Happy Independence Day Zambia

Did you know that October 24th is Zambia's Independence Day? They got their independence from Britain in 1964, and so instead of having school, we had a special day to celebrate with all of the kids. 

First we had a flag raising ceremony, and sang the national anthem of Zambia...I'm still learning it. 

After the flag ceremony we went down to the pool and spent the morning doing swimming races, had lunch down at the river, and after lunch had a whole bunch of silly competitions for fun!

  It was such a fun day for everyone, staff and students alike!  Happy Independence Day Zambia!!

Kids and their compliments!

     Apparently since this morning I've had a pimple between my eyebrows, as many of my students felt the need to point out today! Kids' minds are pretty funny, as I overheard them discussing while waiting in line this morning how much I looked like I was from India, since I had a little dot on my forehead! 

     You gotta love 1st - 3rd graders, and their ways of "complimenting"!

Some highlights from the past few weeks

I realize that I haven't been a very good blogger this month...probably due to a lot going on with the school side of things. That's a really good thing, I'm not complaining! I'm really enjoying working with the second graders full time, and a bit with the third grade. They are a precious group, in spite of their occasional naughtiness, their aches and pains, and their constant goofing around in class. It's crazy to think that I've already been their teacher for almost a year! Time sure flies! 

As I was downloading some of Yolanda's pictures on my computer yesterday, I realized how many events have happened over the last few weeks that I never blogged about...so I've posted a few pictures below. :)

A few weeks ago Jessica, Yolanda, and I went for a picnic off station. I realized that it had been my first time off station in a while, and we had a really nice time just chatting and relaxing. 

Half term happened last weekend, and we all had an excellent time down at the pool, and playing games with the kids. We had a staff vs. student baseball match, and I was thrilled, since I really miss baseball games after church!

Birthday  Party was at the beginning of this month. The theme was Wonders of The World...and I went as a tourist.

Last Friday night we had the grades 7 - 9 over at our house for games. It was a pretty tight squeeze with 24 people total in the living room, but it was a great time. 

One of the many beautiful Sakeji sunsets! Even though we have a breathtaking sunset nearly every night, I always am so awed, and I love telling the students to look at them...usually they are awed as well. 

Well that's all for now...hopefully I'll do better next month!

5th Week In....

Well, today was a pretty interesting day...I kept really busy all day, first with an interview with a prospective second grader for next year, and then with all of my usual classes after that...only they weren't usual at all since about half of my class at present has chicken pox! They've been coming to class smeared in calamine lotion, and looking as if they're wearing war paint! Chicken pox vaccines aren't really our here in Zambia, so it's actually a very good thing that the kids are getting them. Just like when I was a kid (yeah, yeah, not that long ago!) and whenever another family had chicken pox, my parents would pack us all into the van and go spend time with them in order for us to catch them, so we wouldn't get them as adults. So, as I said, this a great thing for these kids to get them now. 

In the meantime, however, I will be putting up with some very annoying comments of "Miss Garcia, I'm itchy", and "Miss Garcia, my chicken pox are paining me". At one point, one of the boys couldn't use his pencil because he'd lost it in the back of his shirt. I assume he was using it to scratch his back! Today I tried really hard to do lots of things that would keep the kids from thinking about their chicken pox, it didn't work so well....I can tell that this will be a fun week!

Modes of Communication and How Grateful I am to be in the 21st Century!

I remember once as an eight year old my family went to a place called "Museum Village" and one of the tour guides made a comment about what life would be like without electricity and technology. He was trying to make us imagine how hard and challenging life was like back in the 1800's and I remember telling him that I wouldn't mind. I don't remember why I said that...maybe I really wouldn't have minded. 

Living in Africa has brought that memory back to me several times...especially since I've begun a long distance relationship with Chris! It seems that the power, or the internet, or the phone service, or all of the above are constantly going out, and so many variables need to take place in order to have a successful Skype conversation! 

This past week, for example, we didn't have internet access for the entire week, and in the middle of that week we also lost phone service for two days! It definitely made me realize that I depend on these things far too much!
At the same time, in spite of all these communication challenges with the outside world, I realize how lucky we are! I've read a few books since coming here about the missionaries who came out to this area over a hundred years ago. They had it rough! They could only take public transportation until a certain point (about eight hours by car from this area) and then they had to walk the rest of the way! Communication obviously took way longer with the only form being snail mail. In the not so distant past (about a decade or so ago) the missionaries had to communicate by radio. They had certain times of the day where all of the mission stations would get on the radio and any information that needed to be communicated was done with everyone else hearing. I'm sure there were some nice elements to the radio, but from what I hear any long distance relationships had to be done with everyone else listening in!!!! Oh, Chris and I are so lucky!!!

When the internet finally made its way out to Sakeji (somewhere around 8-10 years ago), there was only one computer on station, and any emailing had to be put on a floppy disk and given to the secretary to send out for you....if you received any emails they were printed off (by the secretary) and passed on to you. 

So many changed with the times, now everyone had their own laptop and cell phone. Things like Skype, emailing, blogging, etc. keep communication with the outside world relatively easy, and definitely allow for more privacy, and easier for long distance relationships! It's crazy to think that one can have a free phone over the internet (however poor the quality can occasionally be), and although I'm thousands of miles away I can still make phone calls and even send texts!

All this to say, as tough as I once thought I was at the age of eight, I now realize that no, I wouldn't have wanted to live in the 1800's, and yes I am SO grateful for technology, and so thankful that I live in the 21st century!