just a few words before i head off to bed.
can't believe we're in the final few weeks of term! two weeks left (starting tomorrow)! started on entering report cards grades last night. it always amazes me how long this process takes. as ever, i'm hopeful that it won't take quite as long this time.... we'll see.
my term break plans are beginning to take shape; other then the obvious relaxing and then planning for next term and re-arranging the classroom... Lina and i have decided to take a week-long "road trip" to Lusaka. We're still in the planning stage, but today we actually settled on the most probable dates and route (well, not really the 'route' as there's really one 1 main road, but stops and such). the point of our trip is three-fold:
1)shopping
2)getting (hopefully) our Zambian liscences
3)getting off station and having some fun (not TOO much of course, we are after all still missionaries) ;)
the last little bit of news is that i'm getting a (young)cat! :) I know this may not be exciting to most readers, but i'm rather excited as i really miss having a feline friend around the house, maybe she'll keep the lizards at bay. (saw a HUGE one in my living room on Saturday). the parents of one of the grade 7 students are looking for a new home for a "kitten" (nearly a year old) as they'll be going on furlough soon. so she should be coming up in 2 weeks when they come. :) of course this means i'll haveto find someone to look after her while i gallavant around the country shortly after that, but i'm sure that won't be tooo much of a problem as cats usually fend for themselves a good deal.
well that's it for now. i'm off to bed!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
the fun has ended once again...
Sadly 1/2 term is over now and school must begin again tomorrow. My finger is nearly back to it's normal size and colour after swelling up like a balloon and changing to the various colours in the rainbow!
The staff vs students games all went quite well considering it was only our 2nd time playing netball (first for some) and it's been a very long time (if ever) for some of us and basketball as well! I can't remember the scores but we had to play 2 games of each sport (we also played football aka Soccer) first with the 5 & 6's and then against the 7 & 8's. I THINK we won or tied all our games, but the students may have beaten us in one of the basketball games. We only had 8 players for our soccer matches (some were injured from the previous sports) but we still managed to beat them. :) it was a much closer match this time though, which was more fun to play. these kids definately need to learn more of the soccer rules though (some of the staff too) as there were some horrible throw-ins and constant off-sides, but that's for Phil Towes to sort out as he's unofficially in charge of all sports now. :)
this 1/2 term went much better then the first one, mainly b/c there wasn't a 'cloud of doom' hanging over us all. the students were able to get their sweets, but were closesly monitered this time and i think they knew they were going to be so they were on their best behaviour.
Lina and i took the kids tubing yesterday and had only got caught up once or twice as the water was nice and high. i think we shocked a few Zambian guys who were standing on the bridge watching us go by, but that's really nothing new for us. ;)
Not sure when i'll be posting next as tomorrow I start on report cards. I've got a few grades tallied and would like to get it done a bit early this term (less pressure in the end). still have lots of stuff to mark and "comments" to figure out but hopefully it won't take as long as usual!
haven't heard much news "from home" would love to hear from you all!
The staff vs students games all went quite well considering it was only our 2nd time playing netball (first for some) and it's been a very long time (if ever) for some of us and basketball as well! I can't remember the scores but we had to play 2 games of each sport (we also played football aka Soccer) first with the 5 & 6's and then against the 7 & 8's. I THINK we won or tied all our games, but the students may have beaten us in one of the basketball games. We only had 8 players for our soccer matches (some were injured from the previous sports) but we still managed to beat them. :) it was a much closer match this time though, which was more fun to play. these kids definately need to learn more of the soccer rules though (some of the staff too) as there were some horrible throw-ins and constant off-sides, but that's for Phil Towes to sort out as he's unofficially in charge of all sports now. :)
this 1/2 term went much better then the first one, mainly b/c there wasn't a 'cloud of doom' hanging over us all. the students were able to get their sweets, but were closesly monitered this time and i think they knew they were going to be so they were on their best behaviour.
Lina and i took the kids tubing yesterday and had only got caught up once or twice as the water was nice and high. i think we shocked a few Zambian guys who were standing on the bridge watching us go by, but that's really nothing new for us. ;)
Not sure when i'll be posting next as tomorrow I start on report cards. I've got a few grades tallied and would like to get it done a bit early this term (less pressure in the end). still have lots of stuff to mark and "comments" to figure out but hopefully it won't take as long as usual!
haven't heard much news "from home" would love to hear from you all!
Half term and other fun
As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been having some trouble with my blog account and the internet. It seems it’s rather hit and miss if it will let me post or not.
Things have been as busy as ever! We celebrated birthday party with famous people (the theme of the night) and despite the crazy thunderstorm that kept knocking out the power, we had a lot of fun.
Today (Friday) is the first day of our second ½ term break (we get two in 1st and 3rd terms) and although it’s been rather fun, it’s also been somewhat painful for me. This morning as I was fooling around playing basketball with some of the kids, I tripped (I blame it entirely on the uneven court which is full of holes!) anyhow, i knew I was going down and as I tried to do it without landing on the court (which would mean a great loss of skin) or landing on one of the grade 2 students I ended up landing pinkie finger first on the grass. Although the landing ended up being softer then the court my poor finger is sprained and turning all kinds of wonderful colours (much to the amusement of the students). I also somehow managed to injure one of my toes (I was playing barefoot in true Zambian style) which is also a pretty shade of purple. Most people would have learned their lesson and called it quits for the day. I however, don’t know when to quit! :S about ½ an hour later the staff were having a netball practice (we’re trying to learn how to play as we have a game against the senior students tomorrow) and of course I couldn’t resist. Unfortunately today seems to be my clutzy day as I found myself on the ground again, this time losing all the skin on my right knee and of course it didn’t help my finger any! I have decided that like most non-contact sports netball can be very dangerous! I much prefer basketball as it makes so much more sense! I was forever getting into trouble for getting to close to the oponents; you have to stay 3 feet away from whoever has the ball… what kinda lame game is this? Of course, I’ll still play tomorrow morning, can’t resist a good clash up with the students… just hope I don’t break a leg or I won’t be able to play soccer in the afternoon!
Things have been as busy as ever! We celebrated birthday party with famous people (the theme of the night) and despite the crazy thunderstorm that kept knocking out the power, we had a lot of fun.
Today (Friday) is the first day of our second ½ term break (we get two in 1st and 3rd terms) and although it’s been rather fun, it’s also been somewhat painful for me. This morning as I was fooling around playing basketball with some of the kids, I tripped (I blame it entirely on the uneven court which is full of holes!) anyhow, i knew I was going down and as I tried to do it without landing on the court (which would mean a great loss of skin) or landing on one of the grade 2 students I ended up landing pinkie finger first on the grass. Although the landing ended up being softer then the court my poor finger is sprained and turning all kinds of wonderful colours (much to the amusement of the students). I also somehow managed to injure one of my toes (I was playing barefoot in true Zambian style) which is also a pretty shade of purple. Most people would have learned their lesson and called it quits for the day. I however, don’t know when to quit! :S about ½ an hour later the staff were having a netball practice (we’re trying to learn how to play as we have a game against the senior students tomorrow) and of course I couldn’t resist. Unfortunately today seems to be my clutzy day as I found myself on the ground again, this time losing all the skin on my right knee and of course it didn’t help my finger any! I have decided that like most non-contact sports netball can be very dangerous! I much prefer basketball as it makes so much more sense! I was forever getting into trouble for getting to close to the oponents; you have to stay 3 feet away from whoever has the ball… what kinda lame game is this? Of course, I’ll still play tomorrow morning, can’t resist a good clash up with the students… just hope I don’t break a leg or I won’t be able to play soccer in the afternoon!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
blog is giving me grief!
for some unknown reason Blogspot has been giving me trouble, hence the reason i haven't posted in awhile. i've tried several times and everytime i tell it to post it shuts me out. so here goes one more time... the following post was written after LAST weekend. i'll try and get a more updated on tomorrow or tuesday... if all works well
The past week has been busy, crazy and yet still fun. As I mentioned in my last post, the container boxes arrived on Tuesday, bringing with it much excitement and work. Since then my house has looked like a war zone with boxes exploding everywhere! I’m slowly finding a “place” for everything and with my pictures and curtains up and my dishes and such in the cupboards, it’s finally feeling like MY home and not like I’m staying in someone else’s house. As well as the added work from the containers, the board members came to Sakeji on Thursday for their annual meeting which took place Friday. This meant extra time spent “socializing” and getting to know them and not getting marking and such done. A blessing from having the board members around is that some of them brought their wives or visitors which meant extra hands willing to help the students who are struggling. I was also able to do a “field trip” of sorts as 3 ladies volunteered to help out. In Science we have been learning about our senses, and most recently our sense of smell. So we did a smelling tour of the school. Starting at the work shop and wandering around past the garden (and compost heaps) etc. The kids had a blast smelling the various things and had to take notes of what they smelled and if it was a good or bad smell. We all had a great time and hopefully they learned something. But by lunch on Friday I was so glad it was my afternoon off! I convinced Rachel to come for a ride with me (it’s her afternoon off as well) so it didn’t really take all that much convincing. I borrowed Jill’s truck and headed out for an “afternoon on the town”. Of course we chose a bad time to go into the market as everyone was still on their lunch breaks even though it was 1:45. I guess they get longer lunch breaks then we do! We found a few shops open and did some “clothes” shopping, picking up some yitengi (material) to make some new clothes and some more ‘talk time’ for our phones. Our next stop was at the post office, but sadly there was no mail. :( By this time we were melting in the heat and humidity; so we made one more stop at the butchery to stock my freezer with some meat for my time- off meals. Our shopping complete, we returned to Sakeji, and I began working on my boxes again.
Saturday after lunch was the beginning of my weekend off so I skipped lunch and kept tackling the house. The Ferguson’s (related to the Fisher’s who own the farm) invited all the staff (or those who could make it) to their house for the afternoon/evening so a crew of us went over. I helped roll out tortilla’s (we had to make several batches as there were about 20 of us) for tacos. We had a great time playing volleyball, badminton and various other activities and of course the food was fabulous. We finished off the evening around a bonfire. What an AMAZING day! And the weather was PERFECT! Sunday arrived with glorious weather and those of us who were off duty filled a vehicle and headed out to Sahandu (one of my favourite churches) ½ way to Kalene Hospital. We had a great time of fellowship with the saints there and then spent some time visiting with one of the elders who wasn’t able to make it to church as he has been ill. We arrived back at Sakeji to find they had NOT had such a wonderful morning. One of my grade one students had fallen off the monkey bars and broke her wrist! Unfortunately Kalene Hospital does not do x-rays on Sundays, so she didn’t get her cast on until today. (poor kid!) That was not the last injury of the day, but was the most significant one. Apparently the rest of the day was full of accidents, bumps and bruises and bandaids. I’m SO glad I was not on duty! :) After such a wonderful weekend (for me anyhow) I have to say it was a little hard to wake up this morning and go back to the “daily grind” of classes but we all survived the day intact! Please pray for Abigail, that her wrist will heal quickly, poor kid is gonna miss out on most of the 2nd ½ term fun. Thankfully it was her left wrist and she is right handed, so she’ll be able to keep up with her school work. Ok, enough rambling! I promised some pics but right now i'm just hoping this will post. pics to come (hopefully) or check them out on facebook.
The past week has been busy, crazy and yet still fun. As I mentioned in my last post, the container boxes arrived on Tuesday, bringing with it much excitement and work. Since then my house has looked like a war zone with boxes exploding everywhere! I’m slowly finding a “place” for everything and with my pictures and curtains up and my dishes and such in the cupboards, it’s finally feeling like MY home and not like I’m staying in someone else’s house. As well as the added work from the containers, the board members came to Sakeji on Thursday for their annual meeting which took place Friday. This meant extra time spent “socializing” and getting to know them and not getting marking and such done. A blessing from having the board members around is that some of them brought their wives or visitors which meant extra hands willing to help the students who are struggling. I was also able to do a “field trip” of sorts as 3 ladies volunteered to help out. In Science we have been learning about our senses, and most recently our sense of smell. So we did a smelling tour of the school. Starting at the work shop and wandering around past the garden (and compost heaps) etc. The kids had a blast smelling the various things and had to take notes of what they smelled and if it was a good or bad smell. We all had a great time and hopefully they learned something. But by lunch on Friday I was so glad it was my afternoon off! I convinced Rachel to come for a ride with me (it’s her afternoon off as well) so it didn’t really take all that much convincing. I borrowed Jill’s truck and headed out for an “afternoon on the town”. Of course we chose a bad time to go into the market as everyone was still on their lunch breaks even though it was 1:45. I guess they get longer lunch breaks then we do! We found a few shops open and did some “clothes” shopping, picking up some yitengi (material) to make some new clothes and some more ‘talk time’ for our phones. Our next stop was at the post office, but sadly there was no mail. :( By this time we were melting in the heat and humidity; so we made one more stop at the butchery to stock my freezer with some meat for my time- off meals. Our shopping complete, we returned to Sakeji, and I began working on my boxes again.
Saturday after lunch was the beginning of my weekend off so I skipped lunch and kept tackling the house. The Ferguson’s (related to the Fisher’s who own the farm) invited all the staff (or those who could make it) to their house for the afternoon/evening so a crew of us went over. I helped roll out tortilla’s (we had to make several batches as there were about 20 of us) for tacos. We had a great time playing volleyball, badminton and various other activities and of course the food was fabulous. We finished off the evening around a bonfire. What an AMAZING day! And the weather was PERFECT! Sunday arrived with glorious weather and those of us who were off duty filled a vehicle and headed out to Sahandu (one of my favourite churches) ½ way to Kalene Hospital. We had a great time of fellowship with the saints there and then spent some time visiting with one of the elders who wasn’t able to make it to church as he has been ill. We arrived back at Sakeji to find they had NOT had such a wonderful morning. One of my grade one students had fallen off the monkey bars and broke her wrist! Unfortunately Kalene Hospital does not do x-rays on Sundays, so she didn’t get her cast on until today. (poor kid!) That was not the last injury of the day, but was the most significant one. Apparently the rest of the day was full of accidents, bumps and bruises and bandaids. I’m SO glad I was not on duty! :) After such a wonderful weekend (for me anyhow) I have to say it was a little hard to wake up this morning and go back to the “daily grind” of classes but we all survived the day intact! Please pray for Abigail, that her wrist will heal quickly, poor kid is gonna miss out on most of the 2nd ½ term fun. Thankfully it was her left wrist and she is right handed, so she’ll be able to keep up with her school work. Ok, enough rambling! I promised some pics but right now i'm just hoping this will post. pics to come (hopefully) or check them out on facebook.
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