24/9/11

7th and 8th grade taking our Flat Stanley picture! Quite a lively bunch as you can see!

Hello!!!! A giraffe!

1st-2nd grade!!! Taking some pictures during math class!

5/6 graders painting during Bible class!

I love getting my hair did at the orphanage!

Full moon party...guess who forgot to get plasticware!?!?! ME!

PHASES OF THE MOON!

Girls playing in a sandbox

The clouds above my house seem really close...more then normal

standing up in the Land Rover

Glass from the glass factory

So, I haven't blogged in the longest of times...and my family is about to be upset with me because they want to see pictures and stories. So, here it goes...


Last Sabbath, I had the MOST AMAZING FOOD EVER!!!! Rice and beans with homemade salsa and guacamole (I made that!!!) Also, I had the most amazing drink ever and it's totally my new favorite. It's a fanta and it's called "Black Current" but sometimes I get confused and call it "Cool Torrent" and I have no idea why!!!! hahaha. I got a lot of naps and sleeping in last Sabbath and it was pretty nice. Later on in the evening when I woke up form my nap, I was still at the Raymonds...YAY!! haha. That night we made cinnamon buns and told a bunch of fun stories!!!!

Sunday I went out to brunch with a group of the Maxwell staff who were off duty. Afterwards, we went to the glass factory and got to see a bunch of really cool things that they made out of glass! (there was even a scrap area where you could break glass for fun) We took some cool pictures too! Then, we traveled around to see the places that serve really good pizza and that also have a swimming pool!!! (Can't wait till it get's warm enough to swim again!!) While we traveled around, Derek put the roof up on the Land Rover and I got to stand up and watch as we drove past everyone staring at me...the "Muzungu!" haha. I had a really great time and was wishing my sisters were with me for that!!!

The week was pretty uneventful, besides teaching and getting out early!! Thursday started our "Long weekend" which is basically a short break that the students get. Some go home or to a friends house..but others stay on campus so we have a more laid back weekend. I went on the town trip thursday afternoon and so part of my supervision was eating frozen yogart, grocery shopping (for some Black Current!!) and testing out KFC! Not bad!! (Sorry mom)

Anyway, today we had a delicious brunch and I actually had sour cream that tasted pretty good. Yani made it and she is a good cook...but I was skeptical because I don't seem to like the dairy here. :( And, I'm really excited about having some for dinner with the haystacks!! I supervised from 12:30-2:30..nothing too eventful there. Tonight I'm going to make cornbread with Yani...and let me tell you...her cornbread is AMAZZZZZZING!!! :) I feel like I'm forgetting something...but I'll have to add it later once I remember!!

My 1st and 2nd grade students!!!!!!

Daniel

Ethel

Edna

Ameline

Elephant Orphanage

 

 

 

First squat pot!!

So I ended up passing out because it was really really hot, I was standing for awhile in the sun, I'm still a little sick and because I hadn't eaten much breakfast or drank much water..OOPS. But, Jill was there and caught me and then random people helped by putting cold water on my head and lifting up my legs...(according to Jill, this part was really funny) Anyway, no need to worry about me (Mom and Aunt Darney) because I learned my lesson!!

 

This was a couple minutes after I passed out

This elephant is under 24 months old and ADORABLE!

The SM Team

 Here are some of the SM girls (and Drew) after last weeks handshake!!!! You know..we just doing our thang!

This is Drew. He actually spent 6 years here when he was younger in the elementary school. His family lived in the house that Jillian and I are staying in. His job here is to help out in the IT department. Also, he teaches the tenth grade computer class and will be the staff advisor for the Zamani (a video version of the yearbook). Drew is studying chemistry with the plan to take that to pharmaceutical studies. He is blogging at http://growingupkenyan.tumblr.com/

Then there is Lauren. Her main role is to be a tutor to the students. She teaches a grade nine math class and also helps in the registrar’s office sometimes. While here, she has chosen to take a year out from her engineering degree at Southern. Lauren’s thoughts on life in Kenya are at http://laurenmccoyslife.wordpress.com/

Ashley is a nursing major but is here as the assistant girls’ dean. She and Lauren have been close friends for years I believe and they applied to come to Maxwell together. It seems she has a busy job over in the girls’ dorm. We enjoy drinking coffee every morning and it seems that mint chocolate chip is a favorite of everyone in our group! Ashley blogs at http://ashleyinkenya.wordpress.com/

Jill is one of my good friends from Southern!! We've played on flag football, basketball, and soccer intramural teams together. It was a huge blessing that we were able to come to Kenya together as SM's and it's really fun working with her at the elementary school. She is the homeroom teacher for 7/8 grade, but she also teaches 1-4 and 5/6 for other subjects just like me. We also live in the same house and get to spend a lot of time together going on African adventures...that is when I am not sleeping! ha! Jill has no blog.




Here you see Karl..or at least kind of. He has taken on the task of driving us around town and insists that he's used to it from driving in Australia. He is the only SM that is not from SAU..but he did go to Andrews last semester so I enjoy talking to him about the Ferguson family! (well,  he only knows Pastor Dave) Karl is from Australia though and speaks with an accent. We make fun of it...but only because we wish we talked like that too. (not really) He helps me out with camera and computer stuff and also at the elementary school. If you read Karl's blog at karllindsay.com/travel/blog you might notice that I've stolen some of his material for this post...so thanks Karl!



Here is a group shot of everyone on top of Mt. Suswa! That was a really great view, and so nice to be able to drive up to this point...however....I was wearing too much layers and I was burning up the whole time!!!! AND, the altitude was killing me. Looks like I better work on that before we head up to Mt. Kenya.

PS....Southern should totally add this picture to their website and change things up a bit!!!

Sabbath 3/9/11

Today I wasn't feeling good because of my cold so I slept in for awhile!!! Then, I went to Ngong hills with some other people who are off this weekend with me. I got to help a Masai guy herd some of his sheep and goats and I also got to see a baby ewe only 2 hours old!!! The view from the top was GREAT and the weather was perfect.

The "A team" supervision on top Ngong hills!

Afterwards, we went to the back of the Giraffe Center when the giraffes were getting fed. Here we didn't have to pay, but we got to take pictures with them, feed them, kiss them, ect. All the while I had to go to the bathroom REALLY BADLY...but I had such a great time!!!

It just kicked the gate and I was scared of it's monster kick

It was super cool seeing this animal in real life!

After we got back, Jill, Karl, Drew and I went over to the Raymonds house for some Ramen.... FREAH LEMON AND GINGER TEA and even some homeade salsa! :) YUMMY!!! It was nice being off this weekend and not having to go to the program and just being able to get a break.

1/9/11

Some flowers that used to be outside of my house...before it got too cold and they died

A Kenyan Sunset

Yes, we do the date over here differently and I'm totally going for it!! It was hard to get used to at first..but I always try to make the students use this way of dating their papers....

In other news. I've almost finished my second week of school. YAY! Planning lessons is still very time consuming. I'm usually staying up late to do this..but I have a feeling that soon I will in the swing of things and it will take no time at all. (Like tonight I think I finished at 9:15 as opposed to 1amish!


My class is good. I really really enjoy my homeroom classroom of 5/6 graders. Each classroom has a nickname...and our's is "The 5th and 6th grade weirdos." They came up with it and LOVE it. I also teach some other classes like English for grades 7&8 (which I am not too fond of because I don't enjoy grammar and I have to learn it really well to teach it) and I also teach Social Studies for grades 7&8 which is not as bad either. I get to teach math to 1-4 graders. It's split up so that I teach 1/2 and the same time and then 3/4 at the same time. Not bad. Also, Science for 5&6 gets a little tricky...but I'm enjoying learning about Astronomy. We're studying phases of the moon and we're already planning a little "get together" for Sept. 12 when we have a full moon!

I got to use my student worker today (from the highschool) so it was nice to get a bunch of papers graded and copies made!! This way I have more time to plan the lessons. Tomorrow is a half day and I can't wait!

In other news...there are a bunch of gross spiders that I like to kill when I find them in my room. I bought some really cheap roses...for only 100 KES...however, they didn't last too long so go figure! A couple days ago Yani helped me hem some pants..YAY!! And, I showed her this hilarious Lady Gaga video or her banging on the keyboard with her foot and singing off tune! And, we've had tea a couple times at their house so far...always a nice treat. OH, I'm getting sick and finally getting what everyone else has..BOO! I have a stuffy nose and a cough with some congestion. I guess my immune system isn't as strong as I thought!! :( And, yesterday I reffed a game of volleyball for the tournament that was going on and then the winners (the tournament was classes against classes) played the staff! It was fun to get back out there and play although it's been quite a while since I last played. Needless to say, the staff won...HOLLA!!  So yeah, this weekend I'm hoping to be able to go and see some elephants or giraffes, so I'm EXCITED! Yeah, I've lost my train of thought and this blog is all over the place...but that's what's been going on lately and I'll have to post more later! :)