Djibouti Jones: Beach or Battle?: "We had our annual camp out at Arta Plage this past weekend and, as always, the beach was full of surprises."
American military training at the beach
October 31, 2010
Spotted in Djibouti
Yesterday I saw a man walking down the street shaving his face with a disposable razor.
This morning I saw a man walking down the street with his shirt pulled up to expose his belly holding it in his teeth.
Nice.
This morning I saw a man walking down the street with his shirt pulled up to expose his belly holding it in his teeth.
Nice.
October 30, 2010
the beach in Arta
this weekend's excitement was going to the beach in Arta, about 1.5 hours away at the end of a long, bumpy, dirt road.
The French have a permanent base/camp/station near there but the Americans had come in and set up a new, temporary installation. This meant that were helicopters and Ospreys (helicopter/airplane hybrids) flying overhead, landing close to us and generally making noise. We also got to see a marine exercise right in front of us. There were some abandoned buildings less than 50 yards from us and 3 personnel carriers drove up and a bunch of marines hopped out, set up a perimeter, and cleared the buildings. That was pretty fascinating.
In between watching American tax dollars in action I found time to enjoy the beach. I went snorkeling, saw tons of sweet fish, hiked up on a hill overlooking the beach, ate a lot of junk, and visited with the other American families there. Good times.
I went to bed at 7:30 last night and slept till 6:15 this morning since i had an early morning class. Being super tired then sleeping for a long time is a good feeling.
The French have a permanent base/camp/station near there but the Americans had come in and set up a new, temporary installation. This meant that were helicopters and Ospreys (helicopter/airplane hybrids) flying overhead, landing close to us and generally making noise. We also got to see a marine exercise right in front of us. There were some abandoned buildings less than 50 yards from us and 3 personnel carriers drove up and a bunch of marines hopped out, set up a perimeter, and cleared the buildings. That was pretty fascinating.
In between watching American tax dollars in action I found time to enjoy the beach. I went snorkeling, saw tons of sweet fish, hiked up on a hill overlooking the beach, ate a lot of junk, and visited with the other American families there. Good times.
I went to bed at 7:30 last night and slept till 6:15 this morning since i had an early morning class. Being super tired then sleeping for a long time is a good feeling.
October 26, 2010
education in Djibouti
This began as a response to a comment but I figured I would turn it into a blog post. I will attempt to paint a picture of education in Djibouti as well as what my role is here.
Education in Djibouti is largely based on the French model. The majority of elementary and high schools are in French. French is not the students mother tongue but by the time they arrive in university they have been speaking it and schooled in it for the last 13 years. Recently, schools in Arabic have opened. These teach regular curriculum along with religious teachings. Some of these students are native speakers of Arabic but many are not. Most students mother tongue is Somali with a minority speaking Afar as their 1st language.
French based means teacher centered. Learning is done via lecture. The teacher is the holder of knowledge and imparts this knowledge to the students through lectures. Homework is rare so students take more classes. My 1st year English students have about 30 hours of class each week with little or no homework. This system is nice for the teacher as grading can only come around twice a semester as the minimum number of exams is 2. A midterm worth 40% and a final worth 60%. If a teacher wants to split the 40% into multiple exams that is their perogative. My large classes neccesitate 2 exams.
Depending on what kind of school the students were educated in will dictate their level of English and, to a large part, their behavior in the classroom. The students educated in private, French schools often are very fluent in oral English and easily express their opinions and engage in dicussion. Students from public, French school are usually at a lower level of both speaking & listening. However, all students educated in French seem to be very confrontational, blunt about opinions, willing to interrupt if they disagree, and willing to engage in loud, private conversations at any time during class.
Students educated in the Arabic schools have a lower level of English but are much more polite and respectful. Another teacher told me it is because the Arabic schools foster an atmosphere of respect as well as instilling religious values. Several times, Arabic educated students have admonished the class to be respectful, allow people to express opinions, and generally be polite. I have yet to see this from my French educated students. I frequently have to yell to be heard at my French educated students but have yet to do so with my Arabic educated students
I teach in 1st year students from 2 departments, English and LEAA. LEAA is French for something like applied languages in English. There are 127 English students enrolled this year but that will eventually be wittled down to about 30% of the original number. Most, if not all, of these students were educated in the French system and the disparity between the public school students and private school students is striking. LEAA students are Arabic educated but are studying English and French. There are about 35 enrolled in this program with only 7 women in the class.
This thesis has become entirely too long so this will be the last sentence.
Education in Djibouti is largely based on the French model. The majority of elementary and high schools are in French. French is not the students mother tongue but by the time they arrive in university they have been speaking it and schooled in it for the last 13 years. Recently, schools in Arabic have opened. These teach regular curriculum along with religious teachings. Some of these students are native speakers of Arabic but many are not. Most students mother tongue is Somali with a minority speaking Afar as their 1st language.
French based means teacher centered. Learning is done via lecture. The teacher is the holder of knowledge and imparts this knowledge to the students through lectures. Homework is rare so students take more classes. My 1st year English students have about 30 hours of class each week with little or no homework. This system is nice for the teacher as grading can only come around twice a semester as the minimum number of exams is 2. A midterm worth 40% and a final worth 60%. If a teacher wants to split the 40% into multiple exams that is their perogative. My large classes neccesitate 2 exams.
Depending on what kind of school the students were educated in will dictate their level of English and, to a large part, their behavior in the classroom. The students educated in private, French schools often are very fluent in oral English and easily express their opinions and engage in dicussion. Students from public, French school are usually at a lower level of both speaking & listening. However, all students educated in French seem to be very confrontational, blunt about opinions, willing to interrupt if they disagree, and willing to engage in loud, private conversations at any time during class.
Students educated in the Arabic schools have a lower level of English but are much more polite and respectful. Another teacher told me it is because the Arabic schools foster an atmosphere of respect as well as instilling religious values. Several times, Arabic educated students have admonished the class to be respectful, allow people to express opinions, and generally be polite. I have yet to see this from my French educated students. I frequently have to yell to be heard at my French educated students but have yet to do so with my Arabic educated students
I teach in 1st year students from 2 departments, English and LEAA. LEAA is French for something like applied languages in English. There are 127 English students enrolled this year but that will eventually be wittled down to about 30% of the original number. Most, if not all, of these students were educated in the French system and the disparity between the public school students and private school students is striking. LEAA students are Arabic educated but are studying English and French. There are about 35 enrolled in this program with only 7 women in the class.
This thesis has become entirely too long so this will be the last sentence.
October 25, 2010
Electricity in Djibouti
To say electricity is unreliable in Djibouti may not do it justice. It is notoriously unreliable. This morning I was scheduled to teach from 7:30-11:30. I ended up teaching from 7:30-8:30. Thats when the power whet out and my whole class left. Eventuallyit came back on around 8:50 but it was too late. The power stayed on in parts of the campus until around 9:15.
When I arrived for my 9:30 class there was no power which means no lights, no fans, and no AC. I stood around and sweated with my students for about 20 minutes and eventually told them to go home. I retreated to an internet cafe where I am now.
I'm supposed to have another class at 2:30 but we'll see about that. The afternoon is very hot even with the fans and AC. Coupled with the fact that many students don't feel the need to come to afternoon classes it should make for an enjoyable afternoon. I'm hoping I show up and either the power is out or none of my students have decided to come.
God did not intend that 50 people should gather in a small room on the 2nd floor of a cement building in Djibouti to discuss phonetic symbols and pronunciation at 2:30 in the afternoon.
When I arrived for my 9:30 class there was no power which means no lights, no fans, and no AC. I stood around and sweated with my students for about 20 minutes and eventually told them to go home. I retreated to an internet cafe where I am now.
I'm supposed to have another class at 2:30 but we'll see about that. The afternoon is very hot even with the fans and AC. Coupled with the fact that many students don't feel the need to come to afternoon classes it should make for an enjoyable afternoon. I'm hoping I show up and either the power is out or none of my students have decided to come.
God did not intend that 50 people should gather in a small room on the 2nd floor of a cement building in Djibouti to discuss phonetic symbols and pronunciation at 2:30 in the afternoon.
October 21, 2010
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