School Days

Much has occurred in the last several days, most or all of which is related to the start of school. Haven of Peace Academy (HOPAC) , the school that I am working at this year, is a K-10 Christian school for missionary kids and others. It uses a mixture of British and American curriculum to educate its 220 students of around 20 different nationalities. Many of the students are very driven and high-achieving, as is obvious when you watch them underline note headings with a ruler and use 3 different colors to write and differentiate their notes. As far as behavior goes, let's just say that most of the behavior that is expected despite its inappropriateness in the States would never be tolerated here. Apart from an occasional incident here and there, the biggest disciplinary problems are secondary students wearing two pairs of earrings or jeans instead of true navy blue pants.

My role at the school is to work with special needs students and to assist in the reception classroom. I have spent the first four days of school observing primary students, reading student portfolios, sitting through 7th grade science, and regressing to my own junior high career by re-reading Island of the Blue Dolphins to assist one of my secondary students. I'm excited for the year and can hardly wait for the chance to work with more of the primary students one-on-one.

The rest of my time has been occupied by outside school work, getting to know my colleagues better, sleeping (I never realized how much more tired I would get in a climate this hot!), which I usually do by no later than 10 pm, and killing large spiders. By large, I mean the size of my palm and by spiders, I really only mean 1 large spider. :-) I know, I can feel your envy from all the way over in Africa. Just know that any of you are welcome to come and visit!