Summa Summa Summa Tiiime

Long ago, when your friend and humble narrator was just a wee lass, the prospect of summer brought with it a intoxicatingly sweet taste of freedom.

So intoxicating, in fact, that little Kelsey often lost focus in class and became even more scatter-brained than normal (Remember, Mom? Thanks for putting up with me!).

I'd forgotten just how overwhelming the approach of summer can be.


That is, until all of my students seemed to develop a very serious case of seasonal ADMAFLAYDUID.

Oh, sorry, in layman's terms that stands for...

Attention Deficit Miss Aicha, For the Love of Allah, You're Driving Us Insane Disorder.




Nothing is more ego-deflating than when your students find a piece of mouse poop on their desk to be more entertaining than you.  While all other classes had long since finished their coursework, I met with Terminale students right up until their national exams.  It was tantamount to an extra 30 days of torture for some. 

Then again, it was a necessary move, considering the national exams were moved up by a whole month.  Normally scheduled for late June/early July, the national Brevet was held May 27-June 1st, followed by the Baccalaureat June 6th-10th.  In order to allow the regional department of education ample time to prepare test sites and materials, this meant that all our grades and review sessions had to be launched into warp-speed so they could be finished by the first week of May.  In the midst of all this chaos however, both students and teachers maintained a surprisingly positive attitude.  I was slightly more frazzled, but then again, I'm the newbie. 

Here's a cartoon I doodled in my journal, which I think aptly captures my sentiments towards the end of April...

But hey!  They finished their exams and now we're all free for a few* blissful months!

* a few = June, July, August and September

What am I going to do with all the free time?

First things first, we're planning training sessions for the incoming stage.  My responsibilities include reworking the TEFL program into 9 sessions for our math and science teachers.  Since most everyone, regardless of their primary job description, winds up teaching English in some capacity at their site, we want to offer a basic introduction to language instruction and materials design.

Never thought I'd be doing this but, truth be told, I'm eating it up!




After training I'll be heading back to site for a few weeks and also training for the 1st Annual Tour de Fouta.


What's the Tour de Fouta?



Well, instead of France, we have the mountainous and beautiful and (partially) paved Fouta Jallon.


Instead of French, we have... okay, so that's the same.


Instead of Lance Armstrong, we have Geoff and Ben, and Carlos and Shane - our resident biking fiend duos.


Instead of steroids, we have Jus-Jus packets to add that extra little kick to our filtered and bleached well water.



While I will not be competing in the race from Mamou to Labe (some 144 km), I will be riding at a more leisurely pace with another volunteer throughout the 2 day tour.


Wish me luck!