And we are in the chilly, windy, dusty season...

So far this second term has been a flurry - and has flown by - both a good thing [in terms of lonliness] and horrible [in terms of the material covered in class!]. Just two weeks ago I was in town to work on summer school stuff and now I am back to do more prep work for CampSky and to meet with GAD to plan our IronChef fundraiser.

Last weekend I took a break. I worked in my garden, played with the neighbors, walked probably 4k hauling water [becuase boreholes keep breaking down in this dusty dry season] and planned for classes. I even skipped church on Sunday - so even sunday was all mine.
The past few weeks have each escalated my sense of frustration and has encouraged me to be on the timetable committee next year to assure that I never have a first period. Classes are supposed to start at 7:30a but the headteacher never arrives on time...usually around 8ish and then if we have assembly [or chair distribution problems] students aren't IN class until 8:15 -- 5 minutes into second period. So I am fuming before the day has even started and am forced to shift my classes around and haggle other teachers to reclaim my lost time. A late start and increasingly lazy teachers is starting to wear me down becuase I ultimately feel responsible to pick up the slack. And now I've started teaching math to teachers at the primary school. So, thats that.

But other things are going increasingly well. As of Tuesay the netball team finally has uniforms, a contractor has come to look at the school about electricity, and my neighbors are feeling like family. I still hate market days [being berated by drunk men is never appealing.]. But more and more I feel like I fit here. Helping that feeling has been visiting students' families. Last week I visited a form4 chaps home village...and hour or so walk, to Dembo village. He's one of my most articulate students, so the walk was never quiet. Both of us were firing questions back and forth - he about life in America - me about his family, random chichewa words, and farming practices I didn't understand yet. We ended up staying at his mother's house too long, shucking maize and it had gotten dark, so he had to escort me home...along with a backpack full of groundnuts, maize and beans. Does anyone want beans? I have a 2year supply for a family of seven accumulating in my kitchen [that's what happens when you blythly mention you like something]. I'll send you all a handful.

So life continues in Malawi. I am trying my hand at permaculture and spent the weekend making new garden beds and then wandering around picking up chicken, goat and cattle droppings to increase my sandy soil's nitrogen content. In two weeks the students will beign writing their terminal tests and I am feeling overwhelmingly terrified by the amount of material I haven't been able to cover. And their impending NATIONAL EXAMS in October and November. I already know I need to start guarding my heart in preparation for those students that will fail. But I can't bring myself to do it...so I will shattered when results come out in December; having to put myself together again enough to do the whole thing over again in January.

THOUGHTS
*Not having running water in the village is FAR better than not having running water in the city.
*A form 2 student came to school in brand new All-Star sneakers.
*I had a goat in my house becuase I forgot to close the door when I went to get water. I can't decide if that's better or worse than in my garden eating my lettuce...
*Just finished Three Cups of Tea...if you have a chance please read it.