Here are two videos that I have been wanting to upload for a long time (but couldn't because of the slow internet). They are from the safari Emily, Katy, and I went on. This is Jacob, being chased around by Robert, the warthog. Enjoy!

picture update!

here is jacob with our new friend, robert the warthog!

aslan

okay, so i know this pictures is a little big gross...but come one, isn't that an amazing shot?

a giraffe...duh...i mean you know its a giraffe, but still. i have to put some sort of caption.

emily in front of our little plane!

i am so sorry i haven't posted! katy (my sister) is here right now visiting, so we have been pretty busy. she got in last saturday (the 7th, i think?), and will be here through this thursday. we have already spent an afternoon at the lake. she has been helping out in Emily Ketchum's 3rd grade classroom during the day, then seeing Malawi in the afternoon. along with the lake, we have taken her to the crisis nursery to hold the babies, to bech's afternoon activity (art club), to the big market. also, she has eaten twice at the college cafeteria...and one of those times it was nsima! pretty impressive for only having been here a week.

this weekend, we went to south luangwa park in zambia for a safari. we had a wonderful time! i will put pictures up of that soon!

i did want to explain to all of you americans about two different flies over here. the first is the putse fly. the putse fly can lay eggs in your clothes if you dry them outside (ironing will kill the eggs though). the eggs then burrow into your skin and grow into little larvae. at some point, you can pop the larva out, or you can just leave it in their until it becomes a fly and flies out on its own. i know, it sounds absolutely disgusting! but we have had a few people here get them lately, so please keep them in your prayers...it is not fun! apparently, it really really hurts!

another fly is the tsetse fly. this fly carries a disease sometimes (in the same way that some mosquitos carry malaria) called trypanosoma ("sleeping sickness"). from what i have read, this disease is much rarer than malaria. i got bitten by tsetse flies all weekend! i don't think i am in any danger at all of getting "sleeping sickness," but the bites really hurt! i am about to go over to the clinic to get some antihistamines, so hopefully that will help.

also, grades are due next week, and i have a few students who are failing or close to failing...please pray for them, that they will have motivation to increase their grades.

more safari pictures

okay, well i feel like these pictures are all pretty self explanatory. and i would like to thank liz taylor who told me how to upload pictures at lightning fast speed...liz, you are amazing. okay, i am trying now to upload the other pictures onto facebook, so i can put them on here...

safari pictures

here is a leopard with a dead impala...slightly gross, but really just amazing...

zebras!

okay, so when this is sent to all of our supporters, just pretend like you have never seen this picture before...act suprised!

bech, looking at animals (or just gazing at the scenery)...

overdue post!

okay, well this update is long overdue. but i have a good reason for that! my parents and blaise and ansley came to visit! we had the best time so i thought i would just go through the days they were here:

saturday: i SWEAR i remember mom telling me that they were landing at 10:30...but no, they landed at 9:30. so we were not there to pick them up :( we get a call from them at 10:05, when we are on the way to the airport, that they are here! we came to the apartment, with mom and dad still in a daze. i made homemade tortilla chips and tacos for dinner. bech and i got lots of happies from the states, some christmas presents, but some stuff i could look at right then (and also 2 huge huge HUGE bags of chocolate chips!).

sunday: we left on our safari. we were in a land cruiser with Matthew (a peace corps guy who lives in Karonga) and his dad and sister. Bentry was our driver. everything was going well until we got to the malawian border. apparently we are supposed to have our TEP receipt with us...we did not realize this. bech and i almost didn't get to leave malawi! but the man at the border was finally kind to us, and we were allowed on. the road to south luangwa park was soooo bad...but i sat by mom and we had fun catching up. then, upon reaching "croc valley" (where we were staying...i know, not a very comforting name, eh?), bech and i realized that the suitcase we were sharing did not make it into the car...ugh. so 2 days of old clothes...

monday: 2 safari rides! we saw it ALL (well except lions). we saw giraffes, elephants, zebras, bushbucks, impalas, pukas, water bucks, cape buffalo, hippo, hyena, AND (the icing on the cake) 2 leopards, one of which made a kill while we watched...sooo cool! our guide was a zambian mad named gondway (spelling?). he was so smart but also funny.

tuesday: long ride back over zambian roads. we got to stop at this amazing textile place...we got some napkins and place mats. that night bech and i took my family to copper pot for dinner. the food was great (well for malawi). after dinner, the waiter always brings a little copper bowl to your table with some sort of anise flavored snacky-desert mix sort of thing. anyway, they brought the bowl, with its one little spoon. obviously you are supposed to use the spoon to put some mix into your hand. but blaise grabbed the spoon and stuck a big spoonful into his mouth. we died out laughing, and probably didn't stop for like 10 minutes.

wednesday: dad and blaise went to one of the city hospitals. mom and ansley came to the school with us. after school, i took mom on a normal shopping trip. we went to the little market by foodworths, foodworths, and the market by shoprite. then we came home to make cassava cakes and roasted chicken. but of course, when the meal was almost done, the power went out. ahhhh! i wanted to cry. luckily the chicken was done, so we ate that then went to bible study. we ate cassava cakes at 9 that night when we came home.

thursday: school again, along with ballet. then i took mom, dad, blaise and ansley to the BIG market across the river. its a little scary (okay, maybe a lot scary, especially your first time!). plus i got us lost on the way back and we drove on a bridge that literally looked like some 2 by 4's put together. mom did really well in the market...she seemed so comfortable there. blaise was alright too, but ansley and dad were pretty quiet afterward! this night (which i guess was thanksgiving, although it did not feel like it) we went to the sanctuary lodge to eat. the food was good. mom made us laugh again, but it was one of those things that you had to be there for!

friday: international day at the school! this day was really fun. all the kids come dressed up like their home country. that afternoon, we went for gelatto (spelling?) and went shopping. then we went to a big thanksgiving meal at the Chinchens! everything was decorated so nicely, and the food was great.

saturday: we went to the lake. we had the best time at the curio stalls. dad actually traded away his shoes! it was hilarious! i got some christmas presents, and mom and dad got lots of fun souvenirs. we ate with the chinchens again this night.

sunday: everyone (except for dad) went to IBF for church, and then we made a yummy lunch with homemade pesto. dad, on the other hand, spent the whole day out at a village with sam mcdonald. he ate nsima and goat!!! then mom, bech, and i made cute curtains for our apartment (pictures to come soon), and ended the day with pancake supper.

monday: they left :( and i cried. but we did see a guy with a kanakuk backpack! and we watched josh fly in and welcomed him back.

tuesday: i am now sad, because my family is gone :( but katy will be coming soon (okay, so its really not that soon, but still!)

pictures to come soon!