Last day of School

Today was my last day as a teacher. I had the standard one class and we did an English lesson on items of clothing. When the kids were finished I gave them huge stickers my aunt Beth sent me. The kids were amazed by stickers that size. After English I had a little extra time before leaving and we played a few rounds of hang man, which the kids love to play, though they don't get the subtleties of the game. The answer to the last puzzle was good bye. When the van came to take us I said good bye to the class, good bye to Teacher Madam, good bye to Mr. James and left my boots with him for his out reach program, and good bye to Teacher Herman. One of the students, Shadrack, gave me a folded piece of paper with a small poem and an old picture of him inside of it as a good bye card. The last day of school always makes me feel both happy and sad, usually more happy than sad though. This was the first time I felt more sad than happy after leaving a school for the last time.

Yesterday I was able to give the standard three and four kids the response letters from my aunt Beth's class in Stratford. They were very excited as it was a surprise for them, and they loved the class picture that was included so that they could see what their pen pal's looked like. We wrote letters back again and I have them with me. When I get home I will bring them to the class myself and try to answer any questions my aunt's class has about Tanzania. I'll also bring pictures I took of my students writing the letters to show what they look like. My students also got Disney pins that came with the letters, which they were still wearing on their uniforms today. The many Tootsie-pop's that were in the package were divided between the Kili Kids orphanage, and another volunteer's nursery school class. They were all very much appreciated.

I am feeling just about healthy again after finishing my malaria pills yesterday. They worked amazingly fast for which I am greatful. My amoeba pills I will have to take until next Tuesday, but they are a very minor problem and aren't bothering me much. Dad has already booked me an appointment to see Dr. Scifo on next Tuesday just to be safe. I'm sure I'll be fine.

Now that school is over for me I feel more ready to come home. There is very little left for me to do here. I have finished my gift shopping and am mostly just waiting for Sunday evening. I will go out to dinner tonight with my friends at CCS and probably tomorrow night as well for one last time. I will miss my kids at school, but I know they will be alright because Mr. James runs that school extremely well. I will miss the friends I have made here as well, both within CCS and from Moshi. But I miss my family and I miss my friends back home, and its time for me to return. I will see you all soon.

Thank you for reading,

Allen