Saturday, March 29, 2008

Cape Town diaries

We stayed in Fish Hoek, a small beach town about 45 mintues from down town Cape Town. It was so nice. It felt like Cannon Beach- cute shops, ocean smell, cool breeze. Wonderful.
Day One: Table Mountain. You take the cable car up (well, we did. it's possible to hike, but no thanks). It rotates 360 degrees as you are going up. A little freaky. One of the most beautiful places I've been. The first pic is the cable car. The second is Cape Town proper from the mountain. The last is Andy at the top.

Day Two: Boulder Beach, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. Words can not describe how beautiful. Seriously.



If I continue day by day this will be the longest blog ever. So here's the rest of the pictures I want to show you. We ate a lot of good food, enjoyed the scenery at the wineries, and of course, did some shopping. And saw wild animals- penguins, baboons, dolphins, creepy birds, ostriches. This baboon was trying to break into these people's car. He even took a swat at the girl. Or as Annie said, the gorilla beat up a woman.

Annie and Andy are eating delicious food. Andy is eating crocodile, springbok, ostrich and warthog. Annie's just eating a hamburger. The bottom picture is the three of us enjoying an Easter picnic at one of the oldest wineries in Stellenbosh.


Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Easter in Cape Town!

Thanks for praying for us. Our trip was wonderful! Cape Town is quite possibly the most beautiful place in the world. Here are a few pictures to satisfy your curiousity until I have more energy to tell you more:
The Atlantic Ocean (at least, I'm pretty sure, could be the Indian, but I think it's the Atlantic). My first time in it. I was excited. It was COLD.I
Beautiful sunset on the Atlantic Ocean. This time I know it's the Atlantic because the sun sets in the West.
A highlight of the trip for me- penguins! They were just so stinkin' cute.
Another highlight- beautiful views everywhere you look. This should be the Indian Ocean on our way to Cape Point (which I'll put up pictures of later).
Ways you can pray:
1. A smooth re-entry to a third world country. Please pray that I will remember my calling and my passion and be focused on what God called me here to do.
2. Smooth start to the fourth and final term. I have a lot of things to do to get ready for "Writing Week" the first week of school.
3. General peace, freedom, and contentment in my life and the lives of other missionaries serving at ABC

Monday, March 17, 2008

just in the nick of time....

Just a quick update to let you know that our TEP reciepts just showed up at our door- praise the Lord! I am not nearly so nervous about traveling now...


Weather forecast for Cape Town, South Africa on Tuesday, March 18: 30 degrees celsius (86 fahrenheit), clear skies.
This is where we're going. This is the Victoria and Albert Waterfront with Table Mountain in the background. Thanks for praying


Sunday, March 16, 2008

peace, and i'm outta here!

Happy Easter, a few days early. We are officially on Easter holiday until the 31st of March (people around here are serious about their holiday time, 2 weeks for Easter break!). We made it through the third term in First Grade, but not without a few rocky days toward the end. Just when I thought I couldn't take any more, God blessed me with really sweet kids, and a good last couple of days. On Friday when we were ending our day I was telling my kiddos to have a good break and safe travels and whatnot and Mzati raised his hand (which is a miracle in itself) and says, "I'm gunna miss you." It was so sweet, especially considering he's been the source of much of my grief.

Well, Annie, Andy and I are off to Cape Town today. The flight leaves at 3:20 today and I would appreciate your prayers about this. There are a lot of details that need to work out, such as getting our Temporary Employment Permits so that they will let us out of the country. We've had our paperwork turned in since September and still no reciept- that's Malawi time if I've ever seen it. We also have a somewhat short connection to go through customs and whatnot- please just pray for safety and smooth travels. We'll be there for a week. It's going to be so nice! Thank you for your prayers.

I pray that you would be blessed, this Holy Week, in remembering the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

When our mortal bodies have been transformed into immortal bodies this Scripture will be fufilled: "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
1 Corinthians 15:54-58

He is risen. He is risen indeed! (I taught my kids to say that this week- precious!)

Friday, March 7, 2008

a day in the life...

One of the questions I get asked most often is, "What do you eat there?" I'll attempt to answer.

One of the favorite past times among the mzungu (white person) population is to fantasize about food that you can't get in Malawi. But, when it's all said and done, you can get a lot of things here. And if you have the time and energy (or a cook) you can make some really decent food. Here's a pretty normal menu:

Breakfast: bran cereal with raisins (you might think that's called raisin bran, but here you have to buy the bran and raisins separately and the bran is very plain, no sugar at all), or oatmeal, or an apple and peanutbutter.

Snack: piece of fruit (apples and bananas are the cheapest, mango was delicious when it was in season, now is plum season and they are delicious!), raisins

Lunch: some kind of avacado creation is always a favorite (with tomatoes, feta, balsamic vinegar, perhaps?), leftovers from dinner the night before, or if I'm really desperate I'll have tuna with crackers (I really overdid the tuna when I first got here and now it never sounds appealing)

Dinner: saute whatever veggies are in the fridge (peppers, eggplant, zuchinni, onion) and put them over cous cous or pasta, rice if I have an extra long time

Everything here is from scratch, fresh, and homemade. I don't have a lot of time or energy so I end up eating the same thing a lot, but I eat pretty healthy meals. Everything here is also seasonal. Right now is eggplant and plum season from what I can tell about what's available. It's definately not zuchinni season because that's been really hard to find.

I hope you feel just a little closer to me now that you know what I eat. :-)

Blessings to you!

Remember to pray for my students and I through this last week of our term. I've got assessments and report cards to do- again! Ahh! Pray that I can quickly get healthy again (I've had a fever and cough and sore throat).

Sunday, March 2, 2008

my thoughts on this beautiful sunday

There is a lot about Malawi that makes you appreciate the incredible creativity of our Creator. As you probably have figured out, I love the sky here. It is almost always 100% beautiful. Although it does occasionaly completely cloud over for a grey and drizzly day- which makes me feel right at home. There are birds and all kinds of creatures that make me appreciate being just one small part of the world. It's also really amazing to live in a community with such diverse cultures, and see how different and how alike we all are.

I've also been thinking a lot about being content. I wish I could be more content, but I find myself thinking more and more about "what's next." Even though I'm here for another year and a half I want to know what life will be like in 5 years, 10 years. But focusing on the future will cause me to miss the blessing that is the present.

Well, that's about the end of my reflections for the day.

Here are somethings you can pray about-
Praises:
1. beautiful weather and great friends to enjoy it with
2. an encouraged spirit

Prayers:
1. a strong finish to term 3
2. safe travel over the break (many of my students and friends will be traveling, and so will I- to Cape Town, South Africa!)
3. the McDonald family- they are in the states because LeAnne had surgery, please pray for her continued recovery, and for them as they return to Malawi at the end of March. And pray for me because I miss them!
4. Babies being born- my neighbors, Dan and Beth, will be traveling back to the states to welcome their son, Elijah, into the world; my teaching partner, Jenny, and her husband, Nate, will be traveling to South Africa to welcome their daughter, Selah, into the world.

Thanks for being you and who you are to me! Loves from Malawi.