First Day of Spring for some

Happy autumn to everyone in the Southern Hemisphere with me. The hills in the area have been gorgeous/tragic the past few nights as bush fires raged up there. I think they have mostly subsided.

The 4th years have been taking their exams all week. We all take turn supervising in the various subjects. To most of my colleagues (except Ken, the Business Teacher) when it is your turn to supervise, you walk into the room, hand out the tests and then go sit in the lounge and write or grade exams (or just chat with the other teachers) until you have to go and call time. When Ken or I supervise, we hand out the exams, stay in the classroom to make sure there is no cheating, and help the students to decipher words when the papers inevitably come out of the mimeograph smudged. The 4th years had to put all of their books in the lab so that their desks would be empty during the exams. One of my colleagues (it's always the same one) was complaining about students going into the lab. I nearly lost it, but I stood up and argued with him that they would certainly fail their exams if we did not allow them to review the material between their exams, and stopped short of mentioning that his subject never even uses the lab. I suggested that he could actually watch the students as they take their exams so that they could keep their books in their desks. At this, he grudgingly agreed to allow them to use the lab.

There was also the morning that the 4th years had to be caned for leaving the school compound after they finished exams instead of waiting until 5. The boys got caned on their heinies. The girls got caned on their hands. It seemed even more inhumane to do this right before they were going to take their exams. Guess which colleague of mine was wielding the cane. I wish I could at least say that he did this with some reluctance, but his laughter pretty much destroys that notion.

Mail came yesterday (I only get letters when someone travels to Voi and brings back any letters from the school's P.O. Box) and I got some really nice letters. It definitely made my week (it's been another tough week, although I suppose it would have been tougher if I hadn't gotten that text message). I am always grateful to receive letters and emails, although with letters, I can never know which ones don't arrive. If they come with a date, at least I know how long it took to arrive. I want to give special mention to my second cousin once removed who lives in Kenya and wrote back to me. He is 78 and a semi-retired Irish priest, so someday I will have to travel to Western Kenya to meet him.