Buzzy Bee

My daily schedule has shifted. Through September, I woke up in the morning and checked my email, facebook, and blog statistics right away. Who had contacted me from home? Who was reading my blog? How many views did I have yesterday? After responding to the emails and facebook inboxes, I usually began work on some college supplement or another blog post, often times both. By the time I had moved onto my Tanzanian work, it would be at least twelve in the afternoon. By this time I would be a little worn from the morning’s work, but still eager to work for Uzima or New Life. The problem was that in these beginning stages, work was often times sparing. I did not have a set schedule and instead was working day by day, hoping that a new job would pop up for me each time I sat down to work.

Now, I have a schedule. Doing things that once dominated my time like keeping up with college supplements and blogging are tedious only because I have a full day’s work otherwise. I am working on a series of long-term projects right now including the Uzima blog, the Uzima newsletter, and the news board for New Life Foundation. I also am creating a two-year English curriculum for Fountain of Joy girls and teaching three days a week. My schedule is comfortably building to a point where I have somewhat of a life here.

On Monday night I went to dinner at a friend’s house. There were about eight of us there and it was a nice break from the somewhat constant work schedule. I am getting better at speaking English in a Tanzanian accent, which makes it far easier for everyone else to understand me. I also am continuing to learn Swahili, though slowly. (When it comes to learning Swahili it is very easy to allow people to speak to me in English instead of forcing myself to learn the language by complete immersion. However I know I won’t be completely immersed until I do learn the language so I must continue pushing.)

My non-teaching workdays usually involve about 5 hours of writing and designing, one hour of research, one hour of interviews, and an hour of scheduling (either curriculums or calendars), and an hour of helping others with impromptu tasks. Sometimes the lattermost is my favorite because it allows me to engage in conversation with others while most of my work I typically carry out solitarily.

My teaching workdays usually involve more travel time whence I either read or speak to the people with whom I travel. 

All in all, I have a schedule. I like it, it feels right. Though it sometimes can make contact with home tedious, I trust and hope that this schedule will continue to build.