Since I wrote you last...
Nineteen senior students leave for their trip to Turtle Bay on the Coast. Three days sans senioritis. Bliss. A lock-in rehearsal with four high school boys and a male co-worker chaperone for The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Abridged. The power goes out for several hours. We eat questionable Chicken Inn sandwiches by flashlight while painting cardboard scenery in the dark amongst flying termites and other wildlife I’m glad I could not see. Push-up competitions and squealing whilst trying on tights. Boys. Biannual Bazaar, complete with missionary families selling their household items for far more than they’re worth, Korean kimbap and German sausages, small children throwing wet sponges at the school director, and high school boys selling pirated DVD’s as a shady class fund-raiser. AP English Literature and Composition exam. Panic attacks. International food fair and my freshman theatre students’ performances of ten-minute plays. Of six partner teams scheduled to perform, only three show up. Band concert. Moving band risers from the chapel to move in the set for our play. Opening night of The Complete Works. The set falls down in the middle of the performance. Smart improvisation from Korean actor: “Made in China.” Tearing down the set and putting up risers. Second band concert. Putting the set back up. Second performance of the play. Less usage of the word “crap” in improvisation. Improvement. Applause. Bouquets. Saturday softball - students versus teachers. Junior-Senior Banquet. Canoodling. Dress Code violations. Student band. Expedition into the woods to track down rogue senior students. Too many students on bus home, so teachers squish eight people into five-person vehicle two hours later. Staff dinner at Brazilian barbeque. Never thought I’d eat meat again. Senior chapel. Disappointment. Baccalaureate. Sweet. Exam week. AP Author Study term papers due. Grading, grading, grading. Yearbooks arrive. Signing parties around campus. Entering grades. Zero failures. Graduation. End of an era. First graduating class. Goodbyes and good luck’s. Last day of school. Locker clean-out. Tearing down bulletin boards, student work, posters. Six foot by six foot pile of garbage by my classroom door. More goodbyes. Storming downpours. Mud on field. Leaky tent. Tears and smiles. Celebration! Continued room clean-out. Check-out with director. Nothing missing, all clear. Packing up our house. Three school workers bring small pickup truck to move boxes and furniture to on-campus storage. What would be an American’s eight-trip venture turns into four round drips. Gilbert hangs off the back and waves at the gate. Pulled over by Kenyan police due to wide and high loading. Goodbye Lampco Court. Staying at the Tso’s house. Playing Wii until projector needs to be returned to the school. Final trips to Maasai Markets and Amani for gifts to take home. Even more goodbyes. Van full of people to Jomo Kenyatta Airport in the rain. Check baggage. Reflection. 28 hour travel back home. Columbus. Reunion.
And that’s just the month of May! More reports on summer to come :)
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