Gratitude Lately: Maasai Mara

This weekend has made me thankful for pictures, driving, and the teamwork to make them both happen

I'm thankful for protective mommas and their precious babies

For playfulness and friends to chase

For rooftop views and adventures

For chance sightings and big cats

For flushing toilets and cushy "camping"

For fishtailing, four-wheeling, mud drives that stretch my sense of adventure

For paved roads, and the Chinese who made them.

And for stunning endings to wonderful journeys

Here's to a fantastic long weekend, and a safe journey home.  

What I'll Miss #2

I am going to miss the Maxwell gazelles. Call me crazy, but they look different from other gazelles I've seen; they're distinctive (inbred?). I've been to the Mara with its incredible wildlife (twice now!) but every time I pull back into Maxwell's campus and see our own little herd, with the babies and unicorn in all, I know I'm home. 

44 days

This blows my mind. In exactly 44 days, it will be Maxwell graduation, I will have spent 10 months in Kenya, and I will be getting on a plane to fly back to Tennessee. Can this really be happening?

ASB Banquet

The ASB banquet theme this year was YouTube, so on Sunday night, the cafeteria was turned into... well... a YouTube banquet! Since I was punctual, I got pulled into helping in the kitchen and didn't end up taking many pictures. (ok, this is a complete excuse. I really am that bad at taking pictures....) After the student servers showed up, I rejoined the banquet to enjoy videos (from YouTube of course), burritos, guacamole, and some pretty fabulous vegan ice cream and cake! 

ASB did a pretty good job decorating for the YouTube theme

Tanzi rocking the 80s look

I love this picture! (Katie succeed in deleting whatever they were looking at)

My Pakistani outfit, courtesy of Yani

VBS - Sabbath

This past sabbath, the Maxwell gym was transformed as we hosted four bus loads of VBS kids for sabbath school, church, lunch, and afternoon activities. I absolutely loved it when the VBS kids recited their memory verses and sand their songs. They were so energetic, it was contagious. The day was filled with songs, snuggles, games, and smiles. Definitely a blessed sabbath.

This is Obama. He might have fallen asleep in church.

Sabbath afternoon included many animated games of musical chairs

Our principal and Obama

What I'll Miss #1

Words cannot describe the Kenyan sky, or how much it takes my breath away. Living under this incredible expanse is one of my favorite things about my life in Kenya. With less than two months left, I plan to soak up as much of the heavens as I can. 

Happy Sabbath!

Again

I want to do it again.

Ok, I know I sound crazy, but I want to try again. I've learned so much this year about classroom management, how I want to run a class, teaching methods, and expectations. It seems completely unfair that just as I'm starting to get the hang of things, I have to board a plane bound for the States where the likelihood of me teaching again in the next five years is slim to none. Don't get me wrong, I want to come home. I want to be a student again, I want to learn new things, I'm ready to be living on a college campus overflowing with new ideas, but I want to try teaching my own class again. I want to update my syllabus and start out the school year on a better foot. I want to teach the freshmen study skills as well as content knowledge. I want to require my students to take graded notes in Kenyan exercise books. I want to implement what I have learned this year; I want to do so much better.

Expired Medicine

Sometimes the things that are found in the science building just plain scare me. Clear colorless liquids in unmarked bottles, acids that were mixed over a decade ago, and lab equipment that's become the home of breeding spiders. A few weeks ago, the school nurse found something else to add to the list in the first aid kit.

Pictures of Polly's find in the science department

In case you have a hard time reading the date like I did, it says; EXP 11 82. This burn cream expired before I was born! Polly has thankfully been working to fix this. Unfortunately, still no definitive news on the breeding spiders. 

Thinking

There has been a lot of thinking going on around here recently. It seems like everyone is starting to turn their thoughts towards home, summer plans, and what on earth we're all going to do with our lives next year. With less than three months left in the semester, I'm starting to think myself. What is going home going to be like? How will I perform in school after not studying anything for ten months? Do I even remember enough to be a chemistry major? What will my friend group look like? What will I tell people about my experiences here?

I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to tell people when I get home. I'm actually dreading the questions, but dying to talk. What was my favorite experience of the year? Where was my favorite place to visit? What moment impacted me most? These are all impossible questions to answer. Not because I didn't have moments that took my breath away, or that I didn't have numerous experiences, but it's impossible to answer because it's impossible to pick favorites, mosts, and bests. How do you pick a favorite moment after living through so many?