Together at Bagamoyo : )

At last we're here, married! This is where I was when Kevin wrote that historic email, I replied in the positive, and we became virtually engaged!

When he came to Tanzania to visit in April last year, we stayed here for a few days, swimming morning and evening, enjoying the tropical fruit and beautiful surrounds. It will always hold a very special place in our hearts, and we are overwhelmed again by God's goodness, bringing us here again. Again I am having a tooth fixed in Dar, so we have to drive there tomorrow (5hr round trip), and back to Iringa on Friday (9hr drive). It is worth it, to experience the peace.

Mmmandazi

After teaching from 8-10.40am, teachers are hungry! During the break until 11.40 tea and mandazi (like a doughnut) are available, and this provides a forum to share a few jokes and news/updates from the headmaster as we sit round talking together. Lessons continue until 2pm when the students have other activities such as cleaning, debates or games like volleyball and football.

This month (June) most of the school are on holiday, with just the form four students present doing their mock 'O' level exams. Kevin decided to take the opportunity to study Kiswahili for three weeks, and I have been staying with him most of the time, traveling to Kilolo once a week to teach Old Testament at the Bible School. Next week we will both take a break at the coast at Bagamoyo - the place where I was when we started talking together on the internet!

weekly bread

This doesn't happen very often - once a week is enough! Here's the amazing wood burner cooker which keeps us sane at the same time as working us hard! When it's alight and burning, everything happens, including bread baking, cooking meals and hot water for tea, bucket showers, filling thermoses and tomorrow's shave! This last is a new development for me, and it's definitely better to get the hot water ready and into a thermos the night before, as life is quite a rush in the mornings.

We start work at 7.30am most days, though on Mondays and Fridays it is 7.15. That seems a lot earlier to me. Getting to school only takes a few minutes, and the students all line up outside before classes start at 8am. I rarely teach at that time, and have been going back to the house for a rest most days, while Kevin works in the computer laboratory on a proposal for the development of the lab. Thanks for your prayers. We are both enjoying the break during school holidays, staying at the campsite while Kevin studies language and I mark exam papers - lots of essays in Kiswahili. It's good to read how much the students understand the Bible - pretty impressive.

Volleyball

I haven't made it to the games in school, but Kevin went and got this photo. It happens around twice a week and there is volleyball, football and netball available. You can see the ground is drying up now after the rains finished in May. We can expect dust and wind now, together with cold temperatures as it is winter here! No snow, and it's a pleasant climate, though the sun's rays are very strong because the atmosphere is so thin at nearly 7,000ft above sea level.

The school holidays started yesterday, so please pray for the students as they go home for a month. Kevin begins his second three week period of language study on Monday; I'll stay there with him and do some lesson preparation among other things. I am feeling better after taking some treatment for stomach upset (amoeba) but there's still some grumbling, so I will take a longer course now, while there are fewer responsibilities to respond to!