Christmas break!!

The kids are beaming with excitement as the christmas break has finally come. We had an all school Christmas pageant last night and it was so cool to see so many different types of people fill a gymnasium.. A really great mix of expat community with Malawians.. . The program of course did not go smoothly as it was interrupted by 2 power outages and unbelievable heat.. But the kids did great and had a good time. We went out for Chinese food afterward and Jude and Maura were falling asleep at the table. The heat here is exhausting. Michelle and I fell asleep on the couch last night and woke up about 130 in the morning, drenched in sweat with hands on our computer as if typing..

A few things.. big news around town is that we have a brand new Shoprite opening right next to the school today!!. Shoprite is a grocery store, but it is situated in a mall they are building, and have been building for 5 years.. The rest of the mall will have restaurants, other stores, a theater and I read somewhere an 8 lane bowling alley!. Unfortunately , this part of the mall won't be open for quite some time.. things take time here.. a lot of time.

Jude is having a few friends over this evening and we are planning a grill out and a trip to "Creamy Inn" for some ice cream... Creamy inn is no Graeters,  but it's all we have .  Tomorrow night a cool pub called "Harrys" is running "it's a wonderful life" on a big screen outside.. So, we'll head to that, Ill probably fall asleep mid movie, only to wake up for the best part. It is on of my top 5 favorite movies, so I'm pretty excited to see it.

Tuesday next week the kids and I will have an Malawian excursion and head north to Kasungu.. There is a lodge there in a National reserve call Lifupa .. http://www.lifupa.com .. apparently elephants are a plenty and I've reserved a few rondavels.. We'll take in some animals, have an evening in the bush and enjoy some game drives..

We are greatly anticipating Jacob , Bob and Rebecca's arrival.. really looking forward to seeing everyone and sharing the little of what we know about our surroundings here.. Michelle has to work nonstop straight up until Christmas so she's looking forward to her break which will happen just after Christmas Day.

Clouds are moving in, looks like rain.. but it has looked like this all week and nothing.. People here are getting restless about the rain as they have tended to their fields and wait.. Apparently this is a tough time of the year and we've received warnings from the Embassy that theft is on the rise during this time as people are struggling... Plus, they know Christmas is here..

Ok, all for now..

Shoprite santas handing out adverts

Last day of school before Break!! dress down day