The end is in sight

I must admit that I am feeling that I am just plain terrible at this whole keeping updated on the blog thing. My old line used be that at least I was posting more often than Becky but now that she's started her new one-a-day blog that's just not something I can rely on anymore.

So, this end of the year has been hectic. Seniors graduated not too long ago. It was nice to be able to get rid of them early but they were getting idle towards the end and I was certainly ready to be rid of them. Graduation itself was interesting. During the baccalaureate service the students wore traditional dress which ranged from lederhosen to kilts to sombreros to loincloths. I would have snapped some pictures but would have just ended up feeling dirty. The graduation ceremony was nice. The guest speaker was very good and had a nice message in his speech. The most surreal part of the day was the 'wailing wall.' The seniors all line up on the ramp coming down from the high school and everyone greets them as they go down. There was a lot of tears. Literally, one student left a big wet spot on my shoulder from the weeping. One boy was full-on, open-mouthed wailing sobbing. When you think about it all it makes sense. Some of these kids have been here for 7 years or more. This isn't school they're leaving, it's home. These students and teachers are family (did I just slyly leave out dorm staff implying they're not family?, oh subconscious). I even found it somewhat moving. It just makes me wonder how I'm going to handle things next year when it's kids I actually like.

In other news, we're well into finals week. I've proctored (or as they prefer here, invigilated) two exams and have another tomorrow. It's so boring because all you can do there is sit/stand and watch them work. It gets to the point where you welcome questions to clarify something or, as one colleague put it today, you hope they start cheating just so you have something to do. My exam is tomorrow so I'll have 55 papers to mark before Monday evening. Piece o' cake right? Let's hope so. Beyond that there's a few meetings and some down time. In about a week's time I'll be heading to Delhi and then off on a plane to the States.

Hopefully I can keep my head until then. Wish me luck.