It's Bah-ngladesh, not Bang-ladesh!

My first term as a Kenyan teacher has come to close. Exams were last week and we compiled the results and officially closed the school two days ago on Tuesday. How were the results you might ask? Chemistry - great. Biology - not so bad. Physics - the students did well considering the class. Geography - not as good as expected. Math - well, it's math...it's never what you want.

I think this term was somewhat of a crashcourse in the Kenyan education system and I feel more prepared heading into next term. I also have a better comraderie with the students and know their strengths and weaknesses.

The end of the term also marked possibly the last time the principal would be with the students and staff. Believe it or not I don't really enjoy change (I know, I know, yes I basically changed everything in my life by coming to Kenya, but I like stability and tradition). The principal was the person that brought me to the school, filled out the paperwork for the Peace Corps, was my supervisor. I will miss him.

Last weekend, inbetween giving exams and grading them, I ventured to Nairobi to take the Foreign Service Exam. This is the exam all Foreign Service Officers (those hip cats that work at the embassies all over the world) must take and pass. I was taking the first part, the written exam. If you pass you move on to the oral exam which is only offered in the U.S. If I pass I am not flying back to the U.S. Why did I take it knowing that I would go no further than the written exam? Honestly, I just wanted to take a test. I haven't been tested like that since college and I was missing it somewhat. I enjoy knowledge and I enjoy being tested. Keeps me sharp. It's also supposed to be one of the hardest tests in the world. I read that somewhere. I don't know if I agree. By taking the test I am also gaining familiarity in case I ever decide to do something like the Foreign Service in the future.

While in Nairobi for the exam I stayed the night in the homes of embassy workers. Yet another reason why joining the foreign service might not be so bad. I was offered Doritos, Hershey's Kisses, fresh-brewed coffee, Cracklin Oat Bran (with cold milk! from a refrigerator!), home-made pizza (HOME-MADE!). I watched a brief amount of SportsCenter and MTV on the tube. I took hot showers, bounced on a trampoline, played basketball (we didn't play h-o-r-s-e, we played j-a-m-b-o), played the accordian, used a microwave, basically lived a different life. Also these embassy workers were married and had children so I felt like part of the family, just one of the kids. Good times, yet life isn't so green on the other side of the razor-wire fence.

So school is on break until May 9. During the break I have a couple trainings and conferences to attend and some relaxation to attend to. I hope life is splendid on the other side of the 'pond'.

As a reminder my current information is as follows:

P.O. Box 163
Nzeeka, Kenya

phone:
011-254-736-543-139

I will be in places with excellent phone reception from April 16-26 so if you want to call that would be a good time. Those of you in Michigan there is a 7 hour difference. 12 noon there is 7 PM here.

Word

Peace