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…
Category: Life in Tanzania (2013-2017)
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)…
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…
#TIA: Infection Edition (Caution: PG-13 Images)
Warning: This post contains graphic images. Do not proceed reading if you don’t like blood, gore, and nasty wounds. Continue at your own risk. You have been warned. I have been incredibly blessed with overall good health over the last year and a half living in Tanzania. Other than malaria and dengue, I’ve had only…
The Little Moments
Its hard to believe its been almost a month since I last posted! Time flies when you’re having fun, I suppose! Earlier this week, I read an (awesome) article by Ann Voskamp talking about the intense life we live in the everyday: Why in the world disdain the small? It’s always the smallest strokes that add…
#Life
Six weeks ago, when I first arrived back in Dar, I never dreamed that I would feel so completely at home here. Jet lag made for a bit of a rough transition, but now that I’ve settled in, I am enjoying life to the fullest. School As I write this, my tenth-grade IGCSE English Literature…
Ride Fierce Racing 