Gonzaga Turns 1 or We Enter Our Second Year!

We marked the completion of our first year at Gonzaga this past Monday, January 26. With one year of growing pains under our belt, we have opened for the second time on much smoother waters. Three weeks deep into the new school year and we are now fully staffed, although I say this with fingers crossed as our final hire's first day is to be Monday. But I feel confident. Nevertheless, we are still ahead of last year's schedule when our last hire did not begin teaching until the middle of February.

In my second year here I am teaching a majority of the same students, having moved up from Standard (read grade) Five to Standard Six with my students from last year. The school currently has 236 students in eight classes spread out through six grades (kindergarten and Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6). To the fifteen students I teach, I am their homeroom teacher along with teaching them mathematics, English, Catholic religion (to the Catholics) and phys. ed. I am no longer teaching the students of last year's Standard Three. When I am not teaching I have continued working in the school's administration in my role as the school's dean of studies - a position I will hold in full for only a shortwhile longer before beginning a period of transition with a Tanzanian who will fill the office permanently.

The new year has been busy with school's opening, but also with welcoming a couple of visitors from the Great White. Prior to the first day of classes, my two eldest sisters visited. We rung in the New Year together before spending two weeks catching up on the news from home and my life here in Dar. It was wonderful to see these two familiar faces from home and I feel refreshed and energized after their visit and our adventures. Plus, it was an added bonus that I got to taste a little bit of Mom's cooking. Jessie and Christina bravely transported in their carry-on a homecooked meal including a frozen pasta casserole along with frozen meatballs and moulignan. A real treat to get a homecooked Italian dinner an ocean and a continent away from home!

Since their departure, it has been school and everything that goes with those opening weeks and so there is little else to report at this time. I hope all is well with you in the New Year and that it has greeted you with many warm tidings. Stay warm.