I know I haven't written for a while... a long while. Somehow, sharing my new experiences and realizations here in Arusha felt burdensome But I'm back. With a new commitment. I have decided to start running regularly, which I haven't done since high school. The commitment, specifically, is to run 5 days a week for 30 minutes each session. This past week (my first week), I made it out to run 3 times (one of which was in the rain). Not good enough.
It's interesting the reasons my mind finds for not running-
"I'm tired."
"I don't have enough time."
"I need to file my nails."
Pretty much anything to get me out of this torture. But I'm learning to listen to these excuses my brain gives me, like patiently listening to a complaining friend. Then I say, "Well, those are all nice reasons, but I still need to run." Unfortunately, I was only semi-successful in getting out of the door in my running shoes.
Recently, I have been working with the secondary students at my school on "being authentic with your word." In other words, do what you say you're gonna do. Clearly, I need some improvement in this area when it comes to doing what I say I'm gonna do FOR MYSELF.
This, however, is a common cross-cultural frustration between Tanzanians and Westerners. For example, I ask the head guy that fixes things around campus that there is a large wasps nest right outside my classroom and that it is a danger to my students as the wasps have been coming into my classroom. He replies, "Sure. It will be gone by the morning." Sounds like he's going to do it, right? NOPE. It has now been 5 days since I told him and it's still there. Wanna know why? He gave me such a convincingly detailed response but Tanzanians rarely ever say no. They say yes and just don't do it. So how do you know if someone will actually do it or not? I haven't figured that one out yet. My strategies, many times, included frequent reminders to do something until it gets done. Now, in the states, if you reminded some to do something on a daily basis, it would be considered rude and condescending. People would ask, "What? you don't think I can do my job?" But here, it's just a way of advocating for what you need.
I also come across this issue with the students. I ask them a question and they are masters at telling me what I want to hear. I figured it out quickly at the beginning of the school year when I was asking my students why they follow certain rules or whether they like something or even whether they will get something done. They gave me these glowing answers that any parent would be proud to hear their child say. But here's the thing- the kids don't mean it. I have had to break any child, young or old, that crosses my path of that nasty little "pleasing" habit because it makes the entire conversation fake. I recently expressed my frustration to a secondary boy in his last year of school about why students felt it necessary to tell teachers what they wanted to hear instead of the truth. He said, "If you tell the truth in a Tanzanian school, you'd get punished. So we tell the teachers what they want to hear and don't do it."
So these youngsters, trained from an early age, grow up to be Tanzanian adults that tell everyone what they want to hear instead of the truth.
It's interesting the reasons my mind finds for not running-
"I'm tired."
"I don't have enough time."
"I need to file my nails."
Pretty much anything to get me out of this torture. But I'm learning to listen to these excuses my brain gives me, like patiently listening to a complaining friend. Then I say, "Well, those are all nice reasons, but I still need to run." Unfortunately, I was only semi-successful in getting out of the door in my running shoes.
Recently, I have been working with the secondary students at my school on "being authentic with your word." In other words, do what you say you're gonna do. Clearly, I need some improvement in this area when it comes to doing what I say I'm gonna do FOR MYSELF.
This, however, is a common cross-cultural frustration between Tanzanians and Westerners. For example, I ask the head guy that fixes things around campus that there is a large wasps nest right outside my classroom and that it is a danger to my students as the wasps have been coming into my classroom. He replies, "Sure. It will be gone by the morning." Sounds like he's going to do it, right? NOPE. It has now been 5 days since I told him and it's still there. Wanna know why? He gave me such a convincingly detailed response but Tanzanians rarely ever say no. They say yes and just don't do it. So how do you know if someone will actually do it or not? I haven't figured that one out yet. My strategies, many times, included frequent reminders to do something until it gets done. Now, in the states, if you reminded some to do something on a daily basis, it would be considered rude and condescending. People would ask, "What? you don't think I can do my job?" But here, it's just a way of advocating for what you need.
I also come across this issue with the students. I ask them a question and they are masters at telling me what I want to hear. I figured it out quickly at the beginning of the school year when I was asking my students why they follow certain rules or whether they like something or even whether they will get something done. They gave me these glowing answers that any parent would be proud to hear their child say. But here's the thing- the kids don't mean it. I have had to break any child, young or old, that crosses my path of that nasty little "pleasing" habit because it makes the entire conversation fake. I recently expressed my frustration to a secondary boy in his last year of school about why students felt it necessary to tell teachers what they wanted to hear instead of the truth. He said, "If you tell the truth in a Tanzanian school, you'd get punished. So we tell the teachers what they want to hear and don't do it."
So these youngsters, trained from an early age, grow up to be Tanzanian adults that tell everyone what they want to hear instead of the truth.
Interesting thoughts about how we influence children as teachers. Love the posts - keep writing!
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