School Begins

So it's been over a month since my last update. Ah, such is life in Tatum. It's a struggle between the power going out and the network not working and the bad roads (which make it hard to travel to Kumbo). Nothing much exciting has happened during the past month, just the usual beginning of school routines but that was enough to make September fly by.

And school is definitely back in full swing. TTC & ENIET started 2 weeks ago and this past week we had the first set of exams for the secondary. I think I made the Form 2 English exam too easy. I'm teaching the same classes as last year (English in Form 2 and Computers in Forms 1, 2, & 3 and Music in the TTC) but it's still new, since the students are different. There are many new students even in Forms 2 & 3. I'm trying to learn the names of the new students, but I still don't know the names of all the old ones. Plus there are about 100 students in the TTC only about 12 of which were here last year.

There have been some administrative changes and with those changes, I've ended up helping in the school offices more than I was last year (when I was basically just tech support). The rest of this paragraph will probably be boring since you don't know the people involved. Along with the new principal (Br. Isaac), the old discipline master was made into the Dean of Studies for the TTC and the old Dean of Studies became a teacher while one of the other teachers was made discipline master. Br. Evaristus (another Marist who was teaching here) was transferred to Mbengwe (near Bamenda) and was replaced with Br. Brendan who has been assigned as assistant discipline master. Br. Isaac also re-arranged the offices so the old discipline master's office became the Deans' office (both deans) and the Deans' office became the secretary's office so the chaplain (Fr. Joe) could move into the old secretary's office. The new discipline master and his assistant got a new office made out of one of the other rooms on campus. The chaplain's office was new this year because in the past the chaplain used the parish office (and last year the school didn't even have a chaplain), which is next to the campus.

Friday was "World Teachers' Day" so the teachers got out of school early. Last year we just celebrated at school, but this year events were organized at the divisional level -- so there was a "march past" in Tatum (at the newly completed grandstand) and speeches and what not before everyone broke into smaller parties. I got a dress made with the Teachers' Day fabric. I only managed to get the fabric on Wednesday afternoon, so I was really impressed that the tailor was able to have it finished on Friday morning (for only 2500frs = $5). I think I mentioned before that it's a big thing in Cameroon to have fabrics printed for special events, both one-time events (there's one for the centenary celebrations - 100 years since the first Christian missionaries came to what is now the Kumbo Diocese) and for annual celebrations (like Teachers' Day and Women's Day).

The corn is about ready to be harvested. I've already had some roasted fresh off the stalk. And I've been eating my own cabbages and beans instead of buying from the market. James sent me some seeds (unlabeled) and I now know that some of them are radishes... and big radishes at that. Did you know that if you boil radishes they lose their heat and taste like any other tuber?

So life goes on. It's easy to lose oneself in the everyday busy-ness.