The Gramps Update

Part I: Kenyan life and teaching

Been a while since the last post... Although life here is still fairly fresh and exciting at times, as with any move the newness of living in Kenya slowly wore off and I developed a fairly comfortable routine. Most weekdays I go to school, plan some lessons, teach a couple classes, rush off to the basketball court, then figure out what to do for dinner (and decide if I’ll splurge an extra 50 cents for a foreign beer instead of the local lagers). Most weekends I either teach the English Access Enhancement lessons, or catch a matatu up to Eldoret to hang with the running community.

School has been going well. As I have mentioned before, we are a low-performing school with a very low-income student body. Last term some employees of the Ministry of Education swung by for a little evaluation, which resulted in a firm lecture at the end of their visit, and was followed by seven teacher transfers. The school’s performance wasn’t for a lack of caring amongst the teachers, and there were many environmental factors outside of the school compound contributing to student performance, but the general feeling in the staff room had definitely been one of fatigue. The transfers came as a bit of a shock, and it was difficult to see some friends leave, but since then the energy at school has dramatically improved.

With the transfers came a new Deputy Principal. She is a strict disciplinarian, but a dedicated teacher who cares deeply about the success of her students. So far she has been working non-stop to solve our biggest problem—student attendance—by tracking down absent students, and involving the institution’s mostly disengaged parent body. The former head of the English Department was also promoted to Director of Studies, and is making a strong push to organize the school schedule, examination process, and hold teachers accountable for missed lessons and syllabus coverage.

It is refreshing to see a new motivation amongst the school employees and students, and I am hoping it will last.

Part II: Athletics

The past couple months have been action-packed with amazing athletics—and me trying to find internet or a sports bar to catch the action. First, I was lucky enough to attend the Kenyan Olympic Trials. Although it had its share of let-downs—from the security-check being trampled down by the overcrowded mob of spectators, to getting a stray mud clump in the back from an angry spectator aiming for the people standing in his way—the event was largely positive. During the last day I entered the stadium and was unexpectedly ushered by guards to some VIP section to watch the race where a bunch of other wazungus were seated… despite the confusion, I felt no need to correct them as most of the finals were on this day and the view was much better than any of the creative viewing spots I had managed to find previously. In the end, it was quite the spectacle to watch such talent battle it out for a place on one of the toughest athletics teams in the world.

After the Kenyan trials I was unable to watch any of the US Olympic trials or find quality full replays of the events, but was ecstatic to see Colleen snag the last Team USA Olympic qualifying spot in the steeplechase after having a rather turbulent training year. Fortunately, I was in Nairobi and therefore able to catch her and Linden’s races during the Olympics thanks easy access to late-running sports bars and high speed internet. I only spent a couple years getting to know these two at FSU, and only one track season coaching them directly. In that short time, though, it was apparent that they are two of the most incredible competitors I have ever met. Just watching their prelims at 3 or 4am through a FaceTime stream on my phone was legitimately one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had this year. Watching these two athletes—who have been so determined and deliberate in their pursuit to be the best athletes they can be, while overcoming the inevitable obstacles thrown their way—is one of the more inspiring and exciting processes I have been lucky enough to witness.

Part III: Vacation

I’ll conclude this blog with a discussion of how I have been a lazy, transient bum the past few weeks (and also by saying it has been great). I was able to fly home to be best man in Brody and Jaycee Everett’s wedding… and learn that a wedding speech can be written fully ahead of time and brought up with the speech giver to be read off. Best wedding I’ve ever been to, and a reminder that I am far from being classy or mature enough to pull off such an event any time soon!

I flew home for the wedding immediately after my mom and little-big bro came to visit Kenya. The trip was too short thanks to flight delays and work schedules, and hindered slightly by sickness, but it was nice to have a couple travel partners around. After seeing my town and school, we were able to see Eldoret and Iten before doing our big-ticket excursion to Masai Mara for the wildebeest migration. We didn’t get to see any live kills—to the pleasure of my mother, and disappointment of all others in the vehicle—and I was in a pathetic state the majority of the time, but it was still pretty remarkable. Plus, Justin got some cool Intagram photos, and I’m pretty sure that’s the main reason for traveling anyways.

I haven’t really missed home since coming to Kenya, but spending a short time there reminded me how nice my parents’ meals, my bed, free Spotify, and neatly paved roads are. I soaked it all up in the short time I was home, and then flew off to London for an extended layover.

In London I found my new home if Trump is somehow elected. It is a fascinating city, and thanks to having Hannah Walker as my tour guide, I got to see the running scene, do a historic pub crawl, and catch some hilarious (and free) comedy. I also had time to pop up to Birmingham to see where FSU had recruited so many of their studs from. I had fun touring around with Pippa and Richard—a former Nole athlete and her BF—eating some good Indian food (which apparently is a British thing), and touring the Cadbury factory. It was also pretty cool meeting some of the University athletic performance staff, and hanging with Bud Baldaro during a workout—the coach the British Noles have always spoken so fondly of. He came across as a guy that loved the sport, his athletes, and the development process. Although I have been fortunate enough to work with coaches like this and plan to return to coaching in the NCAA next year, along with the numerous advantages the US university system provides it can also tend to skew the attitudes and intentions of some coaches within it towards a selfish and arrogant nature. I’m glad I got to see the athletics system at Birmingham, and will certainly pull aspects of it with me as I return to the NCAA.  

Since returning to Kenya I did do a little work intermixed with my already full schedule of lethargy and procrastination. We had an English Access Summer program in Nairobi with all the schools in Kenya offering English Access. It was a great event, capped with a visit to the embassy (of which none of my students had ever been to). I am excited to hear what my class has to say about the event when I return to school next week, but I think it definitely opened their eyes to the possibilities available after school. Following the Access event I caught a bus with Alexis, another Fulbrighter, down to Mombasa for a few days of beachfront basking. This trip could be another blog in itself—but in short, in between eating and reading on beach chairs we attended an Arabian wedding, toured Fort Jesus, attended a Kenyan cultural festival (and saw the opposition leader pass through), and went snorkeling at the coral reef.

Now I am back home in Bungoma, with laundry to do and lessons to plan!

Cheers.