Better Late Than Never, Right?

So I promised many of you that I would send out an e-mail update or blog every once in a while and I have done neither. I guess it is better late than never! I figured I might as well use the blog that I had kept while I was student teaching here well over a year and a half ago. It seems strange that I am now an "official" teacher instead of just learning how to be one! That's not to say that I am not STILL learning how to be a teacher! I am daily learning from my mistakes and can only hope and pray that my kids will be ready for second grade when the year is all said and done. I get to teach 11 wonderful first graders from all over the world. I have students from Ghana, Korea, Congo, America and the Netherlands, just to name a few. They are all so smart and they love learning. For example, we were learning about voting the other day in Social Studies, so I had them vote to decide on a class sport, color, etc. Then I took a vote on what the kids wanted to do for Fun Friday (their reward time at the end of the week). Their options were extra recess, free time, watch a movie, or make Eric Carle pictures (we have been reading his books). I thought for sure the first three choices would far outweigh the fourth, but no, they chose to make Eric Carle pictures! When I told Chris this story, he said I have a classroom full of nerds but honestly, I don't really mind. :) I look forward to seeing my students each school day and loving them and teaching them as best I can.

Not only do I look forward to seeing my students every morning, but I also wake up every morning excited to see my amazing boyfriend! It's definitely a change going from being thousands of miles away and apart for almost a year to now not only living on the same continent, in the same country, and in the same city, but also on the same campus! (Don't get me wrong, it is definitely a good change!) Getting to see and spend time with him is the highlight of my day! Although some evenings our time spent together is sitting in the same classroom grading and planning, we still enjoy finally just being together. Chris stays busy teaching high school English and right now coaching JV boys' soccer. Speaking of soccer, one of my housemates and I are coaching an elementary intramural soccer team. When I told my friend, Sarah, that the other day she said, "Did that seriously just come out of your mouth!?" Haha, if you know me, you know coaching any sport isn't really my thing, but it's been a learning experience AND a lot of fun.

I love my housemates, Emily and Melissa, who are both first-year teachers as well. It’s nice that we are all going through many of the same "first-year things" together and working just as hard to give this first year of teaching our all. We also enjoy experimental cooking together many times a week and have made some pretty tasty concoctions, if I do say so myself. :)

Many times after school, Chris and I exchange our "classroom stories of the day," and sometimes I have some real winners. For example, just this past Friday, I came back from lunch to see my students running around frantically inside the classroom, instead of lining up outside of the room like they are supposed to be doing. As all 11 of my "nerds" were running and yelling wildly around the classroom, I finally got their attention and they told me that there was a squirrel in the classroom and that it was now in a cabinet! So I had the kids wait outside and found some of the (Kenyan) maintenance workers and asked them to come save my class and I from the squirrel. The kids thought it was quite hilarious as the squirrel was running all over the walls, while the two men were trying to get it out for a good 5 minutes. Finally (after I'm sure the whole school heard us), the poor, frantic squirrel ran outside to safety!

Well, I could tell you much more, but I will end for now and show you a few pictures of my life here in Kenya. It’s so nice to be able to Skype and use my MagicJack to call family and friends at home. It’s so crazy to hear my phone ring and pick it up and hear one of you on the other line, just as if I were at home in Medina. Thanks for thinking of me and for praying for me. It is much appreciated! Some of you have asked for my address here, so here you go:

Bethany Mast
Rosslyn Academy
P.O. Box 14146
Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa 00800



Chris and I in the monkey park when Nathan came to visit. Beware: the monkey's are not as cute as they look!

Nathan and Chris eating Ethiopian food, a favorite of ours.

My two housemates and I

Chris and I hiking at Hell's Gate, a national park, on a day off.