Memories of Foster Middle School...

Fun with Chalk

I brought some sidewalk chalk with me today for the boys to draw on the concrete basketball court with. Instead, George, Musa, and Jason drew on each other. They were pretty proud of themselves. So cute!

Me and the Boys

This week I'm helping with the two year old orphans at Eric's house - an orphanage for boys. There are eight 2 year olds, and then George who is 3, and Jason who is 4. My mom took this picture right as I got there this morning.

Checking In

There hasn't been much to report the last couple of days. Saturday I woke up with a sore throat and stayed in bed and slept most of the day. My parents and I had a very un-fourth of July - Dad spoke at the Namwianga lectureship and mom and I stayed home, drank tea, played cards, and stayed close to the fire. It has been really really cold here! And since my parents had their house painted last week, we have had to keep the windows open to let the paint fumes out. I've had a blanket wrapped around me at all times, which will not surprise any of you who know me, because I do that even in the middle of summer back home. Anyway, this morning (Sunday) dad woke up sick with a stomach virus which has been going around the mission. I felt better than I had on Saturday, so Mom and I went to church (it lasted for 3 and half hours and most of it was in another language!). Tonight we are doing more of the same - sitting around the fire, Mom working on her laptop, and me reading a book by the fire(I built the fire all by myself since Dad is sick, pretty proud of myself!). Tomorrow should be more eventful - I'm going up to the orphanage to work with the 2 year olds, and the early team of Americans for the medical mission will arrive sometime in the afternoon.

Unpacking

When we got to my parent's house after a bumpy 2 hour ride from Livingstone, I let the boys open up a bag I had packed with goodies for them in it. It felt like Christmas morning with the boys tearing through the bag and pulling out each item with excitement and then rushing to the living room to open them up and play. At one point they even climbed inside the bag. I think their favorite item was some little toy trucks that cost $1 at Wal-Mart. It doesn't take much to make these boys happy. :)

Dinner in a Dutch Oven

My parents are having their house painted this week, and today was the kitchen's turn, which meant we had to find another way to cook dinner. So my dad, savvy outdoorsman that he is, decided to cook a chicken (along with potatoes and carrots) in a dutch oven. He placed the coals in a ratio of 2 to 1, with double the amount of coals on top as on bottom since heat rises. Then he had to make clockwise and counterclockwise turns of the pot and lid so that it would cook evenly. I was pretty impressed. Haven't tasted it yet, but it smells delicious!

I'm here!

I arrived in Zambia right on time on Thursday. All my luggage arrived along with me, which is pretty much a miracle since I hadn't laid eyes on it since Austin, and had taken 3 different flights and spent the night in Johannesburg. When I came out of baggage claim, my parents were there to meet me, along with JASON AND GEORGE!!! They are so big now, but as cute as ever. The picture is of George and me outside the Livingstone airport with some traditional African dancers who were performing (Jason was too scared to go anywhere near them and George clung to me for dear life the entire time).