Back to School

Everyone in our family was anxious for school. This is new. As parents we have always looked forward to the girls going back to school. And yes, some reasons were quite selfish. Better quality time at work, a quiet house during the day. But also we knew that our girls have always enjoyed school (apart from the occasional contrary remark). They enjoy their friends. They enjoy their teachers. They enjoy learning. But they love the school break too. Summer in North America meant playing every day with friends or visiting family and taking vacations to fun places or swimming at the Janzen’s pool. So they are usually unhappy at the prospect of regimented school life.

It took a month of being around the house here in our compound in the midst of the rainy season to bring our girls to the conclusion that they too wanted school to start. So our whole family was counting down the days until August 20.

We met the teachers and we met the director (principal) prior to the first day of school and enjoyed our meetings with Miss Root (Summer Root is the 4th Grade teacher for Amani and Abby who hails from California), with Miss Long (Clare Long is Sophia’s 3rd Grade teacher from Surrey, England) and with Mr. Overton (Murray Overton is the principal from New Zealand). Bingham Academy feels like any private Christian school in North America although the classroom demographics are wonderfully diverse. Nations represented are Canada, U.S., New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Germany and other European nations as well as children of diplomats from African countries. Finally there are a number of adopted Ethiopian children to western parents who look Ethiopian but act and speak very western. Our girls have made friends quickly (photos to follow in the future).

So after 2 weeks of school, in spite of one fractured wrist scare (yes, Amani was hit by a dodgeball on Friday, August 24 and we were called to the school. We took the precaution of going to a clinic where a doctor saw her, ordered x-rays and the next day it was determined that there was no fracture, all normal) and with an open house on Thursday night, we are all feeling good about the start overall. In fact the twins are going to a birthday party this morning. One of their new friends invited them and we are going to find a bowling alley somewhere in downtown Addis (I’m getting better every day at directions), where the party is. Making friends heals the pain of loss (though not completely).

What I like about Bingham Academy is that they have a good director in place, they use the Cambridge curriculum and they add a distinctly Christian flavor. All students must memorize Bible verses and learn about the Bible in class. I am happy to say that all our girls are learning their Bible verses well here at the start. There are also some extracurriculars as well, such as ballet, gymnastics and Tai Kwon Do (a martial art). The twins are signed up for gymnastics and Sophia wanted to try Tai Kwon Do. This means a later day for the girls (and us). We’re back to school!