Still at YLNG

Well, my replacement ducked out at the last minute and so I am still at the Gas Company, which I really don’t mind. I am only working for three hours in the morning and then I have a class at 2:30 at MALI. They are giving me an upper level course at MALI, which is a big complement because generally they save these for the more advanced teachers. Also, the upper levels are where it becomes possible for the teachers to make real friends out of the students because the students can say something besides “I like cheese.”

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the class I wanted at YLNG (see below) , but that class did send about five representatives storming into my classroom today asking—demanding, rather—that I teach them instead of the other teacher. I laughed and started to tell them to talk with the boss when my own class had a fit and said that I was THEIR teacher and that I would teach another class over their dead bodies. (OK, well their English wasn’t quite that colourful, being Level 1, but you get the idea.) I broke up the riot and told everyone I was staying put. All and all it was a huge complement. I think that this class needs me more anyway, they have a lot of potential and they need someone with a lot of energy to wake them up. The class is called "Samha" which is sort of a cross between "Dharma" and "Sangha" so I take that as a good sign.

Other then that, things are going well, getting over a breakup, preparing to travel to Mukulla, looking forward to Ramadan which starts in about three weeks. I am not really looking forward to teaching students who haven’t eaten in eight hours, however. I haven’t decided if I am going to do the fast or not, although I probably will.