Norther, Souther, Wester, Easter!

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny found my house this year, after getting lost last year. I think the fact that some other PCV's were visiting me at the time helped him find the place. He left 5 brown eggs around the house which we promptly decorated (traditional Easter egg designs, Kenyan flag, Jesus). It was enjoyable.

It's been a while, let's rewind...

Once upon a time (2007) a school year began. It continued. Around the end of February a Peace Corps meeting was planned on the coast which I attended. Honestly, the training wasn't so spectacular, but it was a good excuse to see many people I haven't seen for a while and get to know the new group a bit better. It also meant I got to wear my coast skirt again. We visited my favorite south coast island again: Wasini. We cleaned up the coral reef garden and offered business advice to the operators of the slave caves in Shimoni. And then it was back to school...

A few weeks before school ended I saw an advertisement in the newspaper about a theatre production in Nairobi. I decided I wasn't getting my theatre fix so I went for the weekend and saw the play 'An Inspector Calls'. It was well done, I am happy to report. We have some actors in Kenya! I think I might have to go see more in the future. The same weekend I went to the movies and saw Dreamgirls (a musical movie) so I had a theatre overdose. It's a good overdose.

The school term ended in a flurry of activity. There were exams to write, exams to mark, exam results to compile. Now in America, most teachers just make photocopies of tests and quizzes provided by the publishing company with the textbook. Not the case here in Kenya. I have to create my own questions or take them from past exams, and assign them point values. I really overanalyze this task: 'Is this a fair question?' 'Does it demonstrate their understanding of the chapter?' 'Would this exam encourage or discourage them?'... But I always get it done. Then they need to be typed (by a typewriter) and copied (by a duplicator, not a photocopier). Its a lot of work for the secretary. After marking the exam they must be entered in the record books, and comments need to written for each subject for every student. Also, since I am a class teacher I need to write an overall comment for each student in Form 3. Some sample comments from other teachers: 'Wake up!' 'Pull up your socks!' 'Get serious!' 'Put in more efforts!' 'A trial' ... And the term ended.

As I mentioned earlier, after closing I had some visitors. They had both visited me previously so they knew the lay of the land, the hotspots, the wazee. We had a good time, we climbed Ulilinzi rock which apparently is the home of a gigantic serpent and we were lucky we didn't die. We defied all odds. A guy in my village also announced to us that he is running for Member of Parliament (MP) this year and is likely to be Vice President of the country by the year 2012. He oozes confidence, which you gotta have to be a politician. You think John Dingell even considers the possibility of losing? He's only been in Congress for like 50 years, why should he start losing now?

So I'm just hanging out this month. Next week I have DPS training to help facilitate. After that our school starts the remedial teaching for the Form 3's and 4's. And then the second term (my second to last) begins in early May. Time is running.

I want to rhetorically (metaphorically? proverbially?) tip my hat to my brother for his work on this site. It's beautiful, it inspires shock and awe, it takes my breath. He's imported all my previous posts from the old website to this one. So you can start at the beginning if you have arrived to this site late. I was reading through my old posts and I realized I never answere a question I had posed: 'What famous rock group members are all dead including one that was assassinated?' Answer: Mt. Rushmore. Aww, snap! I got ya good! Which one was assassinated? Ask my brother, the assassination expert (back, and to the left).

Also check out the pictures. They are back, I don't think there's anything new, but its good to refresh your memory.

Hope wherever you are you are doing something you enjoy!

And I am living happily ever after