Yes, all in one week! Power outages have been worse than usual, sometimes only a few hours of electricity in a whole 24 hour period. We're told it has to do with lack of water due to not enough rain, but we don't believe that's all there is to it. It does, however, make us pray more fervently for rain! (Even as I wrote that, the power went off briefly!)
On Tuesday, Joanna got word that inspectors from the gov't would be coming to inspect the college the next 2 days. She asked me if I'd go with her and them if we made a trip to Karanse on Thursday. I readily agreed. The rest of the week I was planning to help William in his 4-year old preschool class, and I was also asked to look in on the student teachers here at JTTC for a couple of observations, group work, some work on planning lessons for next week, etc. Along with 2 meetngs and some essays to grade, it sounded like a well-planned week. How long have I been here and should have known better?! The inspectors did indeed come on Wednesday morning, just after I dropped my car off at our base garage for an oil change and general check-up (it had been making some extra noises and seemed rougher than normal) and just as I walked into William's class, Joanna appeared saying, "Can you go to Karanse...now?!" Sure enough, the inspectors wanted to see our students at their training school using our curriculum and talk with them about our course. So, we jumped in the car with the 3 inspectors and took the hour and a half trip to Karanse where I got to surprise our students. They were wonderfully candid and articulate with the inspectors, then pulled me aside to ask me "mentor questions" they hadn't thought it appropriate to ask in front of the inspectors. After much too short a time, we were on our way again.
When we got back to base, I noticed my car was still in the garage, and since it was about 4:30 by then, that didn't seem like a good sign. Sure enough, the mechanic came to my house and asked me to come to the garage. My right front wheel was off, and there were what appeared to be random car parts lying around on the garage floor. One of the mechanics picked up a piece and sort of waved it around. I said, "OK. What is that, what does it do, where should it be?" It turned out my shocks were badly worn, something about a gearbox, rotors, alignment; anyway, 3 days and about $500 later, I got my car back. Thankfully, I get paid milage/maintenance for the use of my car, since I drive it on mentor trips to and from Karanse twice a month. I didn't have all of that on hand, but I know it's coming, so I can pay myself back over the next few weeks.
This coming week the plan is for the students to teach all week in the classes they have been observing, and for us mentors to watch them. I am looking forward to that, as it's our first real look at the progress of them after all this time. More on that next time!
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