Hey everyone! Today was a very exciting day!
The library "Boky Mamiko" opened it's doors for the first time! Have fun reading the whole story!
Morning routine: Early in the morning at 5:45 a.m., Sarah went running with the extended running team: Azaly, Lisa, and Romeo. Domi couldn't join us because he has stomach problems. Poor Domi! Should he do without coco
nut? Chicken? Salad? Fruits? We don't know...
The École Mamiko Assemblement:
At 7:30 a.m. it was time to go to school, where we met with Storya, Lisa and Miljady (5th grade teacher) to discuss about the first library session. After that, the weekly 'assemblement' started. The kids had to line up and then a somewhat confusing (at least for us) military ceremony began. One of the teachers commanded (but not in a louder voice) and the kids had to do all sorts of immediate movements. At the end the Malgasy flag was hissed and the kids sang a song (maybe the national anthem?). Surprising!
Lisa then welcomed the kids back to school after the weekend and read the library rules to them. Afterwards, all was set up for the first library session!
First library session:
We - Storya, Domi, and Sarah - welcomed the 5th and 4th grade students to the library. We first sang the song the family translated the evening before (first Storya sang with them in Malagasy, and then we all sang in French, with some practice). We all loved it! Then, we explained how the books are set up on the shelves and afterwards, we went through the rules we decided on with Lisa the evening before. They were quite patient and when we said that they can now choose a book and read by themselves, they were all very excited! Aaand they got up and pounced on the books! Unsurprisingly, most of them went for the Disney story books (Gene had told us that we need Disney books). They, including their teachers, even continued reading during the break (5th grade) and after the official end of school (4th grade)! The children were concentrated, whispering what they were reading. They were a bit sad when we said that it's time to go home, but we ended with the same song we sang in the beginning, which made them cheer up again. "Mamiko, c'est notre école / Oroie! Oroie!"
Exam preparation session:
After the library session, Dominic went to bed and slept 3h straight. His stomach was better afterwards, but unfortunately, he got light fever and a headache. In the meantime, Sarah filtered water for both of them and wrote on the blog. Fair task sharing, at least according to Domi!
At 4:00 p.m. we were ready for our first exam preparation session. The 5th graders have final exams in August and the idea is to offer a tutoring class each afternoon, where we help kids in subjects they struggle the most with. Lisa told us that this will be an additional French course.
The kids' French level seems to be quite low, so there is a lot of work to do! We are going to be French teachers... Interesting, we'll do our best!
After the (once again) very tasty dinner, Azaly, Délphine and Storya joined Valentine, Stanya (Valentine's 7 years old daughter) and us, allowing us to let the evening fade away in really nice atmosphere. Family!
Once again we hope you enjoyed reading our blog! If you have any questions, suggestions, ideas or possible improvements, please let us know by commenting our posts. We'd like to share our experience with you in the best possible way! Have a nice evening! Avec beaucoup d'amour, Sarah and Domi (June 11th).
