School's Out!

Desks are cleaned. Report cards went home. Final assembly is over. Teachers waved the buses away. Keys are turned in.

It's summer!

Here's a video of some of the highlights of the year with my students. It's a little long (11 min), but they are cute, so it's worth your time. :)

http://animoto.com/play/beZS08F1M8KjpI08zz2pQQ

I'm thrilled to say that I will be coming back to Rosslyn Academy next year, but instead of teaching fourth grade, I'll be teaching second. Initially I was to say for one year, filling in for a teacher on sabbatical. I knew that if an elementary position became available, I would love the opportunity to stay on longer than a year. However, nothing seemed too possible and it looked like I would be returning to Florida- which would have been great, but deep down I wanted to stay at Rosslyn.

Thinking that maybe I could stay in Nairobi, I applied to another international school here. I've typically ask God to make things so obvious to me so that I'll know what I'm supposed to do. Well, I didn't even get an interview. Door closed. A little stunned, I resigned myself to the idea that God only wanted me here a year and that was that.

A few months later and I was already thinking about life in Wauchula, how I would transition back to being a public school teacher, and wondering about what grade I would teach. Seemingly out of the blue, a position became available and I was offered the second grade spot. Door opened. It would seem like a no-brainer, but I had already started thinking about Florida and preparing myself for the move back home.

After praying about it and talking it over, I took the job. It seems that the theme of this chapter in my life is about trust, and trusting that God will take care of needs and even attend to the wants of my life. I know that teaching is one way God can use me, and I totally believe that can be in Nairobi or Wauchula.

I've already started looking at second grade blogs and thinking how I want to organize my classroom. I have a loft! It's in a circular building, so the shape is a little funky. There are lots of windows and I'll still have a Smart Board.

Luckily, I know some pretty awesome former second grade teachers that I'm looking forward to chatting with, if there are any other current/former second grade teachers who have any advice for me...let's hear it! The same goes for any current/former second grade students! ;)

Ethiopia Revisited: Lalibela

After castle hopping in Gonder, we flew over to Lalibela to check out the churches there. What is special about these churches is that they are really old, and they are carved out of the same piece of rock. One church carved out of one giant rock. It's really impressive.

One of the rock-hewn churches.

This was a group of men singing and chanting. 

There were polka dot umbrellas all over the place. I loved it. 

We had a guide that took around to all the churches and told us the history behind them. You could really see the progression and increased detail from the oldest to the youngest churches.

Church of St. George (when you walk up on it)

Church of St. George (looking down on it)

Church of St. George (down, looking up at the church)

What's also crazy is that these churches are still in use. They aren't huge, and wouldn't hold a large congregation, but people still go there and make pilgrimages to the town of Lalibela.

Sitting by the fertility pool. 

We had dinner and saw an amazing sunset. The countryside of Ethiopia is breathtaking.

Ethiopia Revisited: Gonder's Castles

Once we were at the capital in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa), we stayed for a day or two then headed off to explore some of the famous land marks the country is known for. First up was a city named Gonder, famous for it's ancient castles.

Lindsey is a great travel partner! 

The flight to Gonder was in a small-ish plane over mountains, so we felt a lot of turbulence. We landed after about 30 minutes travel through the air and caught a taxi to our hotel. Turns out that the taxi drivers want the most money they can get for their fuel, so we had to wait until we had a full taxi. Also noteworthy, this taxi was probably older than me and there was zero leg room in the backseat, even for someone who's 5' 4".

Luckily though, we were the first drop off at the Florida International Hotel. I felt right at home! ;)

We checked in to our room, then we hopped in a tuk-tuk to explore Gonder.

We didn't exactly speak the same language, so there were a couple awkward moments and wrong turns.  We did enjoy that strawberry air freshener, though.

We were only there for a day, so we got right to the sightseeing. A nice Polish man wanted to go in with us for a tour guide, so we heard the history of the castles. It really made me aware of how much African history I know little about.

The castle complex including different buildings built many years apart. The group of them is called Fasil Ghebbi.

We also visited a famous baptizing place....

This is the Fasiladas Bath Timket. Once a year they fill this giant pool up with water and it gets blessed. Once blessed, it's a free for all and everyone jumps in for a dip in the water.

When we were there, there wasn't really any water.

This is what it looks like when they celebrate. (photo from Wikipedia)

And a famous church....

This is Debre Berhan Selassie Church. We did remove our shoes to enter. There was a type of porch that wrapped around the whole building. Women were kneeling/laying/praying along the right side. There was a man in the back as well. The walls inside the church were covered with paintings of Biblical stories. There are many paintings and photographs of the ceiling of this church.

This ceiling is pretty famous- those are angels. 

We made a stop at a market...

And of course we had Ethiopian for lunch...

We had dinner with a view of Gonder...

Then it was back to the Florida International Hotel for a quick night's sleep before we were up early to head off to Lalibela to visit the churches.

Wrapping up Year One in Kenya

The time has flown and we're already winding down at the end of the school year. Today we had that elementary school talent show and a yearbook assembly. We've got five more days left in the school year, then it's summer break.

This school year has been a whirlwind- in some ways I'm happy to see it come to a close, but in other ways I wish time could just slow  down a little bit. There are friends and students who won't be here next year, but I'm so thankful for knowing them and being able to spend an incredible year together.

If you're wondering what's next for me, I'll be making a little stop in Ireland on my way back to the States. Get ready for many pictures of castles, cliffs, and cottages. In the meantime, I've been watching Irish-themed movies to prepare for the trip. 

I'll spend the majority of my summer in Wauchula. I'm looking forward to eating at the taco stand, Bowling Alley, and Wuachula Family Restaurant for a cuban. I'm sure I'll spend a lot of time in the sun, reading or scoping out Pinterest and education blogs for 2nd grade ideas.

At the end of July I'll be flying back to Kenya for Year Two. I'm so excited and grateful that God has opened this door.