They beat each other. The kids, they're all bullies. And who can blame them? They're being beaten every day of their life by their parents and then when they get to school, they're caned by the teachers. It's the only kind of discipline they have. So they quickly learn that beating their friends and classmates is totally acceptable. Teacher Violet has 36 kids in her class. 36 kids that she alone is in charge of. When the kids go outside to play, they have no supervision. They don't have a playground, just an empty field. There's 1 soccer ball for the whole school to share, so most of the time the older kids have it and my kids have nothing. So they run. A lot. Relay races, tag, the game I like to call "run around the field 3 times and I'll time you." I taught them Miss Mary Mack and Father Abraham. They've taught me a few games where you have to sing in Kiswahili. We make do. Teachers disappear for hours at a time every day so I'm left in charge of my kids a lot. But things are really different here. It's not expected that you'll always be watching everyone. The kids are self-sufficient here. The classrooms are about 12' x 12'. The walls are plywood and the roofs are tin. There are no lights so the doors and windows are always open so there can be natural light. There is no budget for posters or papers so mostly the walls are bare. There are no books in my classroom and I'm pretty sure it's the same in every classroom. Teacher Violet makes the best of the situation and genuinely loves her kids, so she's possibly the best teacher our school has. But really, how are kids supposed to learn when there are almost no pencils, erasers, paper, books, very little food during the day and absolutely no structure?

On another note, I went to dinner the other night at this place called Carnivore. So expensive but oh so worth it. It's buffet style for all of the meats they have, so I got to try ostrich, crocodile, and bull testicles :) lucky me haha

I'm constantly covered in dirt and my lungs feel like I've just run a marathon every second of the day because they're filled with dirt and dust, and my throat kills because of the dirt, but otherwise, physically, I feel great. And I get so much kid love every day that my spirit feels great too.