Where has the time gone?

While some days have felt an eternity, overall, I am left wondering where has the time gone as the students took their final exams this past week. How have I already been here a term? I got to see the video of the 12 year celebration that we had one of the first weeks I was here, and it was so fun to watch the video because now I know the kids; their names, their personalities, who pals with who, and all that... When we had the celebration, I was still pretty lost. It really is beginning to feel like home here, if a very different feeling of home than I might have on the island, in Seattle, or Spokane... Home nonetheless though.

The exams went well, with the primary school finishing yesterday and the  secondary are writing their last exams as I type this. At least my fourth and sixth grade English students all passed. I still need to get a hold of the grade five scores. I monitored the fourth grade exams, and they are a fun class. There are two boys who kept trying, and succeeding, at making me laugh when we all were supposed to be quiet... While they were writing their kiswahili exam, I took it myself(the other teachers had told me I should) and I was happy to hear that I had 33/50 correct, or 66%, which is passing. Anything above 50% is passing...

The kids are pretty excited for the holidays, and I think they will be good. One lovely perk is that morning bell will be like the weekends which means more than an hour later each morning. As I only rolled out of bed when I heard the bell this morning which is still early for the secondary finishing, I am excited for this fact. Apparently all that happens, according to the kids, is kucheza(or to play...). They will of course have some chores too, but they were ready to play as everyone was out yesterday afternoon just having fun... I know the secondary will be happy to be finished today as well.

Personally, I won't be here for all the holidays. I have an MCC East Africa retreat in three weeks, and the week before am taking as one of my vacation weeks and going to the coast with some friends working in Uganda. I am looking forward to both my time here(although I am sure transitioning into the new schedule will take me a few days) and my time away.

Meanwhile, my biggest challenge will be fitting into the new schedule, but I am very good at just hanging out and watching kids play, which at least the younger grades appreciate. Also, the weather is finally consistently nicer. While I doubted it was possible, it does not rain every afternoon/ all afternoon anymore, and I have started having to apply sunscreen on a regular basis.

Finally, I love comments on my blogs and emails... just saying:)