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.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
the container boxes have arrived!
Here at Sakeji excitement is running high and energy is running low. It’s not the students I refer to but the staff. This morning, just before lunch the ‘lorry’ (truck) pulled in loaded down with our boxes from the Canadian container (which was shipped in October). Christmas has come! Unfortunately it means a full day (especially for the men) of sorting boxes and hauling them to the appropriate buildings. Many hands were required for unpacking the food order to ensure it had all arrived and was put away in it’s proper place. Yay! We’ll get fed for another term or two. :)
It was quite exciting to see them loading up the back of a pick-up truck with all the boxes that were headed to my house and even more exciting as they arrived and I started to peek through them. But the novelty quickly wore off as I started having to weigh them all and record how much they way and check the numbers to see if they have all arrived yet. When I left my house t 2pm to return to class they had not all arrived yet, but I’m hoping they’ll be there when I go down after prep today. Just 10 more minutes! Then the fun begins. Ripping into the boxes to see what’s inside. Most of them shouldn’t be a surprise as I packed them at my house (see blogs in October) but some of them I haven’t seen before so it’ll be a nice surprise. Thanks SO much in advance to those of you who packed and shipped boxes. I’m sure I’ll enjoy everything inside. I’ll have pictures up next post.
It was quite exciting to see them loading up the back of a pick-up truck with all the boxes that were headed to my house and even more exciting as they arrived and I started to peek through them. But the novelty quickly wore off as I started having to weigh them all and record how much they way and check the numbers to see if they have all arrived yet. When I left my house t 2pm to return to class they had not all arrived yet, but I’m hoping they’ll be there when I go down after prep today. Just 10 more minutes! Then the fun begins. Ripping into the boxes to see what’s inside. Most of them shouldn’t be a surprise as I packed them at my house (see blogs in October) but some of them I haven’t seen before so it’ll be a nice surprise. Thanks SO much in advance to those of you who packed and shipped boxes. I’m sure I’ll enjoy everything inside. I’ll have pictures up next post.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
boosters are no fun!
Tuesday I had the wonderful priviledge of getting a rabies booster. It was totally different from the last one I got which was inter-muscular. This one was more like a TB test where it just goes under the skin. It "pinched" a bit going in, but that was it. I was told that it might get itchy so was quite impressed with myself when it wasn't bothering me at all... until this morning. Today I woke up with a large red slightly swollen circle on my arm that is INSANELY itchy at times. of course, like anything really itchy, I'm not allowed to scratch it! :( so instead i've scratched away all the skin everywhere BUT the place that's itchy hoping it will somehow help... of course it doesn't. The grade one students, who got the needle at the same time as me (most of whom were quite brave about it) seem to be having no problems. i asked if they were itchy and they said "no" and seemed to think it was quite amusing that mine was. how fair is that?!
other then that not too much is going on. mark ronald headed down to the copper belt to help pack a truck with some of the container boxes and will be bringing some back with him when he returns this weekend. the stuff he'll be bringing will most likely be food stuffs for the kichen, but it's very exciting that we'll be getting the boxes soon (Lord willing, if the roads hold). We've had a lot of rain, but not nearly as much as I remember from last year. thankfully the last few days the rain has been mostly at night or when we're in buildings (school or dining room). unfortunately i seem to have misplaced my umbrella and so have gotten wet a few times running from building to building.:S
i guess that's about it for now. can't think cuz i just need to scratch this thing on my arm! ahhh...
other then that not too much is going on. mark ronald headed down to the copper belt to help pack a truck with some of the container boxes and will be bringing some back with him when he returns this weekend. the stuff he'll be bringing will most likely be food stuffs for the kichen, but it's very exciting that we'll be getting the boxes soon (Lord willing, if the roads hold). We've had a lot of rain, but not nearly as much as I remember from last year. thankfully the last few days the rain has been mostly at night or when we're in buildings (school or dining room). unfortunately i seem to have misplaced my umbrella and so have gotten wet a few times running from building to building.:S
i guess that's about it for now. can't think cuz i just need to scratch this thing on my arm! ahhh...
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
First 1/2 term break
The first 1/2 term break has come and gone but not without leaving some lasting memories... some good, so not so good.
Unfortunately half term got started off on the wrong note when it was discovered that there was some theft going on during "sweets" (a time when each student is alloted "40p" worth of candy to put in their candy jar). Some of the seniors are given the responsibility (and priviledge) of handing out the sweets and they took it upon themselves to give out extras, not one or two, but enough to over-fill their sweet jars. This was bad enough but when confronted about it, several of them chose to lie as well and none of them seemed repentent,rather they were just upset that they had been found out. Their actions caused them to miss out on everything for the rest of the day and they lost several priviledges including all their candy. Thankfully the juniors (grades 1-4) were able to still enjoy their day and a beautiful day it was too! We couldn't have asked for better 'beach' weather as we spent 80% of our day at the river/pool. Of course, being the brilliant person I am, I totally disregarded the sunscreen until it was too late and am now a nice lobster red. Unfortunately many of my students do not understand what it means to be sunburnt and that it hurts me when they tap me on the shoulder or jump on me to give me a hug. :S
At the dawn of Tuesday we were all a little wary of what to do about the seniors, but it was decided that they were going to be allowed to enjoy the days activities. So Lina, Rachel, Mare and I had the pleasure of taking the most senior students tubing. This time there was not great lightening shows or torrential rains, just a leisurly float down the river (getting stuck in a few places). It would have been nearly perfect if one large black spider had not decided to hitch on my tube for the ride. I let him know quickly that he was not welcome and even managed to do it without too much yelling or tipping myself off. :)Just after lunch came the rain and I was rather worried that our staff vs student soccer game would be called off! Thankfully the thunder rolled away and took the lightening with it, so we were able to proceed with out game in a light rain. We had 10 staff show up to play with various degrees of soccer "skills". The first half the students were only allowed to have 10 on at a time. By the end of the first half the score was 5-0 for the staff and we were really ready for a break! The second half we decided to give the students a little break, so they got a fresh "new" team of students and were allowed to add an extra 2 players. Us old 'fogies' rallied together and managed to shut them out until the last minute of the game. The final score was 7-1 for the staff. I was quite impressed with the effort put forth, especially by those who didn't really want to play, but did so because i asked them too. :) It was suggested by some that we have staff/student games on a regular basis. I thought this was a pretty good idea, however, my leg muscles today aren't agreeing with me! Over all it was a great way to end out our 1/2 term break. The extra fresh air, sunshine and excercise wore our more then myself; one of my grade one students literally fell asleep in my arms during video last night and several of them looked rather drousy in class this morning! Hopefully they'll we'll ALL get a good nights sleep tonight and be ready to tackle classes again tomorrow!
Unfortunately half term got started off on the wrong note when it was discovered that there was some theft going on during "sweets" (a time when each student is alloted "40p" worth of candy to put in their candy jar). Some of the seniors are given the responsibility (and priviledge) of handing out the sweets and they took it upon themselves to give out extras, not one or two, but enough to over-fill their sweet jars. This was bad enough but when confronted about it, several of them chose to lie as well and none of them seemed repentent,rather they were just upset that they had been found out. Their actions caused them to miss out on everything for the rest of the day and they lost several priviledges including all their candy. Thankfully the juniors (grades 1-4) were able to still enjoy their day and a beautiful day it was too! We couldn't have asked for better 'beach' weather as we spent 80% of our day at the river/pool. Of course, being the brilliant person I am, I totally disregarded the sunscreen until it was too late and am now a nice lobster red. Unfortunately many of my students do not understand what it means to be sunburnt and that it hurts me when they tap me on the shoulder or jump on me to give me a hug. :S
At the dawn of Tuesday we were all a little wary of what to do about the seniors, but it was decided that they were going to be allowed to enjoy the days activities. So Lina, Rachel, Mare and I had the pleasure of taking the most senior students tubing. This time there was not great lightening shows or torrential rains, just a leisurly float down the river (getting stuck in a few places). It would have been nearly perfect if one large black spider had not decided to hitch on my tube for the ride. I let him know quickly that he was not welcome and even managed to do it without too much yelling or tipping myself off. :)Just after lunch came the rain and I was rather worried that our staff vs student soccer game would be called off! Thankfully the thunder rolled away and took the lightening with it, so we were able to proceed with out game in a light rain. We had 10 staff show up to play with various degrees of soccer "skills". The first half the students were only allowed to have 10 on at a time. By the end of the first half the score was 5-0 for the staff and we were really ready for a break! The second half we decided to give the students a little break, so they got a fresh "new" team of students and were allowed to add an extra 2 players. Us old 'fogies' rallied together and managed to shut them out until the last minute of the game. The final score was 7-1 for the staff. I was quite impressed with the effort put forth, especially by those who didn't really want to play, but did so because i asked them too. :) It was suggested by some that we have staff/student games on a regular basis. I thought this was a pretty good idea, however, my leg muscles today aren't agreeing with me! Over all it was a great way to end out our 1/2 term break. The extra fresh air, sunshine and excercise wore our more then myself; one of my grade one students literally fell asleep in my arms during video last night and several of them looked rather drousy in class this morning! Hopefully they'll we'll ALL get a good nights sleep tonight and be ready to tackle classes again tomorrow!
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