Last of the Summer Break

James had a wonderful visit but had to get back to the States to complete his psychology degree. We are definitely planning to come back here once he's finished. While he was here, we spent a lot of time in Kumbo when we weren't going all over the place with Fr. Paul. It was great watching James and Fr. Paul together -- they got along splendidly, better than brothers. Fr. Paul gave James the Lamnso name "Limnyuy" which means "God's work". I'm "Bongkisheri" which loosely translated means "Happiness is good".

Before he left, James had the metal worker at the school build a gate for my back patio, which was installed yesterday and looks like it will be very effective.  James took a lot of pictures and video of his visit and will be sharing them with everyone he can.

Back to Fr. Paul very briefly -- after spending about 3 weeks in Yaounde waiting for his visa, he finally got it and is gone to the UK until the end of September.

 The new Lay Mission-Helpers (Pete & Joy Newburn) arrived during the holidays, but I haven't had a chance to meet them. They are in Bamenda with their three kids. Pete will be teaching in the major seminary in Bambui. If they aren't able to make the trip to Tatum, I probably won't see them until October at the earliest (when I'm planning a trip to Bamenda).

The long holiday is over and it went quickly. Classes start next week. This week we've been holding entrance exams for the TTC and ENIET.  Last year the exams were run by the government and we had to wait a long time for the results before we could start. This year the government oversaw the exams, but they were held at the school and we processed the results ourselves. (It was a lot of work.) We hope to get more students this year than we had last.

The new principal started a few weeks ago -- another Br. Isaac. So now we have Br. Isaac Kwame from Ghana as the bursar and Br. Isaac Kpulika from Meluf (on the other side of Kumbo) as principal. As with most new bosses, he has his own ideas of how things should be run, so we're expecting quite a few changes this year. Br. Ivo was transferred to St. Albert's in Bafut (near Bamenda) - the same school as Br. Simon, the old bursar. With the new principal and new teachers being hired, I don't know if I'll be teaching the exact same subjects as last year and I probably won't know until the staff meeting at the beginning of the week.

Right before James left, the hard drive on my laptop decided to finally die (after threatening for a year). So James took it back with him for repairs and updates. I hope to get it back before the end of the year! In the meantime, I have to use the school computers, which are good computers, but it's not as nice as having mine in my house. The school is still without internet, but we keep hoping.

So far, I've gotten a harvest of potatoes and beans from my garden/farm. The cabbages are looking very good. The corn will probably be ready in October. I can't take any credit for the produce as Nicoline has done all the work. Knowing my own history with killing plants, I thought it best if I left it all to her. I am looking forward to the corn harvest with eager anticipation (even though it's not the sweet corn we're used to in the States -- as James discovered).