Epic Librarian

I currently feel like an EPIC librarian! I've been going through the library shelves in my spare time (I practically live here in the library, I should probably know what we have) and I found some of my favorite books ever! We don't have a lot, but we do have quite a few classics that I loved reading as a kid. I was so incredibly excited about my finds that I started making an annotated bibliography of sorts so I could recommend books at the drop of a hat, just like a legit librarian. I hadn't been writing away at my Word document for long before it paid off. Two of the sophomore girls came into the library during fourth study hall and I was so excited about my list of books that I asked them if they had read any of them. To my horror, they hadn't. I immediately got so animated about the books I love, I think I might have scared them a little bit. After only a few moments of my ramblings, one of the girls asked me which book she should read first. SUCCESS! I ran to the shelves and grabbed both The Sign of the Beaver and The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Both by the absolutely fantastic Elizabeth George Speare). I told them both a little bit more about both books, each girl took one, and within minutes they were both signing their names on the sign-out sheet. As they were leaving, one of them said "this will be my very first book ever!" Regardless of whether she ment it was really going to be the first book she has read in her life, the first book she's reading in english, or just the first book she's checked out from the MAA library, it doesn't matter; she still chose to check out a book, something she never even considered doing before, based only on my recommendation.

This got me thinking; isn't this what I am called to do? When someone exudes excitement and passion, it's almost impossible not to notice. This is how we are called to live as Christians; actively reading the shelves, getting excited about what we're finding, and sharing what we're learning with others. It's when I'm not learning, not searching, not sharing that there are days when I feel like I'm not doing anything worthwhile. It may have been simple, but those two girls gave me a very powerful reminder of why I'm here and why I love what I do.

Advertising

Sometimes I'm really impressed with Google's international reach and advertising. For example, on election day a couple of weeks ago, Google Kenya's home page proudly displayed a peaceful election process. 

There are other times, however, when I'm less than impressed with the advertising I now receive. 

It's good to know Google is keeping up with me here in Kenya . . . Hmmmm . . .

Rudy

Rudy is a freshman, and he's quite the character. He has the lowest voice I've ever heard coming out of a freshmen, and that voice tends to get him in trouble. It's so low that I can always tell if he's talking in class. Every time I called him out for talking, he was always so repentant and shocked that he had been disruptive. He's also the largest student in the freshmen class, and seems to be equally unaware of his size as he is of his voice. He has managed to single handedly break the most expensive piece of equipment in the biology lab, a picture frame in the library, and many a chair. He might be disruptive, clumsy, loud, and completely unaware of his own size, but I love that big guy. He makes me smile.

Rudy was late coming back from two week break. I'd been excusing his lab work, but otherwise expecting him to come bumbling back into my classroom in less than a week. That's what I thought until I got this email:

Knowing that Rudy isn't coming back is kind of like knowing that Joshua isn't coming back, but it's somehow worse. He's been in my class longer, but that's not really it. He was such a huge presence in my classroom (literally and figuratively) that it's really hard to imagine the rest of the year without him. His leaving has started a whole bunch of conversations about when we all leave Maxwell and head back to the States, and I don't feel ready for that yet. Had I known he wouldn't be coming back, I would have told him that I love his big heart, how I know that when he puts his mind to something he can accomplish anything, and how much I will miss him.   

"I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye." - Life of Pi

Only in Africa

You know you're in Africa when. . . . 

. . . . every room at Brakenhurst comes with its own personal can of Mortein Doom, candles, and a box of matches. 

Brakenhust

This past weekend, all of Maxwell pilled into buses and headed out for Brakenhurst, a conference and retreat center a little over an hour away from campus. We had incredible praise services, sabbath afternoon team building activities, and lots of fellowship. All week Pastor Fogg had been speaking for week of prayer, and spending a weekend at Brakenhurst was a wonderful way to wrap up the week of spiritual emphasis. 

Melissa fighting with the lock to our room. Again.

The music for the whole weekend was incredible!
Every day there were new people and instruments leading out in worship

This cottage was called Mt. Kenya. Tanzi said I should climb on top of it and take a picture. I settled for just the picture instead

Two Weeks Break

Well, thanks to the Kenyan national elections and the Mt Kenya trip, Maxwell Adventist Academy just experience two full weeks of no school. I spent the first part of the break taking care of girls on Mt Kenya, but when I got back I still had over a week of peace and quiet to catch up on my work. There was only one boy in the guys dorm, and seven girls in the girls dorm, for a grand total of eight students to supervise. It's a good thing we spent so much time yelling and arguing over the supervision schedule in staff meetings because sitting outside watching gazelles mate and grass grow was really difficult (sarcasm). In addition to my six hours of supervision, here's a couple things that happened over the break:

• Watched every single Star Wars film except for #5 (I had seen it this past summer)
• Graded and entered everything for Freshmen Biology
• Ate out at Habishas (yummy Ethiopian food!)
• Planed out Chemistry lab until the next long weekend 
• Ate at Art Cafe for the first time. Probably my favorite part of the week! 
• Watched a lot of Big Bang Theory
• Had fabulous potlucks and cookouts with the staff
• Had our first staff meeting with the new principal (This was the first staff meeting in 18 years without the V's present. Crazy)
• Sleep, lesson plan, eat, repeat. 

While the chance to catch up on lesson planning and sleep was very much needed and appreciated, I'm glad to be back at school today. So here I go; here's to new presidents, new principals, new months, new lesson plans, and new beginnings.

The Dark Side

I think I might be joining the dark side. It started off slowly, Miswak toothpaste and a taste of Jacqui's licorice, but now I'm popping these little Aniseed balls from Nakumatt like candy (oh wait....). That's right! Emily officially likes is addicted to licorice! Who would have ever thought!

I may, or may not, have watched way too much Star Wars over this break...

Mt Kenya

My hair is washed, my legs are shaved, and I have our new washer's happy "I'm done" song humming along in my head. It's so good to be back home after a five day camping trip! I may have backed out of climbing Mt Kenya, but I still had the opportunity to go on the trip.

Here are a few things I learned on Mt Kenya:

• I don't particularly like Hiking. At all. 
• Nap time is beyond wonderful
• Any toy, regardless of how cool it is, can only be expected to provide about one hour of entertainment with a three year old
• A one year old may seem to be warming up to you, but she can turn on you faster than her mommy can sneak out
• Small children are terrible at hide and seek
• You can spend two straight days with a three year old and there is the very strong possibility that she will still not know your name
• Biblical bedtime stories are magical

I definitely did not have the typical Mt Kenya experience. While everyone else attempted the summit, I got to stay at base camp (10,000 ft) and help take care of two little girls while their daddy was hiking up the mountain. Ask anyone, I'm not the first one you call when you have small children to take care of. Despite my lack of skill in this area, everything worked out, and I even ended up enjoying myself! 

Four "mommy, what's her name again's?" three "I love you's," two kisses, and one snuggly night. Worth it. 

The highest I hiked on Mt Kenya: ~12,000ft