Has it really been that long?

“Has it really been that long? Did I count the days wrong?”

These are two opening lines to the song “Patience” by Tame Impala, and in classic fashion, Kevin Parker seems to write songs for every emotion I feel. This song describes the passage of time and how you change as time changes. The person you were last year will not be the same person you are in the next, and is not the same person you are today. I have been in Ethiopia for almost 8 months and I can say for certain that I have changed in more ways than I ever thought I would. I have become so much more patient, I have become so much more empathetic, and quieter than I was before I came here. As time goes on, you grow, you learn, you adapt, and you begin to see things differently. It is clearer now that the world is so much bigger than I once before thought. There is so much to see and as Kevin Parker wrote in his song “Yes I’m changing”: “There’s a world out there and it’s calling my name, and it’s calling yours too.”

 On Monday I finished my first semester as a teacher here in Ethiopia and what a wild milestone to stumble upon. This means I am one fourth of the way done with service, which is still a lot of time left here but it is also not a lot of time either. Time is something that I have become even more confused about since being here. Time feels like it is going so slow but at the same time so quick. I have learned so much in such a small amount of time, and have so many stories and experiences that I simply cannot wait to share with friends and family back home in the states. For example, grading over 250 final exams, collecting assignments and formulating final grades all in one day. My friend’s at site told me I couldn’t do it all in one day, and to that I said “NUTS!” and then promptly succeeded to complete everything in one day. I think the motivation of vacation helped with that bit.

Unfortunately, most of my students failed. More than half of my students in grade 9 did pass, but more than I liked to see failed. I think this was a very humbling lesson to learn both about my teaching practice and about my service as a whole. I am not going to move mountains here, but I will make small changes that will hopefully begin a domino effect (affect?). regarding my teaching, my grades showed that I still have a lot to learn about teaching well. I am fighting a constant uphill battle here when I am in the classroom. I have cultural barriers, skill barriers, language barriers, and an almost never-ending list of challenges. But this is what I signed up for and I owe it to my students who really want to learn to be constantly critical, and constantly adapting my practice to my students’ needs.

Now I have begun my little vacation and I’m headed off to the Island country of Seychelles for a week. A well-deserved week of showers, grocery stores, beach volleyball, and experiencing apart of the world that is so foreign to me. The Indian ocean seems beautiful and I cannot wait for what is in store for me out there.