I was a high school teacher for twelve years before I married into the foreign service.
Each year, I would become intensely invested in the performance and success of each of my 200 students. Before I became a mother, these students were the most important part of my life because I gauged my own success as an educator by their respective experiences and achievements (however great or small).
“April is the cruelest month…” begins T.S. Eliot’s brilliant modernist poem entitled The Waste Land before he laments the confusion brought on by all the possibilities of springtime.
If you, like me, grew up in the U.S. South, I’m sure you would quite agree that April is actually a brilliant month. The sun shines longer, the temperature is warmer, spring break is near, early crops are fruiting, and flowers are blossoming! The only confusion is about how many supplies to take as you head out for a day of fun.
Continue reading “Zorzor Part 3: Why I Usually Hate February…But Didn’t This Year”
Bucket baths….
My initiation into new experiences while in Africa seem to begin with a baptism by what I affectionately call “bucket baths”: those daily ablutions that occur with a limited resource of hot water that has been carried to the shower in a bucket or pot (depending on whatever vessel might be available) and enjoyed immensely in the knowledge that one is lucky to have the opportunity to wash away the day’s oil, dust, and dirt to make way for a restful night and a fresh adventure the next day.
Happy December! As I have been pressed for time because of research papers and projects, I’ve filmed another vlog for this week. (My face in the preview looks more serious than the vlog actually is! LOL
The Liberian dry season technically started on October 15th, but it doesn’t officially start until the fruit bats return to Monrovia. They arrived this week!
A Foot in Each World 