"Luis Arragones, you bastard! I've just found out that the only reason you're being so nice to Louisa Fernanda is because you've found a way of stealing her inheritance!" Zoom to close up of accused looking dastardly. "Dun-dun...DUN!"
I sit on the sofa impatiently tapping my fingers on my knee. The Champions League final has coincided with the daily Latin American soap that is The Gardener's Daughter. Unfortunately, this happens to be my host father's favourite programme. Like most things in Africa, TV scheduling is not quite the German rail network when it comes to timekeeping, and today's late start means I'll miss even more of the game.
Sat here now, I can't help but think of all the people back in England watching the game on a big screen with their mates, having a couple of sociable pints, while at the same time I'm sat here watching The Gardener's Daughter. However, as they say, the grass is always greener... (no pun intended). In all reality, I'd probably just have been watching the game at home, albeit on a slightly bigger screen (and with less inane commentary), but with the prospect of ten hours sat behind a desk the next day.
Thinking about it, tonight is the first time in a while that I've longed to be in England. Sure, there are things I'm looking forward to about coming back to London (I have a list...), but I've been having a great time here and am going to be pretty sad when it comes time to leave.
The past week and a half (since the last update) seem relatively uneventful when I look back for big points of interest, but at the same time they've been some of my best times, and I feel fully settled here now.
For one thing, I'm starting to get the hang of this teaching lark. Before, I was very much like the substitute teacher that the kids know they can take advantage of, but now I'm starting to get a little more respect (although they still try to test my patience). The kids are currently preparing for a school presentation in the local church that is scheduled in for Saturday so much of our time is currently focussed on that. For some reason, singing songs and acting out scenes from the bible seem to go down better than grammar and arithmetic. Kids these days...
Apart from the routine of my teaching (kids from 8 till 2:30, adults from 4 till 5:30) and preparing lesson plans, there has been little else that would be worth writing about here. There was a little bit of drama last Friday night when my host mother went into false labour (we're still waiting) and a few leaving dos each for Lisa and Annabel (missing you both!) but it's becoming much more like regular life than the initial shock to the system.
Probably partly for that reason I have spent a bit of time this week booking in plenty of activities for the coming weeks before I leave. This weekend I have the kids' church presentation followed by a day trip to Moshi and Marangu (to do some trekking in the foothills of Kilimanjaro) and then back to Arusha for a night out for a friend's birthday. The weekend after I have a day safari on Saturday and fly off to Zanzibar for the week on Sunday. And lo-and-behold, the weekend after I arrive back in London. Time really has flown by...
Speaking of time flying, all of a sudden I hear the theme tune inviting in the closing credits of The Gardener's Daughter (by far the best part of the show), and realise it's time to turn over to the football. Fifty minutes gone and Liverpool are one-nil down. I imagine disgruntled Liverpool fans hurling abuse (and some of their pints) at the screen in a dirty British pub. Having spent the last half hour writing and thinking about my experiences here I realise that perhaps the grass isn't quite so green after all...
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