Random Pictures and Stuff....

The awesome staff who took care of us in Kilifi: Sammy, Elias and Changawa. The little boy is John, he lives at the orphanage.
Table where we ate breakfast and lunch, the swimming pool, and just down the hill, the Indian Ocean.

The house and pool

More house and pool

Why do all kids have to smell their special blankies? Augustus (the son of another fulbrighter we met in Kenya) does the same thing! He's 1 and looks so much like Jack!

Too much frosting!

Uncle Timmy lets Jack help with his 24 birthday candles

Mama smooching Jack-a-roo after his bath



What I wore to teach the lesson part of my interview

Saturday Night Fever. I hate suits. The shirt was tucked in for my interview and the jacket was buttoned.

Another busy weekend....
Friday was our 5 year wedding anniversary! Holy cow! 5 years is a long freaking time!!! :)

We celebrated with a fabulous dinner out and then a great movie, Knocked Up. So funny! It was great to be out- just the 2 of us.

On Saturday we had everyone over for a celebration bbq lunch. We celebrated my brother's 24th birthday and our anniversary. Jack especially enjoyed the cake! We ate outside since it was absolutely beautiful here- Jack thinks it's pretty neat to sit in his highchair outside.

On Sunday I went to church with my dad and then grocery shopping. He is in love with our grocery store, so he did all of his shopping here too! We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on stuff- including sleep!

This week I have a bunch of errands to take care of. I'm also going to be just enjoying the rest of my summer. Now that I have a job- I feel like I can relax and enjoy the next month or so with Jack- lots of trips to the park ahead!

I almost forgot! More info on my job! I'll be teaching 2nd grade at a private K-12 school about 30 minutes from our house. It's the same distance I drove to my school when we lived in Kansas City, so that doesn't bother me a bit. The big draw for this school from a parent viewpoint is the small class size- I'll only have 11 or 12 kids in my class! Imagine how much more you can accomplish with a smaller class! The campus sits on about 180 acres of woods and prairie- there are tons of walking trails, so I'm super excited about taking advantage of that once the school year starts. Lots of experiments and activities outside. I feel so lucky to be teaching there- I think I'm really going to like it.

Here's the funny story about the job:

A few days before we left for Africa, my mother-in-law called to see if I ever check the newspaper for teaching jobs. Um, no, who in the heck uses the newspaper to post teaching jobs? Doesn't everybody use the internet now??? She told me how she found an add for a 2nd grade job at this school she had heard of. I checked the website and thought- no freaking way! It looks way too fancy and smart. I am so not smart enough to teach there. No way. Well she wouldn't take no for an answer. The day before we left, I printed off my resume and cover letter, and mailed it on our way out of town. While we were staying in Kilifi at the house by the ocean, my mil calls and says "You have an interview at --School!" We were both laughing so hard- I never would have dreamed! She tells me that when the assistant to the head of school called, she explained how I was out of the country but could be there first thing Monday morning. So we get back on Saturday afternoon- after 2 consecutive 8 hour flights, and off we go to the mall to find me a suit! Thank god my future sister in law was there- she's the only one I trust with fashion advice. She insisted I didn't look like Saturday Night Fever, so I bought the suit. She also found me some super cute heels to wear also. You rock, Liz! Thank you!

So on Sunday I work my butt off all day getting my portfolio together and randomly thinking about questions they might ask me. I'm still a little jet lagged, but at least I was functioning! So Monday morning rolls around and off I go on the interview. The assistant/secretary was super nice and we chatted about Kenya for a bit. I then met the Head of School and went in for the interview. He was super nice and we joked a bit about how jet lagged I still was, etc. He told me how they had 40 applicants for the job, he had interviewed 18 last week, but was willing to wait till that day to interview me because I was "very intriguing on paper" and he really wanted a chance to meet me. Well apparently he liked what I had to say, cause after about 15 minutes of talking, he asked me to be one of his 5 finalists for the job. Hooray I'm thinking! This is awesome! The next thing he says is- "I hate to tell you this, but the call backs for my finalists are this afternoon. The other 4 are coming in to teach a 15 minute lesson/activity to 3 or 4 kids while some of the faculty watches, and then they'll be interviewed by the faculty when the activity is over. Do you think you can come back at 2:30 and do that? I'm sorry it's so last minute, but we saved you the last spot in case you were interested" HOLY CRAP! So now I have to drive home and get an activity together??? And come back and teach it in front of kids and faculty???? What the hell I say, sign me up! So I came home, got some math games together (after digging through various boxes in the basement!) and headed back to teach.

The 4 other finalists had all weekend to prepare- I had about 3 hours. I saw the girl who went before me leave as I was putting my stuff in the classroom- she had a big huge poster board! Some elaborate lesson and activity planned. I had some dice and a few pencils!! It bothered me for about 2 seconds and then I just thought- who cares? I'm just going to play with these kids and show the faculty what I normally do. Teach and have fun doing it. So everyone comes in and the kids and I have a blast playing the math games- I even teach them a thing or two. It was sort of odd teaching in front of the head of the school, the lower school principal (who would be my boss) and 3 other teachers, but it didn't really bother me at all. After the games the staff interviewed me and it was really comfortable, felt more like a conversation even though they asked really good questions. They also said how much they liked watching me interact with the kids- obviously they didn't need to see what kind of amazing lesson I could present- they wanted to see the real me.

When it was over the head of school told me not to be surprised- but they would have their decision made after I left- no surprise there! Every part of this process has been on fast forward for me!! :)

The next morning I got the call offering me the job. Never in a million years did I see this whole situation coming- and to think I didn't even want to apply!!!! :)

I owe my mother-in-law a steak dinner! I never would have seen the opening or even applied if it hadn't been for her!!!

When I start Jack will be staying home 3 days a week with my mother-in-law. The other 2 days a week he'll be going to a day care. We've got our list down to just a few finalists, so we'll be making a decision soon. I'm very excited about him getting a chance to play with other kids and just experiencing new games and toys. It'll be so great for him.

So that's the story- I'll try to keep posting Kenya pictures....