I don't have much time to blog, but haven't written in ages so here goes... Highlights: 1) last week one of the new grade 3 girls (Hannah) gave her life to Christ. She had been very shy and quiet since coming, barely speaks above a whisper. Last Tuesday she approached the dorm Mom and said she wanted to ask Jesus to forgive her sins. Since then I've noticed a new happyiness and peace in her life. Very exciting to see. Please pray for her as she grows in the Lord, that her faith with strengthen daily. 2) I'm down to 10 grade ones, but this is good because one of my grade ones is now a grade 2. He is a super smart little boy and could probably do the grade 3 with without too much trouble! He reads at a grade 4 level! It's been a challenge to keep him from getting too bored in class as he always finished his work waaay before the others. Praise the Lord, he is settling into grade 2 quite nicely, I just pray the grade 2 boys don't corrupt him with their bad behaviour because right now he's a good kid. 3) My church extended my commendation another 2 years which was a real answer to prayer for me! So I will be out here (Lord willing) until at least 2014. I had planned to come home for a visit during the summer but have decided to put that off for a little while. Perhaps next summer. well, that's about all I have time for right now. Need to finish marking and planning for the week!

it's amazing how much noise 60 excited children generate!

yep! the students are (mostly) back once again and so starts another term. my classroom is about 98% ready and i'm about 89% ready but that's ok. i don't really have time to write as i'm supposed to be heading up to watch "Popeye" with the kids on our new flat screen tv. i think i'm more excited then the kids about the tv! the old one we so bad that we couldn't see have the movies as it was just too dark. we now also have "surround sound" (sort of) so it should be a pretty cool experience. :) this term is our shortest one - 10 weeks long but is also one of the most busy/crazy as there is SO much packed into it! not only is there another sport's tour for the seniors, we have another school coming up here for a sports tour. of course we have the usual birthday party (this term "nautical" theme) and Sports Day. so we'll all be very in shape this term... well, the kids should be anyhow. gotta run, gonna be late for the 'good seats'!

back in the swing of things

Our trip to Lusaka was a success in that we got done what needed to be done and even had time for some fun stuff. :) unfortunately the bus ride back to Kitwe was worse then our trip down which was not a fun way to end it! we did manage to get all our dental work done without losing any teeth! :) have several fillings though and apparently I'm not supposed to eat pineapple anymore. :( i was afraid she'd tell me i could no longer have tea as well but she said that tea actually has floride in it so in a way it's good for my teeth! who knew?! :D just before we left Kitwe we went to the animal shelter and Lina picked up a new puppy to replace her dog Ceili who had to be put down as she was suffering (horribly) from a snake bite. The new puppy is veryy cute but has a bad habit of pooping where she shouldn't... like on my luggage on the way home. needless to say i was NOT impressed. good thing she's cute! we had no major problems on the trip home, it just seemed longer than usual. thankfully we just missed the rioting in Mwinilunga - something to do with stolen petrol? now, after a few days of catching up on my sleep. I'm back in my classroom getting ready for the beginning of next term. the kids arrive a week tomorrow! i'm excited to see them again, but not ready for my holidays to end. oh well. such is life.

i forgot how much i hate taking the bus!

So here I am back in Lusaka. why you might ask? good question! Lina and I drove down to Kitwe on Sunday as we had more dental appointments on Monday. The drive down was rather uneventful (thankfully) and we have been staying with the Fernando's (friend's of Lina's family) they are a very nice Sri Lankan (sp?) family who have been living and working in Zambia for several years. We've both been enjoying the awesome food! Our appointments went fairly well on Monday. Lina was able to both keep her tooth and not get a root canal which was good. I had some very painful fillings put in and after a few hours we were done and went out to celebrate with some lattes.
Today we were driven to the bus stop to catch a bus from Kitwe to Lusaka (cheaper then driving) a 5-6 hrs trip. After waiting for nearly an hour we were off. What we weren't ready for was the rediculously little room! I have short legs and my knees were mashed into the seat infront of me. Poor Lina, who has LONG legs, was hanging out into the isle. It made for a VERY LONG trip. of course as there was only one stop and we weren't sure about the "facilities" available we decided to go the dehydration route instead. so by the time we reached Lusaka we were hungry, parched and very cramped yet somehow we survived. we quickly made our way (or as quickly as our poor knees would travel) to the new mall a few blocks away for some refreshments and relief. after reviving our poor bodies we found a cab to take us to Arcades Mall so we could watch "The Hunger Games". (Lina looked up movie times when we were in Kitwe). It was a nice relaxing way to end our evening.

Tomorrow Lina is going to get the final paperwork done for her liscence (fingers crossed!) which is the reason we came down. And i'm heading to the malls for some 'me shopping' time. :) I know i complained about the shopping trip last time, but this is shopping for pleasure, not groceries. so much better and less stressfull!
then we're back on the bus (not looking forward to that) and back to Kitwe.