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.