Last two days in homestays...

My last full day at my homestay was very eventful, as usual. First, Florence took me into the garden to dig up sweet potatoes. That was fun, but only because I did it for like 5 minutes. I couldn’t imagine doing it for much longer. We then headed to Peter’s school where he teaches. After about an hour walk, we arrived at the school, only to find all the students outside in an “assembly.” Turns out, they were publicly disciplining a boy for fighting in front of his parents and the whole school. And this “discipline” was getting hit with a bamboo stick. I found this absolutely ridiculous and simply not okay… but that was just the beginning.

The kids got let out of the assembly, and the second they saw me, a crowd started forming around me. Most of the young children there have never even seen anyone white before. They all just stood around me staring, and finally I got sick of it and just needed to break the ice. So I took out my camera and video taped them, while having them all wave at the camera. All of a sudden, someone rang a bell and all the kids dropped to their knees. Then another bell, and they all stood up. Then one last one, and they all began sprinting to class. Then began round two of inappropriate discipline. All the kids who were “late” had to drop to the ground, and they couldn’t go into class until one of the teachers came around and gave them a whack on the butt. I just couldn’t believe that was how things were still done. According to some of my peers here, they heard from their homestay parents that beating isn’t allowed anymore. So I don’t really know the deal with it, but I do know that I was definitely surprised to see it.

I then sat in on Peter’s P7 class (primary 7, similar to our about 8^th grade), went to a P3 class full of little guys learning the English alphabet, and then went to a P1 class of pre-school aged kids. It was really cool to experience school there. It made me realize how fortunate we are to attend school for minimal costs and what great schools we have. Most kids were sitting on the floors, they don’t have text books at all, class sizes are around 50 with only one teacher, and the building is just cement without water or electricity. Plus, every child needs to pay “school fees” similar to our private school tuition. So there is no such thing as free education. Their public schools here are considered the poor schools with a bad education, and even in that case, families are still paying out the butt for their kids to go there. So next time you complain about having to school, take a second to remember how fortunate we are to even get an education.

I came back, rested, washed clothes with Florence, and just kinda sat around all night. For dinner, we had goat meat, which wasn’t too bad. The chicken gizzard equivalent on the goat is the heart. So you better believe, as the honored guest, I got served the goat’s heart. And I ate it! It’s amazing what you are capable of doing when you have no other choice!

The next day was pretty somber. Doreen and Daddy Peter stayed home from school so they would be there to say goodbye to me. We had no idea when I was getting picked up so we were all a little anxious all day. I really didn’t want to leave. Doreen kept freaking out every time she thought she heard a car. She insisted she was going to cry when I left, but I didn’t really believe her. I guess I just didn’t think I could make such an impact in only 4 ½ days of being there.

So we tried to go through the day normally. Doreen taught me how to make “chipote” which you all definitely want me to make for you because it so good. It’s basically fried dough, like everything else they eat here haha. When Florence served me lunch, I found out that she has secretly slaughtered another chicken to surprise me. They had made me go away on a walk with Doreen to another house earlier that morning, but I just went along without thinking much of it. Turns out, during that time, Florence was preparing chicken for me again. What an honor! So we sat down to eat, and sure enough, 5 minutes later, my ride came to pick me up.

Saying good bye was AWFUL! I started going around giving everyone hugs and kisses and saying good bye. Then I got to Doreen, who was standing underneath the hut so I couldn’t see her face. I go to give her a hug, and I see that she is hysterically crying. So of course, I couldn’t hold it in and started bawling too. Then I went back to hug Florence, and she was crying and trying to cover her eyes. And then little Aaron started crying too. Oh man, it was terrible to leave. Going into this homestay, I NEVER could have anticipated how much I’d fall in love with my family. I will seriously miss them so, so much.