Week 1 - meeting classes

It has been a great week right from the start last Saturday evening with the Talent Show with the A-levels. The skits presented were of high quality. The content was creative. The acting was superb! It was quite a contrast to the exhibition which we saw a year ago!

On Sunday I walked up Church Road to St. Stephen's Church. The seating arrangement in the church has changed as the girls from St. Hilda's now sit on both sides of the main aisle. The congregation of adults does not start until at least 10 rows from the front. There is no difficulty in hearing the pastor with his dramatic style. There was a music teacher from one of the other schools who played the piano along with violin accompaniment for the hymns. That was quite refreshing!
Much has been said about the water shortage and it didn't hit home until I walked by the school greenhouses in the afternoon and saw how parched the soil is becoming. We really do need a nice long slow rain to replenish the water table. My afternoon walk took me across town through some of the back alleys. It has always amazed me to see how people live in such  conditions. There are the shacks with metal roofs covered in blue tarpaulins and there are stone houses.

I was able to see the school site and realized once again how well hidden most of the school really is to the untrained eye. The "Big Pitch" can be seen as a sandy area in the centre-left. The "Teaching Block" of yellow buildings can be seen through the tress on centre-right.
On Monday I met the 2 Standard 8 classes was well as the 2 Standard 9's. Tuesday I met the 2 classes of Standard 10's and the introductions were over. Unfortunately I came down with a massive case of gastro and did the unthinkable. I actually sat down behind the teacher's desk to teach 4 lessons. I have been fighting this all week and have consumed litres of ORS (Oral Rehydration Salts) and am taking a Vitamin B supplement. Since Thursday the situation has been improving although I must still pay attention to what I eat. Hopefully the improvement will continue and I will soon be back to normal. for the present however, I am boiling the drinking water and keeping it in the fridge. The arrival of the fridge and the installation of the modem were the highlights of the week. I have been able to Skype with my wife which has made the separation seem less.
Today has been a very quiet day as the 13's are at Avalanche, the 9's and 10's at YF Camp at Quiet Corner, which will be anything but "quiet" this weekend. The other younger dorms all went on a hike for the better part of the day. It was a great time to catch up on some of the sleep I have missed.
Just yesterday, Friday, there was a treat left for me by the wife of the Vice-Principal - lovely cinnamon buns! They were a real treat this morning with a cup of tea!