Hey all,
Hope you're all well wherever you are and enjoying the build up to Christmas. Well I'm trying to think of what to share with you since the last post but it's been so busy it's hard to think where to start...
We had a busy build up to the end of term at school. Christmas carol services, Christmas dinners, nativities and lots of musical activities kept us entertained, if a little exhausted. We enjoyed a wonderful time with our friends the Blakeleys who came up to visit from Likoni where they are involved in the 'Education For Life' mission. We managed to introduce them to the Rift Valley and spent a lot of time sitting by the fire with them drinking mulled wine and eating good food.
After we had finished for the 'holidays' we took 19 kids to London for a music school trip for a week. We had a wonderful time seeing Stomp, Wicked, The Lion King and Matilda as well as squeezing in trips to the museums and a National Children's Orchestra Concert. They all had a great time despite the cold but, as much as we enjoyed it, we were delighted to be safely back in Kenya where we are now sitting at the beach, sipping cocktails in the scorching heat having shared another lovely day with the Blakeleys.
On Friday we will celebrate our 3 year anniversary here at the coast (time flies doesn't it?!) before heading back to school for christmas and returning to the coast again with Dan's family for New Year which we are very much looking forward to.
As we look ahead to next term we are aware that upcoming elections could be a tricky time for the country so are trying to work out where would be safest to be during that uncertain time. Watch this space and please pray that we might have wisdom about what to do.
Please keep us informed with your news. We always love to hear from you all and hear how life back in the UK is.
God bless and speak to you soon.
Dan and Rach
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Sunday, 21 October 2012
More adventures down south...
Hi all,
Hope you're well and enjoying the gradual build up to Christmas across the globe.
Just a little update on what we've been up to.
We've just had a week's half term break here at Turi. The first half term as houseparents was absolutely exhausting but enjoyable too. We've had a great time getting to know the kids, providing them with entertainment and laughing and playing with them. The 13 hour working days have been a bit of a shock though and so the half term holiday was a welcome break.
So where have we been and what have we been doing? Maria, Rachel's friend from Sheffield came out to visit and we've been to Kisumu, Nairobi and Naivasha. We spent the week banana-boating, swimming, enjoying beautiful sunsets, going on walking safaris amongst buffalo, giraffe, zebra and wildebeest and enjoying really, really good food.
It has been such a blessing to have a fun, restful holiday with close friends in beautiful places. We now have 7 weeks of action-packed term before Christmas holidays hit. Orchestral weekend is next weekend and so that will be fairly hectic... We look forward to some good performances with Dan conducting an orchestra of about 150 kids from British schools across Kenya. Then we'll start work on Nativity stuff and before long we'll be in London on our school music tour.
I think that's enough for now. I'll pop some photos on facebook soon and we'll try here too. Do keep in touch - we'd love to hear your news too!
Loads of love,
Dan and Rach xx
Hope you're well and enjoying the gradual build up to Christmas across the globe.
Just a little update on what we've been up to.
We've just had a week's half term break here at Turi. The first half term as houseparents was absolutely exhausting but enjoyable too. We've had a great time getting to know the kids, providing them with entertainment and laughing and playing with them. The 13 hour working days have been a bit of a shock though and so the half term holiday was a welcome break.
So where have we been and what have we been doing? Maria, Rachel's friend from Sheffield came out to visit and we've been to Kisumu, Nairobi and Naivasha. We spent the week banana-boating, swimming, enjoying beautiful sunsets, going on walking safaris amongst buffalo, giraffe, zebra and wildebeest and enjoying really, really good food.
It has been such a blessing to have a fun, restful holiday with close friends in beautiful places. We now have 7 weeks of action-packed term before Christmas holidays hit. Orchestral weekend is next weekend and so that will be fairly hectic... We look forward to some good performances with Dan conducting an orchestra of about 150 kids from British schools across Kenya. Then we'll start work on Nativity stuff and before long we'll be in London on our school music tour.
I think that's enough for now. I'll pop some photos on facebook soon and we'll try here too. Do keep in touch - we'd love to hear your news too!
Loads of love,
Dan and Rach xx
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Back to school...
Dear all,
Hope you're all well and enjoying the beginning of autumn in the UK. Hope you're not suffering too much from post Olympic and Paralympic blues and that September is bringing you joy wherever you are.
We're both well and enjoying the beginning of term so far. We did our first ever teacher training session the other day - coaching some of the other music teachers from British Schools around the country and also chatting through the musical diary for the year to plan events and prepare ourselves for the year. It was a fab day and everyone left encouraged, we think, about the year ahead.
We're enjoying the challenge of house parenting whilst also finding it a little exhausting. The kids seem to really value us and we've had some lovely evenings with them in the dorm, singing songs, dressing up and rehearsing for the chapel service next weekend which is led by the Junior Girls. We've chosen the Armour of God as our theme and are looking forward to dressing up the smallest child in the dorm in hockey goal keeper's clothes to demonstrate the point... We'll take photos!
This weekend we've enjoyed some time off at Island Camp in Lake Baringo. (http://www.islandcamp.co.ke/index_en.htm) It was a place we haven't stayed at before so was really good fun and we've got to know some other members of staff through going away with them, which is fab. The sun was hot and it was fun to watch the crocodiles circling the island and be woken up early in the morning by weaver birds cheeping away. I'm pleased to say the only things found in our tent were lizards and spiders... another friend found a scorpion in his bathmat this morning!
Well anyway, I think that's enough of an update. We hope you're all well and would love to hear from you soon. Sorry if we've been lax at communication but we'll be in touch again soon...
Much love,
Rach and Dan
Hope you're all well and enjoying the beginning of autumn in the UK. Hope you're not suffering too much from post Olympic and Paralympic blues and that September is bringing you joy wherever you are.
We're both well and enjoying the beginning of term so far. We did our first ever teacher training session the other day - coaching some of the other music teachers from British Schools around the country and also chatting through the musical diary for the year to plan events and prepare ourselves for the year. It was a fab day and everyone left encouraged, we think, about the year ahead.
We're enjoying the challenge of house parenting whilst also finding it a little exhausting. The kids seem to really value us and we've had some lovely evenings with them in the dorm, singing songs, dressing up and rehearsing for the chapel service next weekend which is led by the Junior Girls. We've chosen the Armour of God as our theme and are looking forward to dressing up the smallest child in the dorm in hockey goal keeper's clothes to demonstrate the point... We'll take photos!
This weekend we've enjoyed some time off at Island Camp in Lake Baringo. (http://www.islandcamp.co.ke/index_en.htm) It was a place we haven't stayed at before so was really good fun and we've got to know some other members of staff through going away with them, which is fab. The sun was hot and it was fun to watch the crocodiles circling the island and be woken up early in the morning by weaver birds cheeping away. I'm pleased to say the only things found in our tent were lizards and spiders... another friend found a scorpion in his bathmat this morning!
Well anyway, I think that's enough of an update. We hope you're all well and would love to hear from you soon. Sorry if we've been lax at communication but we'll be in touch again soon...
Much love,
Rach and Dan
Friday, 31 August 2012
Kenya believe it's year 2?!
Hi everyone!
We arrived back to school just over a week ago and here's a taster of what we've been up to...
We arrived into Nairobi at 3.45am on Thursday last week and after having dealt with immigration etc we set off for Turi in a taxi at around 4.30am. It was a beautiful drive and we felt so happy to be back in this beautiful country (though Rach was unconscious for much of it...) It was fun though having a Christian radio station playing for the whole 3 and a half hour journey - occasionally Rach woke up to a beautiful Rift Valley view and the of 'In Christ Alone' -what a lovely way to be welcomed back into this wonderful place.
We unpacked and set up our new house that day and on the Friday, whilst also meeting the new staff and trying to help people feel welcomed and not too daunted. We've met some wonderful people over the last week and are really looking forward to working with and spending time with the new staff. We have a fantastic new music teacher in our department and are looking forward to really pushing on the department and making music more of a thing in the school.
The main thing that's taken up all our time since being back, however, is Junior Girls - the boarding house we're taking over. We've spent many days sorting all the admin work to prepare for the girls' arrival on Sunday and are pleased that it now looks good and like a fun place to stay! We've renamed the rooms after ice cream flavours and the colours of the walls match up with the dorm name.
Whilst it doesn't sound like a huge amount of work... many things have slowed down the work. Broken printers, ICT problems and changes at the last minute of who's joining the dorm and where exactly they should sleep have all meant that the work has been done, scrapped, redone and then scrapped and redone again... BUT we think we've got there now and are excited not just to be doing admin anymore but actually meeting all the kids on Sunday and acting out our roles as houseparents. (Please pray for us... this is all very new!)
We did managed to get away for Rachel's birthday on Monday temporarily though, which was something to look forward to. After tasty birthday breakfast with friends we went to Sunbird Lodge, which is on a lake just over an hour's drive from the school - http://www.sunbirdkenya.com/pages/index.html - we had a great time swimming in the tiny, freezing cold pool, eating tasty food, enjoying watching a storm over the lake and then going on a guided walk once the weather had cleared up. We had such a fun day and loved getting off the school site to have some refreshment and rest time.
We've now just got a day until the kids arrive. Please pray it all goes smoothly. Pray for the new staff to settle quickly - to get over culture shock and to love every minute of life here. Pray for the pupils and parents too - 3 pupils have pulled out at the last minute and won't reapply until after the elections in March 2013 (last elections were very bloody and led to many Kenyan deaths as well as pupils and staff leaving the school / country). We have no idea how much the elections will impact the school but we have developed a real love for this country and would love you to pray for protection over the next 12 months.
Right, I think that's enough for now but keep in touch and know we miss you and love you,
D & R
xxx
We arrived back to school just over a week ago and here's a taster of what we've been up to...
We arrived into Nairobi at 3.45am on Thursday last week and after having dealt with immigration etc we set off for Turi in a taxi at around 4.30am. It was a beautiful drive and we felt so happy to be back in this beautiful country (though Rach was unconscious for much of it...) It was fun though having a Christian radio station playing for the whole 3 and a half hour journey - occasionally Rach woke up to a beautiful Rift Valley view and the of 'In Christ Alone' -what a lovely way to be welcomed back into this wonderful place.
We unpacked and set up our new house that day and on the Friday, whilst also meeting the new staff and trying to help people feel welcomed and not too daunted. We've met some wonderful people over the last week and are really looking forward to working with and spending time with the new staff. We have a fantastic new music teacher in our department and are looking forward to really pushing on the department and making music more of a thing in the school.
The main thing that's taken up all our time since being back, however, is Junior Girls - the boarding house we're taking over. We've spent many days sorting all the admin work to prepare for the girls' arrival on Sunday and are pleased that it now looks good and like a fun place to stay! We've renamed the rooms after ice cream flavours and the colours of the walls match up with the dorm name.
Whilst it doesn't sound like a huge amount of work... many things have slowed down the work. Broken printers, ICT problems and changes at the last minute of who's joining the dorm and where exactly they should sleep have all meant that the work has been done, scrapped, redone and then scrapped and redone again... BUT we think we've got there now and are excited not just to be doing admin anymore but actually meeting all the kids on Sunday and acting out our roles as houseparents. (Please pray for us... this is all very new!)
We did managed to get away for Rachel's birthday on Monday temporarily though, which was something to look forward to. After tasty birthday breakfast with friends we went to Sunbird Lodge, which is on a lake just over an hour's drive from the school - http://www.sunbirdkenya.com/pages/index.html - we had a great time swimming in the tiny, freezing cold pool, eating tasty food, enjoying watching a storm over the lake and then going on a guided walk once the weather had cleared up. We had such a fun day and loved getting off the school site to have some refreshment and rest time.
We've now just got a day until the kids arrive. Please pray it all goes smoothly. Pray for the new staff to settle quickly - to get over culture shock and to love every minute of life here. Pray for the pupils and parents too - 3 pupils have pulled out at the last minute and won't reapply until after the elections in March 2013 (last elections were very bloody and led to many Kenyan deaths as well as pupils and staff leaving the school / country). We have no idea how much the elections will impact the school but we have developed a real love for this country and would love you to pray for protection over the next 12 months.
Right, I think that's enough for now but keep in touch and know we miss you and love you,
D & R
xxx
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Hi all,
Just wanted to give you an update on what we've been up to lately...
We made it through the first year! After a very busy end of term with ABRSM exams, a little illness (exhaustion mostly and colds due to the rainy season) and packing up and moving our house, we headed off to Egypt for a couple of days seeing pyramids, climbing mount Sinai, quad biking and snorkelling in the Red Sea. We had an amazing time and would love to return there one day as the country, though it's reputation isn't great at the mo, is beautiful with so much history and so much to see and do.
We then arrived in the UK and since then have enjoyed time in Nottingham, Manchester, London, Aylesbury and Edinburgh. We've been trying to catch up with as many people as possible whilst also catching some of the Olympics matches - some volleyball at Earl's Court and the football semifinal at Old Trafford. We're so sorry if we haven't managed to fit you in much time or at all, but we will be back again soon - bringing 20 children to London at the beginning of December... so if you'd like to see us we're more than happy for you to help out with the trip!!!
We return to Kenya on 22nd August and have a lot to do before term starts again - sorting out the boarding house, our house and the Music Department so that they're all up and running before the kids arrive. Please pray that we won't already be exhausted by the time school restarts... It's a long term and jam packed with new things so we need a lot of enthusiasm right through to the end of the school trip on December 16th...
We'll update this again once we're back at school but we hope you enjoy the rest of the good summery weather and hope to hear from you soon,
Love Rach and Dan
xxx
Just wanted to give you an update on what we've been up to lately...
We made it through the first year! After a very busy end of term with ABRSM exams, a little illness (exhaustion mostly and colds due to the rainy season) and packing up and moving our house, we headed off to Egypt for a couple of days seeing pyramids, climbing mount Sinai, quad biking and snorkelling in the Red Sea. We had an amazing time and would love to return there one day as the country, though it's reputation isn't great at the mo, is beautiful with so much history and so much to see and do.
We then arrived in the UK and since then have enjoyed time in Nottingham, Manchester, London, Aylesbury and Edinburgh. We've been trying to catch up with as many people as possible whilst also catching some of the Olympics matches - some volleyball at Earl's Court and the football semifinal at Old Trafford. We're so sorry if we haven't managed to fit you in much time or at all, but we will be back again soon - bringing 20 children to London at the beginning of December... so if you'd like to see us we're more than happy for you to help out with the trip!!!
We return to Kenya on 22nd August and have a lot to do before term starts again - sorting out the boarding house, our house and the Music Department so that they're all up and running before the kids arrive. Please pray that we won't already be exhausted by the time school restarts... It's a long term and jam packed with new things so we need a lot of enthusiasm right through to the end of the school trip on December 16th...
We'll update this again once we're back at school but we hope you enjoy the rest of the good summery weather and hope to hear from you soon,
Love Rach and Dan
xxx
Saturday, 5 May 2012
May 2012
Hey all,
Hope you're all well. Would love to hear your news as we're feeling less and less in touch with what's going on in the UK.
We're excited that it's only about eleven weeks til we'll be back in England though, catching up with friendly faces again.
So what have we been up to lately? We had a fab holiday with Rach's mum and sister seeing lots of animals in Tsavo Safari Park and then heading to the coast for some chill time. It was lovely to see Lynda and John Blakeley and Sam Boyes and catch up on what they'd been doing at Education for Life for the last couple of months. We also spent a couple of days in Nairobi, which we've grown pretty fond of lately, shopping and visiting some lovely touristy attractions as well as enjoying a church service at Karen Vineyard Church.
Since then we've been back and working pretty hard. On top of all the teaching and school duties we've decided to organise a music trip for yr 7 and 8 to London in December to see musicals, a splash of ballet and orchestras as well as doing the necessary London Eye, O2 arena and London Dungeons. This week has been spent making budgets, posters and a letter for parents, so now we're waiting to find out about uptake.
Next weekend's VISO, when the parents flock from all over the world to see their children. Many will be performing their ABRSM grade pieces to prepare them for their exams and we're also doing a fundraising concert for the school's charity Turi Children's Project - http://turichildrensproject.com/ It should be an enjoyable weekend, though please be thinking of us - it's rainy season at the mo and the showers can be extreme. The parents and kids generally camp on the field and as it's a joint concert and chapel service between the 2 schools, it's all in marquees as no hall is big enough for everyone. Please pray we won't all get soaked as it could make the weekend very miserable!
Rachel's string group are looking forward to a trip to Nairobi to play in a music festival at a British school in the city at the end of half term, whilst Dan may get a samba group together to perform there too. We're looking forward to half term break when we're taking a group of year 7s to Zanzibar - an island off Tanzania. We're not organising the trip as it's a history trip but are very pleased to be the chosen staff. After that we'll pop to the coast again and then back to start the last half term, in which all children will take end of year exams and about half the pupils will be doing at least one ABRSM exam - all in a 4 week half term. Then to the UK!
Anyway that's all for now. Do let us know when you're free over the summer so we can catch up, and hope to see you in July, August at some point
Much love,
D and R
xx
Hope you're all well. Would love to hear your news as we're feeling less and less in touch with what's going on in the UK.
We're excited that it's only about eleven weeks til we'll be back in England though, catching up with friendly faces again.
So what have we been up to lately? We had a fab holiday with Rach's mum and sister seeing lots of animals in Tsavo Safari Park and then heading to the coast for some chill time. It was lovely to see Lynda and John Blakeley and Sam Boyes and catch up on what they'd been doing at Education for Life for the last couple of months. We also spent a couple of days in Nairobi, which we've grown pretty fond of lately, shopping and visiting some lovely touristy attractions as well as enjoying a church service at Karen Vineyard Church.
Since then we've been back and working pretty hard. On top of all the teaching and school duties we've decided to organise a music trip for yr 7 and 8 to London in December to see musicals, a splash of ballet and orchestras as well as doing the necessary London Eye, O2 arena and London Dungeons. This week has been spent making budgets, posters and a letter for parents, so now we're waiting to find out about uptake.
Next weekend's VISO, when the parents flock from all over the world to see their children. Many will be performing their ABRSM grade pieces to prepare them for their exams and we're also doing a fundraising concert for the school's charity Turi Children's Project - http://turichildrensproject.com/ It should be an enjoyable weekend, though please be thinking of us - it's rainy season at the mo and the showers can be extreme. The parents and kids generally camp on the field and as it's a joint concert and chapel service between the 2 schools, it's all in marquees as no hall is big enough for everyone. Please pray we won't all get soaked as it could make the weekend very miserable!
Rachel's string group are looking forward to a trip to Nairobi to play in a music festival at a British school in the city at the end of half term, whilst Dan may get a samba group together to perform there too. We're looking forward to half term break when we're taking a group of year 7s to Zanzibar - an island off Tanzania. We're not organising the trip as it's a history trip but are very pleased to be the chosen staff. After that we'll pop to the coast again and then back to start the last half term, in which all children will take end of year exams and about half the pupils will be doing at least one ABRSM exam - all in a 4 week half term. Then to the UK!
Anyway that's all for now. Do let us know when you're free over the summer so we can catch up, and hope to see you in July, August at some point
Much love,
D and R
xx
Saturday, 24 March 2012
Latest news...
Hi all,
Just a little update of all that's been going on this end...
We have one week to go until the end of Easter term and are looking forward to a wonderful holiday with Rachel's mum and sister showing them around the school, spending a bit of time in Nairobi and also spending a week at the coast in Mombasa after a two day safari in Tsavo national park.
This term's been pretty busy with lots of musical events, busy duty weekends, guide camp and cub camp, but we've almost got through it now. We're looking forward to a very strange school event this week called 'Dinky Safari', for which all the children have made cars that they take around the site, through the swimming pool, teachers' gardens, obstacle courses and mud baths... V surreal but should be fun!
We've finally had our positions confirmed for next year and Dan will become Head of Music and we will become house parents for Junior girls - years 1 - 6. We are looking forward to all of these things, though will be very busy. On top of all of this Dan will also be doing a PGCE international at Nottingham University and Rachel will play a juggling act working at Senior School whilst she should also be at Prep school doing house parent duties... Could be interesting!
Anyway, I think that's our main news for now. We're looking forward to catching up with the Blakeleys in Mombasa over Easter, as well as hopefully swimming with dolphins and resting a LOT!
Hope to catch up with you all soon.
Happy Easter and lots of love,
Rach and Dan xx
Just a little update of all that's been going on this end...
We have one week to go until the end of Easter term and are looking forward to a wonderful holiday with Rachel's mum and sister showing them around the school, spending a bit of time in Nairobi and also spending a week at the coast in Mombasa after a two day safari in Tsavo national park.
This term's been pretty busy with lots of musical events, busy duty weekends, guide camp and cub camp, but we've almost got through it now. We're looking forward to a very strange school event this week called 'Dinky Safari', for which all the children have made cars that they take around the site, through the swimming pool, teachers' gardens, obstacle courses and mud baths... V surreal but should be fun!
We've finally had our positions confirmed for next year and Dan will become Head of Music and we will become house parents for Junior girls - years 1 - 6. We are looking forward to all of these things, though will be very busy. On top of all of this Dan will also be doing a PGCE international at Nottingham University and Rachel will play a juggling act working at Senior School whilst she should also be at Prep school doing house parent duties... Could be interesting!
Anyway, I think that's our main news for now. We're looking forward to catching up with the Blakeleys in Mombasa over Easter, as well as hopefully swimming with dolphins and resting a LOT!
Hope to catch up with you all soon.
Happy Easter and lots of love,
Rach and Dan xx
Monday, 20 February 2012
Back to school :o)
Hi all,
Hope you're all well and still enjoying reading our news. School restarted this week for the second half of Easter term, which sounds like it will be action-packed but filled with fun too. We're looking forward to taking 25 of our junior choir (years 3 and 4) on a trip to Nairobi to sing in a music festival in just over a week's time. Rachel will be going on another guide camp, and we are also looking forward to performing in the school's production of 'Toad in the Hole'... a version of 'Wind in the Willows' in a couple of weeks, all before Rachel's mum and sister arrive in about 6 week's time. (Please sort out your injections mum and Marian!)
We've had a wonderful week getting to know Nairobi, being proper tourists in the big city. We visited an elephant orphanage, Karen Blixen coffee gardens and some awesome bead and clothing factories. The highlights really though were going to a Vineyard church where we met some lovely people outside of the school bubble and eating out - a treat we cannot really have here as all the local cafes only serve chapatis and tea...
After that we returned home briefly and headed off to the Mara - 5 hours on roads that you'd probably not consider roads in England... The big hotels refuse to re-do the roads as they make more money if you fly in, which a lot of people do and you see planes landing fairly frequently - pretty cool!
We survived the journey though and had a wonderful time with some friends from school. We saw all the big 5 (elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo) and also 40 hippos - cute but dangerous! We celebrated our friend Jonny's 18th birthday there and loved every minute of the safari.
Now we're back to the real world for a bit but looking forward to this term and all the challenges we have ahead.
Hope you're all well and hope to hear from you soon,
Love Rach and Dan xx
Hope you're all well and still enjoying reading our news. School restarted this week for the second half of Easter term, which sounds like it will be action-packed but filled with fun too. We're looking forward to taking 25 of our junior choir (years 3 and 4) on a trip to Nairobi to sing in a music festival in just over a week's time. Rachel will be going on another guide camp, and we are also looking forward to performing in the school's production of 'Toad in the Hole'... a version of 'Wind in the Willows' in a couple of weeks, all before Rachel's mum and sister arrive in about 6 week's time. (Please sort out your injections mum and Marian!)
We've had a wonderful week getting to know Nairobi, being proper tourists in the big city. We visited an elephant orphanage, Karen Blixen coffee gardens and some awesome bead and clothing factories. The highlights really though were going to a Vineyard church where we met some lovely people outside of the school bubble and eating out - a treat we cannot really have here as all the local cafes only serve chapatis and tea...
After that we returned home briefly and headed off to the Mara - 5 hours on roads that you'd probably not consider roads in England... The big hotels refuse to re-do the roads as they make more money if you fly in, which a lot of people do and you see planes landing fairly frequently - pretty cool!
We survived the journey though and had a wonderful time with some friends from school. We saw all the big 5 (elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo) and also 40 hippos - cute but dangerous! We celebrated our friend Jonny's 18th birthday there and loved every minute of the safari.
Now we're back to the real world for a bit but looking forward to this term and all the challenges we have ahead.
Hope you're all well and hope to hear from you soon,
Love Rach and Dan xx
Friday, 10 February 2012
February's update...
Hey all :)
Hope you're all well. We've had a hectic but rewarding half term, and are starting the break today, looking forward to some rest. The weeks have whizzed by with many many competitions, activities and slightly strange events, but the most important one was the Interhouse Song Competition which our house - 'Elgon' won. We worked pretty hard with the kids - learning harmonies and lots of words and actions, so felt very pleased when our kids won the trophy for best house song. If you want to watch the video it's on Rachel's facebook page for those who have access to that.
We're enjoying the dry season here at school at the moment - no rain since just before Christmas means the school is very dry, a bit dusty, and the grass has all pretty much turned to straw. It gets pretty hot during the days but due to absolutely no clouds in the sky, the moon and stars completely light the sky at night and we've had frost on the ground and car a lot, which is odd when you need to layer up the sun cream during the daytime.
We hope the snow's not been too frustrating for you all in England. I think it's caused a bit of chaos with travel as per normal, but I hope you've stayed safe and cosy in the chilly weather.
So it's half term and we're off to Nairobi for a couple of days to go exploring. We're looking forward to getting to know the capital city a bit more and getting our bearings. On Tuesday we return to school for a day at home before heading to the Masai Mara to (hopefully) see lions! We're going with some other teachers from the school and are really looking forward to seeing another part of Kenya.
Afraid we don't have much more to report other than that we miss you and love hearing from you. Thanks for the prayer support and encouraging words regarding changes to our jobs next year. We should find out in the next month what we'll be doing next year so we'll let you know when we know.
Lots of love and keep in touch
D and R xx
Hope you're all well. We've had a hectic but rewarding half term, and are starting the break today, looking forward to some rest. The weeks have whizzed by with many many competitions, activities and slightly strange events, but the most important one was the Interhouse Song Competition which our house - 'Elgon' won. We worked pretty hard with the kids - learning harmonies and lots of words and actions, so felt very pleased when our kids won the trophy for best house song. If you want to watch the video it's on Rachel's facebook page for those who have access to that.
We're enjoying the dry season here at school at the moment - no rain since just before Christmas means the school is very dry, a bit dusty, and the grass has all pretty much turned to straw. It gets pretty hot during the days but due to absolutely no clouds in the sky, the moon and stars completely light the sky at night and we've had frost on the ground and car a lot, which is odd when you need to layer up the sun cream during the daytime.
We hope the snow's not been too frustrating for you all in England. I think it's caused a bit of chaos with travel as per normal, but I hope you've stayed safe and cosy in the chilly weather.
So it's half term and we're off to Nairobi for a couple of days to go exploring. We're looking forward to getting to know the capital city a bit more and getting our bearings. On Tuesday we return to school for a day at home before heading to the Masai Mara to (hopefully) see lions! We're going with some other teachers from the school and are really looking forward to seeing another part of Kenya.
Afraid we don't have much more to report other than that we miss you and love hearing from you. Thanks for the prayer support and encouraging words regarding changes to our jobs next year. We should find out in the next month what we'll be doing next year so we'll let you know when we know.
Lots of love and keep in touch
D and R xx
Monday, 16 January 2012
Happy New Year
Dear all,
We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying 2012 so far. It was lovely to hear news from some of you over the holiday via skype, email or snail mail. We're very impressed that some post arrived here all the way from the UK and USA... sometimes the postal service really does work!
Anyway, we're back at school after a wonderful time off. We enjoyed visiting our friends Sam and Jonny in Mombasa before they finished their time with 'Education for Life'. We spent 3 days with them in Tsavo National Park, being chased at by elephants, entertained by baboons and warthogs, and sadly seeing as many T-Rexs and we did lions, leopard and cheetahs... We had a fab time there though - the animals really were incredible.
We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying 2012 so far. It was lovely to hear news from some of you over the holiday via skype, email or snail mail. We're very impressed that some post arrived here all the way from the UK and USA... sometimes the postal service really does work!
Anyway, we're back at school after a wonderful time off. We enjoyed visiting our friends Sam and Jonny in Mombasa before they finished their time with 'Education for Life'. We spent 3 days with them in Tsavo National Park, being chased at by elephants, entertained by baboons and warthogs, and sadly seeing as many T-Rexs and we did lions, leopard and cheetahs... We had a fab time there though - the animals really were incredible.
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| Three-headed giraffe?! |
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| The elephant was checking us out, trying to work out how to get rid of us as we were in its way... |
After Tsavo we spent a couple of days around Mombasa. It was really insteresting to see a completely different side to Kenya. Mombasa is HOT! We really aren't used to it at Turi - yes it gets hot but it's dry heat and at night it's pretty cold here. We always need our duvet here and fire on at night but in Mombasa we barely slept due to the unending humidity. We loved exploring there though, and are looking forward to going back to the coast with Rachel's mum and sister in April.
We spent Christmas at school with other members of the staff community here. It was different from normal as lunch was served outside in a marquee, but we had a really special day with friends and felt very blessed to be in such a beautiful place. We enjoyed leading the worship at the staff carol service and on Christmas day, and then eating tasty turkey, roast potatoes and even brussel sprouts (£8 a bag...) with friends.
On Boxing Day, Dan's family arrived and spent 10 days with us, visiting the school, Lake Naivasha and Lake Baringo. We re-did Christmas and then had a wonderful time showing them places we've got to know over the last few months. I think a definite highlight was staying in a hotel where you have to be escorted to dinner and back because hippos graze around the cottages. We got very close to them!
We went to Hell's Gat National Park with them, where we enjoyed a cycle safari and gorge walk. It was pretty hot there though and the cycling on the way back - which was all up-hill - was a bit of a struggle for all of us.
Another highlight of the trip has to be New Year's eve, when we were staying at a tented camp which had a Christian disco... V. surreal seeing people dancing to funked up versions of Christian songs, and our favourits lines from one of the songs has got to be 'Shake that booty that Jesus gave you, Shake it in the name of the Lord...'! Not sure those lyrics are hugely Bible based but it was pretty funny!
On Boxing Day, Dan's family arrived and spent 10 days with us, visiting the school, Lake Naivasha and Lake Baringo. We re-did Christmas and then had a wonderful time showing them places we've got to know over the last few months. I think a definite highlight was staying in a hotel where you have to be escorted to dinner and back because hippos graze around the cottages. We got very close to them!Another highlight of the trip has to be New Year's eve, when we were staying at a tented camp which had a Christian disco... V. surreal seeing people dancing to funked up versions of Christian songs, and our favourits lines from one of the songs has got to be 'Shake that booty that Jesus gave you, Shake it in the name of the Lord...'! Not sure those lyrics are hugely Bible based but it was pretty funny!
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| Have you ever seen so many flamingoes?! |
We're now back at school, having had a fairly intense first week back preparing for house singing, ABRSM exams and re-adjusting to boarding life. Our friends who have been working here for more than a year have had to give in notices of resignation or confirmation of them staying now, which has given us more of an idea of whether our jobs will stay the same or change next year. It'd be lovely to know that people in England are praying for us for wisdom of what to take on next year. We'd like to be house parents but it's pretty full-on, so wisdom would be really helpful...
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A pretty cool African sunset Please let us know how you're doing back in England and across the world. We miss our friends and family lots and would love to hear your news. We're already planning our trip to the UK in the summer so watch this space... God bless and hopefully hear from you soon! Dan and Rach x |
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