Exam Week

I had to write 8 exams last week to give to the students this week. Poor Mariam (the school secretary) had to decipher my handwriting in order to type it. For every exam, she has to use a type writer and prepare stencils for every single page and then use a mimeograph (I think that's what the machine is called) and make each copy while fighting the machine every step of the way. Actually, my handwriting is not the worst in the school. I hope she gets a good rest after these last two weeks.

Exams have been an unfortunate awakening for me. I think that a big part of them is an indictment of my ability to make myself understood. My accent doesn't help. (I sometimes speak as an American, but when I try to speak like a Kenyan, I think that it sounds like a very very bad Irish accent.) Still, I am up to the task, and I will do what it takes to convey the material. I just hope that the students are also willing to meet me part way. The exams where they scored the best were their agriculture exams. I think that is for two big reasons: 1) I was only testing them on about 10 lectures worth of material, which is much more manageable. 2) It is relatively independent from understanding of the other subjects. Many students struggle in chemistry because they have had bad math teachers, so some of the fundamental concepts are insurmountable.

This experience without email is definitely nerve-wracking. I've made it one and a half weeks, but on Friday, I will feed my addiction. Hopefully I will also get my mobile fixed.

I am finding that one of my colleagues at school strongly reminds me of one of my fellow shop foremen. For those of you unfamiliar with the intrigues of the OPRFHS Stage Crue during the 2003-04 schoolyear, suffice it to say that it was one of the most frustrating work experiences of my life. There is a certain attitude towards work, colleagues and pupils, and I simply cannot fathom how people can hold such an outlook. I think discretion requires that I not say any more, and simply keep hoping that this situation will resolve itself in a manner that is beneficial to all. And, in fairness to the other foreman, I have not seen or spoken with him in more than four years; it is certainly possible that he has taken a new outlook on work and interpersonal relations.

On a more cheerful note, I should be going to Voi for the long weekend. Since the students have midterms, we take Friday off. I may also get to see several other volunteers.