Snake in the Grass

Saturday, November 20, 2010

I’m set up at the desk at the guest house. Prince brought me a radio the first day I was here so I can listen to local stations. I have reggae rap playing now with the interesting lyrics “cleanliness if next to godliness..when judgment comes, where you gonna run?”.Yikes!

I was thinking this morning as I was cutting up a fresh pineapple we bought at the market yesterday, how the students really respond to praise for work well done and, I gather, this comes from, or part of the atmosphere of the class. The teachers are fairly gruff, even in their praise, which is hard won.  It is interesting to see the characters of the students and see that teenager behavior is universal as are class characters. There are always the keeners, always ready with an answer, helpful to the teachers, often being the class prefect, (here they seem to be respected, unlike some schools back home where it isn’t cool to be keen); there are the jokers, who gain their respect through being goofy; those who lack initiative and need to be told to write notes down or pulled out to participate; the students who don’t do their homework, forget it etc.. ; and the kids who try so hard, not afraid to ask many questions and those who are shy and ask for help from their friends, while others seem to function in isolation…. It is interesting to watch the characters clarify themselves and to be able to adjust, as much as possible with such a large class, to the different characters, in my teaching and class management.

Abaa (day school custodian and groundskeeper) had something to show me this morning when I awoke. He has been working on cutting the grass of the guest house with a machete for the past week. It is hard going, with very thick-stemmed weeds and he can only do it in the morning before it gets too hot. Poor guy, there is no option of a chiropractor or massage therapist to help him with his stiff shoulder and kinked neck that he gets as a result. What he had to show me was a snake he had flipped up and killed with his machete. It looks like a small pale garter, and innocuous, but it actually is poisonous enough to put someone in the hospital!