Nothing very exciting to post today, which I will think is a good thing... Seems like things are settling down.
I have to brag on my children though.. they are making this transition very easy. Kate , after being moved away from all of her great friends and an excellent school continues to amaze me in her ability to deal with adverse situations.. This situation I know is not easy for her, but she is coping very, very well. I'm sure there will be some difficult times ahead as the school year continues, but these first three days have been very good. Her horse riding lesson the other day was a bit rough as it was very different from home.. She was visibly upset, did not like the way her instructor talked to the men who were working with her, but pulled it together and in the end. After settling herself down, she took a deep breath and said she'd think about whether or not she would want to continue taking lesson from this particular stable. The twins and Maura are doing well. I am able to see the playground from my classroom and I notice them playing with groups of peers throughout the day. Jude apparently had 3 dance offs in his classroom yesterday, so I guess he'll be fine.
One of the very fortunate things that have happened for us here that is different from our last experience in Botswana, are the contacts we have made through the school. People have been so willing to make calls for us, make suggestions, name drop, etc... We are planning to go to the lake on Saturday and I had several people put me in contact with owners of cottages,etc at the lake.. A gentleman at the school called several people and found a place for 30$, on the lake with a pool(many of the hotels are at least 150$ per night).. he told the owner of the cottage that we were Americans, but had lived in Africa before.... so we know what to expect..
The kids are trying out for the swim team today, and Kate has soccer after school... Everything here happens after school. We are done with sports, extracurricular stuff everyday by 3:30.. I love this about Africa.. no practices at night, no carting around to different places... no games on Saturday or Sunday.. This takes alot of the pressure off me and Michelle as we are notoriously late to any sporting event at home... This type of schedule allows every night to be a family night.. what a novel idea!!
It appears some of my little errands that caused so much grief prior to the arrival of my family , are complete and I don't have much else to do except report on the kids. I promise for some comedy relief soon.. My light bulbs just have to burn out so I can go searching again.. We are still driving around without a window on the right side, but Jude seems to enjoy it. I stole some photos from Maura's ipod today, so enjoy.. they are a few pictures from the plane ride.. the other two photos are ... Joseph are night watchman making Ntsima in our backyard (a staple Malawian meal)... He is doing this in our yard while 10 yards away I am grilling a giant chicken.. the other photo is the kids swinging in a beautiful african yard outside of town .. this was where Kate had her horse lesson..
I do have to go pay our cable bill and our internet bill... so stay tuned... Hope all is well at home..
