The Motions of Life in Africa

You know the feeling you get when you enter your house. That 'at-ease' feeling. Well, Zambia and the room I have in the monastery here is now becoming very comfortable. Of course, nothing replaces the one in Minnesota, but it's a nice feeling to have nonetheless. The monastic grounds, the people, the school, the dogs that bark late at night, and the weather here are all apart of my home now. It's a neat thing to experience.

An exercise on sense organs
for biology. I use this to help
tutor.

Overall, things are progressing nicely for Zack and I. We put a lot of time into tutoring a student named Isaac in physics and biology. He is a 21 year old who is taking exams to try and get into college. He has them this week so hopefully he has learned enough from us. The material is fun to teach and the stuff I am not very good at, like physics, is slowly becoming much better. That's the beauty of teaching. It's one of the best ways to study. 

So, when Zack teaches physics I am able to pick up on things I didn't back in high school. Of course, I am capable of doing math, using and manipulating formulas, and finding the answer, but it's what you use each formula for that is good for me to review. For Zack, he is learning a lot of biology from my teachings. It's fun to discuss the endocrine system, anatomy of the body, blood flow, the brain, sense organs and other facts and topics. It is so much fun to teach and learn because we (Zack and I) aren't pressured with tests and exams now. It makes the learning so much more relaxed and enjoyable. 

There's so many chicks in Zambia.

Not only has tutoring Isaac been helpful for him, but it's a good warm up for us as well. It helps with understanding the pace that we will have to teach at in one month. It will be a slow teaching process, but worth it. Our plan now is to help out one another in class. He will teach the physics and both of us will assist the students in doing the problems. Then, for my class, I will teach biology and both of us will help the students. Also, it will be nice to have each other in the class because I know some kids will be troublesome and need to be reminded to pay attention.

For the next month I am going to assist in the farming of the fields and harvesting of vegetables. We are also trying to plan our trip to Victoria Falls. Today, two Italian women will be coming and helping out in the clinic for a month. We may invite them to come along.

When we were reminded that they were coming we thought it may be wise to actually clean up for once. After two weeks, a stench kind of builds up. Therefore, the beards are trimmed, showers have been taken, and our hair has been combed. Hey, we are two 22 year old dudes after all. Give us a break. :) The monks find it pretty funny too. 

In my free time I have been reading and going for long walks. It's wonderful to take long walks and meet others. Also, it's very good for mental and physical health. In fact, Gandhi and Einstein are known for taking very long walks.

My contraption for the net.

I have just started the third book of the Game of Throne series. If you are into fantasy, political strategy, knights and kings, and fairly long books then I would recommend them. Yes, nerdy, I know. However, we all have things we like and, let's be honest, there are worse things to be into. Plus, it is a good way to spend free time. 

In addition to reading, Zack brought some TV shows and movies along on his computer. It is nice to watch when heading to bed. We are in the middle of the show 'True Detective'. It's super good. However, sometimes the power goes out (yes, even with their own electricity source the power still fails a few times a day) while watching it and so we just call it a day and head to bed.

In other news, the mosquito nets aren't too bad, but they sometimes hang low so it's hard to sit up in bed. However, thankfully, my mom sent me with a
sewing kit. I took the needle and thread a piece of string through the net and tied it around the bedpost and finished by taping the crap out of it. I was fairly proud of my ingenuity ha. But, for real, it is very nice to have the net up farther.  I probably will have to take it down when I leave, but I'll worry about that later on down the road.

This morning my clothes were washed by hand. There are two ladies that are hired to clean clothes. I don't like having them wash my clothes because I feel bad, but this is Africa and that's just how some things are. I hope to wash my clothes later on. I better start looking for a bucket.

Well, the bell for midday prayer is sounding and I better be off. I enjoy going to midday prayer because it breaks up the day nicely and it sort of bonds me with the monastic community. It's sort of like "hey, I want to show some respect to you and also learn about your way of life so I'll participate too." I believe they enjoy having me join in on prayer. 

Thanks for reading!