Out and About on my own!

Well today marks a very exciting milestone for me! Today I travelled to Kasungu all by myself!!! I woke up at 5 this morning, left the house by 6am, rode 45min on the back of a bike to Santhe where I caught a minibus to Kasunu, and finally arrived around 8:30.  :-) Yay!!! Not that I don't like travelling with my co-workers but so far it has been great to get out and be a little independent! It has been hard for me to have to be so reliant on everyone here. It also has been very hard feeling like I am with people all the time becuase I am a very introverted person and love alone time and the ability explore things all by myself.

Hmmm...so what is new? There is actually not too much to report. Things here are very much the same. School is still going well, although I now have between 80-100 kids coming on a regular basis. This makes it SOOO hard to keep everything under control and to teach. The kids all like to talk and play instead of listen to me teach, so it is quite a task keeping their attention. They are still doing very well though and learning a lot! I actually got a chance to compare my standard 1 kids with the standard 2 kids this past week as I was teaching BOTH classes for 3 days. The standard 2 teacher was in the city so they asked Timo and I to teach both classes! That is between 150-200 kids! The first day I combined both classes in one room. Big mistake! That was just too many kids in one small space! But it allowed me to see that my standard 1 kids are lightyears ahead of the standard 2 kids in terms of knowing and recognizing their letters and shapes. So that was encouraging. The next 2 days I just had to dance back and forth between both classrooms. I felt bad because I wan't able to give my full attention to either class. Please be praying for patience for me with the kids and that I would really be able to show them God's love for them. Also please continue to pray for the funding for our feeding and cultivation programs. We are currently borrowing money from other departments to help fund our programs. Pray that God would provide!

A huge blessing this past week was the arrival of a package from home!!! At the end of September my water filter here broke! But by the grace of God there just happened to be a team of Malawians from Blantyre in Pittsburgh!!! So my parents were able to send a new filter, my Ipod (which I worked so hard to organize all of my music on and then proceeded to forget it in the car at home!), and some other surprise goodies back with the team! So now I have clean water and music from home!! Wahoo!!! :-)

Finally a chichewa update...I am slowly learning more and more. I now have a handful of key phrases tucked away in my pocket which is very exciting! I can officially greet anyone anywhere at anytime of day (b/c the questions are all different depending). This is HUGE because greeting people here is a bid deal. The general rule of thumb is that if you can see someone you have to greet them even if you don't know them. So for example if you see someone working in a field some distance away you still must greet them because you can see them! Haha it is very different than the US and you are considered very rude if you break the rule. Sometimes me being able to greet someone turns into a hilarious situation because then sometimes they assume that I know chichewa and just start blabbering away and I just smile and laugh and say "Pepani ayi chichewa" (sorry no chichewa). Hahah its very funny. Most of my phrases I know have to do with either teaching, cooking, or coaching. One of my favorites is "Osma pinda kashuihushuihu" or "Don't bend your elbows"! :-) All of you volleyball players out there should recognize that one in terms of passing! The kids find this one particularly hilarious too!

Alright that is it for now I think :-)

Thanks so much for all of your prayers!!!

Please continue praying for
-Family back home
-Funding for our programs
-Patience with the kids
-Absorbing God's word (I am getting to spend a ton of time in the word here which is soooo great but pray that I am really working to put what I am learning into action!)

p.s. I posted some pictures on facebook so check them out! Here is the link to the album
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=558628282564&set=a.558627608914.2078334.28304486&ref=fbx_album#!/album.php?aid=2078334&id=28304486&page=2
if you can't view them just friend me :-)

p.p.s. Note the change in address again! Still trying to figure out the best way to get mail. Still haven't received any from home! So trying a box in a bigger city and hoping that might help a bit. Don't worry though to anyone who sent something it might still get here its just taking FOREVER!