities afforded by internet access, no matter how dodgy it is.

Congrats to BU for defeating the BC Eagles in the hockey match held IN Fenway Park. Amazing show, I heard. Also, a group of education students from SUNY Oswego are here tonight, so I'm going to meet up with them. The coincedences were too numerous to pass up this chance to meet them in Porto-Novo. A group of Oswegonians... in Benin... here to study the education system. What are the freakin' chances. It's a beaufitul life.

Mali!

Had a great vacation in Mali with my fellow volunteers Brad and Sarah, as well as my friend Ali who was able to fly in from Dubai. Mali is like Benin but different. There are certain things that are plentiful in tropical Benin that you can't get in Mali, which consists of mostly desert terrain. Mali certainly has more Muslims than Benin, and there seems to be more of a developed music scene there, but I've yet to explore the back alleys of Cotonou's music scene so I guess I should wait to pass judgment. One things for sure: Mali is gorgeous. Above is a picture of my friend Brad exchanging some words with a native of the Dogon Country. When you meet an elder on the route, one must give him/her a cola nut, which is a (slightly addictive) caffeinated nut that supposedly serves as a mild hallucinogenic. I tried one, but all I got in return was a sick stomach. I suffered some intestinal difficulties for about 11 of the 12 days while we were on vacation. Can't win em all!

These are some performers in an ancient ritual dance performed in the Dogon Country. All in all, there were approximately 40 or so performers, including the musicians. A story was told, but don't ask me to pretend that I am able to recount the tale. The colors were pretty, though. Local women and children were forced to maintain a safe distance from the performers. What would happen if they were caught sneaking in too close? Some guardians would charge them with sticks while letting out a battle cry.

This is a village in the Dogon region of Mali. These villages are rustic, to say the least, and possess a lingering charm. Although there are many tourists these days, vehicles are unable to reach these havens, and the villagers have thus been able to continue practicing their simple styles of life into the modern age.

Hope you all enjoyed your holidays! I know I did. Best wishes to all, and may this new year and decade bring only good things to us all.

-Dave

Something Familiar...

1.)This is my neighbor Moreni (sp?), sitting on the terrace outside of my house. You may notice that the environment is a little... drier than it was in my previous posts. We're in the middle of a dry season that will last until about May. How dry? We can expect to receive absolutely no rain until that time. Yikes! Sorry the pic is turned 90 degrees, but it takes way too long to upload these with this internet connection.

2.) The road to Kemon! That's the hill around which my village is situated.

3.) Thanksgiving slaughter! This is the duck in our Tur-Duck-Tard.