A Busy Week Full of a Variety of Experiences

What a full week this has been. Two of my favorite volunteers left on schedule. Another one flaked out and left unexpectedly and is less than ideal circumstances. A new class of very intelligent young adults is winding down to an end. And, the craziest part has been the primary elections. Trust me when I say that Kenyans are definitely passionate about their elections. Some passion seems to be a bit, well... a bit different is about all i can say without going into the detail. I'm a little short on time so I may just get through some of the details and tantalize you with the rest to come tomorrow.

Kathy and Stephanie headed home on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. Both were wonderful to spend time with and I will surely miss them. The day of Kathy's departure also brought about the departure of a young Case Western student that definitely didn't act in the most mature way. If I had done what he did, my mom and or dad, would have had a cow. He was scheduled to leave in a couple of weeks, but found out that if he left on Tuesday he could get home for Thanksgiving. He was trying to decide Monday night and I guess he made the final decision Tuesday morning. When I got the car keys from Reuben and said I was taking Kathy and Josh to Easy Coach, I realized that he had not spoken to Reuben or Mama Betty at all. I then went about loading the car with the stuff for my class while Josh and Kathy said goodbye to the other volunteers. By the time we left I had assumed that Josh had gone and said his goodbyes to the family. How wrong I was to assume that one.

Josh never said goodbye to the family. To top it off, he apparently still owed some money for room and board. Let's just say that I was raised to say thanks for what others did for me. If I had been the guest of a family (even a paying guest) for 2 1/2 months I would have at least said thanks. I'm not sure how much of it is lack of maturity, lack of a proper upbringing or what. Although Reuben sent an email to Josh's college advisor expressing that he felt it was rude and inconsiderate, I think his feelings were hurt more than anything else.

The bigger slap in the face is that he posted an entry on Facebook. For those of you that are above the age of 25 or so, Facebook is a sight where young people can post photos, blogs, etc. It was a bit of a ramble but discussed how he felt a bit odd looking back and has realized that he didn't say a proper goodbye to some of the other volunteers. He named 3 volunteers in particular. However, no where does he mention anything about the slap in the face he gave to the family. Enough of that as those of you who know me can probably see my blood pressure starting to build.

I've had a new class of post high school students this week. Additionally, one of the new volunteer that arrived is working on the program with me. She is a great 36 (read mature) women from Canada. The class is phenomenol and keeps us on or toes. This is by far the smartest class I've had. They are extremely proficient in English and ask both tough scientific and philosophical questions. I have no worries that they will all pass the exam with quite high scores.

I'm going to have to cut this short as I need to get back to the farm. I promise to post about some of the questions and the elections. Elections are a little crazed. People get fairly wound up and demonstrative. Politicians do a fair amount of campaigning and vote buying (literally). We were into the interior and I think some of the vote buying allows for some alcohol buying. Lots of fairly senior, senio citizens were straggling home from the town. An old woman danced for me and shimmied up against me. Let's just say it's a bit strange to have an old woman practically rubbing her breasts all up and down you. Especially when the breasts that are rubbing you are, never mind, I think you can put the picture in your mind. Another old man decide he wanted to try to rub the white off of me. I'm sure he'd seen an mzungu before, but when your that drunk it all looks new.