End of Term 2

The last week or so has been a whirlwind of activity in and around CAMS.  Thursday was the last day of the tem before Christmas for the students.  Friday was the last day for teachers.  The last days of school are always busy for teachers, but with a long holiday break coming up, this one was even busier.

 

At home, in the weeks before Christmas are always a crazy time at school.  It seems like from Thanksgiving to Christmas, the kids are too excited to function normally, and as the holiday comes closer, it gets harder and harder to focus them.  Here, it seemed like the students were very focused the whole time, until this past week.  That’s when the excitement really started to take over.

 

 

 

The past few weeks have been spent with end of term activities.  The seniors spent two weeks doing exams.  The examination system is very different from what I experienced in high school, where our end of semester tests took place over 2 days.  We tried very hard to keep all the primary school children quieter than normal for the 2 weeks, which was not always easy.  In the end, I think they all made it through alright and we managed to get some teaching done in the primarys.

 

The form two class has been working all term on the Christmas Production.  On Wednesday, they had their dress rehearsal and all of primary was invited to attend.  The show was fantastic!  Parents and the secondary students were invited to watch on Thursday.  I got to see the Christmas story in a new, fun way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday was a little bitter sweet.  It was a day for staff to wrap up the term and get ready for break.  It was also the last chance we had to say goodbye to some of the staff who, for whatever reason, won’t be back next term.  Even though I have known them only a short time, they have become like family.  It was hard to say goodbye to such great people.  We had a short staff Christmas party which included lunch and a little devotion time, complete with some traditional Christmas carols.  At 1:00, we were free to start our break.  Some teachers had to catch an earlier bus in order to make it to Dar es Salaam to catch their plane, but the rest of us set about our packing, buying bus tickets, and generally preparing for a well-deserved break.  I didn’t leave Dodoma until Sunday, so I had an extra day to relax, which was nice. 

More about Arusha later.  I wish everyone a VERY Merry Christmas!!