- Michael and Kasey
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Hey Everybody!
I can hardly believe that we can count the number of days left here in Africa on one hand! We're both so excited to get home to you all, but we're realizing all too quickly how difficult it is going to be to say good-bye. Danny and Bridget, two volunteers who have been here with us for the past five weeks and have become our good friends, left early this morning. It was sad to see them go, and know they had a hard time leaving the kids. We hadn't really told the kids we were leaving soon yet, but Michael told them this morning that we were leaving in a few days to go back to America. When I walked in shortly after, Corfield ran over to hug me and said, "Don't leave." Let's just say I'm going to have a rough few days...
Other than the sad thought of leaving despite the excitement of coming home, things are really good here! Most of the other volunteers headed out to Zanzibar for a long weekend, so it's been a nice, quiet couple of days for us. With some money that a friend of my mom's gave us, we have been able to do a lot for the kids! When we found out about the money, we talked with Kaaya, Johanna, and Amanda to figure out what the best use would be. We determined a few different ways to divide the money and have already accomplished a lot! We came in to Arusha on Wednesday to a bookstore and were able to buy English, Kiswahili, and Math textbooks for the entire Standard One class, as well as teacher guides for the Kindergarten and Baby classes. We also got 40 new workbooks so that each child has one. AND we got 6 new thick blankets for the children's beds at the orphanage! AND THAT'S NOT ALL! When we leave here, we are headed to the market to find 13 pairs of rainboots, 1 pair of tennis shoes, and 3 backpacks! We will be giving rainboots to all of the kids in our Kindergarten class, which we measured for yesterday. Johanna suggested this since most of the kids have long walks to school in very muddy conditions. When we measured the kids shoes, we noticed that Alice's shoes were not only incredibly smelly, but we also very small on her. So, we're in search of new tennis shoes for her as well as rainboots. I think the money has gone a really long way and is helping every child in different ways. We, as well as everyone else at Peace Matunda, really appreciate it! The two regular teachers at the school came in to town to help us pick out the textbooks and seemed so excited to have some real school supplies! So, once again, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Since yesterday was Bridget and Danny's last day, we took the kids down to the river accross the street for a swim. The picture posted by Michael is of him with Jesca in the water. I took pictures and stayed with the kids on the rocks, while Michael, Bridget, and Danny stood in the water to hold the kids one-at-a-time. The water felt pretty cold, but the kids absolutely love to feel like they are swimming! Within 2 minutes of arriving at the river, at least 10 local children had come out to watch us all.
Well, I won't tell y'all about everything now, that way we still have plenty of stories to share when we get home in 4 days! This really has been an awesome experience for both of us, and it has meant a lot to us to know that you all have been behind us every step of the way....so, with that said, see you soon!
Love,
Kasey
I can hardly believe that we can count the number of days left here in Africa on one hand! We're both so excited to get home to you all, but we're realizing all too quickly how difficult it is going to be to say good-bye. Danny and Bridget, two volunteers who have been here with us for the past five weeks and have become our good friends, left early this morning. It was sad to see them go, and know they had a hard time leaving the kids. We hadn't really told the kids we were leaving soon yet, but Michael told them this morning that we were leaving in a few days to go back to America. When I walked in shortly after, Corfield ran over to hug me and said, "Don't leave." Let's just say I'm going to have a rough few days...
Other than the sad thought of leaving despite the excitement of coming home, things are really good here! Most of the other volunteers headed out to Zanzibar for a long weekend, so it's been a nice, quiet couple of days for us. With some money that a friend of my mom's gave us, we have been able to do a lot for the kids! When we found out about the money, we talked with Kaaya, Johanna, and Amanda to figure out what the best use would be. We determined a few different ways to divide the money and have already accomplished a lot! We came in to Arusha on Wednesday to a bookstore and were able to buy English, Kiswahili, and Math textbooks for the entire Standard One class, as well as teacher guides for the Kindergarten and Baby classes. We also got 40 new workbooks so that each child has one. AND we got 6 new thick blankets for the children's beds at the orphanage! AND THAT'S NOT ALL! When we leave here, we are headed to the market to find 13 pairs of rainboots, 1 pair of tennis shoes, and 3 backpacks! We will be giving rainboots to all of the kids in our Kindergarten class, which we measured for yesterday. Johanna suggested this since most of the kids have long walks to school in very muddy conditions. When we measured the kids shoes, we noticed that Alice's shoes were not only incredibly smelly, but we also very small on her. So, we're in search of new tennis shoes for her as well as rainboots. I think the money has gone a really long way and is helping every child in different ways. We, as well as everyone else at Peace Matunda, really appreciate it! The two regular teachers at the school came in to town to help us pick out the textbooks and seemed so excited to have some real school supplies! So, once again, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Since yesterday was Bridget and Danny's last day, we took the kids down to the river accross the street for a swim. The picture posted by Michael is of him with Jesca in the water. I took pictures and stayed with the kids on the rocks, while Michael, Bridget, and Danny stood in the water to hold the kids one-at-a-time. The water felt pretty cold, but the kids absolutely love to feel like they are swimming! Within 2 minutes of arriving at the river, at least 10 local children had come out to watch us all.
Well, I won't tell y'all about everything now, that way we still have plenty of stories to share when we get home in 4 days! This really has been an awesome experience for both of us, and it has meant a lot to us to know that you all have been behind us every step of the way....so, with that said, see you soon!
Love,
Kasey
Final Photos
Hello!
Here are our last photos, one of Kase and I on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, and the other of me pulling Jesca into the Malala river near our house (see Kase's post).
This is my last post before we arrive home on Wednesday morning. This experience has been incredible, and it has given me quite a bit of time to think about the meals I plan on eating the first day back. Family...make this happen...
Breakfast: 4 Hot-n-Ready Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts
Lunch: 15 Medium spice wing-only wings from Buffalo Wild Wings
Afternoon Snack: McDonald's Biggie Fries and a Medium Chocolate Shake
Dinner: Gorgonzola Filet Mignon at Brio
I love you all, thanks for following along, and I am sure I will talk to you soon!
- Michael
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Well! We survived our safari and made it back to Peace Matunda safely and soundly...with a lot of interesting stories along the way! We started out our five days in Tangarine Park, which had tons and tons of elephants. We had great weather and it was just Michael and I with our guide for the day, so it was a very relaxing afternoon. We also had a cook traveling with us, who served us a 5 course dinner that night! We didn't realize how much our stomachs had shrunk until about course 3. It was a nice change of flavor from our daily rice and beans here.
We spent our second day at Lake Manyara. We got to watch a group of about 20 giraffes face off two lions, but luckily the lions weren't hungry...Michael was a little disappointed but I was glad to not see any blood. Plus, I've decided that giraffes are the coolest animal on the planet. We had one get so close to our safari truck at one point that we could've easily fed him from our hands. I had been really excited to see the flamingos in the lake, since after all, they're pink! There were definitely millions of them out there, but because the rainy season didn't bring enough rain to that area, the lake was really low and we couldn't get very close to the water to see them up close...oh well!
That night, we camped near the park. It was a pretty nice place, but we woke up in the middle of the night to some unknown creature ramming our tent! We think it was one of the huge birds that was living in the tree nearby, but luckily it got bored quickly and left us alone...The next morning, we woke up to a huge breakfast and a new travel buddy. Debbie, a lady from CT joined us for the last three days of our safari. We left that morning for the Serengeti, which we learned means "endless plain" in swahili. The name fits well. It was beautiful on the drive down from the mountains, but we soon realized that 14,000+ km of area means that the animals are very spread out. We went quite a long time without seeing much of anything besides gazelles, which I decided are like squirrels are for us Virginians. But, just as we were about to lose hope (and it had started to rain, which NEVER happens in the Serengeti during dry season...) we drove up to find a lion chasing a wildebeast. The wildebeast got away because we interupted the hunt, but we were excited to see 4 large female lions and one adorable cub come walking right towards our car. They were sooooo close! That night, we were given strict instructions not to leave our tent during the night, because heyenas and lions like to roam the campground. Sure enough, Michael woke me up around 3am to hear the laughing heyenas outside our tent. The next morning, a giraffe joined us for breakfast...meaning he was eating in a tree nearby as we sat down to eat our toast and sausage.
We spent that morning driving back thru the Serengeti, seeing a few lions, warthogs, and another million gazelles. We did find Pride Rock, and Michael was relieved to see a Mufasa in the distance. We then traveled back that afternoon to Ngorongoro Crater which lies on the edge of the Rift Valley. We had seen the view from the rim on our way to the Serengeti, and were really excited to camp on the edge! We arrived, set up our tent and dinner table, and then found two elephants within a few yards of the campground! It was cold up on the rim, so we had to wear tons of layers to bed that night. Michael (our guide) gave us an idea of what animals we might hear during the middle of the night, and we had to leave any and all snacks in the car so that the wild pigs wouldn't tear down the tent. We did wake up frequently the the sound of zebras eating grass outside of our tent, and the next morning, we were told that the "fresh droppings" right behind our belonged to an elephant. We had to wake up early to make our descent into the Crater, so it was still dark when we walked across the campsite with our flashlight to get to the bathroom. We came out just as the sun started to come up to realize that we had walked right through a herd of zebras in the dark! We were so close to them that we learned that the hair of their tails is even striped!
Our day in the crater was definitely our best...we saw thousands of wildebeasts as they made their migration. They were accompanied by almost as many zebras, and there were plenty of water buffalo nearby. We also got to see a huge group of hippos in the pool, which were rolling around and playing with the new babies of the group. We had a cheetah walk right next to our truck, and we saw a black rhino (very rare) in the distance. We saw a few more lions lounging in the grass (they're so lazy!), and every now and then we'd spot a heyena roaming around. I got to see some flamingos a little more closely, and then we headed back up the wall of the crater.
Overall, I think we had a great safari experience, but we were definitely ready to head back to the kids! We pulled in to the drive way late Sunday afternoon, and all the kids came running to jump on both us and the truck. They all were excited when Michael hooked our video to the TV so they could see the animals, and then we all settled down to watch Beauty and the Beast. Monday was a holiday for Tanzania, so there was no school. Instead, we just spent the day enjoying the beautiful sun, washing our laundry by hand (the washing machine broke), and walking up the mountain to see Kilimanjaro in the distance!
It's so hard to believe that we will be on our flight home to you all in exactly one week! We're so excited to see you guys and share all of our pictures and stories, but we're trying to savor these last few days with the kids...hope you all enjoyed the fireworks on the 4th! You know Michael missed them! See you guys soon!!!
Love,
Kasey
*sorry there are no pictures, the internet is crazy slow here, so we'll have to show you them when we get home!
We spent our second day at Lake Manyara. We got to watch a group of about 20 giraffes face off two lions, but luckily the lions weren't hungry...Michael was a little disappointed but I was glad to not see any blood. Plus, I've decided that giraffes are the coolest animal on the planet. We had one get so close to our safari truck at one point that we could've easily fed him from our hands. I had been really excited to see the flamingos in the lake, since after all, they're pink! There were definitely millions of them out there, but because the rainy season didn't bring enough rain to that area, the lake was really low and we couldn't get very close to the water to see them up close...oh well!
That night, we camped near the park. It was a pretty nice place, but we woke up in the middle of the night to some unknown creature ramming our tent! We think it was one of the huge birds that was living in the tree nearby, but luckily it got bored quickly and left us alone...The next morning, we woke up to a huge breakfast and a new travel buddy. Debbie, a lady from CT joined us for the last three days of our safari. We left that morning for the Serengeti, which we learned means "endless plain" in swahili. The name fits well. It was beautiful on the drive down from the mountains, but we soon realized that 14,000+ km of area means that the animals are very spread out. We went quite a long time without seeing much of anything besides gazelles, which I decided are like squirrels are for us Virginians. But, just as we were about to lose hope (and it had started to rain, which NEVER happens in the Serengeti during dry season...) we drove up to find a lion chasing a wildebeast. The wildebeast got away because we interupted the hunt, but we were excited to see 4 large female lions and one adorable cub come walking right towards our car. They were sooooo close! That night, we were given strict instructions not to leave our tent during the night, because heyenas and lions like to roam the campground. Sure enough, Michael woke me up around 3am to hear the laughing heyenas outside our tent. The next morning, a giraffe joined us for breakfast...meaning he was eating in a tree nearby as we sat down to eat our toast and sausage.
We spent that morning driving back thru the Serengeti, seeing a few lions, warthogs, and another million gazelles. We did find Pride Rock, and Michael was relieved to see a Mufasa in the distance. We then traveled back that afternoon to Ngorongoro Crater which lies on the edge of the Rift Valley. We had seen the view from the rim on our way to the Serengeti, and were really excited to camp on the edge! We arrived, set up our tent and dinner table, and then found two elephants within a few yards of the campground! It was cold up on the rim, so we had to wear tons of layers to bed that night. Michael (our guide) gave us an idea of what animals we might hear during the middle of the night, and we had to leave any and all snacks in the car so that the wild pigs wouldn't tear down the tent. We did wake up frequently the the sound of zebras eating grass outside of our tent, and the next morning, we were told that the "fresh droppings" right behind our belonged to an elephant. We had to wake up early to make our descent into the Crater, so it was still dark when we walked across the campsite with our flashlight to get to the bathroom. We came out just as the sun started to come up to realize that we had walked right through a herd of zebras in the dark! We were so close to them that we learned that the hair of their tails is even striped!
Our day in the crater was definitely our best...we saw thousands of wildebeasts as they made their migration. They were accompanied by almost as many zebras, and there were plenty of water buffalo nearby. We also got to see a huge group of hippos in the pool, which were rolling around and playing with the new babies of the group. We had a cheetah walk right next to our truck, and we saw a black rhino (very rare) in the distance. We saw a few more lions lounging in the grass (they're so lazy!), and every now and then we'd spot a heyena roaming around. I got to see some flamingos a little more closely, and then we headed back up the wall of the crater.
Overall, I think we had a great safari experience, but we were definitely ready to head back to the kids! We pulled in to the drive way late Sunday afternoon, and all the kids came running to jump on both us and the truck. They all were excited when Michael hooked our video to the TV so they could see the animals, and then we all settled down to watch Beauty and the Beast. Monday was a holiday for Tanzania, so there was no school. Instead, we just spent the day enjoying the beautiful sun, washing our laundry by hand (the washing machine broke), and walking up the mountain to see Kilimanjaro in the distance!
It's so hard to believe that we will be on our flight home to you all in exactly one week! We're so excited to see you guys and share all of our pictures and stories, but we're trying to savor these last few days with the kids...hope you all enjoyed the fireworks on the 4th! You know Michael missed them! See you guys soon!!!
Love,
Kasey
*sorry there are no pictures, the internet is crazy slow here, so we'll have to show you them when we get home!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Hello all!
Kase and I wanted to try and get one more post in before we head out tomorrow morning into the wild. Things are great here. While Kase and I are beginning to anticipate our departure, the kids still make every day a blast...something we are for sure going to miss when this adventure is over.
At last, this past weekend, we had a full weekend of sun! This, of course, meant we spent a lot of time outside. On Sunday, after the kids got home from church, I followed them out to the back of the property where on Friday we had begun building mud houses. Of course, by 'we' I mean they built the houses, kitchens, choos (bathrooms), and fences with mud and sticks, and I was the official mud maker! I was absolutely blown away by the skill these kids have with sticks and mud. Were these structures blown-up to human size, they would be completely livable. Ema was able to stand on top of his house without it collapsing. The first picture is of Calvin and me in my mud-making hole. Calvin is one of my favorites! He is very clever, always imitating whatever we say in English that he finds funny, and very observant. Yesterday, we went to a dowry celebration and Kase put a konga on to dress up. As soon as she walked outside, Calvin said, "Oooo, Kasey, very nice!" He is so genuine, and as such, so funny!
After lunch Sunday, all the volunteers and all the kids went to the waterfall. The walk there was fun, just to stretch our legs, but once we were at the waterfall, seeing the kids play in the water made the hike completely worthwhile. The water (melted ice from the peak of Meru) was freezing cold, so the kids kept running in and out of the water screaming "cold-ee." Kase has an especially good time dipping the kids in one by one. The second picture, of course, is of Kase and Corfield together in the water. The relationship between these two is especially strong. A few nights ago, I went in to put the kids to bed, and when I asked the kids if they wanted me or "Teacher Kasey" to read, Corfield was ready to put up a fight to get Kasey in the room. When we leave, I am going to have to do a check of Kase's bag to make sure she hasn't hidden Corfield in a secret compartment to bring him home.
Tomorrow, we head out on our 5 day safari. We will be going to Lake Manyara, Tarangire, Ngoronoro Crater, and the Serengeti. We have three cameras, two pairs of binoculars, and a video camera (borrowed from Danny and Bridget) just in case we need to film a great animal battle (Youtube "water buffalo" and watch the WHOLE thing). We have heard great things about our guide, and we are very excited! We will be sure to post some stories and pictures next Tuesday when we come to town. We return from the safari Sunday night.
Have a great rest of your week!
love,
michael
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Hello again!
The weather has finally cleared up around here (knock on wood) so we were able to head back in to the city for the day. We're trying a new internet cafe, so we're hoping that it will be easier to upload pictures from these computers! If it works, then you should be looking at a picture of Love and Oliver under the umbrella that I wrote about last time, as well as a picture of Michael and I helping Simon to get his new bookbag all ready to go. Things have been pretty good the past few days, Michael, Amanda, and I all woke up with chest colds on Thursday, but they seem to be getting better as the days go on. It's weird to have a cold while on summer vacation, but it definitely has been a little bit chilly here the past few days...I guess being close to the equator doesn't mean much when you're living on one of the tallest mountains in Africa! But don't worry, we're healthy and staying warm!
I think that bookbags were a huge success! On Thursday, Michael had to come back to the house to get a sheet. When I asked him why, he said that none of the kids would put their bookbags down because they didn't want them to get dirty (our classroom has a dirt floor). Love came in so excited on Friday morning because her grandparents had given her a new pink notebook to carry to school in her new bookbag...I've never seen a kid so excited about homework! It's hard to believe we only have about a week and a half worth of teaching left since we go on safari this week!
On Friday, Amanda had the nurses who had come in March come back to the school for HIV testing again. We were all relieved to learn that we had no new cases in the school, and we were even able to test a few of the older children who live in the area who don't go to school anymore. It's a heartbreaking thing to think about, but we were all glad that the only tears shed were by the 2 year olds when they had to get their fingers pricked. All the kids love bandaids though, so I think most of them thought it was a special treat to get one! I know Michael was happy too, because one of the little 2 year olds, Sandy, finally let him hold her. We joke that she's like a 25 year old trapped in a 2 year old body, because she is so independent and does her own thing all the time. She really doesn't like to get any attention, unless you're giving her candy of course. A few weeks ago she finally let me hold her hand, but she still had a habit of crying every time Michael even looked at her! He was so happy when he finally was able to hold her!
Well, that's about all I have for today...I hope you all are doing well! Enjoy the warm weather for me, I'm missing my favorite season at home!
Love,
Kasey
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Hey Everyone!
Sorry we are a day late at updating you all on how we're doing over here. The rain has been really bad over the past week, and the mountain was too muddy to get down safely yesterday...but the sun came out finally this morning!
Yesterday we split the two classes into three classes since we got four new volunteers. We were able to form a "Kindergarten" class, for those who are stuck between the "baby class" and "standard one". Michael and I took over the new group, which has been a good but exhausting experience. We don't have a swahili speaking teacher in the room with us anymore, and the kids have learned how to "say no" a little too easily. But, I really think the split will be good in the long run because we can move ahead in reading and math.
Michael and I had been trying to come up with something that we could get for the kids in our class that they would both need and be excited about. This past weekend, Michael came up with the idea of getting them all backpacks from the market. We were able to get 18 brand new backpacks for 80,000 shillings (that's about 60 dollars). Since today was the first day without pouring down rain, we took them over after break. We called each kid up one-by-one to choose which color they wanted, and then I wrote their names on them with a big permanent marker. They were all so excited. I know bookbags don't seem like much, or very exciting, but their faces all lit up. Most of the kids bring their homework to school in a small plastic bag that they save from market. One little girl, Mercy, brings her stuff to school in a plastic wrapper from some sort of small electronic. I wish that the internet wasn't so slow, because we took so many pictures, and Michael even videoed all the kids running out of the school with their new backpacks on. Unfortunately, I can only get up two pictures today, one of which is of Michael and I with Simon as he puts his stuff in to his new bag. We will have to share the rest of the pictures with you all when we get home.
The other picture that I am putting up is of Love and Oliver. These two are some of the cutest and sweetest kids we have met up on the mountain. They hadn't been to school in about two weeks, and we were starting to worry and miss them. So, on Monday we had Martha, the swahili teacher at our school, take us to find them. We had no idea that they walk at least 30 minutes up and down hills to get to school each day! We got to visit them at their home though, which was a wooden-plank, square house. They live with their grandparents, who spoke no English but insisted that we come in for tea (made with milk that had just come out of the cow in the backyard! Don't worry, I drank it without making any faces to show how I thought it tasted!) . The room that we sat in had cardboard walls covered with old newspapers. Even though they didn't seem to have much, and Love was running around with two left shoes on that didn't match, I left there feeling confident that they were loved and cared for, which is more than we can say for a lot of the kids in our class. I was so glad to see that some of the art work the kids had done was hanging proudly on the walls...Fortunately, they had just been under the impression that school was on break, which explained the kids' absences. They showed up to school on Tuesday morning, despite the pouring down rain that made it easier to sink in the mud roads than to walk in them. Since we now had a much better idea of how hard it was for them to get to school, Michael didn't want them to have to walk home in rain without any covering, so he ran home to get his umbrella and gave it to them. As they walked away, there were probably 5 kids crowded under the umbrella....
We've been playing a lot of Euchre (a card game that I learned from Michael's family). Another couple volunteering here from Canada are big fans of the game too, so we fill a lot of the rainy days playing against them...I'm proud to say that we normally win and I even dealt a hand in which I had a "lay down loner" when we were already up 9-4. For my side of the family reading this, that means I creamed them all! For Michael's side of the family, he says you would be proud!
Other than that, things are good here...we miss you all a lot, and we look forward to seeing you in 3 weeks!
Happy Birthday, Jonathan! I know I'm a day early, but I won't be back to the internet tomorrow!
Love,
Kasey
*at the very last minute, the pictures wouldn't load! Sorry! We'll try again next time!
Sorry we are a day late at updating you all on how we're doing over here. The rain has been really bad over the past week, and the mountain was too muddy to get down safely yesterday...but the sun came out finally this morning!
Yesterday we split the two classes into three classes since we got four new volunteers. We were able to form a "Kindergarten" class, for those who are stuck between the "baby class" and "standard one". Michael and I took over the new group, which has been a good but exhausting experience. We don't have a swahili speaking teacher in the room with us anymore, and the kids have learned how to "say no" a little too easily. But, I really think the split will be good in the long run because we can move ahead in reading and math.
Michael and I had been trying to come up with something that we could get for the kids in our class that they would both need and be excited about. This past weekend, Michael came up with the idea of getting them all backpacks from the market. We were able to get 18 brand new backpacks for 80,000 shillings (that's about 60 dollars). Since today was the first day without pouring down rain, we took them over after break. We called each kid up one-by-one to choose which color they wanted, and then I wrote their names on them with a big permanent marker. They were all so excited. I know bookbags don't seem like much, or very exciting, but their faces all lit up. Most of the kids bring their homework to school in a small plastic bag that they save from market. One little girl, Mercy, brings her stuff to school in a plastic wrapper from some sort of small electronic. I wish that the internet wasn't so slow, because we took so many pictures, and Michael even videoed all the kids running out of the school with their new backpacks on. Unfortunately, I can only get up two pictures today, one of which is of Michael and I with Simon as he puts his stuff in to his new bag. We will have to share the rest of the pictures with you all when we get home.
The other picture that I am putting up is of Love and Oliver. These two are some of the cutest and sweetest kids we have met up on the mountain. They hadn't been to school in about two weeks, and we were starting to worry and miss them. So, on Monday we had Martha, the swahili teacher at our school, take us to find them. We had no idea that they walk at least 30 minutes up and down hills to get to school each day! We got to visit them at their home though, which was a wooden-plank, square house. They live with their grandparents, who spoke no English but insisted that we come in for tea (made with milk that had just come out of the cow in the backyard! Don't worry, I drank it without making any faces to show how I thought it tasted!) . The room that we sat in had cardboard walls covered with old newspapers. Even though they didn't seem to have much, and Love was running around with two left shoes on that didn't match, I left there feeling confident that they were loved and cared for, which is more than we can say for a lot of the kids in our class. I was so glad to see that some of the art work the kids had done was hanging proudly on the walls...Fortunately, they had just been under the impression that school was on break, which explained the kids' absences. They showed up to school on Tuesday morning, despite the pouring down rain that made it easier to sink in the mud roads than to walk in them. Since we now had a much better idea of how hard it was for them to get to school, Michael didn't want them to have to walk home in rain without any covering, so he ran home to get his umbrella and gave it to them. As they walked away, there were probably 5 kids crowded under the umbrella....
We've been playing a lot of Euchre (a card game that I learned from Michael's family). Another couple volunteering here from Canada are big fans of the game too, so we fill a lot of the rainy days playing against them...I'm proud to say that we normally win and I even dealt a hand in which I had a "lay down loner" when we were already up 9-4. For my side of the family reading this, that means I creamed them all! For Michael's side of the family, he says you would be proud!
Other than that, things are good here...we miss you all a lot, and we look forward to seeing you in 3 weeks!
Happy Birthday, Jonathan! I know I'm a day early, but I won't be back to the internet tomorrow!
Love,
Kasey
*at the very last minute, the pictures wouldn't load! Sorry! We'll try again next time!
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