PCV in Kenya: Week 31

Monday

Today marked the start of our last full week in Term 2 at school. It was a good Monday. I finished making all the assessments for Term 3, next term, which was a great thing to accomplish. During my classes today, we had day one of review games. I randomly put my students in 10 teams and they answered review questions to get points for their team. I think they enjoyed it and I also liked this different change of pace in the classroom. After school, I headed to the market and found some new tops along with my vegetables for the week. I then headed to Elma’s office for our language lesson and it went well as always. When I got home, I did yoga before making and then eating dinner.

Tuesday

It was such a nice day outside today. It remained overcast and cool all day which was amazing. I had three lessons today and we continued our review games from yesterday. When I wasn’t teaching, I worked on VRG. VRG stands for Volunteer Reporting and Grants. It is a reporting and grant management system that Peace Corps Volunteers use to record what we are working on at site. I was able to close out a few reports and begin reports for future activities we plan to do at school. I handed out the teacher technology literacy survey today to get a feel for what teachers are interested in learning. We plan to organize some technology literacy workshops for our teachers to help them feel more comfortable using the computer lab with their classes across all subjects. I also had time to start working on some lesson planning for Grassroots Soccer (GRS) which will begin in Term 3. When I got home today, I prepped vegetables for dinner before doing my workout and then I made dinner to end the night.

Wednesday

I taught for the last time in Term 2 today because exams begin tomorrow. The sunrise on the walk to work this morning was amazing. We finished our review games today and the winners received candy as prizes. During the day, I worked on GRS, lessons for the technology literacy workshops, and Term 3 chemistry and biology lesson plans. Back at my house, I swept the floors before relaxing and watching some of “The Mentalist”. I then did a workout before eating dinner.

Thursday

I was able to sleep in this morning which was very nice. My neighbor was supposed to take me to visit a friend of his, but he never showed. This gave me the entire morning off before heading in to school. At school, I organized and stapled the exams for my students to take tomorrow. I then headed to the market to buy some vegetables and I found a few dresses today which was great. Nala was very lethargic this morning and didn’t even leave the house when I went to school. So, when I got back home and she was still sleeping, I began to worry. She also hadn’t finished her breakfast. While I let her rest, I spent time working on lesson plans and technology literacy workshop resources. I then made pickles. The process was super simple, but I can’t try them until tomorrow. I did a workout before making dinner and calling my parents.

Friday

This morning, Nala was still acting strange and she still hadn’t eaten. While I was getting ready to go to work, she vomited which was also concerning. I left her in the house while I went to work for the two-hour exam my students had to take. Monitoring the exams went well and as soon as they were done, I took the exams home with me so I could check on Nala. She was still lethargic and hadn’t eaten. While she slept, I tried the pickles I made yesterday and they turned out so good! I will definitely make them again. I did a workout and ate dinner before calling it a night.

Saturday

I did not sleep at all last night because I was worried about Nala. She did not show any sign of improvement over the night, so I packed her up and we went to Kisumu to see the veterinarian today. It was a very overcast day and I was cold for the first time on a matatu. When we got to the veterinarian, Nala had a fever and they took a blood sample. This determined that she has Feline Infectious Anemia. She could’ve gotten this from a tick or another cat. Thankfully, I took her to the veterinarian in time so that she can receive treatment and recover. She will be here until Friday. Once the veterinarian started Nala on her treatment, I left her there and headed to United Mall to eat lunch. I ran into Savannah there which was great. I purchased groceries for the month before taking a matatu home. At home, I had girl dinner of popcorn and cake from Java House while watching the newest episode of “Criminal Minds”. It was exactly the kind of evening I needed after my day of worrying for Nala.

Sunday

I had such a productive stay at home Sunday today. Throughout the day, I marked 3 of the 6 pages of exams, made shakshuka and pancakes, swept and mopped the house, took out the trash, and planned for August and November trips. I ended the week with a good dinner and a movie 😊

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