Merry Christmas!

Just a quick "hi" before the internet cafe kicks me out!

Merry Christmas!

Here I am Christmas Day at a vegetable farm called Masafiyo Vegetables... "Praises Vegetables."
I praise God for His vegetables, for the peace of nature, for friends He provides (see Bev and Katy eating their vegetables!), and for Emmanual, God With Us, Jesus.

Colorful Kids

Term 1 is winding down. Next week is the last, and will be full of Christmas Production practices and Medieval Day, feast included. It's been a term full of learning for the kids and me. They've learned about multiplication and Medieval Times and the mystery of Christ revealed throughout Genesis. I've learned all that AND about 8/9 year old minds and social interactions. They are amazing kids, very curious and humorous and intelligent. I hope to enjoy them even more next term, and to teach better, now that I have an idea of what I'm doing! I continually need Christ to be my sufficiency, supplying the wisdom and patience and love that I do not have in myself. (2 Corinthians 3:5,6)

Here are two colorful pictures from last week, one during Spirit Week, on Fruit of the Spirit Day... All come as a fruit! I was a mango if you were wondering... the most glorious of all fruits. I eat at least one a day. The other photo is of a rainbow that showed up Thursday morning. Half the school came out to see it!

International Thanksgiving

So Thanksgiving dinner number one was graciously prepared by an Irish woman whose family has decided that Thanksgiving is a nice holiday. We played a rollicking word game after the meal.

Our house hosted Thanksgiving number two. In attendance were friends from school and SIL, representing Canada, Austria, USA, Northern Ireland, and a bit of Korea and Papa New Guinea. The table was full of yumminess.

A special third Thanksgiving happened via skype... I got to chat with my family at the dinner table as they had TG dinner and I had pumpkin pie with mango and passion fruit for breakfast! I felt like I was right in the room!

And tomorrow evening I will go eat Mexican food in Tanzania at a house restaurant owned by a family from South Africa... How's that for international cuisine?!

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving week!

As my last post showed, I've struggled a bit lately. I can't say the struggles are over, but I do know that God has ministered to me this week and I feel more hopeful. I'm thankful for:

-A class meeting where the kids and I discussed and prayed about some of the positives and difficulties we have in our class

Please do pray for the social aspects of class. 3rd grade is evidently a learning-to-be-friends year.

-A good Bible reflection and prayer time with a friend-A chat and prayer with another friend under a palm tree looking over the Indian Ocean
-A teacher appreciation dinner put on by the family of two of my students, five courses :)

The card pictured here was made by one of my students. It was nice to hear things I do well and the benefit my teaching is to the family and parents, who work for Young Life, focusing on youth with disabilities.

-A nice, productive Monday to start the week

The Other Side of the World

Well, the official cross-cultural adjustment graph says that I should be over the "honeymoon period" with Tanzanian culture, and moving onto the "irritability stage." It's funny, the Tanzanian culture is not grating on me. Power outages are fine. Heat is fine so far. Swahili does make me feel inept and lost sometimes. But I love the geckos, produce, and transportation.

There are other cultures though. The culture of my house is pretty good; we're still getting to know each other, so sometimes I'm a bit lonely, don't know how to interpret situations, or if I can suggest adjustments on little issues like grocery shopping. Broadly, we enjoy each other, share humor and frustrations, and most importantly, meals:). The culture of the school is also generally good. We pray together. The kids are amazingly unique and engaged. There is flexiblity. I will post photos of last week's International Day soon. It was an amazing event. I have felt some "irritation" at school though, which makes sense, since it's the culture I'm immersed in the most. The flexibility, though good, can be a challenge. For example, the report cards aren't set in stone... so I get to design my own report card... but that means I have to put in all the extra think time to design a report card. Sometimes the irritation at school is just that everything is new, so I don't feel competent as a teacher. Sometimes the children talk too much (don't faint with surprise). I am so thankful that I can bring all these issues to my Father, privately and with others. And, I am thankful that there are no terrible issues. However, all rolled into one experience, I'd say I feel struggle recently.

And then, to get to that cute photo, I do miss all you across the ocean! The photo is a Skype session that my mom and brother projected on the wall at his Portland, OR home. That's my mom kissing me on my cheek, all the way from the other side of the world! It's lovely to have the home communication and love and letters. Some days it's bittersweet. I remember feeling known by others and knowing what to expect, but that's not how I feel here! Sometimes I see a picture, of friends or of a beach that looks like the Pacific Northwest, and it just hits me. It can really tire me out emotionally and physically. But, today was a good day. I did feel competent and the kids were fun.

So that's a taste of the ups and downs. If you're curious, the official graph says "adjustment" and "adaptation" are the next two stages. Then, in two years I'll get to "return anxiety!" So stay tuned for the ride.

Assembly Accomplished!

 We worked HARD this week! Before the break the kids had researched words in an acrostic for Medieval Times (Minstrels, Invaders, black Death, Illuminated letters...). This week we finalized that research, and the kids developed mini presentations/skits for our assembly. We also prepared a minstrel band to play an authentic medieval tune, and a troupe of dancers who used a utube video as inspiration for choreagraphing their own dance!





It felt like a crazy week to me, but it paid off in a lovely assembly. Especially, it was a lovely accomplishment for the kids, to work together and prepare all the details, then have their parents and the rest of the primary school enjoy the assembly. It was also a reminder to me, to trust God in uncomfortable times, and that the kids are really amazing!

...And now back to "normal" life!

Zanzibar Rest

 Last week was mid-term break. Three of my housemates and I went to Zanzibar for three nights. We stayed on the beach. Here is a picture of Rose, Ali, and Emily (and Winston, another teacher from our school) about to jump on the beautiful white sand. I got to swim in that aquamarine Indian Ocean each morning!

This is a photo of the village situated along the beach. Many people in the village fish and have businesses for tourists, such as massage or restaurants.











We went on a spice tour. I loved seeing how spices grow! This is nutmeg, wrapped in crimson mace!


It was nice to have a rest. Today we are back to work/school. My class is preparing to present about Medieval Times at our Friday assembly this week. Lots of work ahead!!