From Blue Sky Days to Blackbird Fields: After a Year of Trying...

A year ago, I found out the grant I wrote, which was approved, would not be funded (the Peace Corps small project grants went away with USAID). I waited until June, when we found out that there was another possibility to fund the technology for the English language lab in the school where I volunteer. This GoFundMe-style grant required a rewrite, but I was able to complete it quickly. Thanks to the support of family and friends, the money was received in late August.

The smartboard finally arrived in December, but it sat for several weeks. We still needed heat for the room. Over winter break, we purchased the heat, and it was installed right before school started up in January. We started using the room, and it was nice and warm. The director (think principal) is an electrician, and he did the electrical work to connect the smartboard.

My new counterpart and I have been using the technology. For the most part, the kids have been really excited. They are happy to have a warm classroom and new technology. We do have a couple of classes where student behavior has not been great. These are the plumbing classes, and students have a low level of English. The other full-time English teacher is also using the lab. He is extremely appreciative of the new lab. We only overlap for two classes, so he is using it for the rest of his classes.

My counterpart with a student using the write feature

A student tries her hand at adjectives and adverbs

Our new printer

We are connected

We purchased a printer for the lab. It prints better copies than the one in the staff lounge. I have a few purchases left -- a laptop and a projector. This can be used by the other language teachers when the lab is occupied. We are still working on getting additional desks in the room. But we are close to having a really nice classroom.

I like working with my new counterpart. So far, we are working well together.

We did not hike this past weekend, because we ended up going to Prishtina for our PC book club meetup. But the Sunday before last, we hiked to Straza. It was a good hike with snow as we neared Straza. We had tea and coffee at the restaurant. We walked down from Straza a bit and had lunch. It was really cold when we stopped. Overall, it was a great hike.

Photo from the hikes

We had some blustery weather last week, and some snow. This week, the temperatures will be in the 40s, and that feels really good. I am still waiting to find the exact date when I will be leaving my service. I am hoping for a date in early April.