Customer Service Please!!

Well we are approaching the third week of my car not being fixed. (For those who have not read past blog posts, another man hit my car from behind a while ago.) The insurance company is still holding things up. Uuuugggghhh. It is really starting to get on my nerves that whenever I go over bumps my trunk opens and closes. The truck is tied with rope, but it still opens. It may be Christmas before my car is fixed.

On another note, I tried to open a basic banking account today. Little did I know that it would be such a trouble. There is seriously a checklist of ten things which you have to do before you can open an account. All I want is a safe place to put my Zambian money. It is not like I am trying to buy out Walmart.

I have gotten used to the adage in the USA that "the customer is your first priority." That is not the case in Zambia. There is a zero return policy at most stores and you better be able to jump through fifty hoops and frustrations if you are going to accomplish anything. It always makes life interesting because there are no guarantees.

In teaching news this week was a very good week. I saw teachers trying to implement differentiated instruction in their classrooms (that means that they are trying to teach to all of the student's skill levels instead of just teaching to the middle.) I also had the opportunity to meet one on one with most of my teachers. They were all very appreciative of the program and excited to tell me how they were going to change their teaching practices. One of my star teachers, Sam, told me this week not to get frustrated even if there was no implementation. He told me that it takes them time to change. It is hard to get frustrated when someone as nice as Sam asks you to be patient.