...and she lived happily ever after

I am safely at home. Sitting in my blue carpeted living room starring out the picture window which faces a train yard and, believe it or not, parked trains. Settling in to life with my new, amazingly wonderful (see if she even reads my blog!) roommate. Her name is Jessica and she works in the pharmaceutical industry. She makes me think. People who make me think are in my ‘I like book’.

So, our new house. You come in the front door and are greeted by white and country blue. This is our great room. I have three favorite items in this room: First a 24”x24” fake oil painted of a large pink flower. Second my display of fake stainless objects on the counter. Namely my spice rack, loose tea from London and my two spice rubs. Third my elephant motif. Brownie points to anyone who knows the ‘real’ meaning of ‘motif’. Laundry, two bedrooms, bathroom and (this is the best part!) a linen closet!!!

I am situated 2.3 kms from work so I’m trying to walk it everyday. Not exactly wonderful walking through an industrial park in the early morning (gravel flying at you every time a car zooms by you and curious glances from all the drivers hurrying to work at their various plants). However I can make the walk shorter by crawling under the train parked beside my house, and walking through mid calf length grass. I’ve christened these trail blazings the ‘ANGELINA ADVENTURES’.

I am quickly running out of content that anyone besides myself and my dearest friends (wait you’re the only ones who read this anyway!) would find even a little interesting so to quote Looney Toons, “Ththththats all folks!”

Angelina

safari

Got to go across the border for our African safari so I’ve been in three countries so far! We saw elephants, giraffes, hippos, crocs, lionesses, monkeys and almost a leopard.

The best quote came from Naomi after we saw a couple of young male elephants who were 1 to 2 years old. Our tour guide had said he could tell they were that young because they were so small. Naomi asked, “So is a big elephant bigger than a small elephant??” Hence the necessity of teaching that one math lesson on smaller verses bigger that I was complaining about.

the market

I love shopping. Shopping of all sorts. Clothes, shoes, accessories, groceries, furniture… Beg me long enough and I’ll even go help you pick out shingles.

I also love getting really good deals. You tell me you like something I own and I will promptly quote you the price I paid for it with a gleam in my eye (either that or you’ll hear, “Thanks, I paid way too much for it.”).

I’m one of those people who, when I find a defect in an item I am think of purchasing, I smile, quickly tuck the smile away and look for a manager. Attack commences immediately. First you must find something unique about said article so that none else can replace it. Second take much time fingering defect with a look of disgust. Start pondering, out loud, how you could go about fixing it and just how much trouble it will be, and how much extra it will cost you. By this time most normal managers will be quite willing to hack a minimum of 10% off the price if you, in exchange, will be willing to accept the purchase as a final sale. (Note to those who plan to put this strategy into practice: It doesn’t work at Winners.)

However, even though I love shopping bartering is beyond me. I, who paid an astronomical $5.00 for 2 fake precious moments figurines at a garage sale. My mom was disgusted at that purchase- apparently I hadn’t been watching her closely enough. To those of you who hate going to restaurants with me because of my passion for a deal (Jess) - go with my mom sometime. She’ll embarrass you to a far greater extent than I could ever hope to! She’s one of my role models!

So let me set the scene. Fifty stalls spread out in a meandering pathway sort of deal. Each shop is selling roughly the same things. Approximately 2 men are loafing about per stall, watching every move you make. You pause for more than a millisecond at any given item and they pounce, “Madame, do you like this bowl?! Yes?! You are my first customer so I give you local price!! I need money for transit to my village. What is your offer? How much can you pay?” I respond with, “No thanks.” “NO?! You like these animals? These masks? These baskets?!” And they keep going until the guys in the next stall have out drowned them with the same script.

Now these men I have just described are the nicer ones. Eighty percent of the men don’t even bother waiting for a spark of interest. They start right into their sales pitch, moving through every item in their inventory until they hook you or you have walked past their booth.

The actual bartering. A real challenge as how does one evaluate an item taking into account local currency, time spent and artistry. I’m afraid I got royally gypped but I had fun being gypped!

victoria falls

We descend steps and walkways made with concrete and small chunks of stone that are slippery from condensation. The air is beyond humid and breathing is hard. It feels like a layer of dust is physically clinging to the inside of my throat. We get to the first overlook on the mainland. Mist billows around us. My raincoat is zipped up as high as it will go and the hood is pulled as tightly around my face as possible. (I look like the ultimate dweeb.) We hit the bridge and water is hitting us at enormous speeds, water is seeping in under my chin and in through my pockets.

Halfway across the footbridge we turned around and saw a rainbow which was almost a complete circle with the bridge going through the centre of it. We arrived on the island and walked around trying to find the perfect picture for Gwen and Chad.

Scenic Outlook #1: Came across a guy sniffing white powder. We beat it out right quickly.

S.O. #2: I was brave and went off the path to see the mighty Zambezi roaring off into the distance… saw the bridge where other people are really, really brave (stupid?!) and jump off.

S.O. #3: Water cascading down the hill toward a square of paved stone jutting out into the abyss of mist. I was afraid the current would pull me over the edge so I looked at the mist from afar.

S.O. #4: More jutting out pavement with no railing around! I had a conniption for you Mom!

On the bridge back over to firm solid ground the wind driven ‘mist’ seriously tried to launch me into the gorge, so I felt it necessary to walk with feet planted wider than shoulder width apart, hand clenching the moss covered steel bars (placed @ 4”o/c), hunched over as to lower my centre of mass and with eyes pinned on each anticipated step forward. I hear a throat being cleared. I look up. I have, quite unconsciously and very adeptly, blocked off the bridge to those wanting to traverse the opposite direction. I apologized profusely and pried my fingers from one side of the bridge long enough for the traffic jam to clear.

hosteling with kids

Sitting in a concrete, dug out area in the center court with dorm rooms surrounding. Half clothed (more aptly- immodestly clothed) people parading around. Water falling softly. Beats from the on-site bar. Dim lights flickering from the giant tin salamander hanging from the ceiling. Hay roof soaring 20’ above me. Stairs ascending to the ‘tree top view’ suspended from the peak. Thick timbers criss-cross from floor to ceiling. Caleb, Shoshanna and Naomi arguing from our shared dorm room (who gets the top bunk, the best shelf…).

[A note on sharing a room with three kids under the age of ten. They get up really early. My internal alarm now goes off at 6:00am. I tried sleeping in this morning as we have 'shifted' cities and I have my own room. I was up, showered and dressed by 7:45. Deffinately a habit I should bring home with me. However I'm not holding my breath.]

travel woes

The goal: Tip top of the north western province (the bush) to the population dense, garbage filled, and materialistic metropolises of the south.

The method: green land rover.

Estimated duration: 3 days.

External conditions: bumps, ruts, pot holes, washed out sections…. The first half on sandy gravel the second on pavement of sorts.

Internal conditions: Five adults, 3 children, 1 baby and luggage. How to fit? Three in the front, 4 plus babe in the back and one plus luggage in the trunk. More luggage belted on the steel rack bolted unto the back. The only way into the trunk seat is to wiggle like a snake over 4’ of luggage, swing your legs up and around and somehow fall (with your rear pointing down) into your seat.

My traveling companions were Mark and Pam with Caleb, Shoshanna and Naomi. Gwen and Chad with Denalyn and little ole me!

Now that the driving is completed I can say that it was an adventure and definitely brought back memories of our family trips from long ago. Just imagine a bunch of tired, cranky and whiny people. Lots of memories….

finally

Well term just finished last week. It's been really strange just how silent the school grounds are without them. One thing I've really enjoyed is not being on someone else's eating schedual. I can actually eat when I want and what I want. (Being limited to Leah's pantry.)

Saw my first mission hospital plus (the highlight!) I saw a new hydro station being built in that same area. Quite amazing. The project has been going on three years and has been built entirely with donations from private donors. Mostly christians. No worries I took lots of pictures and have detailed explanations to go along with them. They have these super cool automatic slit exiting gates that float!! Yah- you had to be there.

Went out and looked at the stars for a bit tonight. Amazing just how bright they are when civilization and its fake lights are no where near. We clammered to the top of Jill's truck out on the airstrip and just gazed. Getting off was a challenge and only one person was injured.

Funny how we are so much in awe of feats of engineering (such as those cool bridges down in the highly populated ares of the southeren states that I have been trying to get decent pictures of for ages and never quite manage!!) and how we recognize that something so intricate must have a designer. Yet so many find it hard to believe that the stars, our universe and (most amazingly!) us, who are infinately more intricate than anything we ourselves could design, have a creator. Why am I not more in awe of him??

We had a pool party today. A multitude of salads, sausage from the farm, mega desert selection and cold water. All this with the dry season's wind starting to rustle through the tree's and sending a shiver through us (a cool 30 degree's at midday today).

Signing off for another little while. God bless!

farm visit

Took the grade 1 and 2’s to the farm last Thursday, big animals and tiny children. Opportunities were many for Angelina’s overactive imagination and protective mother instincts.

We approached the pigpen with much banging and thrashing about, as you never know where army ants may be marching. Seventeen children and 3 adults crowd around a narrow opening from which waifs a must unpleasant odour. This odour is commented and expounded on by each and every child present. From the back of the pack I spot the objects of this bouquet for the senses: A honkin’ big mama pig and her wee ones.

You would think that distance would be one thing that the children would crave, especially in light of the aforementioned comments regarding the STINK! One adventurous child at the front of the pack asks our tour guide, “Can I hold one?” Within minutes three squealing piglets were being clenched by tight fingers as far as possible from the bodies of the holders. Amazingly only one piglet was dropped. Miss P----- performed a daring rescue as it tried to rush through her legs. After the piglet was safely deposited in it’s home I applauded her efforts and insinuated that she had, had previous experience catching pigs. She confided in me that this was in fact her first catch and was one borne of desperation.

At the horses our tour guide again took initiative and let all the kids into the fenced area while the teachers were too far behind to object to any possible safety hazards or to instil in the children a fear of anything 10 times their own weight. By the time we arrived inside the gate children were running, yelling, petting, walking behind the horses and generally not thinking. One would think that the tour guide would have been safety precaution enough but seeing as he didn’t speak the same language as 75% of the children he was commandeering you can understand our nervousness.

As we left the area (with all the kids in one piece minus some socks that got scarred off when the horses ‘charged’) you can be sure that I delivered a stellar speech on proper safety precautions one must take when on a farm. Slightly humorous, as I am a city girl who has no idea about farm life and even less of an idea of what constitutes high risk activity on a farm. Along that train of thought I’m not too sure I’d even be a fair judge of what is high risk in any situation. My motto: better safe than sorry!

Next we watched the cows being milked, again, eventful in my imagination and uneventful in actual catastrophic happenings. Did force Yahia to hold my hand as he kept running behind the cows and straying into off limit areas. Nothing much happened at the lambs/sheep. I must admit that I was wincing in pain for the lambs our kids got to hold. The bleating coming from those poor things as their limbs were being held in a splits position.

Stopped by the orphanage and introduced our kids to their kids. Not much bonding happened. Likely because of the relative closeness in age they needed more time for warming up to each other. We had taken the 3 and 4’s on the same tour last week and their favourite part of the trip was the orphanage. They all adopted one of the wee ones and piggy backed them round and had a jolly good time.

yellow

Yesterday’s reading class erupted into an argument over my cultural heritage. No conclusion was reached, and incidentally none of the class guessed anywhere near the correct mixture of bloods that I call my own. An attempt at recreating the conversation follows: Julius, “Miss S---- is all yellow so she’s Chinese.” He grabs my arm to show his classmates proof of this statement. “Miss P----- must be Chinese too because she looks the same.” For the record Leah (Miss P-----) is one of those of north European descent who burns in order to tan and who is more pink than yellow. I tried to explain to the class what I was and who my grandparents were. The response to my so eloquent speech was made by Donex, “No she can’t be Chinese because her arms are yellow but her neck is all white!“ Apparently I need to tan my neck!

hot hot hot

It's getting hot enough that I purposely look for shade when I'm outdoors. The muddy pool even looks appealing.

 

Time has flown by so fast. When I booked this trip I though that the months I would be away would be an enormous amount of time but Ania you were right. Way too short. Half Term is a bit like camp, but the regular day-to-day is much more disciplined. Especially the Senior grades, they have so much work.

 

As to crocs and gators? They just aren't here. Some reasons being: we are close to the source of the river, we are at a higher elevation so it gets cooler, and the river is on the smaller side and moves pretty quickly.

 

The lack of any type of wildlife is sad. I've seen nothing bigger then a skinny, wimpy green snake. Mind you that was big enough- it surely made me screech.

Half Term

The second Half Term has come and gone. (Even though this is a mathematical impossibility I hasten to assure you that it is an actual event.) It started Thursday afternoon and ended Saturday at the same time.

I have attacked and conquered the flying fox. It was a raging success. Rather scary the first time, but even after landing on outstretched arms (still have bruises) I went a grand total of five times. I was even brave enough to let Jeanette take some pictures!

Played three-on-three ball hockey during the heat of the day and burnt my face to a crisp.

One of the tubes going down the river carried myself. There were no pictures taken of this momentous occasion so you will have to use your imagination. Picture me outstretched on a gigantic rubber tube with arms and legs flailing trying to steer the stupid thing clear of trees, roots, reeds and other obstacles. Needless to say I hit every single one with shrieks of excitement. It was so great I went twice.

The above, coupled with a number of rounds of 'Pom-Pom-Pull-Away' and other such games, made it difficult to walk, raise my arms above my head and just generally move. I ached.

Sunday: We took a 20 minute walk to the closest church for worship service. The afternoon was a time of rest, relaxation and Settlers.

Monday: Leah needed to have her work permit stamped so we walked into town with Joyce, she kindly gave us language lessons. Joyce a lovely, local lady with quite a life story who cleans here at the school. We were so thankful that she was with us as white people going into the village create quite a stir and what with cultural differences it's always hard to know how to greet people properly without causing offence. We left here around 1:15 and didn't get home until 5:00. I now have a backpack tan on my arms.

All this week is spiritual emphasis week. There's a couple from up north who've come to teach the children and they are simply wonderful! Full of life, new ideas and the solid gospel. They are doing the morning sessions on Philippians using 'Captain Book' and 'Madame Castaway'.

No emailing outside of the email address here at the school until the beginning of April. Bye!

orphanage

Hostiles have been surrounded and annihilated or at least moved their barracks temporarily. Will update on future developments.

Yesterday was movie night. As per usual many children crowded around any available adult willing to cuddle. So I had one sweet gal on my lap and two little boys squished up on either side of me. One of the grade one kids, Donex, was holding my hand. The lights were on momentarily to fix a glitch in the VCR. Donex kissed my hand, looked up at me, saw my grin, would have blushed if he could have, and hid behind his hand. Adorable.

Tanis was here for a short one and a half days. It was nice to see a face from home.

Just found out that the handwork class I'm 'teaching' is actually a real class and I need to come up with a mark. Painful. You should see the final embroidery products. I could do better with my eyes closed.

The orphanage:

The orphanage started when a missionary lady found out that all babies who survived childbirth when their mothers didn't were considered to be possessed by demons. They would be thrown on their mother's graves and left to die. When she discovered this practice she started taking the children in.

It's about a 30 minute walk from the school here. The setup is a bit different than the traditional orphanage. Most of the kids are orphans but they all have their own mama who lives with them. Maybe a grandmother, or someone from their village. When the children reach the age of six they are sent back to their village and they are taken in by relatives.

There are two ladies who look after the running of the place, Helen and Esther. One is Scottish the other Irish. Very kind and hospitable.

The kids love hugs and are adorable little urchins. We walked in the gate and they all came to inspect us. As soon as we offered they swarmed us. It was impossible to walk an inch they were hanging off us. We visited Helen for a bit, I had my first taste of soda since arriving here. Then we observed the preschool class. They said their numbers, the alphabet and sung a surprising repertoire of English songs. They were so proud. I'm going back either this Thursday or next and am hoping to get some pictures this time.

Off to Sunday Evening Fellowship!

attack # 2

Last night Leah and I stayed at the admin longer than usual to use the internet. It was dark by the time we were finished and we had neglected to bring our flashlights with us. We booked it the whole way home, in case the army ants had reappeared. Didn’t see anything. Entered the house and by the time we had made it through the kitchen Leah was dancing. Again, I escaped, for a time. I went outside with my flashlight to investigate. Found a line surrounding one corner of the house all along the foundation. The houses here aren’t exactly bug proof let along leak or rodent proof so I went inside to check the inner wall along the same corner. Leah’s bedroom. At cursory inspection all seemed normal, thankfully my senses were heightened and I moved closer to the wall then tugged the curtain aside. Ants. Ants. And more ants. So last night we moved out and I will not be moving back in until I have been sufficiently convinced that the ants have been contained. While packing I received two bites as gifts. It wasn’t too bad. What is bad is when you have no idea that the ants are on you and crawling up, then when they reach your waist they all chomp at the same time. That is why, Krista Lee, army ants are scary. Leah and I have been given refugee status.

army ants

I believe I got Gab to post a picture of the army ants by our house. They look rather non-threatening I must admit. Never judge a book by its cover. Army ants eat everything in they cross. I have heard stories of them eating whole chickens, parrots, babies and anything smaller than those leaving only the bones. They travel in long lines and when their line is disturbed they scattered to best defend the attacker. So if let's say Leah walks in a line of army ants they will immediately scramble up her legs to her waist and start pinching. It is supposedly quite painful. Their method of attack is to use claws to pinch at the skin. They stay stuck until they are pulled off or the chunk of skin is separated from its owner. If the get into a house your best off to move out for the couple of days it takes them to clean the house out of bugs, bats and other critters.

My story starts late Monday evening. I had been reading my book, as it was my afternoon off, when an explosion of furry tore through the front door. Leah had come upon multitudes of army ants and was in a bit of a panic. They were covering the road to our house. She proceeded to tell me every gory army ant story she knew.

Monday night: My malaria pills give my some pretty strange dreams the night after taking them. So Monday night the army ants were making a feast of me. Was really tired the next morning.

Tuesday: Leah notified Mr. P of the encroaching predators.

Wednesday, after Birthday Party, in the dark: We were running home along the road hoping that if we did step in a line of the ants they wouldn't be able to react fast enough to climb up us. We safety arrived at our house and took our time entering and putting our away pieces of our costume. We made it to the hallway and Leah starting jumping up and down and yelping at me to get her dress off her. It was a longer than floor length dress from the attic. I yelped at her to stop jumping so I could manage the zipper. In went the dress to the tub. It was covered in big juicy ants. They were also all over the bathroom floor. Leah started filling the tub with water to try drowning the ones in there and I got my trainers to wallop the ones on the floor. All this was accomplished while we were hoping around so no more would attack us. Leah got around 4 bites and we counted about 30 ants in the tub the next morning. I ran out to the kitchen to see if there were any in there. There was a line all along the outside of the house right in front of the door, and a smattering of other confused ants that had been swept along by Leah's dress to various part of the house.

There was no way either of us were spending the night in that house. By this time the ants in the bathroom had started marching up and down behind the sink. Mr. and Mrs. P let us stay at their place overnight so we packed up. How to lock the door with a line of ants precisely where I needed to stand? First I dosed them with bug spray. (I bought 4 bottles of it for something!) It didn't kill them but it did stun them. Leah shone the flashlight at my feet to watch for attempts at climbing me while I locked the door. We both were jumping up and down and swatting phantom itches along our legs so the process took a while. (Note: it's very hard to watch someone's feet while your flashlight is bobbing up and down.)

The next morning the maintenance crew hunted down the anthill and dosed it with petrol. Then they found the marauding ants and burnt them. Our house is safe- for now. I also have my trusty rubber boots, doused with bug spray, that will hopefully stun any attempts at attack.

Birthday Party

This past week has been really busy as it was Birthday Party. Each term there is one big birthday party for all the birthday's that occurred during that same term. The theme this term was the 'Wild West'. Hilarious watching African children attempt the American Midwestern accent while wearing vests, cowboy hats or kerchiefs (or neckchiefs?). I dressed up as a prairie farmer lady. It was the easiest costume I could find. The attic of the main sitting room is loaded up with all types of costume's. It's any kids dream come true.

Each class performed a song and a dance. There was also a variety of skits. I laughed so hard. I have short clips of some of them so when I come home if you care to see them just give a yell.

I had a revelation yesterday: I look better when I actually do my hair in the morning. Hence the 'yuck' picture. It also helps if you don't let kids touch it. Another funny thing about my appearance: Just after I first arrived Mark had asked Leah how I was adjusting. Leah, "She seems to be doing ok, only she was super pale when she got off the plane and I'm worried she's getting sick." Mark reminded Leah what Canadian winters do to skin tones.

HA!

Oscar's. *grin* You make me laugh Candace. See I can do short and simple. Night all!

ultimate angelina basket ball

Internet usage here has hit rock bottom as we have pretty much used up are allotted amount for February, because of this I can only check my hotmail (and other web based emails) once a week. Monday is the chosen day as it's my afternoon off. So family and friends email me Sunday's please!

I have another bug to introduce you to: It's called Cicada. It looks like a grasshopper on steroids. It's big, fat and supremely ugly. The worst part about it though is that it screeches continually and it actually hurts your ears. Last night it was hard getting to sleep.

I tried teaching a dumbed down version of Ultimate Frisbee to the junior's today. (I know: It's on my list of 'sport's Angelina will not play unless everyone else is as inept as she is'.) However I changed the rules to make it more user friendly to the non-athletic people in the group. (Take note all, it's sure to catch on like wild fire.)

You use a soft rubber ball. The ball is passed by throwing and once it is caught you are not allowed to take any steps. You may drop the ball without turnover occurring. We used a garbage basket at each end of the field and they had to throw the ball at it to score a point. It didn't go off too well because the kids don't understand the concept of man-to-man defense. The only concept they get is, "There's the ball, I want the ball, I will chase the ball and hop up and down in front of the person who has the ball in hopes that they will pass it to me". So picture 20 kids around one ball. The other 10 kids were spaced throughout the field with sticks in hand, crouched low drawing in the sand. Only one got stepped on. Talk about a waterfall of tears. I wasn't very sympathetic, "What do you think is going to happen when your sitting in the middle of a wild game of 'ultimate angelina basket ball'?!?!?"

Speaking of waterfalls….. Last Saturday at noon the seniors had to say from memory 10 verses. They had two weeks to learn them. I have the grade 5 girls for handwork from 10:00am – noon. I had five girls desperately trying to memorize all 10 verses while embroidering. By the end of class three of them had burst into tears. You ask why all this passion about overdue memory verses? Only those who had completed the verses were allowed to partake of the homemade ice cream at Sunday lunch. I didn't know whether to split a gut laughing at them or to join in with their tears (the ice cream is super yummy).

Sweet to the furniture Mrs. J! You are reading my journal. I do keep a personal one but it's more my thoughts and contemplations rather than experiences, and I must admit that I'm not really faithful to it.

Carla, do you remember me trying to explain physics to you? Running around the basement and into walls for the sole purpose of demonstrating a physics problem to you? It was hopeless. Thankfully you now have Jody to get you out of ruts. (Hi Jody! Happy 1st engagement anniversary!!)

Krista, they have bamboo bushes here that are as tall as the trees on Rupertsland. Try putting one of them in a vase. Sorry for the roof talk. Couldn't help myself. I had a silly grin on my face the whole while I was typing it. Another occasion for the silly grin was when I had to do an answer key for grade 7/8 math word problems. It was glorious. I forgot how much fun they were.

Some hellos in no particular order: Candace, NEVER just blab for the sake of blabbing. Love ya! Geeeooooorrrrrgggggiiiiiaaaaaa. Hi. Grin. Want to go on a mega bike ride when I get back to Canada? Jessica, oh sweet distance (do you get it? Huh? Huh?!!!!). Ma, when I get home can you make me a chocolate cheesecake? I miss our phone conversations. Love you bundles. Daddy, thanks so much for putting up with having me for a daughter. I admire you. Hugs. Carla, happy 22nd birthday! I was trying to figure out how old you were and I ended up having to do the current year minus my birth year minus 2. Only problem was I couldn't remember the current year. I'm going to be a scary old person. Alice and family, many hugs and lots of love. Krista, thank you for being (almost) solely responsible for our friendship. You're one in a million. Short Shy Shawna Babes, I think you're the cutest person I know. Plus you've got the biggest heart. Gaby, I need to go rollerblading. By the time I get back the park will be almost perfect. Is it a date? Love ya! Rachelle, hiiiiiiii! Email me an update! Here's a big hug. To all of you in Brandon, I miss you guys and am looking forward to my return hugs!

Sorry this is so long. I really must try to change life long habits and become short winded. Believe it or not there is more I had planned on saying but for the sake of those wishing to continue on with life - Adios!

faithful readers

Hello all my faithful readers! I never thought I'd be saying that, as language is way to subjective for my tastes.

There seems to be much interest in the anthill. These anthills dot the landscape and are of various shapes and sizes. One of these days I'll post a picture of the one by the pool. It's quite large: approximately 20 feet tall and has a substantial base. Steps have been carved into the sides for the viewing pleasure of kids on the sick list and adults who wish to remain far away from the splashing kids. The anthill is made by termites and is inactive at this point (this information is from Leah and she followed up with a, "I think so but I'm not sure"). The soil here is sandy clay and somehow the soil within the anthill has been changed to dense clay. The Africans make bricks out of this clay by either sun drying it or baking it in a kiln.

The structural components of the buildings here are all either this brick or concrete, the brick being cheaper and therefore seen more frequently. There are two types of roofs that I've seen: dried hay supported by wood strapping and wood trusses with steel sheeting (In most cases anchored on with not enough screws so that every gust of wind causes the steel to bang against the trusses. For some unknown reason they also have a leakage problem.)

Congratulations to any of you who made it through the last paragraph. I also plan on taking a picture of the different types of roofs, as I know you are all just itching to see them!

Back to the anthill: They have cut big tractor tires up and they lay the rubber down the anthill and into the pool. They then pump water to the top of the anthill and VOILA! a waterslide! The flying fox is a wire strung between two poles with a handled gizmo that allows you to launch yourself into water from an extreme height. The extreme height being the top of this much talked about anthill. The kids quite enjoyed this exhilaration of the afternoon. Yes you heard right- I had no desire to launch myself off a hill or ride down a hill on my stomach while an audience, including a video camera, watched me. Next half term I may attempt it if I can either sneak down there by my lonesome or there are no recording devices present.

Shawna- Raquel can use my dresser as long as I get it back, I need all the furniture I can get. I love beautiful you too and would return said hug with immense pleasure! On that note, does anyone own kitchen table, chairs, sofas etc that they need to get rid of? Think about it.

I have this weekend off so maybe I'll post some pictures. No promises though.

Dad (and anyone else who happens to be a settlers addict)- you need to buy the 'Cities and Knights' addition pack for 'Settlers'. I haven't attempted it yet but it looks seriously fun and super complicated! Anything with lots of directions must be fun right?!

Today I baked this oatmeal fudge layered cookie thing. It was exceptionally yummy. So I ate exceptionally too much. I felt sick. To combat this unexplainable illness I joined the Senior Girls Rally (like Girl Guides) where we played hard core field hockey in the blazing hot humid weather. There were 11 girls on each team. The hard core participation that I referenced was limited to about 6 of us. The rest whined and plodded. (I elbowed one of them in the eye by accident. I tend to get into stick and ball-on-the-ground games.) My level of participation was mostly bellowing at the girls to move, stay on their man, in their position, use the flat side of their stick and randomly calling out anything I deemed missed by the referee. So in summary: I spent the first half of my afternoon eating and reading and the second getting in the way and having a blast.

It was a good day. I can now sleep. Sleep blissful sleep. Goodnight one and all, sleep well. God bless!

blading

Picture this: Twenty kids of various ages and sizes. Each with a pair of used and scuffed up roller blades or skates attached to two limbs. Each of these pieces of footwear are the incorrect size: whether oversized or undersized it doesn’t matter. Most of the latches used to tighten said footwear are broken from incorrect usage therefore the ankles are loose and most of the feet in the room are at a 45 degree (or less) to the floor. The odd kid has protective gear on. Caught one kid trying to use a wrist guard on a knee. Not one kid has a full set (I guess they just intend to fall on that one place). Now the location: An all purpose room used extensively during the rainy season. Large windows with no screens, low ceilings (thankfully the bats remained unseen), concrete floors, a tin roof that echoes the sound of rain so that any other noise is indistinguishable, stacks of chairs and benches, a ping pong table covered in Sunday school material, a piano (labelled as being anti termite) and a concrete stage with makeshift curtain for performances. There is no pattern to the general flow of traffic. Collisions occur, sometimes with obstacles, sometimes with fallen people and sometimes with air. This continued for two hours and the kids had a blast!

This was one event included on half term. Half term is two days where they go swimming, tubing, sliding on rubber down an ant hill, biking, go carting, eating at the river and most importantly of all: No school! I’ve been quite enjoying the time out of the classroom but it will be nice to get back to schedule.

wee wee wednesdays

Hi all- sorry I haven’t posted in a whole 5 long days. Its been crazy to put it mildly. I’ve caught the head cold that the kids have been passing around (such good sharers they are). Plus Mr. and Mrs. Headmaster had to travel south to the capitol to try figuring out a bit of a labour dispute. So I am covering most of her classes and am exhausted. Today I went for a nap at 11:30 and conked out. I woke up an hour later, which put me past the appropriate time for lunch. Yes, horrors of horrors: I missed lunch. No worries though- I rummaged through the pantry and managed to find sustenance before I passed out from lack of food.

Onto my main subject: Wee Wee Wednesday’s. There are a number of children here who like to go whenever the need hits and wherever they happen to be standing or sitting. (Last year Nkheke was expelled for doing this and other things in her pants. She is the same one who doesn’t like mashed potatoes.) Chimwemwe has gone on a bean bag, on a stool, at her desk in class, on the rug, on her bed (during the day at rest hour when not sleeping and through all layers of blankets) and on the playground. She has gotten paddled for this but it hasn’t seemed to have deterred her.

For some reason Wednesday is their favourite day for this altercation. It’s swimming lesson and river all afternoon, and the only bathroom facility in the near vicinity is an outhouse. My theory is that they hate the place and so seek to find alternatives. So this last Wednesday I was on river duty and was trying to take a picture of a group of three girls in the sand. Nkheke couldn’t pose properly as she was huddled under her raincoat. So I strongly suggested she toss it. As she moved I noticed what she had been trying to cover: wet shorts. She was not the only one. I took the two culprits up to the dorm to wash up. They had to miss movie night and both wailed at the injustice.