I woke up yesterday with a great vibe. I had a lot of energy and thankfully it carried me through the whole day. The morning wasn’t rainy—for the first time in a week or so—and the sun started coming through right after Abby and I began our walk to school.
Whenever it’s sunny and clear there is a wonderful view of Mount Meru on the bus route. I can’t get over how great this environment is that I’m living in. Sure it’s rainy a lot of the time, but even then I’m able to appreciate the lush green landscapes. When it’s sunny, boy oh boy, it’s paradise!
In the morning I got right to English classes. The past few days I wasn’t able to teach English (or the kids had exams) and I had been missing it. Getting back into the classroom also forced me to keep my energy up which was nice; we reviewed some exams from the previous day and started on future tense. After break I marked some exams and set up some lesson plans for the coming impromptu sessions I’m sure I’ll be teaching. I never know when Pius will have me teach or not, so I need to make sure I always am a few lessons ahead with my plan in case he teaches one I’ve prepared without telling me. Take yesterday for example, the students were supposed to have exams, but Pius left the school to go to an academic council meeting and had me teach instead.
Lunch was dagaa yesterday. I was expecting to have my driver buddies hook me up with some pork, but I was informed that no one organized it and I was stuck eating plain noodles (I didn’t have the guts for sardines). After lunch a storm started to come in. It’s crazy to see how the kids change with the weather. A strong wind was blowing trees branches here and there; windows and doors were slamming; papers were being ripped off of desks. Everyone seemed to be swept up in the whirlwind; the whole school became noisier, the kids restless. Thankfully, the storm only threatened rain. It stayed dry for some football practice.
Today we have a football match at another school—I’ve really been enjoying all the drama around it, you’ll hear tomorrow! Anyways, yesterday we took some time to prepare our star athletes with a bit of practice. They didn’t have much time to get warm for today—busses were getting ready to leave—but some preparation is better than none.
On the bus route we had yet another new driver. I’m not quite sure what’s more unpredictable; the weather or who our driver will be. In any case, he seemed to be a bit inexperienced, causing a longer-than-usual route.
At home I helped Jovin and Rebecca with some homework. Rebecca is really struggling to keep up with her classes; last night we were doing math and having to review basic counting principles. It’s hard to stay motivated as a “tutor” when she needs to be able to calculate volume and do simple algebra but we’re still working on counting to 27 by 3’s. After the homework I had some dinner. It was late by the time I went to bed—nearing 10:30. This morning I woke up 20 minutes before my alarm around 5:40. This is the second day in a row and it’s starting to make me a bit upset. I need my beauty sleep. But today will be fun and I’m excited and feeling good!