Dear every teacher ever

Dear Every Teacher Every,
Your out of your mind...perhaps it would be better if i were at home or something like that...but it's been 4 weeks of classes and i am tired...I'm really not sure how you put up with it...maybe a nice hot bath, oh wait nope that's not going to happen...maybe night out in the city, nope that's not gonna work either...I'm enjoying teaching, yes it is fun and i think I'm doing pretty well at...next week is the last week of intensive, meaning we get a break after next Friday...yay for breaks, so pretty much thanks every teacher ever for putting up with your students day in and day out
love Ben

now then Independence day was Wednesday...i know what you're thinking, Independence day for Burkina Faso is Aug. 4th, i mean that is the name of the stadium and everything...very true, however for some reason we celebrate it on the 5th, whatever...in any case it was a day off from school, i mostly slept...we did walk the three miles to the center of town to have a tonic water, then we came back woowhoo...that was loads of fun

my students have taken to the ridiculous, rather than answer questions about the drees code for this country, my boys just pick the most offensive/sexist answer and go with that...yes women should have to cover their heads, no women should not wear pants at the office, no women should not wear shorts in the street...apparently that's funny, i didn't really get it, maybe I'm not meant to teach middle school...i do feel slightly trapped because i teach out of our book...at time i can interject a conversation into the mix, that goes well with the older class, but my younger class just wants to be "funny"...if Elaina Ramsey were here her hand would have fallen off by now from slapping people (we double the finial consonant because it is a monosyllable word with a short vowel sound)

don't get me wrong, I've not entered the get me out of this country phase yet, just the get me out of this house/school phase...i think during the break we may try and swing a trip to the Ivory Coast, which means surfing YAY!!!, if i have the funds to do so...the break time will be welcomed in any case...on the brighter side of things, the shower broke, oh wait that's bad...uh, the gym at the end of the street is a far cry from home but works well...figuring out Kilo.s and Lbs. has been loads of fun (not)...reading has reclaimed the top spot on the recreation index, that is when i don't have a massive head ache.

let's end with something good here, Collins got here this Tuesday morning at 2:30 am...Myself pastor Zongo and Lazar went to pick her up from the airport...you'd think there would only be one ridiculously early flight per night, you'd be wrong, we went on the first sound of an air plane landing, we were off by a half hour...so Zongo Lazar and I hung out in front of the airport...until Zongo said something like "Hey I'm a pastor, and this white guy over here is an unpaid English teacher from the United States" at which point the guard looked at me with very puzzled mumbled something in french that i think was a question directed toward me, to which i responded " " (smile)...at which point she let us through security so we could wait inside at the baggage claim...Zongo to me "what's she look like?" me "she's white"...Zongo "oh, is that her? is that her?" me "no, no"...to be honest i didn't see her till she walked through the landing check point, past the control officer people and waved at me, but any way she's here and that's all that matters...that and Zongo owes me 4000 CFA
peace
Ben