Weekends are Wonderful

The weeks seem to fly by here, despite my occasional, overwhelming homesickness! This week seemed to begin at Thursday. Teaching children is so demanding that the five hours during which I am responsible for the children each day seem to disappear. Many teachers tried to explain to me how a well run classroom runs itself. A teacher who is organized has a schedule, and she/he is just as subject to it as the students, of course, with authority to be flexible. As the weeks progress, I find that my efforts at organizing the classroom pay off one hundred fold! The children expect certain things to happen in the day and even remind me when I forget something! I am much less stressed about teaching as I was in the first two weeks.

One aspect of the campus life I thoroughly enjoy are the pot luck dinners on Friday Night. Last night was no exception. I sometimes feel isolated in my little house on top of the hill, but the campus activities add such a lovely balance of social interaction. I relish my personal time to relax, organize, read and think, and I equally enjoy seeing all the missionaries involved on campus at the weekly functions. The only missing piece seems to be intimate group meetings and one-on-one sharing between the missionaries. I do have a jogging partner now-an Irish girl named Louise. She has thick red hair that makes me jealous, and a great personality. :) I am thankful for her, but pray that I find a small group of women with which to have a Bible study or weekly lunch. Also pray that I find transportation to one of my student's birthday parties! The party is on Lake Malawi in Selima (sp?), an hour east of Lilongwe. I had no idea how important it is to respond to invitations extended here. I didn't attend the first birthday party to which I was invited by an African family for their daughter, Jewel, in my class. They were offended and let me know on parent/teacher night! Anyway, the lake is a treat, and I would love to go! I have heard people say it is the cleanest body of fresh water in the world and has 800 species of aquatic life indiginous only to lake Malawi! The most popular fish of those 800 species is the Chombo, a white fish. I had a Chombo filet at a Korean restaurant, lightly breaded-oh! It was sooo good.

Saturday seems to be passing as quickly as the weekdays! Thank you to those of you who continually email me. I love hearing from you and look forward to your letters more than you can know!