Black and White

Every New Year (well, for the last two) I make a list of things to do throughout the year.  Some are simple (paint my toenails), some are grand (like last year, move to Africa). Some can happen anytime (make fresh bread) while some take a bit of planning (see a rhino in the wild).  One of my items this year was to do a black and white photo story.  These are all photos from around the village that show our less hectic life here without showing the people.  I'll save those precious faces for another time.

A Special Celebration

All the families stayed in the dining hall after supper for a special celebration tonight.

Today was one of our minimissionary's 70th birthday!

All the kids came up to look at the cakes.

The birthday girl just beamed and smiled and took it all in.

The little ones craned their necks to see what all the fuss was about.

Then we passed cake and ice cream to every child, momma and minimissionary.

The kids savoured their special treat.

Every bite was appreciated,

all the way to the youngest!

Happy 70th!

Contentment

Term 2

At the beginning of this year, our headmistress chose several Class 1 students to join our school. They live in the community and would have attended the local public school where class sizes average 65-80 kids per teacher. They were chosen to join our school based on need and ability as we provide everything for them: books, uniform, breakfast and lunch everyday, and a great teacher who is only responsible for 18 students. In every grade at our school, we invite community students to fill the extra spots until the class size reaches 18. They are guaranteed a spot every year as long as their grades and behavior stay decent.

Needless to say, the transition can be quite intimidating for youngsters, especially when all of a sudden there are so many white people around!

During Term 1, the new kids hardly smiled.  They would whisper hello when spoken to and barely say that they were fine.  They would sit wide-eyed in music class wondering who this crazy white lady was trying to teach them crazy new songs.

Term 2 has been a different story.  Class 1 has come alive.  They are now comfortable in their new surroundings and trust their new teachers.  They are comfortable enough to act out every now and then, laugh and joke, and smile first when meeting.

When I am out and about during recess, I find I am suddenly surrounded by five or six smiling 6-7 year olds who all want to play with my elbows, touch my freckles, feel my fingernails and hold my hands. 

I can't wait to see what Term 3 will be like.



World Record

Happy Easter!  I hope yours was wonderful.  Ours was very nice.

This Easter was the first time I cooked a traditional Easter meal, well for Southerners, anyway.  We baked a ham and rolled out some biscuits. Friends brought deviled eggs, broccoli casserole and fruit salad.  I originally wanted to also have twice-baked potatoes, but with the lack of rain in Kenya, the price of potatoes has greatly increased while the size of potatoes has dwindled.  Regular potatoes, that is.  I dug through the sad pebble-sized potatoes, looked in the neighbouring bin at the green grocers and instantly changed in favor of mashed sweet potatoes.  My deciding factor?  The biggest sweet potato known to man.

This sweet potato was so large, it fed the seven of us at Easter lunch with a tupperware full of leftovers.  And people really did eat them and went back for seconds.  It took almost as long to bake as the ham, over two hours in the oven, before we could mash it. That was one big, tasty potato.  Yum!

Up From The Grave

This is Class 5, during Music Class, singing their new favourite Easter song, "Up From The Grave He Arose."  The kindergarten teacher was kind enough to video through the window so I could play the piano.  Apparently the students love this song so much, they went back and taught it to their cottages complete with the slow, sad beginning and standing up with joyful singing for the end.  May we always be willing to share the good news of Christ's saving work on the cross and resurrection from the dead with such joy!  Happy Easter!

Kids Say the Funniest Things

As I teach and interact with kids of all ages every day, I'm always coming home with something funny that someone said or some hilarious question that was asked.

Example 1:
Mrs. Brueck, your hair is soft!  It's like a milk cow! (Insert huge smile)

Ummm....thanks, Christine.

Example 2:
We read King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry last term in Class 6.  It's a wonderful story (hint, hint; you should read it) about a boy and his horse who travel from Morocco to France to England.  After being mistreated the whole time, the horse is finally recognized for it's wonderful qualities and becomes the Goldophin Arabian.  Obviously, I had to explain a lot of horse terminology, starting with mares and stallions. Awkward question from a 13-year-old boy who knows better (I think he wanted to make me squirm): "How do you tell a boy horse from a girl horse?"

Just so you know what happened, because I know you're aching to find out what I said, here's the rest of the conversation. I asked, "How do you tell a boy human from a girl human?" To which he complained, "You didn't answer my question, Mrs. Brueck!"  "Exactly!" I parried, "When you answer my question, I'll answer yours."  Case closed.

Example 3:
We have been practicing hymns for Easter in music class since it's coming up.  (I still sort of think that Christmas was last week.)  Anyway, because of the discussion about Jesus being resurrected from the dead on Easter morning and defeating death, a whole can of worms was opened about what life will be like in heaven and what will happen when Jesus comes back.  My Class 5 students followed me out of music today into recess to ask questions. 

My favourite: "They say when Jesus comes back, in the blink of an eye, we'll all fly to meet Him in the air.  But I don't know how to fly.  How will I get up there?"

I'll never look at this beautiful African sky quite the same way again.