I arrived at school this morning at 8am GMT+2. As the last polls closed in the US, I sat at my computer checking headlines. Outside my window, elementary students arrived on the playground. Second and third graders echo-chanted "BA-RAK! O-BA-MA! BA-RAK! O-BA-MA!" As I walked to the staff lounge to check my box, I received several... Continue Reading →
I had the pleasure of chaperoning a high school Habitat trip this weekend. On Friday after school, another teacher and I took sixteen HS kids to a Habitat site four hours north of Nairobi. We arrived in the evening, camped out on the cement floor of a school house, and went the next morning to... Continue Reading →
Every fish may know how to swim, but not all water is a pond. The movie "Finding Nemo" came out while I was in Morocco. It only took one viewing for it to become a favorite between me and my housemates. It only took three for us to begin quoting it to each other. For... Continue Reading →
I live next to a large Hindu temple. Back in July, when I first moved in, I thought: "Yes! It's not a mosque - they will be quiet neighbors." I am slightly ashamed to admit how radically uninformed I was about temple life. The last nine nights have been hoppin'. Bright lights outline the buildings... Continue Reading →
I recently returned from the 8th grade Intercultural Trip to the Masai Mara. Where? What's that? The Masai are a people-group that live in both Kenya and Tanzania. Since they are one of the more famous groups in this region, chances are good you've seen a picture or two of them - tall and skinny,... Continue Reading →
Two weekends ago, my uncle Harry came through town on a business trip. We spent Friday and Saturday exploring some places in and around Nairobi. My new favorite spot is about an hour and a half out of town on Lake Naivasha. There is a little crescent shaped island on the lake that is connected... Continue Reading →
I now have risers in my classroom! The school carpenters just finished building them and I am thrilled. Now my class of 44 middle school kids can actually see me when we sing.
On Tuesday it rained for the first time since I arrived. I'm not talking about the grey drizzle that covered this city through August, nor the misty cloud that chilled most of my morning drives to school. This was a true rain, complete with black clouds and thunder. Like a spring rain in Florida, the... Continue Reading →
Two weeks ago, I volunteered to help with high school band camp. This weekend, I stuck around for middle school band camp - a shorter, sweeter version of the first. Instead of two nights, it was one; instead of two songs, they learned one. We had 33 kids in 6th, 7th and 8th grade. My... Continue Reading →
In the first week of school, I had the students in both of my choruses introduce themselves to me via questionnaire. I thought I’d share with you some of the responses from the middle school choir that made me smile. This is a group of 44 kids - 37 girls and 7 boys from sixth,... Continue Reading →
Of Wonders & Wanders 
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