News from October 8, 2012

October 8, 2012

Hi Everyone,

We haven't had internet in over a week now. So if you haven't heard from us, that is why. First we were told something went down in Kenya, and that was why it was down. But days later we found out that our provider actually went bankrupt. So we had to get hooked up with another company and things don't happen that quickly here in Zambia.

So we've had a lot of time to read in the evening, which is nice.

We were hoping to plan our Christmas vacation last weekend, but now we have to wait. We were debating whether we should climb Mount Kilimanjaro, or visit South Africa. So I think we've made our decision. We're leaning more towards the South African choice. I think it will be a little cheaper and longer and we will do a lot of different thing. I will let you know our Christmas plans when I actually have things booked. But we plan on spending time in Jo-burg, the Kruger National Park and Cape Town. I'm super excited :)

Here at Sakeji, we've been keeping busy, as usual. We had a term birthday party last Wednesday. The term birthday party is a party once per semester and it celebrates everyone's birthday that falls in that term. So this was for September to December birthdays. The theme was Wonders of the World.

So the day before the party, the ladies who were available and some came over from Kalene (a village less than 1 hour away) got together to decorate cakes. I decorated a cake with Northern lights (it did not look like Northern Lights lol) and there was about a dozen other cakes decorated by others, all Wonders of the World. We also decorated the eating hall and assembly hall with balloons and crafts the kids made in art class.

The party starts at supper, where we had a delicious meal of fried chicken, potato wedges and other vegetables. Then we have home-made ice cream and cake for dessert. The kids all get a gift bag with a small toy and a few sweets. Once everyone is beyond satisfied, we head into the assembly hall. Mylon and I were the M.C.'s. (Everyone has to do some M.C.'ing at some point, so we figured this was better than the term-end party and it would be pretty easy anyways.) We didn't have a lot of work to do as we mostly just announce which group of kids is coming up to perform. We had skits, guitar, choir, poems and songs. In addition, all the adults have to dress up as a Wonder of the World. Mylon and I were a Great Pyramid (we each were half). It was an easy costume that didn't require a lot of materials.

All in all it was a great night and everyone was happy. I think Thursday morning was a little rough for the kids though. Too much sugar the night before!

This coming weekend will be Mid-term. Basically the kids don't have class Friday and it's all fun and games starting Thursday evening through to Sunday. All the kids look forward to it. Breakfast is also a little later, so everyone can sleep in a bit.

Well I better go before I bore everyone. Sorry if anyone has e-mailed us and we haven’t' replied. I'm not sure how fast catching up will be as many people will need the internet here when it is back up and it might just be running too slow.

Thanks to all of those who are keeping us in your prayers. So far the time has gone by extremely fast, which I think is a good sigh. We are enjoying ourselves and we have met some great friends that make us feel at home when we need that.

I hope everyone back home had a Happy Thanksgiving. I am really missing pumpkin pie today. I might attempt a squash pie someday.

Until next time!