Ritzenheim Report

Returning the the Blogger World

2010-10-17T06:32:00.000-07:00

I return. I have felt guilty for not recording all the amazing things that I have experienced over the last year, and though no one really reads this blog besides my sister Jenny, I thought it might relieve some of the guilt just to get it out there.
This is a new school year! We are about 6 weeks in, and I am beginning to see some amazing things, as well as a few discouraging things. I am still teaching at Samuel Fels High School http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/f/fels/ - and I am really enjoying it. I like our principal, the staff is fantastic, and I have amazing students.

2009-09-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I have been absent for so long. I now live in Philadelphia, and I teach at an inner city high school in North Philly. I work at a brand new school, which is very nice, and I have a smart board to work with now! I live in a pretty nice house, and I have already planted a garden, which was destroyed by a heavy rainstorm hours later. Life has been hectic lately, and I feel very detached from the impending doom of having dozens of students whose names I will need to learn and for whose education I will be responsible. I work at an empowerment school, which means that it has not been performing well for so long, we are being watched like hawks, and tested and retested to be sure we are improving- and we are not. I also teach 11th grade, which is the grade that is tested the most, so I will be watched a lot. So I hope this goes well. I appreciate any comments. Talk to you soon

2008-10-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

This video is amzing to me, I really love all the different places it shows.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

2008-10-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

Traditional Ethiopian food, dinner at a friend's house, a bunch of us at church, and my friend Yonas, right before we left.

Friends in Debre Zeit

2008-10-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

These are the kids from our church group in Debre Zeit. We all went to the lake and had a great time. Above, are Tamrat, Fikado, and Tesfai, and left is Anduelem.

2008-10-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

This is of our neighbor kids singing for the end of the Fasting season. The chorus is about blessing us, and for the verse, they make up their on the spot something about you. It is pretty neat, though it is not free; their version of trick or treat provides that you give them money for their song.

2008-10-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

These are camels we saw on the way out to Bekkejjo. Also, a neighbor boy, and a kid that helped us in the village where we worked.

It rained like crazy in Ude, as yuo can see how high the water was. This other picture is of Ayelkephet, and his brother, on whose farm we installed the water pump.

These are also in Ude, it was beautiful there, and these boys taught me the alphabet and numbers in Oromipha

2008-10-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

Here is the road behind our house in Debra Zeit. It was beautiful during the rainy season, where it had been dry and brown just weeks earlier

Back Again

2008-09-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

I am back for Ethiopia, and am sad to be back in the US. There are so many great things out there, that the US just doesn't have. I am also back at Provo, aand it feels as if the world stood still completely while I was gone. I am hoping I can get this semester finished so I can get back to Ethiopia. I will later post some of the experiences I had while I was here- but for now, remember- I am back. And sorry for ignoring you if you have felt ignored.

Airport Amusement

2008-05-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

I am getting pretty tired of airports, and even of flying, though I have only finished half of my initial trip to Mozambique. I am sitting in a London airport, feeling like a lame version of McGyver, since I have used the inapropriate power converters to get power to my computer. This jimmy-rigged combination is not what you are supposed to do, but I am getting power, so I am not too worried, despite the buzzing noise that comes from the outlet: here's to hoping against an electrical fire. I am going to spend five hours here today, flying out at 8:00 London time. I spent six hours in Houston last night, and that was no fun. You notice a lot of things when you are in an aiport that long. The wierdest thing I saw was a defibrulator built into the wall like a fire extinguisher, with a sign above it with a heart and a lightening strike going through it. I saw them all over the place. When did airports start installing defibrulators as standard practice- were that many people having heart attacks while running to catch flights? Or is it a terrorist precaution, hoping that perhaps we can surprise some would be terrorist with cardiac arrest? Even if someone does start having heart trouble, what are the chances we can lug them over to a defibrulator in time? I was grateful to see, however, that in case I was called on to haul a senior citizen over to the machine in the event of a heart attack, there was an instructional pamphlet beside it. That way, I can read up on it before I use it, assuming the old person can hold on for that long. Or perhaps it was meant for those responsible citizens to read beforehand, just in case, so that we would be ready to rise to the occasion when the time came? I didn't read the pamphlet, so unfortunately I am unready to use the defibrulator, but I am in the London Heathrow airport anyway, and they have no defibrulators; it must be an American thing. Irresponsible British.

The flight from Houston to London was nice. We left at 10:30 at night, and so there were very few people on our flight. I had changed seats to sit on an end away from others so I could sleep, but then a motherly stewardess came over and reccomended that I move to a middle row seat so I could lay down. I never lay down in planes, and I seldom sleep much, but she was very forceful in her 'recomendation'. She really would not let me say no. So I moved, and the rest of the flight she talked a lot and took care of me. She said if I were her child she would tie me to a chair so I couldn't keep traveling so much, and she reccomended that I date her daughter, but only after she got a job and did something with her life. I also heard her talking about me to all the other stewardesses; they all knew who I was and what I was doing. One of the funniest times was when I was just sitting there listening to a book on tape on my ipod after the meal, and she came over and gave me a first class pillow and one of the first class freshening up kits. Then she forcefully told me to lie down and go to sleep. Like I said, I never lie down in planes, and I can't sleep much, but she made me. I couldn't believe how forceful she was! I did it, and sure enough, after finding just the right position, I was able to fall asleep. I slept almost the entire flight, only waking up to change positions because some body part had fallen asleep- usually one of my legs. After that the rest of the flight went great. She was a nice lady, and if you ever want a mother along with you on a trip (or someone even more bossy than your mom) just fly Contintental. They are not stingy with the snacks either, like Delta is. When we finally landed, I really had to go to the bathroom. Note to self: those FiberOne bars are full of fiber. They give me gas. They make me feel my intestines are huge balloons full of air. I should not eat these bars when traveling. Anyway, as we were unloading, I figured I would just use the bathroom when I got into Heathrow, instead of using the disgusting plane bathrooms. So we finally got off, and I headed for the bathroom. There was a problem, however, and that is that the Heathrow airport was designed by the researchers who make mazes for rats to do tests in, the bathroom being the hidden destination. With the fiber bars nearly doubling me over, I went through hallway after hallway searching for the bathroom , or even an abondened corner. Sorry for the frankness. Finally I found it, (a bathroom, not a corner) and all was well. I am now sitting here, eying the showers of the airport, wondering how bad they are, or if it is worth trying to get a shower in, since it will be a total of three days without one. We will see. I also have to try to sew my bag since there is now a hole in it. I have another four hours here, so what better thing to do than sew the bag? And I am secretly hoping the stewardess from my plane is not somewhere here in the airport, waiting to tell me to eat something or to take another nap. Until next time,
B

Into Africa

2008-04-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

I leave for Africa in a few days. To the one or two people out there who actually read this, it is not new to you. But it is an important event; I love to travel, and Africa is an amazing continent, and Ethiopia is a great place (I went there two years ago for a much shorter period of time). But it gets old telling people I am going to Africa- when people hear that they think I will be handing out medication and corn meal wrapped in dollar bills, or single handedly carrying all of the malnourished babies out of poverty. It has almost become cliche to talk about it at BYU, since so many other people have done some type of service or research in Africa. But I am excited to go, to be able be with the people, and mostly forget about myself and work hard. That is what I am looking forward to the most, as well as working with individuals, families, and communities to make progress in their lives, throughout whatever means may come. I will keep you posted (no pun intended) on how it goes. Till later, then...

Kasey is Ridiculous

2008-03-28T12:50:00.001-07:00

As conservative as I am, I am tired of living in an area and with friends that do not think through arguments or question anything told them by like minded conservatives. I have a freind, who I hope is not reading this, who claimed that Barrack Obama is one half black, a quarter Iraqi, and a quarter white. I also know an old woman who asked me, "Do you think he has any of that Muslim blood left in him?" That woman was actually my grandma, but I think it is funny is a sad way. I do not like Barrack Obama, but I like ignorance even less. By the way, I think it is funny that as popular as he is, very few Americans are comfortable saying his first name (let alone his second). It is like people are afraid of messing up on it, so they just avoid it. I think it will be great to have a president that no one will call by the first name. I also think it is funny that 22% of his supporters still believe he is Muslim, despite all the media coverage about his preacher. This shows how again, that whether liberal or conservative, I hate ignorance.

So I have entered this world

2007-11-26T21:17:00.000-08:00

I have now entered the world where people who think they are smarter than they are write to an audience that does not read about things no ne really understands. But it might be nice to get somethings out of my system once in a while, and perhaps my mom or grandma will read this. Maybe my wife, when I find her. This will have to do for now, and I will keep you posted on my upcoming trip to California where I get to watch our team race, and run in the coach's race myself. Expect greatness,
Ben