Returning the the Blogger World

I return. I have felt guilty for not recording all the amazing things that I have experienced over the last year, and though no one really reads this blog besides my sister Jenny, I thought it might relieve some of the guilt just to get it out there.
This is a new school year! We are about 6 weeks in, and I am beginning to see some amazing things, as well as a few discouraging things. I am still teaching at Samuel Fels High School http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/f/fels/ - and I am really enjoying it. I like our principal, the staff is fantastic, and I have amazing students.

I am sorry I have been absent for so long. I now live in Philadelphia, and I teach at an inner city high school in North Philly. I work at a brand new school, which is very nice, and I have a smart board to work with now! I live in a pretty nice house, and I have already planted a garden, which was destroyed by a heavy rainstorm hours later. Life has been hectic lately, and I feel very detached from the impending doom of having dozens of students whose names I will need to learn and for whose education I will be responsible. I work at an empowerment school, which means that it has not been performing well for so long, we are being watched like hawks, and tested and retested to be sure we are improving- and we are not. I also teach 11th grade, which is the grade that is tested the most, so I will be watched a lot. So I hope this goes well. I appreciate any comments. Talk to you soon

This video is amzing to me, I really love all the different places it shows.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Traditional Ethiopian food, dinner at a friend's house, a bunch of us at church, and my friend Yonas, right before we left.

Friends in Debre Zeit

These are the kids from our church group in Debre Zeit. We all went to the lake and had a great time. Above, are Tamrat, Fikado, and Tesfai, and left is Anduelem.

This is of our neighbor kids singing for the end of the Fasting season. The chorus is about blessing us, and for the verse, they make up their on the spot something about you. It is pretty neat, though it is not free; their version of trick or treat provides that you give them money for their song.

These are camels we saw on the way out to Bekkejjo. Also, a neighbor boy, and a kid that helped us in the village where we worked.

It rained like crazy in Ude, as yuo can see how high the water was. This other picture is of Ayelkephet, and his brother, on whose farm we installed the water pump.

These are also in Ude, it was beautiful there, and these boys taught me the alphabet and numbers in Oromipha