Not dead--just very busy!

Well, thanksgiving is now past, and it's full speed ahead to Christmas and end of term! We had a pie social here the night before thanksgiving which was a very special time--especially for the Americans! I ended up being up to my eyeballs with pumpkin pie, but there are far worse things to be overwhelmed with! This past weekend was my last one on, so now I just have to worry about giving and marking exams as well as writing report cards. I have some pretty tough ones to write, so I'll be praying a lot wisdom. Christmas decorations are starting to crop up in classrooms and the dorm--I always get excited to see the kids reactions! It's started raining here after almost a week without. The river is very low, and crops are not going to turn out well unless we have a return to our normal weather patterns. Nothing like the sound of a gentle rain on the roof!

Shopping the 'Hardcore' Way

This past Monday and Tuesday were our last half-term of the year, and Beth and I used it to make a quick trip down to Solwezi to drop her cousin off at the airport, and then to do some serious shopping. Solwezi is our provincial capital, and is about 5 ½ to 6 hours away (depending on the roads and traffic). We left Sakeji at about 1pm, and arrived in Solwezi at about 6:30. We were quick tired from the morning activities that we had supervised and the long drive, so we were not a lively bunch at supper and crashed at (for us) a rather granny hour. The next morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast, and then set out to find the airport following the rather sketchy directions provided by the lady at the front desk. Luckily Solwezi isn’t that big, and we were able to find it on the first try.

After saying goodbye, Beth and I headed into town to do battle with Shoprite. We had about 8 lists that we were trying to fill, and ended up with two full sized carts, and two of those little ones that hold two shopping baskets. Checking out was a speedy half hour, and the whole experience was made more surreal and interesting by the stifling heat of the store as opposed to the Christmas carols playing on the radio, and the Christmas decorations up in the back. Once we finished that, we had a few more errands to run including finding the vet and getting some rabies vaccine, paying a bill for someone, mailing the school’s letters, and getting some lunch. We left around 1:30, and arrived back on station just a little after dark.

After that it was time for some sorting and delivering of the groceries to various places around station before we made some mac n’ cheese and collapsed into bed at an even more granny hour than the night before. There were definitely some nice things about being in town—cheese, peach iced tea, and being away from the kids for a bit, but I don’t think I’ll make a habit of these lighting trips!

Ancient and Modern Tourism

At our birthday parties, we always have a theme, and the staff dress up for the kids enjoyment. Here's a picture of Jill and me at the "Wonders of the World" birthday party this term. I decided to go with what I already had on the brain--Ancient Greece--and be an ancient Greek tourist ticking off the seven wonders of the world. Jill was a tour guide for a German castle. We also had a two person pyramid, some terracotta soldiers, and two Mount Everests. Nothing like an excuse to dress up!

Little Things

It’s a lot of fun to take the grade 7’s outside for math while my TA works with the grade 6’s inside. It makes me feel almost like I’m homeschooling!

Absentee voting is a trying process, but at least I have a fellow American who cares enough to go through it with me.

Here are a few more snapshots of Independence Day—enjoy! I might never be this on-the-ball with pictures again!

Big Ben and little Ben playing during the swim races.

Two cute sisters

A very cute Levi!

King of the plank

Raincoats are COOL!

Independence Day 2012

October 24th is Zambian Independence Day, and we celebrate with swim races and a bonfire. Here are a few pics of the last two days.

One sign that it's almost Independence, is this monster arriving on the playground-

On the 24th we spend the day down at the pool, and enjoy a variety of serious and fun races. I got a kick out of some of the creative uses of face paint in evidence...

Hazel enjoyed her self and mostly behaved--I can't believe how big she is!

It stormed on the evening of the 24th, so we had our bonfire yesterday. That big pile of wood became this...

No one drowned or fell in the fire, and lot of fun was had by all. Huzzah for holidays!

The end is in sight...

The spots are fading away, and life is returning to normal here in the bush. Hopefully that last wave was the worst of the epidemic—there aren’t that many people left who could catch it! It sure has made some things interesting, but I guess that as with so many other normal parts of childhood, being at a boarding school makes them a much bigger deal!

It’s Independence Day today, which means a day off school, swim races, and a bonfire. While it will be nice to not teach on one of my craziest days, it’s a bit hard to loose a school day in the middle of the week. The national grade 7 exams are coming up next week, and things will be a little wild then as well. I worked some more on the end of term songs with the juniors yesterday—I can’t believe that we are half-way there already!

The rains are definitely here to stay, and things are really greening up. I love this time of year when the scarlet of the Flamboyant trees contrasts with the vivid green of the plants exploding into life. This is when the tall grass shoots up, and when the sun shines between rain storms, it can be almost too bright to bear. That is one of the reasons that I’m so thankful for living in the bush—Lusaka has almost no green to it at all. Not to mention the crazy traffic and loud noises!

Chicken Pox Epidemic

So, we are well into a large-scale chicken pox outbreak up here, and there are several kids sporting startling patches of white or pink anti-itch cream. I'm glad (mostly!) that my kids have mostly had chicken pox already, and that I don't have anyone out of class. Most of the kids have had mild to middling cases, but a few are feeling really under the weather. Again, we are hoping and praying that baby Levi manages to pass on this round until he's a bit older and better able to fight off the disease.

Half term went well, and no one was injured, lost, or eaten by lions, so we're thankful! I got a bit of rest as well as having a chance to catch up on some work, so it was good. There were some huge storms during half term as well, but no bad damage was done.

This little grade 1 boy was so cute--he stayed up in that tree for over half an hour. It was his airplane, his car, and then his bed. And no, you can't have him!