Its Raining Its Pouring the Old Man is Snoring!!!

Rain: 
Yep its true...the rains have officially started in Dzuwa. For the most part they have just been small rain showers so far but we did have one HUGE storm that flooded our entire yard! It was pretty incredible! Our house has a tin roof and rain on a tin roof sounds soooo crazy...especially when it is pouring! Its so loud you can't hear the person next to you talking!!! So fun to experience (from inside though). It will be interesting to see what happens in Dzuwa once the heavy rainstorms are more consistent. From what I hear you wade through like 2 ft of water going anywhere! Oh boy! I have my rain boots ready! :-) Since the rains have started that also means that everyone has been sooooo busy in their fields cultivating and planting their crops. So busy in fact that some of the women haven't even showed up to cook for our feeding program! Grrr. I have never lived in a farming area so all of the cultivating and planting techniques are very fascinating to me. Oh and there are no big farming machines here (shocking I know! *sarcasm*) so all of the work is done by hand with one hoe! So a family will prepare acres and acres of land all by hand! The people of Dzuwa grow tobacco, corn, soybeans, peanuts, and beans. Its very exciting to see how everything is becoming so much greener and some of the plants are already growing! I can't wait for the day when there are huge corn fields for me to run through (it has always been one of my lifelong dreams to run through a corn field...yes I am weird). Also since its raining you might be wondering about our cultivation program...well we now have all 6 acres committed to us! Praise the Lord!!! One acre has been prepared for planting. Today is the deadline we gave the chiefs for all 6 acres to be cultivated and planted so they should be working as I type this. We'll see what I find when I get back.

School:
This Friday Dec 10th is the last day of school for term 1! WAHOOOOOO!!! I am so ready and excited for a break! This past week and continuing into this week we have been giving our kids final exams. Yes that is what they call them. Can you imagine final exams for kindergartners!!!  I was very surprised by this. I don't even remember taking tests in kindergarten. Does anyone remember taking tests in Kindergarten?? Anyway administering tests to all of my kids has been quite a task!! We don't have the resources to produce actual tests (I don't think the kids would understand them even if we could) so we have to administer oral tests to each student!!! So far I have tested 80 students!!! Their test consists of writing the letters we have learned so far (A-K), numbers 1-10, shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle, diamond), questions in English like "what is your name?" and "how are you?", and some simple commands like jump, run, touch your head...Testing each kid individually is soooo tiring and frustrating...especially since the kids are so young you have to prompt them to do everything saying "write A" like 5 times before they actually do it. OH MY! Going into the exams I was a little nervous because in a lot of ways I feel like I have failed these kids. There are just so many of them I feel bad I can't give them the individual attention they crave so much. I can't even learn all of their names (not yet at least)! I feel awful I always have to ask the kids their names. And I can't speak their language! Gosh I just want to be able to communicate freely with them soooo bad. I was very nervous to see the results of the tests because felt like the kids may not have even learned anything and would fail in all subjects. Well the tests have turned out better than I was expecting! I knew I had a group of like 5-10 kids who were really learning but I didn't know what to expect from the rest of them. I have been surprised that many of the kids who I thought didn't pay attention in class are really learning. They could write and recognize many of our letters, numbers, and shapes!!!! I couldn't believe it! There are still a handful that got zeros though. Most of them are the younger kids who really shouldn't be in school anyway but just come for the food. So overall God has really blessed me with good scores and has encouraged me that maybe I am teaching these kids something.

Immigration Papers:
I have turned in my application for my work permit and am now just waiting to hear back from the office in Blantyre to see if it has been approved! I also finally got a return flight (I had to turn in a copy of my ticket with my application and was having great difficulty with my travel agent). I leave Malawi on August 1st and  officially return to the USA late August 2nd 2011. So for now I am living on an extended visa until my papers get approved. Please pray they get approved.

Frogger:
I now understand the concept of the frogger game. While driving home late at night from Lilongwe after turning in my immigration papers I felt like I was in a real live game of frogger...except I was in the truck! There were soooooooo many frogs out on the road!! Oh my goodness I couldn't believe it! Everywhere you looked there were frogs! I was sad though we couldn't really dodge them so I think we were responsible for quite a few frog deaths! :-(

If you don't move you will be hit!:
This is a statement I have learned is absolute truth here in Malawi. Whether you are walking, riding a bike, crossing the road, or driving if you don't move out of the way you will be hit!!! Here is the hierarchy Trucks>Cars>Bikes>People & Animals...during one trip into town I saw a truck hit a biker b/c he didn't get off to the side of the road fast enough...and my minibus today ran over a goat because it didn't get out of the middle of the road fast enough...I think the goat is still alive for now at least...so you have to be super aware of your surroundings at all times!

The Finger Snap:
Ok remember the finger snap that all the guys at Furman did all the time?? (sorry for those who didn't go to Furman) They would shake their hand in some way that their fingers would snap...ok well I was waiting outside of my classroom the other morning and one of my students started doing it!!! I was so surprised and excited and starting laughing. During my time at Furman I learned how to do the snap a little...I am no pro but I can do it...so I did it back at the girl who did it and all of my students who were watching were awestruck! They were shocked I could do it and started talking among themselves "Ahhh Ahhh Madamu Madamu" (They call me Madamu) It was soooo hilarious! Who would have guessed they know the finger snap in Malawi!!!

New Internet!:
Well I am writing this post using the new internet system here in JTW's Lighthouse Internet Cafe. December 1st they installed a fiber optic system!!! and it is so fast! It is really almost as good as internet in America! I am soooo thankful for the new system! I was even able to post more pictures in my facebook album! Here is the link:  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=558627733664&set=a.558627608914.2078334.28304486#!/album.php?aid=2078334&id=28304486

Ok well I will end this post with the 4 responses to seeing an azungu I have experienced here so far and some prayer requests. Thanks for reading!! :-)

The 4 responses to seeing an Azungu (white person):
1. Complete Terror- this usually comes from little children who have never seen a white person before and burst out screaming and crying acting as if their life is in mortal danger
2. Utter Shock- mouths wide open & speechless frozen still where they stand
3. Total Indifference- could care less and won't acknowledge your presence just walking right past you with a mean look
4. Absolute Excitement- frantically waving and screaming "azungu azungu" and cheering when you wave back or greet them

Prayer Requests:
-The World Race Team: there will be a team from the Christian program the world race living here in Dzuwa for the month of December. They arrive on Monday :-) I am very excited for their arrival and for the chance to spend some time with other Americans my age!! Pray for safe travels for them and  for their time in Dzuwa that God would be preparing the way for them and work in great ways through their time here.
-For Family back home
-For me and homesickness here...especially as Christmas is approaching...It was hard to miss Thanksgiving with my family and will be even harder missing Christmas...
-Pray for health during the rainy season: protection from Malaria, Cholera, and other diseases that explode here while there is lots of standing water.