你好.Hello! Let the Mandarin Lesson Begin!

As I wrote in my last post, I'm leaving Tanzania in June and recently went to an international school job fair in Boston. On my way to Boston I received an e-mail from representatives at a school in Shanghai, China saying that they had decided not to attend the job fair but that they would still like to have a Skype interview. I was a bit upset because this is the school I had felt most drawn to and I was weary of interviewing via Skype.

The night before the fair started I had the interview with them, and I (still!) don't think I presented myself in the most stellar way possible. I stumbled my way through some answers and probably said 'ummm' about 20 times in the first 10 minutes. In addition, the connection was bad, so they turned their webcam off but asked me to keep mine on. It was SO difficult interviewing with three men who could see me but all I could see was a little green webcam power light and a box showing me how I looked to them. Talk about nerve wracking! It was challenging not being able to play off of their facial and body cues, while at the same time trying not to look to the bottom of the screen to make sure I looked okay myself!

I really liked everything that they had to say and felt even more like it would be a great school for me, but I thought I just did an okay job at best. After the interview I immediately Skyped Mom and Dad and began telling them about it. One minute and thirty-two seconds into our conversation we were interrupted by a return call from the recruiters. They had already come to a consensus and decided that I was the candidate they wanted, so they immediately offered me the job! All modesty aside, people usually have a pretty good idea of how interviews go and can more or less guess the outcome. This one truly blindsided me though. I was so thrown off guard that I didn't know what to say! They asked for my response within 24 hours, but I negotiated for 37 hours by arguing that they are thirteen hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time! This gave me more time to think about it and to have more interviews for which I traveled halfway around the world!

The next day I had a series of other interviews but none compared. Going into the fair, I was very open to wherever God wanted me to be, but I had been hoping for and assuming that I would get the big flashing lights, horns, and all other manner of mayhem pointing me in the right direction. This didn't happen in the way I had anticipated, and it took me a little longer to notice it, but I actually got a much bigger sign of assurance: peace. Peace is not a word I would usually associate with myself. I am a lot of things, but peace-filled is not always one of them-especially when in the midst of decisions like these. More closely associated words are usually stressed, anxious, and freaking out, just to name a few. This was different though. I was completely at peace with moving to Shanghai and taking on this job from the moment they started the interview with a prayer (and when I found out I can still access Facebook and YouTube from there!). I accepted the offer on Saturday morning and celebrated with two days of play in Boston since I'd finished my job hunt earlier than expected!

Concordia International School is wonderful. It's a Christian school with an American curriculum. The majority of teachers and the 1,300 students are American too. I'll be teacher 2nd grade, which I've done for a few years in the past. Technology is integrated into the teaching in an extraordinary capacity, with Macbooks and iPads in the classrooms as well as an abundance of other electronic devises. Check out their website at www.concordiashanghai.org.

One of the buildings at Concordia

I'm excited to live in Shanghai too. As the largest city in the world with a population of just over 23 million, it's got many of the western things that I miss. Culture, arts, dining, and shopping as well as stable infrastructure are just a few things I'm looking forward to. The school and many local churches provide an active Christian community and large number of expats will make for a well-rounded social life.

Shanghai, China

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and encouraging messages as I went through this process. I look forward to sharing many more stories with you over the next few years. For now though, I will continue to to focus on these precious days left in this beautiful country of Tanzania.

A Little of This and a Little of That

Hello! I cannot believe that this school year is already half over and it's 2012! It has flown by before my eyes, leaving great memories and creating personal growth. With a lot of hard work and careful time management I successfully finished my first semester of graduate school online. I am loving the program (K-6 Math Specialist) and finding it incredibly useful in my daily teaching.

Over the Christmas holiday I was blessed with the resources to be able to come home. This was a very chill trip. I stayed at my parents and a few special people from Orlando either came down to Venice to meet me or met me in Tampa. I spent a lot of time at home enjoying friends, family, and the wonderful relaxation.

On the way back to Dar I made my layover in Turkey an extended one and got to explore Istanbul for a few days. The city, which lies partly in Europe and partly in Asia, is a beautiful dichotomy of the Muslim and Western worlds, of Eastern Europe and of the Middle East. A lot of the architecture of the buildings was quite European as was the dress of many young people. The older women looked very Eastern European too. It was neat to see a city that has been under both Orthodox and Muslim rule and the remnants of history that it has left behind. One historic site I visited, the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), was built in A.D. 360 as an Orthodox basilica and was used as such until 1453 when it became a mosque under the Ottoman empire. For four short years it also served as a Roman Catholic church. Then, in 1931 it was secularized and has become a museum and landmark since. The result of multiple rulings has had a huge impact on its interior design. Biblical frescoes and murals were covered up when it became a mosque, most of which has now been restored. I spent a lovely afternoon touring this breathtakingly beautiful piece of architecture and history, learning about all of its symbolism and admiring the art, down to the colors of marble and symmetry at every turn. At the end of this post I have attached multiple photo gallery links for different events. Be sure to check out my pictures of Istanbul to see the Hagia Sophia and many of the other wonders of Istanbul.

December is a short rainy season for Tanzania. It often rains for an hour or two in the afternoon most of the month before drying again until the longer rains in April. This month, however, it rained...and rained...and rained. My apartment complex is in a flood plain that has been created since the building of these apartments. In addition to Dar's terrible drainage system (there basically isn't one), some infrastructure and flood walls failed and my housing area had flash flooding. Within two hours we had more than 1 meter of water! Thankfully, my apartment is on the 3rd floor and I did not receive any direct and serious water damage. Most of my neighbors were also out of town for the holiday when it happened. Many things in homes were lost and a great amount of damage has occurred. The bridge that connects a large part of the city to our neighborhood was washed out and the sewer main on our property broke. =/ The school did an amazing job responding quickly and appropriately, bringing in many cleaners and groups to help control the flooding and begin the clean up process before many of us arrived. Our housekeepers spent their holidays cleaning and preparing for our arrival. Seven or eight of my colleagues are still not able to live in their homes and we are still experiencing many water outages and mold problems.

This is the view of my front yard. Notice the SUVs on the far right.

The surrounding neighborhoods were also severely damaged and over 3 dozen people lost their lives. The Tanzanian meteorological society said that this much rain has not been seen in over half a century and the infrastructure here is developing, to say the least. Having said that, as is the case in many disastrous situations, we have seen people give so much to help and there has been an outpouring of support from the school community.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have decided not to resign my contract here at I.S.T. for the following year, so I will be moving when school is out this June. On February 1st I will attend a job fair in Boston, MA and spend four nervous, exciting, grueling days interviewing and hopefully will make a decision then. I'm seriously contemplating large Asian cities (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, etc) but am also open to moving back to the states or wherever God leads me! Stay tuned for news in the next few weeks!

Photo Galleries
Istanbul
4 Day Weekend in Zanzibar

Hello Friends!

Hello! I hope you haven’t forgotten about me; I’ve been quiet on the blog front but busy as a bee otherwise. I hope that this update finds you well. Things here in Dar are moving along at a steady clip. I can’t believe that it’s already October and that I’ve been teaching for two months!

After an amazing summer vacation in the states for nearly six weeks I came back and moved up a grade level to now teach 3^rd grade and enjoy it immensely. My colleagues are one of the greatest parts of my job. The new team of administrators, my fellow 3^rd grade teachers, and specialist teachers provide me with an amazing support system that is built around collaboration and mutual respect. They are a great asset to me, one which I do not take for granted.

It is these people and the students with whom I work every day that I will miss most about Tanzania. After much thought and deliberation, I have decided to leave IST at the end of this school year. Whenever I spent the summer in the states I seriously considered coming back to the U.S. but by the end of my vacation I felt like it just wasn’t quite time yet. I do love America and look forward to coming back home, but my itch to explore a bit more combined with the harsh reality of the U.S. job market and economy has swayed me from making that move at the moment.

So, “where to next?” you ask. Good question. That’s what I’d like to know too! I will be attending an international school job fair this January to hopefully get an answer to that question. I’d prefer to be in Southeast Asia but I am willing to explore other options. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I begin the arduous task of investigating many schools in the region and initializing contact.

This new school year also brought another important change. I am now a teacher and a student since I have begun working on my Master’s degree last month. The online program is offered through the University of Cincinnati and is a Master’s of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in K-6 Mathematics. Those of you who have known me for many years are, like my parents, probably quite shocked that I would pursue any math courses other than those absolutely required. Math and I didn’t get along very well throughout much of my schooling. I do find it quite interesting that of all things, math is my absolute favorite thing to teach! The degree is completely online, which allows me to continue my ‘alternative lifestyle’ abroad while working on it. It is set up to be a two year program without any breaks, but I am not in a big hurry to get it done and will probably stretch it out to three years so that I can take a little time off while moving from one place and settling in the next. Working all day then coming home and doing my own schoolwork is a schedule I’m not loving, but studying something about which I truly enjoy and am so passionate about makes the busy schedule more than bearable.

I look forward to my last year eight months in Tanzania being some of the most memorable. I have many lessons still to learn about life in a developing country and the beautiful people who call it home. There are places on the Tanzanian map still left to explore, there are children to teach, and there are people to teach me. I hope that you will continue this journey with me, allowing me to share my experiences and ramble through many blog posts to come.

Opportunity of a Lifetime

As an aside from the post below, here are some links to photo albums from my recent trips to Thailand, Zanzibar, and Malawi. Feel free to check them out if you're interested.

Malawi http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100363933700792.2771216.5132789&l=268ede3304

Zanzibar http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100217414900642.2747511.5132789&l=12d6ddfc4e

Thailand (2 albums) http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100169223311972.2724615.5132789&l=58f05b56cd

Thailand Part 2 http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100175082031052.2727800.5132789&l=305502cfc4

When I moved to Tanzania I planned only to stay for my initial two year contract. That time is nearly completed and the years have flown by as fast as the mosquitoes buzzing around my feet. As with all initial plans, mine got thwarted by life’s constant surprises. Africa’s adventures and lessons have changed me forever and I have not yet quenched my desire to experience what it has to offer. It is for that reason that I have resigned my contract and I will now be here until June of 2012.

Since I’ll be here for another year you have more time to come out and visit! I am looking forward with great anticipation to a trip I have scheduled for my vacation in October. I want to tell you about it because I’m inviting anyone who would be interested in joining me to come out to Tanzania and experience this marvelous adventure with me!

I’ll be doing a six day hike followed by a safari. *NOTE: This hike is NOT an intense climb! This is more closely associated with a six day stroll than six days of torture. You don’t even have to carry your own equipment! Interested so far? Read on!

Explaining the beauty of this place is difficult. After all, I’ve not yet been there. I’ve sat around countless dinner tables of friends, entranced, listening to their stories about hikes around the Ngorogoro Conservation Area. Now to describe it to you I’ll use a mixture of their descriptions, pictures, and text from my trusty Tanzania guidebooks, Lonely Planet and Rough Guide.

The spectacular 5,151 sq. mile Ngorogoro Conservation Area (NCA) occupies the volcanic highlands between the Great Rift Valley and the Serengeti Plains. It encompasses vast stretches of plains, grasslands, bush, and woodlands. The varied habitats guarantee breathtaking sighting of “the big five”- elephants, lion, leopard, rhino, and buffalo, and it teems with giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, gazelles, and other safari favorites. For animals, this place is a haven, while for tourists, it’s something close to heaven.

The rugged Crater Highlands consist of an elevated range of volcanoes and collapsed volcanoes rising up from the earth. The walk tours through Oldupai Gorge where the famous Leakey archeologists unearthed a plethora of notable fossils. You’ll also visit Olmoti Crater with its hosts of antelope species and nearby waterfalls. The stunningly beautiful Empakaai Crater is filled with a forest-fringed soda lake. The resident bushbuck, reedbuck, waterbuck, buffalos, monkeys, and flamingos call Empakaai home.

Empakaai Crater from the air

With its stunning ethereal blue-green vistas, the 12 mile wide Ngorogoro Crater is NCA’s incomparable highlight. A vast, unbroken caldera left behind when an enormous volcano collapsed, created a crater that teems with animals. The deep bluish-purplish color of the crater walls provides a spectacular backdrop to your game drive photographs. If you’ve seen Disney’s Lion King, they used Ngorogoro Crater as their inspiration for the setting.

Animals of all kinds share the Highlands with the local Maasai tribal people, who have grazing rights and are often seen herding their cattle throughout the area. The hike also crosses through their bomas, villages, and visits can be arranged.

The trip will end with a visit to Tarangire National Park for an unparalleled safari adventure. It is home to virtually every safari animal you could want to see and is also a major destination for bird-watchers.

If you’re interested in joining me on this once in a lifetime opportunity please e-mail me at cmlane1@gmail.com. I would love to have some of you visit and make lasting memories with me!