Seth Lamble

So about 3 weeks ago I went to Morning Devotional with the Students. Morning Devotional is a weekly thing that occurs on Wednesday Morning, prior to the beginning of class. Back last term I was told that a teacher must be in the church with the students and pastor because the pastors are worried about controlling the students, this strikes me as funny. Well since I am usually at least ready for the coming day with notes and what not I usually elect to go to devotional with the students. Which is part of the reason why I find that Pastor’s problems funny, because of all of the teachers the students obey me the least because they know I don’t punish. So in reality my presence there is meaningful only in the mind of the Pastors (we have like 5 who rotate on a weekly basis.) Well back to my most recent experience, the sermons are usually given in Swahili or Luhya, both of which I have about as much skill with as I do Spanish, which could be good if I wasn’t a bum. Well this recent sermon was in English. Which was about questioning authority and the punishments God meets out for such action. He was qouting something about Aaron questioning Moses and contracting Leprosy. How all authority is derived from God, and all leaders are appointed by God so any who question said authority shall be punished, or smoted (I like the word smoted.) Now I feel that this is a dangerous and stupid sermon to give given the level of corruption in Kenya, and the overall incompetence of most leaders. That and when the Pastor described Leprosy he demonstrated a complete lack of knowledge about Leprosy.

So after stewing on this during the sermon, I tell the students how the pastor doesn’t know what he is talking about, and now I am going to contract Leprosy, or at least that is what my students like to tell me.

In the end I talked to the other teachers about this, and they just started laughing at me. Apparently the few times they have gone to Devotional, the Pastor’s are always giving foolish sermons, and they never have any idea of what they are talking about, thankfully it is in Luhya or Swahili so I don’t know what they are saying.

Ah ignorance is bliss.

What to post about, Dad and Aunt Mary will be here in a little more than a week. School is out won’t be starting till January 8th. So now I have a year of teaching under my belt. Still no actual experience with engineering, but after teaching math and physics here i might have a better idea of the basics. Some of the physics I have been looking at for the Juniors and Seniors is effectively Fluid Dynamics, Thermo and Dynamics.

Peace.

Well the Wife of one of the teachers passed away on Saturday. Don’t know the cause, but the Headmaster is closing the school a day early on Friday and is said he wants all of the teachers to be in attendance. This coincides with the same week as Thanksgiving, which usually gets volunteers invited to Nairobi to spend the holiday with a embassy family. While I don’t know if it is actually happening (that is another issue entirely) I have decided not to go anyways. If I go, yes I can make it to a Thanksgiving Party on Thursday and take a Night bus back to be there for the funeral. But that would require me to take off right after eating at someone elses house, which I don’t consider very polite. While I could just blow off the funeral and go to Nairobi, (being a foreigner means I am outside most societal customary actions) I would also consider that rude towards the Teachers and villagers I live and work with, so instead I will just stay at Site and attend the funeral.

So I have been gone for awhile. I tried walking to Kisumu, made it about half way then rode the rest of the way in, I will accomplish this feat before I leave Kenya, it is only 24 miles. The next weekend we had exams and I feel wrong leaving during exams, so that brings us to this weekend, I think.

Been reading in Newsweek (we get that for free) that China is ruminating on creating it’s own Peace Corps Program with all of their moola, maybe I will get a site buddy from China this coming year.

I have learned to stir my soup when I make it, recently I forgot to and the flavoring cube I threw in never mixed, and I had one big mouthful of Spicy Beef.

Sorry my mind is not in the writing mode, I really need to write these entries out ahead of time.