Beyond the Walls

When we first arrived in Kenya, we would hear loud gun-shot type sounds pretty frequently throughout the day.  As no one else flinched or dropped to the ground or even made reference to the sounds, we ignored them and secretly wondered what we had gotten ourselves into.

Turns out, the land on three sides of our compound is a rock quarry and the sounds were blasts breaking out rocks.  Richard and I took a hike through the quarry yesterday as I had never seen what was on the other side of our wall.

We each took a big stick just in case.

The quarry is full of huge pits and piles of rocks and sand and scrubby brush.  We didn't hear any blasts as we walked through.  Instead we saw lots of men quarrying the rock by hand with pick axes and other tools.  Some were standing on small ledges and working their way down to the floor.

Many of the pits had clear, green pools at the bottom.  They were beautiful, because everywhere else is dusty and dirty and parched.

My shoes and socks were filled with a fine dust from walking through this.

These stones were waiting for a lorry to come by and transport them.  Again, all of these rocks were hewn by hand.

As we were leaving, several of the men congregated underneath a sprawling tree to eat ugali cooked over an open fire before going back to work.

I'm glad to know what's out there.

Let Me Count the Ways

After Recitation last week, the JSS (Junior Secondary School) students were asked to return the chairs to their various places around school.  I stood on one sidewalk and watched the students carry out their task.  Every single kid did it differently.

Chairs facing in carried high.

One up, one down.

One chair, one big smile.

Arms hooked through and overhead.

Two chairs, one big smile.

Struggling, but successful!

That's called using your head.

Then there's Sammy.  The biggest guy in Class 9.  The boy would make any American football team proud.  He's carrying one chair and sticking his tongue out and making a face that says: This is the hardest thing I've ever done.  Go, Sammy!  You can do it! Put a little power to it!



Just Add Fun

One thing I love about my students in Kenya is their ingenuity.  They don't have trampolines and Little League and Cartoon Network to occupy their time.  They take whatever is available and use it happily.  Case in point: this old circular building. 

Our compound is built on the remains of an old dairy farm, turned President's weekend estate, turned Casino, turned orphanage.  Our house bears the name "The Barn" above the door because it was an old cattle barn.  Anyway, the students use this old round shell of a building as an indoor soccer court.  All they had on this day was a tennis ball, so that's what they played with.  You can see they are having a blast letting the walls act as extra players.

I love watching recess time - their ties flapping in the heat of the game, the happy shouts and the great ideas for a new game.



The New Mini

This minivan is a staple mode of transportation here in Kenya.   And I do mean MINI-van.  You often see them hurtling towards you, bravely navigation pot holes twice their size and crammed with people.  See the itty-bitty wheels?  How the two front seats nearly touch the ceiling? 

I bet you don't think it looks that small from this picture.  Try this one:

Richard is standing in the same parking space.  That is one tiny minivan!  

In other news, at this point in my photojournalistic expedition, I was reprimanded by the security guard for taking pictures in a parking lot.  I really wanted to ask if I could take a picture of him to complete the story, but I thought better of it.



What You've All Been Waiting For

Today was Recitation Day for our village.  The Mamas, the kitchen, laundry and grounds crews, other missionaries and anyone else on campus came today to watch 12 class presentations.  We always start with the wee ones and work up to Class 9.  And today the last presentation was our new Primary School Choir's first performance.  And I think the first time I've conducted singers.  Where are all the instruments?  You mean I have to mouth the words?  Eeekk!

There are two things I would ask you to completely ignore as you watch the video.

1) The fact that the students are using papers and don't have it memorized.  Next time, my dears.  They don't know what's coming to them.

2) Me, specifically my conducting.  I seem to have contracted a weird back-beat at the end of every beat 2.  I'll look for a vitamin or something to help with that.

All in all though, I'm pleased to share this with you.  It represents the students' hard work after school, their incredible stage presence that I think is built in, their love for learning new things and most importantly their love for God.  Most of them wanted to be in choir solely to learn how to sing hymns in harmony.  Enjoy!



Esther

This is my dear teacher friend Esther Nderitu.  If you want to say her family name properly, don't really pronounce the N.  The students still giggle when I say her name.

This was not Dictator Day, or Fairy Godmother Day or Dress-Up Day at school.  She is modeling the props I procured for Class 5's Recitation.  I've mentioned before about Recitation because of choir, but I wanted to give you a sneak preview of Class 5's very exciting concoction.  They are acting out a large chunk of the book of Esther.

This is our very dramatic King Xerxes wearing his crown newly made of Christmas tree tinsel decorated with Stars of David found in a Hindu shopping center.  Yep.  Doesn't he look kingly?

Also starring in the play will be a student named Esther playing herself, a boy named Austin playing the horse, Mordecai, Haman and assorted guards who get to haul him bodily of the stage.

Stayed tuned.  I promise I won't leave you "hanging." (Haha, get it? Haman gets hanged at the end?  OK.  I'm done.)

How I Grade Papers Most Effectively

Many people have asked what we do for fun over here.  And then they ask, do you have much time for fun?  I think they feel a little guilty asking about hobbies and the like knowing we are here to work.  Of course, if they've seen anything on the Tea Farm, the guilt goes out the window.  I would like to explain how I mix fun and work together to have time for both.

First off, you cannot teach 11-13 year olds Reading and Writing and retain whatever sanity you have if you don't make it fun for yourself and for your kiddos. For instance, we read King of the Wind as a class this past term.  It's a great book about the Goldophin Arabian and his rough start.  In the novel, a kind English woman bakes scones and other goodies for the main character, a kid from Morocco.  I happened to have scones at home and shared with the class.  They really liked the sweet, except most of the class called them "stones." You win some, you lose some.

That brings me to how I most effectively grade papers.  Like last weekend.  I graded and recorded nine sets of grades for my 18 students in class 6, including an essay on their favourite colour.  Yes, I do procrastinate sometimes. Why do you ask?  To break up the tedium and to have a reward at the end, I made cinnamon rolls from scratch.  Baking has become my hobby, especially yeasty, yummy-goodness.

Baking gives me a deadline.  You start the rolls or bread or whatever and you have a solid hour to do something productive like grade papers or come up with a study guide for the next novel.  Right about the time you're getting stir-crazy, it's time to shape your treat for a few minutes.  Then you have another hour while it rises a second time to finish your task.  A little bit in the oven and voila! You have a reward for all of your hard work over the last two hours.  And there's more for breakfast.  And your husband is happy.  Life is good.

A Village Within the Village

This is an acacia tree at dusk in our compound. 

I loved the clouds, but I also loved the silhouette that shows you the birds' nests in the tree.  Most big trees have a colony of these tiny birds and usually the nests are all clumped together on one side of the tree.  Every time I walk by it reminds me of the Ewok village in Star Wars.  Deep, I know.

The Weather Man

As you hopefully know, the equator runs through Kenya and Nairobi is just south of it.  One of my former students did ask me when I announced I was moving from South Carolina to Kenya if I was "going to save the polar bears." So I just thought I would make sure we were all on the same page about the equator up front.

Anyway, living this close to the middle line of latitude means several things regarding the weather.  Instead of having four distinct seasons, we have four periods of weather.  The hottest part supposedly is Dec and Jan and it's dry until the long rains start in April.  We head into a dry "winter" in July and August (40's-80's) and it gets warmer until we get the short rains in October to cool things off a bit.  So on and so forth.

Here's the issue: it's been rather warm the last several days and bright and sunny.  By rather warm I mean, why don't we have air conditioning?  Anyway, Richard has been taking a poll to anticipate the weather around Christmas.

Person 1: Is this as hot as it gets?
A: Oh, yes.  It definitely does not get any hotter than it is now.

Person 2: Is this as hot as it gets?
A: Oh, no way.  December is way hotter than this.

Person 3: Is December the hottest time of the year, hotter than now?
A: Yes, it's the hottest time and it's not that bad, about like now.  October, now, is way hotter.

I believe Richard's comment was, "It's easier to skewer a wild boar with a wet noodle than nail down the weather around here!"

So...the jury is still out on the weather.  I'll try to remember to post in December and let you know how it stacks up.

Let's Get Down to Business

Toilets here range from spectacular to sketch.  If you come visit us, we have two, nice, normal toilets with proper seats on them, just so you know.

The washroom at Art Cafe, our favorite restaurant, is like visiting a spa.

Other places have not been so fortunate.

This was one toilet at a local church.  I confess I was unaware of the washroom etiquette.  I learned later I should have taken a bucket of water from the tub of water out in the open to "flush" the "toilet." Now I know. (And knowing's half the battle - G I Joooeeeee!)

This toilet was also at a local church, and was certainly better off than the previous one.  However, does that mean you need to put it under lock and key?  Should I put my toilets under lock and key?  So many questions!

My Favorites

I'm on duty today, which I sort of explained in a previous post.  In addition to being on call and coordinating visitors, I have four stacks of notebooks to grade and record in my grade book.  I'm sure I will alternate drinking coffee and tea and maybe sneak a snack in between my hours of grading.  In honor of my duty day one week from my holiday, I thought I would put together a top-ten list of my favorite photos from last weekend.  

Here we go:

One of several varieties of fuchsia.

Richard with a giant cedar tree.  Sorry I goofed and didn't find the other edge of the cedar.  But it was big!

It pays to look down sometimes.

This is a wooden bench carved by Fiona's grandfather.  He used it as the mold for their fireplace.

We hiked to this waterfall.  The hike back was a bit wearisome, but the view was worth it!

Each flower is one, puffed-up, yellow petal.  It reminded me of a pita pocket tree.

He always walked with us everywhere and always checked to make sure he hadn't lost us.  I love him.

Early morning diamond sprinkles after rain.

Cutie on the road.

My last image of the Tea Farm: Marcus walking his assorted dogs to check a water pipe.

A Working Farm

The Tea Farm was not all about tea.  It had all the marks of a working English farm.

Trusty dog.  (Actually there were seven.)

Milk cows.

Weird milk cow.

Day old calf.

Kitchen garden.

Duck pond.

Big grey goose.

Chickens. (Thanks for the eggs!)

Chameleon.  Oh, wait.  That might be more Kenyan than English.

Monkey feeding time.  I definitely know what country I'm in now!

Quick Quip

I had Class 2 for general music a few days ago and made the mistake of bringing my Nalgene bottle to class.  The problem was I already had a Nalgene bottle in class and, of course, this spurred a serious discussion amongst my students.

"Why do you have two water bottles, Mrs. Brueck?"

"Because one is Mr. Brueck's, and one is mine."

"That's why you wear that ring, because you're married to Mr. Brueck." (giggle, giggle, giggle)

"You're right.  Good job."

Here's the kicker, from a sweet-faced, very serious boy on the front row:
"He mar-ried you?"

Ummm...what's that supposed to mean?

The Best Laid Plans

In seventh grade, I decided to become a band director when I grew up. Or as the kids say here, "when I got big."  Anyway, it worked!  I went to college and voila, I was certified to teach band. 

So I taught every subject but music for a year. Hmmm. 

Then I did teach band...and strings.  Hmmm.

Now I'm teaching English and general music and....choir.  Hmmm.

But, I love it!  Who knew?  Certainly not my seventh grade self.  Or my college self that said I would NEVER teach strings.  Or my post-college self that said no way to choir or general music.

I think I'm starting to understand Proverbs 16:9 - "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps."

Thankfully, my choir director husband has agreed to let me be the assistant and to actually do most of the teaching for choir. 

All of that to say, I'm learning right along side of our kids and really enjoying it.  We do silly things like make siren sounds and sing bum-bum-bum-bum-bumble-bee over and over.  And somehow (and by somehow I mean Richard), the 25 Class 4-6 students in Primary School Choir are starting to sound like..a choir. 
It's amazing.

We have our first performance coming up in three weeks for School Recitation.  Every class from K4 up through Class 9 presents something they have learned this term.  Our choir will present the hymn "Let All Things Now Living" in two-part harmony.  I'll let you know how it goes.