PCV in Kenya: Week 13

Monday

The week started off strong with a busy but good Monday. My biology classes took their quiz today so I worked on grading these quizzes for the rest of the day. I left school around 2PM so that I could go to the market on the way to my language class. At the market, I interviewed all the women I regularly purchase items from so that I could upload them to the global connection class from Oregon. The students were wondering where we get our food from, so I thought it would be best to hear it from the people in our market. Language went well and Elma has a new office which is a lot cozier than the previous office. When I got home, I warmed up some dinner and watched “Blown Away” to end the day.

Tuesday

Today my classes began the last unit of content that will be covered in Term 1 which is crazy to think about. Time is moving quickly. I spent most of my day grading quizzes from the day before. Around lunchtime, a car of Christian missionaries showed up. The school leaders allowed them to talk to the students and they spoke and were gone within 30 minutes. I left school around 5PM. I swept and prepared vegetables to cook later this week and did some more planning for my April trip. I warmed up dinner and sent Susan a Marco Polo video before opening up letters from the P.O. Box. Thank you, Mom & Dad, Aunt Rhonda, and Mama Judge. 😊

Wednesday

I woke up to a missed call from my principal so I called him back as soon as I saw it in case something was wrong. Everything was good, he was just calling to inform me that our students would be going to a neighboring school, Nyamor, around lunchtime to perform their music for their school celebration. Because of this, I only taught one of my four lessons today before we headed out. The students performed very well like usual. Principal Richard also gave a talk of encouragement to the school. After these festivities, Principal Richard and I drove to Bondo so he could visit the bank and then we headed back to school. Back at my house, I organized details to give to Sammy because he is taking care of Nala this weekend. We will be practicing having her stay at his house like she will do in April when I am gone for over a week. I also had a group call tonight with Savannah and Riki to organize more details for our trip and it was a successful call. I ended to night watching “Monk”.

Thursday

I had my very early class today and then was able to get a ton of work completed. I finished grading, discussed things for Peace Corps with Peter, made and copied revision papers for my students, and started working on the end of term exams for biology and chemistry. Their exams begin one week from today which was not the original plan, but I am being flexible 😊I walked home through the market so I could pick up some cash and purchase juice. I saw Baba Charles on the way home. At the house, I washed all of my dishes, packed for this weekend, made dinner, and worked on my Peace Corps leave request paperwork for the April trip before calling it a day.

Friday

I taught my final lesson of Term 1 today because we go on break next Friday. Because of this, I also finalized the End of Term exams for biology and chemistry today. When I got home, I took out the trash and finished packing. I then took all of Nala’s things to Sammy because he will be taking care of her while I am gone. I turned everything off in my house then walked to Caroline’s house. I walked a new path this time and I like this way much better. Either path takes about 40 minutes, but it is honestly a nice walk. On my way there, some of my students helped me find my way which was also very nice and helpful. When I got to Caroline’s, she, CJ, and I had dinner and watched a movie to close out Friday.

Saturday

We had a nice chill Saturday morning with café con leche and pancakes. We all left around 10AM and got lucky by catching a matatu to Owimbi, a larger matatu stop. From here, CJ went to Kisumu and Caroline and I went to Siaya town. When our bus arrived in Siaya, Anitah picked us up and took us to her shop. Anitah has a clothing store. Caroline and I spent a few hours shopping here. We had so much fun and found some really great things. We then headed over to a local hotel to eat lunch where we split a pizza and chips masala. By this point of the day, it was 5PM and we were a bit too tired to stay in Siaya, so we headed back. We made a stop in Bondo to go to the supermarket then took a taxi from here to Caroline’s house. We watched “Alone” and this was a great suspenseful movie to end the night.

Sunday

I woke up early for Sunday standards so I watched an episode of “Yellowstone”. When Caroline woke up, we had café con leche again then made popcorn and watched “American Psycho”. After that, we watched another movie that I can’t remember the name of, but it was about a boy that went missing as a child and then becomes the neighbor of the family that he went missing from years later. After our movie day, I walked home. When I got back, I picked up Nala and Sammy helped me bring her things back over to my house. I made Muttar Paneer while watching “Yellowstone” and called it a day on another great weekend. 

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