Smiles

Mary and Felecia

Judah and Mary

Mary and Anen, twins

Mary, Ethan, Felecia

Anna, Lois Graham (we have two Lois Gs), Precious

Jane (after several attempts to catch her smile!)

Ji Myeong

(Mary was around a lot during picture-taking time!)

:)

Pigs & Hens

HOPAC is currently in the middle of both Swine Flu and Chicken Pox outbreaks. Last week grade 2 was closed because almost half the class was out with swine flu and Chicken Pox has worked its way through almost everyone in Grade 3.

This week Grade 1 has their first case of Chicken Pox and their first testing for Swine Flu. I'll keep you posted...

:)

(What is it with these animal diseases?)

Superbowl Monday

That's right. Since we're 8 hours ahead of EST, the Superbowl airs here at 2:30 am! And for the first time in several years, I got to see it!! Now some missionaries here are doing the smart thing and recording the game to watch it this evening. However, this calls for avoiding all news, friends, Facebook, blogs, etc. for the day...

I opted to watch it live with Roger, Paul, Kevin and Benji! Live being time-delayed by the network and by the satellite company who, if the game seems slow to them, occasionally skips parts of the game. Thankfully we had none of that. They even played the half-time show (no commercials, though!) although the sound was off the entire time - off by about 10 seconds!

But I got to watch football!! (On a comfortable couch with people who care about it. That's gotta be a part of Heaven...) And the Saints won! Yay! (Didn't care too much about that but I chose them so I stuck with my choice and it paid off.)

Thanks Roger and Laurie!

:)

and now, for your listening pleasure...

the Ocean in Dar podcast

That's right ladies and gentlemen, you can now listen to my pastor, Steve Kuert and sometimes visiting pastor, Roger Kuykendall!

After several months of confusion and miscommunication, I finally figured out the easiest way to publish these sermons - and it only took about an hour (and most of that was Internet speed.)

God is good!

:)

A Bagamoyo Retreat

My housemate, Naomi, and I decided we needed a break from Dar. So last weekend we drove up to Bagamoyo. Bagamoyo is a sleepy town about an hour drive from the north side of Dar where we live. It's a nice drive through several villages - no traffic; fruit and vegetable dukas (stalls) along the side of the road; and, since we've recently had rain, the grass and trees are beautiful and green!

We went to Travellers Lodge for lunch and then found a shady spot under a coconut palm to read and relax. Such a nice afternoon!

a local fisherman cleaning his catch on the beach

Tanzania children playing in the Indian Ocean

:)