For the last several months, I have been planning a trip to Victoria Falls for the first week of Christmas break. Friday, that adventure began. It didn’t happen quite like I had planned. The plan was for myself and a friend to take the train from Dar es Salaam to the Zambia border, then to…
Author: Abi
Elite mountain bike racer, data science student, former teacher...
Job Fair
I am writing this from Mugg & Bean, a coffee shop in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mugg & Bean offers a “bottomless coffee” for 18 Rand, or about $1.50, which is a cup of coffee with unlimited refills. Starbucks, take note. This, my friends, is brilliant. If Mugg & Bean had free wifi and a power…
Heart Thanksgiving
I saw this post by Bonnie Gray on the (in)courage blog today, and it spoke to the place my heart is at right now. Here’s a short excerpt, but you really should read the entire thing….its worth it: I woke up with my heart a blur with worries. A competing bevy of voices. All driving…
Back to Tenth Grade: HOPAC-style
I went back to tenth grade today. In an attempt to understand what it is like for students at HOPAC and to improve my teaching, I shadowed the tenth grade class for the entire day. As a homeschool graduate, the experience was entirely new for me. The morning started with homeroom, which contained the typical…
Celebrating Little Victories
Besides being International Day, Friday was also a day for great celebration. Just before the (incredibly awesome and fun) Black Out Young Life club, one of my students came over and told me that he had gotten the approval to go to the Moshi Sports Tournament in two weeks. I couldn’t even contain my excitement….
PhotoBlast: HOPAC Pamoja Week & International Day 2014
Ask anyone at HOPAC what the best day of the year is, and inevitably they will tell you it is International Day. The excitement builds all week, as students celebrate Pamoja Week. “Pamoja” means “together” in Swahili, and Pamoja Week is essentially Spirit Week. Student council decides on themes for each day, students (and teachers)…
Words Matter: Link up!
In my AS English Literature class, we are studying A Passage to India by E.M. Forster, and in the opening chapter of this novel, he uses the words “sallow hospital” as a part of the description of the town of Chandrapore that serves as the setting for much of the book. As one of my students…
Teaching isn’t Boring
Someone told me once that the first year of teaching is always the hardest. How I see it, I’ve had two “first years.” Once, four years ago, in Fort Wayne, when I student taught for the first semester and then took over English 10 and Grade 9 Honors for the second semester. Then again, last…
Jesus Wants to Know YOUR Story
Friday is my favorite day of the week, but it isn’t just because its the last day of school before the weekend, though that is a bonus! This year, there are a number of incredible things about Fridays, such as the fact that my first class on a Friday starts at 10:50 a.m., or that…
Sufficient Unto the Day….
Tuesday, 8:00 p.m. Living the expat life means that friends come and go at a rapid pace. One of these friends, Holly, was back in Dar on a short visit, and we arranged to meet for mishkaki and chips (beef kebabs and French fries) at a local restaurant (two containers with tables set up around…
Ride Fierce Racing 