Top ten

Here's a list of the top ten events of my first week:

1. As the Somali language teacher quit and Khadar was forced to fill this position, so I went from being a teacher in training to a full-time English teacher with 7 classes, 6 days a week.
2. I broke up three fights in one of my classes, all of them boys.
3. I was almost stoned; the rock landed near my feet.
4. I introduced a conversation portion in each of my classes. I ask my students a question (for example, "What do you want to be when you grow up?") and they answer in English.
5. I've also introduced a competition between teams in the class. They are instructed to formulate a sentence using a specific word (for example, the word "towards") and write their sentence on the board. The students then vote on whether the team's sentence is correct or incorrect.
6. One of my grade eight students told the class he spent Valentine's Day with his wife.
7. I donated all of the school supplies I collected and bought to the school.
8. I have yet to come up with a solution to the street children (children that literally grow up on the streets) that disrupt my students by talking to them through the windows during class.
9. My female students frequently show up late to class. When I ask why, they respond they were busy making canjeelo at home.
10. I've noticed the huge discrepancy between the public and private schools in Hargeisa, both in terms of the income and education levels of teachers, as well as the lack of funding (for example, our school's chalkboard eraser is an old piece of clothing).