Updating...

We are getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday! Actually we already had one. We got together with other teachers and had a nice little thanksgiving feast. We even had mashed potatoes and ham. It was a great time. We have Thursday and Friday off of school this week. We bought bus tickets and will be leaving Thursday morning to go to Burundi to stay with Christi's sister and husband. We get to have another Thanksgiving there. It will be good to be with family on that day. They even bought a turkey!

Speaking of turkeys- I am taking my class on their first field trip. We will be going to the house of a student in my class who raises turkeys. It should be a good time. School has been going well. It is busy and exhausting, but quite rewarding too. My students are making really good progress. The families are quite supportive and do their part at home too. This is a nice change for me. I've been learning a lot about teaching too. It has been a good experience to use some different materials and approaches and compare the results. Christi has also been doing well in her work. It is hard to do with Mili and a house to take care of. She has been working really hard and there is a lot to be done helping get the school's finances entered into QuickBooks.

A friend of Christi's just left to go back to the States to have a baby and is lending us her car until the beginning of January. We are learning to drive in Africa and enjoying the extra freedom of coming and going when we want and not having to worry about buses, taxis, and motos. We also got to go see Rwanda play Zambia at the stadium. They tied 0-0. This took them out of the Africa Cup and put Zambia in. They needed to win by two goals. It was a lot of fun. We took our night guard to the game with us and he had a good time too.

Mili has been doing so well. It is nice to have her healthy. She enjoyed being able to see and talk to both sets of Grandparents on Skype the last couple weekends. I came down with a really bad cold and decided to stay home from work today. I'm hoping some good rest and medicine will help getting me feeling better for the weekend ahead. Christi has been in good health. We both have diarrhea and stomach aches now and then, but that is part of Africa.

I have realized that I need Africa a lot more than Africa needs me. I had been in a comfortable place where I didn't have a lot, but I also didn't have a lot of needs. I didn't live in a way that was dependent on God. This in turn affected my view of who God is, how I lived, etc. Being here in Africa I am very dependent on God, and I have seen Him take care of us time and time again. This in turn changes my view of God and how I live, etc. It is a good place to be. It has been nice to get to know some Africans here and see their perspectives on life and God too. Nothing here works quite right and everything takes a long time. This is great for me to learn some patience and to slow down. You either embrace it or you are mad all the time. While most things are slower and take longer there are some really good things about that. Most of the work is slower and more manual. This employs more people and creates less damage environmentally. It also means that we have tons of great organic produce. We have planted a little garden at our house and the seeds started to sprout after only 4 days. Almost everything is made from scratch and we almost never eat processed foods. I'm sure I've lost at least 10 lbs. Since we've been here. I can't believe we've been here for almost 12 weeks and how different it feels now. We are doing well and hope this finds you the same way.