Round Two

Well, that's it. They're gone. Macy and Melissa's time in Kenya is officially over, and they're currently in the air headed for the United States. It has been such a surreal afternoon and evening. We had final group photos, tears, and crazy bus rides. The drop-off process was so abrupt, and afterwards everyone was saying how it doesn't really feel like they're gone. It's like they'll be back in a week and a half and everything will return to normal. But it will really be us leaving instead.
The strangest part about the whole thing has been coming back to the half empty room that is now exclusively my own. I'm honestly not a huge fan. . .

Our last group picture at the airport

I already miss this girl like crazy!

A Farm at the Foot of the Ngong Hills...

As you may or may not know, this blog was originally named after a fictional book title in my mom's favorite british sitcom As Time Goes By. In the show, Leonel writes a rather dull book about his life as a coffee grower in Kenya. This is very similar to another non-fictional book entitled Out of Africa. (If you've seen the movie staring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, you know the story) Richard, the boy's dean, sat the SMs down at the beginning of the year and subjected our jet-lagged brains to the movie, and while I remember liking it, I'll definitely have to see it again when I'm fully conscious.

The Karen Blixen in the book is the same Karen for which the town down the road is named. Since we've been living so close for so long, Jacqui and I decided to use our last Wednesday town trip together to explore the Keren Blixen Museum.

Finally getting to visit this museum was definitely the highlight of our last town trip. Edgar, our tour guide, told us everything there was to possibly know both about both Karen's history and the house. We got to use our residency passes one last time (we only spent a mere 100KSH!), learned a lot about the history of the area, and got to play tourists in what has become our own backyard. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside, but Jacqui and I still got a few good ones out on the grounds.

The Karen Blixen House

Jacqui looking all cute!

Coffee plants and treating coffee beans 

I don't know about you, but I think my view of the Ngong Hills is so much better!

Real Missionaries

The SMs spent so much time and energy at the beginning of the year discussing whether or not we were "real" missionaries. Can you still be considered a missionary if you have hot showers at the push of a button, free meals in a cafeteria, monthly money to spend, and weather that is reminiscent of paradise? I've always thought this was a dumb question, but it's started to creep up again with the arrival and departure of Janice and Cody.

They came from Tanzania where the didn't have electricity, spoke swahili with the locals, and got dirty on a regular basis. I'll admit, it was super impressive to hear Janice speaking swahili in the market while she was here. It made some of us feel like maybe they had gotten the real taste of Africa, and maybe we had somehow missed out. But what is the "real" Africa anyway? How can you summarize an entire continent?

My Africa might not be Janice's Africa, but my mission was not Janice's mission. I was sent to serve the students at Maxwell. I didn't learn a language, but I learned so much about communication. I might not have built any churches, but I still built relationships. I didn't preach on sabbath morning, but I lived and taught one crazy group of high school freshmen for a full school year. My year might not have been what people think of when they hear the word missionary, but that's okay. I wouldn't ask for any other experience because I still know that the environment does not determine the missionary; God does. And He's the one who sent me.

The First Batch

It seems so strange to be saying this, but last night, the first batch of returning missionaries left Maxwell for the airport. Janice and Cody, two SMs from Tanzania, had been staying at maxwell for almost a week due to visa issues, and last night they began their long journey back home to the States. Their leaving seems to have made our own departure even more of a reality than it already was. The trading of items between SMs and in the market has begun in earnest now, and people have started filling suitcases. The next group leaves in a week, and it's strange to think about our SM group fragmenting.

Safe travels!

A Little Bit of Magic

Teaching can be absolutely draining, but there are moments that can also be absolutely magical. I never thought I would ever say this, but one of those magical moments happened for me today in recorder class.

I had been working with the advanced group on a three part piece for what feels like eternity, but it probably has just been the better part of this semester. We are playing the song for vespers this friday night and we had never made it from beginning to end in one piece. Today was our last official class period before the performance so I was nervous, and definitely aware it was more than crunch time.

The first two times we tried to play it all the way through, the same thing always happened; the second part got a beat behind, the third part a beat ahead, and the whole thing crashed spectacularly at the end of the second line. After a little more rehearsal, figuring out where the problem spots where, and mapping out places to regroup, we finally made it all the way through without stopping.

My students were elated! After playing through the entire song twice, Nick made a comment about how everyone who knocks recorders is wrong, and how great the class had just sounded. By the end of class, I drastically decreased the amount of clapping I had to do and radient pride could be found on every one of their faces. Finally, all of their hard work had paid off and they tasted the sweetness of their success. I've never seen eight students more proud of something they had accomplished.

Mothers Day

The more time passes, the more I'm not a fan of the distance between Nairobi and Chattanooga. Today, the distance is especially problematic because today is Mothers day and I am over 8,000 miles away from home. 

I am so incredibly thankful I have this wonderful woman in my life. She's both my voice of reason and one who pushes me out of my comfort zone. Constant companionship, unwavering support, and unconditional love. I am so blessed! I can't wait to see you in 28 DAYS! 

I love you.

Happy Mothers Day!

Baby Bunnies

A couple of weeks ago, the Corkums added two new little members to their family; Rucky and Stormy. They are the two cutest little baby bunnies you will ever see! Now, several weeks later, the bunnies are not quite as little, but they're still adorable! Here's a video of them when they were still small. 

Happy Sabbath!

Rucky Labbit                                      and Stormy

Water Fight!

While the Juniors and Seniors were out at Junior/Senior banquet, the freshmen and sophomores had their own class parties. The freshmen decided to start things off with the sophomores in a water fight. I was not too excited about the idea because it had been drizzling all day, and I was pretty sure the temperature was hovering right around freezing (in reality, I think it was a just a chilly 62 degrees... I'm definitely going to freeze next year!). The weather ended up cooperating nicely with no rain and warmer temperatures durring the water fight, and everyone (still minus the freezing me) was able to participate in the fun. 

They had to make sure everyone was included in the fun!

Saron thought she was just posing for a picture!

Defending the "dry zone" 

A Surprise Birthday Party

Friday was Jacqui's birthday, and the freshmen approached me asking if they could take my class period and turn it into party time and then make up the missed class on tuesday. I agreed, and everyone got down to party planning. On Friday morning, the freshmen were absolutely terrible in Jacqui's class.  Their plan was to be super respectful and quiet (something generally out of the norm for them) but their plan failed due to loud and uncooperative classmates. When I found Jacqui, she was hiding in the staff room surrounded by paper airplanes, and other various gifts the freshmen gave because they were too "poor" to give her anything else. I told her I was giving the freshmen a test next period, and asked her if she would be willing to help supervise. This was a complete lie, but a believable one that would get her into the health room.  

Jacqui unfortunately arrived sooner than expected, and the freshmen did their best to pretend to be getting ready for a test. I of course had nothing to give them, so I somehow managed to unintentionally make Jacqui believe that the printer had swallowed my test and would not print (also a believable scenario). It all worked out in the end, because before too long a cake, popcorn, and ice cream came waltzing into my classroom and the surprise was complete! 

In typical fashion, I didn't get one picture of the festivities, so here are some completely unrelated pictures from our trip to the primate research center on Sabbath! (Sorry, no primates)

Waterfall Climbing at the Primate Center

Leaving

My plane to Kenya

Leaving seems to be the topic of almost every conversation. Just yesterday, I walked into my room to find Macy sitting on the floor with one suitcase completely packed and ready to go. Granted, she leaves sooner than I do, but not that much sooner! The SMs can't seem to stop talking about the food we will eat when we arrive in North America, how long we will roll around on carpet when we first see it, and how strange it will be to drive on the right side of the road again.

I have very mixed feelings about leaving; about packing up my whole life for a year, sorting through the heavy parts, packing it all into two suitcases and a backpack, and heading back to Tennessee. I absolutely love it here in Kenya. I love the weather, the Ngong hills out my window, and my students. But I think I'm finally ready to go home. As much as I thought he was crazy at the beginning of the year, Derek knew what he was talking about; ten months is about the right amount of time to serve as an SM.

After 9 months, I'm tired of the food in the cafe, I'm tired of not having my own source of transportation, and I'm tired of dealing with disrespectful students. I wasn't homesick in the beginning  but now I find my mind wandering more often to my family, the chemistry department at school, and vague memories of what the true cold of winter feels like. But at the same time, I know that my heart will crave Kenya when I'm gone. I know that I want to come back. There are friends and students here who I dread leaving with all my heart. As much as I want to go home, I can't bear wishing away one day with my freshmen, or one moment with this crazy group of 7 missionaries I now call friends.

If Books Could Talk

Sometimes I'm struck by the books sitting silently all around me. For some of them, the last time anyone recorded checking them out was in the late 1980s. Have they really been that neglected, or did the checkout system simply fail them? What changes have they seen in their lifetime? How many groups of SMs have watched over them? 

It's a funny thing to think about next year. To think about Maxwell moving on without any of the current SMs. To think about all the changes that those books will witness.