Boubou and School

Francoise Boubane's son (Francoise is Martin's older brother), found a monkey and brought it home. So we went to visit. They named him (?) Boubou.

On Wednesday the three other American students and I walked to school in the Ibel village 2-3 km away, with the kids from our compounds.


This was along our walk to the school.

I thought we were just going to walk them to school, see where they learned, then wander home. I don't know why I thought this would be possible...we sort of stand out and cause a scene wherever we go. And class time is not so rigorously structured, at least in this village.


So, most of the teachers came out to meet us, we had a photo shoot, I taught a class briefly because their teacher did not show up (then they were allowed to go home early) and I sat in on the fourth year class.

One side of the school - which had three buildings and a large hut in a rectangular shape with a center courtyard area.

The teacher to the right of me happened to also be a local radio talk show host, so on Friday the three other American students in my village and I were interviewed. I wouldn't say being interviewed is a strength of mine, and speaking in French definitely did not help. Hopefully no one was listening. We were asked to talk about the type of work in the village, how it differs from that of the US, what we can do to help the situation in the village, and the things we'll remember the most. Really, most of the questions I was asked I wouldn't even be able to answer in English. Good thing our SIT program director, Souleye Diallo, was there to give a few decent, concise, and understandable quotes.