C'est fini

This week I finished at school. I gave all my students back their final tests. I showed them all their grades. I returned my copies of the teaching texts. I passed out little business cards I made to all the other teachers, since I knew they would all demand my “contact”. I even trashed the eight notebooks I had filled with two years worth of lesson plans. And that’s that. Two years of teaching done. No more standing ovations each time I step into a classroom. No more having to hold up my hand and count down from five when the students get too rowdy (I never reached one, and I still have no idea what would have happened if I had). No more getting so angry with my fellow teachers about their inappropriate (in my opinion) behavior, that all I can muster the strength to do is storm off to my house. But also no more teaching sixty kids the Hokey Pokey, or laughing when they declare, “Madame! Jou are LUCKY!”

School finished just in time, as the rains really started doing their thing last week. Since over half the classes at our school are held in corrugated tin lean-tos, rain during class means canceling class. I love the rain here. I was just thinking about how weird cold rain seems now. I’ve really gotten used to expecting a relieving downpour at the end of an especially hot day. However, the rains also mean that we are really in the month of July, which means that my time in Benin is nearing an end.

I’ve never been a big fan of closing out big experiences with a list of ways in which one has changed. If the experience was important and big enough, there’s no way to sum it up in a list, or a paragraph, or even a blog. From what I know (which granted is not too much), big things will continue to affect and change a person for many years. Therefore, I will spare us all from any sort of attempt at soul-searching. Mostly, for those of you that will see me when I come home, just be prepared to not find coherent or summarizing responses when you ask me questions. I’m still just figuring it all out.

That being said, I am looking forward to coming home and sharing my photos, my stories, etc, with anyone who will listen. (Did I mention that I’ll be back in the USA around July 20th?)

But I guess I should back up. I’m not home yet, or even extremely close: there are still around three weeks left, all of which will be spent showing Benin off to my parents. They arrive tonight. I’m not the only one excited; all of Tobre has been revving themselves up for weeks about their visit. And their visit will most likely merit its own blog post.