Observations | Travel, Volleyball, Unforseen Expenses

BOYS’ DEAN’S OFFICE – It’s Wednesday already?

I do believe I’ve settled into the daily rhythm of being a dean. The days all blend together, and there’s usually not a lot of different things going on (which is my excuse for why I don’t update the blog as much). However, I do have…

…3 observations from the last few days.

1. My future Kenyan travel might be getting ripped off. I realized a few days ago that the Maxwell faculty that enjoy exploring the country on weekends – the Thomas’, the Hartzells, and my student missionary peers – are on the opposite supervision weekend as me. The supervision team that I’m on includes faculty members that are old, non-adventurous, or have young kids, so weekends are “laid back.” Therefore, when they make fun plans of going here for this weekend or doing this that weekend, I am left at Maxwell, enjoying the company of students¡ How wonderful!
   
   Add to this the recent topic of discussion at my first Ad Council: MAA campouts. Usually, the school does three throughout the year: Masai Mara (arguably, the most famous game park in the world), Amboselli (where elephants run amuck and Kilimanjaro towers in the background), and Mt. Kenya (the hike that students and faculty alike must train for early Sunday mornings). The SMs are automatically slated to go on any or all they want, so that’s awesome.
   
   The problem is supervision. To make a complex crisis simple, it’s basically we don’t have enough. So after about an hour of discussion, they decided (because I didn’t want this) to cut the Amboselli trip and require the Masai Mara trip for the kids. They either go home or go on the trip, and then 2 faculty families will stay, just in case. So I lose that trip! And I have the feeling that no one on my supervision team will want to make up the trip. BLAST!
   
   
2. I suck at volleyball. How is it that the intramurals director is probably the crappiest athlete that the African continent has every seen? Right now, I’m on a 6-maan volleyball team, and we usually do all right... as long as I don’t get near the ball. Then, people run for cover, mothers grab their screaming children, and dogs howl, sensing the apparent danger.
   
   At least I have the chance to pull a first this year. I haven’t found one student that is crazy about flagball. Maybe this is the year I win a game…
   
   
3. You know how when you walk into Wal-Mart, you have just a small list, and you go in saying “Ok, just what’s on the list, nothing more,” and you come out an hour later with like $40 worth of crap you didn’t need in the first place, but you saw it and said, “Well maybe I do need a new frying pan” so you got it and now you don’t have enough money to go on another week? Yeah, that happens in Africa, too. So yesterday, before I left for town, I stopped by the main office and picked up an extra 2,000/-, just in case I saw something I just had to have. But I decided to save what I had and just fill up on the few items on my grocery list.
   
   Our first place we headed was Village Market, an outdoor shopping mall that puts Lincoln’s South Pointe to shame. It’s literally the most “normal,” western-styled place I’ve been in during the last month. While temptations lurked around every corner, I stayed strong, only spending 160/- on a large Mocha. And c’mon, I think I earned a cup’o’joe, right?
   
   After getting stuck in a traffic jam with every Kenyan who owned a car, we finally made it to Nakumatt, our only other stop of the afternoon. I walked in with my little list of groceries I needed: Ramen, tuna, some Coke, and some folder dividers.
   
   Half an hour and 3,000/- (US$40) later, I walked out with two sacks full of stuff I will most likely be eating for the next month. Did I really need mini-Twix bars? Or sliced cheese? Or a $5 bottle of teriyaki sauce? Probably not. But hey, I should be able to feed myself well for a while, now. Like, I don’t know, a week?

Nothing much else has been going on here. I struggled with some “political” issues at the beginning of the week, but thanks to an encouraging email from a friend, I am refreshed, ready to go at it again. Thanks for all your prayers at home. Miss you guys a bunch. Please email me!

-Chris