Slowly being able to breath

After several days spent in bed, hobbling to do a small task slowly, and lots of pills and water, I'm finally seem to be over the 'hump,' and while I'm still only at about 70% efficiency, I'm so thankful after being closer to 40% for the last few days! I continue to be looked after by my fellow missionaries, and while this is SO not how I was anticipating spending the term break, I think in a way it was a good thing that I've had time to rest and just relax. I'm appreciating my increasing ability to do things before collapsing back in bed, and I'm also amazed at how the Lord has made it possible for me to make a completely different set of plans for getting my passport renewed. Even in the midst of bronchitis, God is good!

Plan B...

Due to my cold becoming bronchitis, I've decided (well, actually been told by several people!) that there is no way I'll be able to make the long drive down to the capital this weekend, so I'm working on organizing another trip a bit later. The Lord has been very good though--there were some visitors up here who were able to take Hannah down with them, and she was even able to find a ride down to Lusaka!

So, while my plans didn't work out, obviously God is still in control, and this is all for the best. I'm resting, drinking lots of fluids, and getting a few things done around the house as I feel able. I'm so thankful that I live on a station with lots of caring and concerned people--while getting sick always makes me miss my mother, I'm being well looked after. This is also giving me a great chance to indulge in all that reading I've been putting off because I was too busy. So, it's not all bad!

Term is OVER!

Just a quick post as I'm still not feeling well, but term ended successfully, God gave me the strengths to get through the end of term program without excessive coughing or collapsing, and I've been hanging out in bed trying to kick this nasty bug. I'm just so thankful that I can rest before heading down to town on Sunday, Lord willing. I need to go renew my passport and pick my my drivers license as well as giving two young ladies up here a lift down. I'm just so thankful for these weeks of rest when I can hopefully get caught up with my letters, things around the house, and prepare for next term. God is so good!

Finals Week!

Well, today is the first day of our finals week, and the day when I plan to start on my report cards. I already have two final grades done, and after giving the literature exam today I hope to add that as well. Our report cards have undergone a streamlining process that has helped a lot with writing them, but it is still an undertaking that means several extra hours of work. I'm starting to think about and plan for my trip down to Lusaka at the end of term to get my passport renewed. I have until February, but because I need to get my new work permit before it runs out mid-January, and for that I need the new passport. Oh, the joys of keeping all your documents in two countries current! I've never been down to the embassy--should be interesting!

Fires and Sports Day

I was realizing the other day that while the ‘greater burning of Zambia’ is something that I have lived with for the last three years, it’s actually a pretty foreign concept to most people back home, so it might do well to explain it a bit more.

About a month or two into the dry season, the Zambians start to set fire to the now rather dry bush and burn off vast swaths of land. There are several purposes for this. First of all, most of our bush is covered in a tough grass that can grow to be over 6 feet tall. As this dries it becomes a fire hazard itself, but to clear it would very time consuming. The fires are a way to clear the grass and make room for the next years growth. Before they burn, the Zambians harvest what grass they want for thatching, and then they start their (mostly!) controlled fires. A second reason for the fires is the ash makes cheap fertilizer for their garden plots and for the bush in general.

Thirdly, though most people are pretty careful with fire during the dry season, it would not be hard to end up with a pretty devastating wild fire. So people burn fire breaks around their property and along the roads to create a safety zone. Our fire break was finished up last week, but there is still plenty of burning going on around us.

Little bits of black ash are all over and in the air right now—at night you can often see the pink glow on the horizon of another fire. Though you might not see them, there is normally someone keeping some sort of tabs on the fire; it’s very rare to hear of one getting out of control and causing a lot of damage. One of our short termers was a volunteer fire-fighter, and took her awhile to get used to the crackling sound of bush burning!

Tuesday was our sports day, and Mr. T. kept us busy all day. I was the scorer again, so I had my little tent to set up with my laptop in. I also was the one passing out ribbons which sparked an interesting controversy over whether red of blue was supposed to be for first place. Apparently it depends on if you are American or Canadian… Fisher didn’t win this year, but the kids did a good job. I wore my new yellow shirt to support my team, but I must say that there is a reason that I’ve never had a yellow shirt all these years! Not the best color on me... Now that the last of the big events is over, life goes back to normal now-whatever that is!

Only three more weeks…

Bonus picture of my fast growing puppy!