So I administered my first test about two weeks ago and I gotta say, all things considered it went pretty smoothly. I gave my 5ème and 6ème classes there first test on saturday morning (which is apprently the prefered time for test giving) with the help of my servante (the disciplinarian at my school). Between the two tests I generated about 200 exams to be graded. I really tried to make the questions as straightforward as possible to facilitate grading which is funny, because it seems as though simultaneously the students were trying to write as sloppily and indirect as possible to complicate my grading. There is a funny habit by all burkinabé students which is to dictate on the test the actions that they take. For instance on of my questions might be a standard true or false question, but instead of writing true or false next to the number 5 for instance they will write "I respond by true or false to the question that you have asked me on non-flowering plants. I respond: true" I'm actually going to add a bonus class to both 6ème and 5ème which will be entitled "how to answer questions on a test". Minimalism will be the word of the day. This bonus class will come in addition to the cell bio and evolution supplementary lectures that I'm adding to both classes. I've found the fact that the basic unit of biology and the fundamental theory of biology to be both alarmingly under-covered in the curriculum here.
In other news I'm on my way back from visiting my second closest neighbor, Andrea, in Yaba. She's a math teacher who's already been here for a year. Probably the highlight of my trip was the pecan pie that we crafted in her dutch oven. Stateside, I'm not that big of a fan of the pecan pie but here I probably could have eaten two of them. It was a glorious cake that was almost akin to a thick carrot cake in consistency and had a rich honey flavor. Also as a result of this trip, I'm pulling a total of 160k on bike over a 72 hour period which I'm pretty proud of.
In book news I've just finished perhaps my favorite book that i've ever read. It's called "all the pretty horses" and it's by Cormac McCarthy. Both in content and use of language I found it to be exceptional. It managed to be heroic and sentimental without being stupid which is quite the feat. On top of that it had wonderful descriptions of Texan and Mexican food that was quite appealing to my stomach. I also hit page 100 out of 1400 in the french biology text that I imported from france. I'm staying on track for my 30 page a week goal with it so I should get done before the end of time. I'm also reading don quixote in french which I guess is one step closer to spanish than english? In any case there is a lot to distract me from grading papers which might be my least favorite thing to do in the world.
In anycase I'm going to track down a big plate of liver and intestines that is sold down the street so till next time.