Again, I ask myself "How did I get here?"

Over the past few weeks, I didn't have much to talk about.  Apart from working more hours than I usually have, most of my life was the usual day to day routine of running during the morning, seeing friends, making innumerable trips to the store, attempting daring culinary experiments, etc.  I always get a little nervous when life here gets that way because it means that some crazy turn of events is about to come my way.

Indeed it did, although it was in a way I never would have expected.  On Sunday, November 1st, I got a call from the American school in Bamako asking me to be a substitute teacher for the week.  The high school math teacher had returned home to the US and they needed someone to cover his classes for at least the week, if not longer.  I said sure.  Every so often, I like the change of pace that substitute teaching gives me although I was a little wary about teaching math for a week, especially high school math.  In all honesty, I have a hard time remembering how to do long division.  I distinctly remember walking out of the last math class I ever took during the first semester of my freshman year in college and thinking, "Never again, math.  I'm done with you forever!"

And yet here I was, sixteen years later - living in Africa, preparing to teach at least a week's worth of Algebra I and II, Geometry, Calculus, Liberal Arts Math (sort of a "practical applications of math" course), and Economics.  The first day or two was rough because the teacher who left didn't provide any lesson plans or hint of where the classes were at their books.  Usually when I sub, there's a lesson plan or basic outline of what's going on in the class.  On Monday, I had to ask every class what they had just learned and if they knew what they were supposed to be working on next.  Some classes knew what was going on, some didn't.  Once I figured out where we were in each book, I tried to figure out exactly what I was going to be teaching for the upcoming week.  I understood some of what I thought I should cover, but who can remember all those geometry theorems or algebra proofs?

My week was filled with math homework each night as I tried to remember the perpendicular bisector theorem, or how to simplify algebraic equations, and then each day I did my best to make it appear as though I knew what I was talking about in class.  The other teachers at school were a great help, and I even got off the hook for Calculus which was huge since it was a course that I've never actually taken.  My first day in Calculus, I just had the students work through some old exercises on their own to review what they'd covered already this year.  After about ten minutes of quiet study, one kid raised his hand and said, "Mr. Moore, do you know anything about derivatives?"  With a blank look, I said, "No.  No, I don't know anything at all about derivatives.  I'm sorry."  He nodded understandingly and asked one of his classmates instead.

By the end of the week, the school had figured out a way to cover four of the five periods of classes I was teaching, and they asked me to stay on to teach two classes until they found a full time replacement to take over.  By this time I had gotten my legs under me and it was a lot easier to handle teaching two classes that I kind of understood, Liberal Arts Math and a remedial math class for some students who needed extra help.  The other day I found out that a replacement teacher from the states has been hired and he should be here in a week or two.  So, my time as a high school math teacher will be drawing to a close soon. 

I've been doing some mountain biking lately as well.  I don't have all the parts needed to get my current bike project going, but since we're going home for Christmas I'll get what I need there and take it back to Bamako in my luggage.  In the meantime, a friend of mine here has very kindly let me use his bike since he's been busy lately.  There's a regular group of guys who go on Saturday mornings so I've joined up with them to see some of the trails in and around Bamako.  I'm very sorry that I don't have any pictures to show.  Every time I've gone I forget to take my camera.  The riding has been good.  Some of the rides have been more difficult than others but they've all been a lot of fun.  I think the highlight is seeing all the village kids.  Smaller kids are fascinated by seeing a white person, but man, watching a bunch of white people on bikes barreling past their huts?  They just about lose their minds.  As our small group made its way through various villages, kids would come running from all over and start chanting "Toubabo!  Toubabo!  Toubabo!" ("White person! White person! White person!") while jumping up and down, reaching out their hands for high fives, or chasing our bikes.  Some even have songs they sing about us Toubabos.  After we've passed through a village, I could still hear them chanting even though we're no longer anywhere in sight.

My wife is continuing to work her way through the variety of diseases Africa has to offer.  She's away on business this week, and called me yesterday to let me know that she has typhoid.  She's receiving treatment (antibiotics) for it and in talking to her this morning she already sounds a lot better.  I can't help but think of a band I used to be in, and how were were considering potential band names.  We had a bunch of names taken from the game Oregon Trail, and one strong contender was "Zeke Has Typhoid."  In case you're curious, here's the list:

• Zeke Has Typhoid
• 99 Pounds Of Meat 
• Stop To Hunt
  
• Caulk The Wagon
  
• Lose Three Days
  
• Jenny Has Cholera 
• Ford The River 
• Lose Two Oxen
  
• Wagon Tongue
  
• Find Berries
  
• Reach Fort Kearney
  
• Four Feet Deep
  
• Buy Bullets
  
• Trading Post
  
• Mighty Columbia
  
• Broken Axle
  
• Hit A Rut
  
• Headstone

All nostalgia for my rock and roll past aside, my wife is feeling better and better and she should be coming home the day after tomorrow.  It will be good to have her back home.