Weekend Off & SIPS

Sorry for the recent lack of news. I wrote a valentines day entry but I haven't been able to get it up until now.

Last weekend was my weekend off for this term and I went to Dakar with most of the other new staff (as in those who weren't here last year).

We had a great time and it was really good to get away from the school for a few days. I ate a lot of good food and spent a lot of time on the internet (they have broadband at the WEC guesthouse in Dakar). Unfortunately I had my mp3 player stolen from my bag on Monday. At one of the boutiques we stopped at one of the men informed me that my bag was open and when I checked it I knew immediately that it was missing as it was the pocket where I always kept it and had put it that morning.

Nevertheless it was a great weekend and I'm adjusting to not having portable music; at least now I can play music on my laptop (I downloaded a lot of software on the weekend).

It's the Senegalese national elections this weekend so we won't be travelling off the compound at all just to be on the safe side. Some of our weekly borders have stayed over the weekend for safety's sake as their parents requested that they could stay here rather than being at home in Dakar/Thies.

Next week is SIPS, the major sporting event of the BCS calendar. We'll be travelling to Dakar on Wednesday where we'll be competing against international schools from all over Senegal in athletics, football and volleyball. We don't usually win much but it's great fun and an excellent opportunity to get to know parents better and to be a good Christian witness as a school. The kids get to run in the national stadium! They're all very excited.

We've had a lot of injuries over the last few weeks and still more people coming down ill in the last few days. Fortunately we received news yeaterday that one of my dorm boys will be able to run despite having a hand in plaster. He was delighted. We would all appreciate your prayers that no-one else gets injured and we all stay healthy over this exciting and important time in the BCS calendar.