Happy Easter

Happy Easter! The second term flew by. The third term starts on Monday April 8, but the TTC will be back for mock exams on April 1.

Besides the usual busy-ness of the second term, the school secretary "put to bed" (gave birth) at the beginning of March, so I was helping in the office especially with entering the end of term marks (grades) so the report cards could be completed. Also in the first week of March, the mother of the dean of TTC and the mother of the school chaplain both died. I went with the school staff to both funerals - one in Njinikom (about an hour from Bamenda) and one in Sop (about 40 minutes from Kumbo). The roads were pretty bad with the start of the rainy season again. Happily, the government has started to work on the road so it's getting better a little at a time.

 Palm Sunday weekend was the diocesan world youth day celebration, which was held in Jakiri (about an hour from Kumbo) at the new Cardinal Tume Comprehesive College (secondary school) with more than 3,000 youths. While there, I stayed with some sisters at a convent near the parish church. There is another set of sisters who are working at the school, one of whom is Brazilian. The bishop came on Saturday evening to join the celebration and stayed until after mass on Sunday morning. Bishop George is very good with the young people and they love him.

I spent the beginning of Holy Week in Kumbo, relaxing and typing term papers for TTC students. After the Chrism Mass on Wednesday, I got a ride with Fr. Anthony at St. Albert's in Bafut, where I spent Holy Thursday and Good Friday with the Marist Brothers. Then, it was back to Kumbo on Saturday (via public transportation - a small bus). On the way back, the bus got a flat tire in Babessi (about the halfway point). While we were waiting for the new tire, the clouds decided to let loose and there was a good downpour with lots of wind. I took shelter with the other passengers in a bar by the road. Between the tire and the rain, we were stuck there for about 45 minutes before the driver gathered us up to continue on. I was sitting by a window and got a little bit of a sunburn on my shoulder which I didn't notice until Sunday morning (it was sunny most of the way).

Holy Saturday Easter vigil was in Kikaikelaki where I was greeted by some students from St. Pius and TTC. In the morning, I watched the Easter Sunday mass in Rome on EWTN at the fathers' house in SAC.

And that pretty much brings everything up to date.