Last Friday was the Reception walk-off competition. All week, both Ari's class and my class have been practicing for this walk-off which was basically created to give our kids motivation to walk in a nice straight line on the way to PE and the library. After much anticipation, many of the other classes came out to watch and encourage the kids as they walked their straightest lines through the entire school.It was the cutest thing I have ever witnessed. Some of our students' shoes are sizes too big, which hinders them from walking straight and comfortably, but gives Ari and I a big laugh. It was a tough call, but the judges (our TAs) concluded that it was a tie. All the kids were sooo excited and proud, as they should be! For their reward, we had a Reception play day/ice cream social on Monday. We then enjoyed chapel (my favorite thing!!!!) where the kids sing, recite their memory verses and teach the lesson. I will include pictures of tomorrows chapel later. For now, here are some pictures from both Friday and Monday.
Giving my last motivational speach as we prepare for the Walk-Off
The Reception kids (4 & 5 yrs old) eagerly await the announcement of the 2007 Walk-off winners! They got sooo excited, it was hilarious!
Here are my students enjoying their ice cream in the "hallway" (an outdoor hallway connecting all the classrooms)Friday afternoon, Dan and I went to Lake Malawi with some of the teachers from ABCCA(Ari, Annie, Megan, Owen and Andy). We stayed for free in this really cute cabin on the lake, about a football field down the beach from Livingstonia Hotel (for those of you who know where that is...Malawi team 2005). It was beautiful weather, hot but breezy and the water was soooo nice. (yes we went in the water, jumped waves and had a great time!).
Megan, one of ABCCA's first grade teachers from Oregon!!!
On Saturday, we spent time on the beach. It was beautiful weather, hot but breezy and the water was soooo nice. (yes we went in the water, jumped waves and had a great time!). We then took an old old old small fishing boat out to a small rocky island out in the lake. We went for a little hike to the other side of the island, and then snorkeled. The fish were beautiful, BRIGHT blue! We had a blast just being out in the water and enjoying the time off. Oh, and we had neighbors living in the trees next to our cabin. They were monkeys!!! One had a baby and its belly, holding on to the mama as it jumped from tree to tree. SOOO COOL!
Since we weren't staying at a touristy place, we were definitely the main attraction at this local beach. Many people living on the water are fishermen. These people loved to watch and wave to us as we went to the lake in our little borrowed boat. Below is our boat.
These are some of the trees that look like they grow from the sky down to the ground. I think it would have been scary to go to this Island at night!
Here is a cute picture of Africa's version of the "Lemonade stand". It's a little tomato stand :)
On Sunday, we left around 1:30pm after enjoying the sun and the Lake one last time. On our way home, we stopped by some of the “shops” for gifts and things. Then we stopped at this place called The Canoe. In the video below, you can hear us talking about the best ice cream place in Malawi. Well, that's the Canoe. We got ice cream and food...little did we know that it would be our last meal for days. Sunday night, Megan and Annie came down with most likely food poisoning. Then Andy went down. Soon after, I started feeling rotten, then Dan and at the very end of the line came Ari. On Tuesday, there were 5 of us teachers who could not physically show up for class. I don't know how they did it, but the other teachers and our TAs covered all our classes. It was so hard to be at home, knowing that our co-workers were picking up all the slack. Thankfully, we recovered somewhat quickly and have been back at work. It feels good to be out of bed and to be doing something productive!
As if throwing up and fevers weren't enough, Dan and I came home with TONS of mosquito bits from the Lake. Here is a cute picture of us with our calamine lotion dots to help the itch.
Now it is Thursday night, and I am looking forward to Friday. We are going to enjoy a relaxing weekend at home and probably get caught up with our classes. Dan has been going riding on Tuesday and Thursday mornings before school at 5am, so he gets up at 4:30am and that is really hard (for both of us!!!) It has been really fun for him, though, and a great way to meet people. Actually, it's the father of one of my students that got him into the “club” if you will. It's been great getting to know the parents of our students. Fellowship is slow, but it's coming. Bible study has begun, and that is a great way to go deeper with people living on campus. Please pray that it will be a blessing to all of the ABC and ABCCA staff members. We are all so tired and somewhat dried up so pray that the Lord would be gracious and give us His joy and gladness.
On a personal note, there has been tension between Dan and I. Thankfully, we have been blessed in such a way that we are able to reconcile quickly, but damage is being done. Please pray for our marriage and that God would protect us from the evil one, as well as ourselves. We are seeing more and more how quickly we tear each other down through sinning against each other. I want to serve the Lord here in Malawi, and I need to begin by serving and loving my husband first. I am so thankful for your prayers. We miss everyone so badly ( I have been crying more these days) but we can feel your prayers and that is so encouraging.
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