An African Celebration

Monday, I got to celebrate my 21st birthday with the Klaas family. It was really a fun day. I woke up to balloons in my room and a great breakfast. Then we headed over to Terrou-bi which is actually a hotel/casino. We spent most of the day by the pool and had a great lunch. It was very relaxing and fun to be with the family. However, I did get a bit burned. We ended the day with a few birthday presents, one of which was sparkling red wine. Champagne is not the easiest to find here. I even managed to get a phone call in to some of the family. I'm not sure if it made it better or made me miss them more.

I've found more of a place at the deaf school. I was walking there later then normal and I past a food stand where some of the kids go to lunch and one girl stopped me and invited me to have lunch with them. One thing here that is impossible is to deny someone who is offering you food. No matter what, eat it! Wasn't bad I think it was some form of spaghetti on French bread.

My favorite time at the deaf school is break time, when I get to just enjoy the kids. Hopefully, I can catch on to most of their jokes. The kids are just precious. I do know that teaching school is not the most desirable thing for me, but through this I've been able to get to know them better and this has been worth it. It's so rewarding to see these kids actually understand what they are doing. You can see how proud of themselves they are. That I do appreciate.

Wednesday was an extra hot day here and one of my friends who works with the Talibe (The Talibe and the deaf school are in the same building) offered me a ride home. I was wearing a dress.... He was driving a motor bike. Somehow I managed, without loosing any dignity. I also politely asked Jean-Paul not to kill me, realizing this was a realistic possibility. He very sweetly laughed and said "I won't go fast" and I'm still alive. It was kind of fun actually. I think if I ever moved here I'd have to invest in one of those.

Another thing Laurie is helping with is the DA library for the summer. Since the librarian is out of the country for the summer we get to be the summer librarians for a couple hours once a week. I feel like I'm fulfilling a secret desire I had as a kid being a librarian. It's a great reminder of being a kid when I see all the kids come to the desk with huge stacks of books so excited about checking them out themselves.

Today, I started the girls Bible study. There are only 4 of us total. I think it's going to be great just us. We started in the ice cream shop and I'm hoping to get the key to the library where it will be quiet and they have a/c!

Please pray for the girls Bible study as it comes together. I'm really wanting to impart into them the foundational things every young lady should hear as she grows up.

I've stayed very healthy on this whole trip praise God, but I have noticed that I have been getting extremely tired especially on the days I have to walk to the deaf school which is about 2 miles in heat. I think I may be getting dehydrated and not realizing it.

I plan on going to sleep a happy woman. It's the first day since Monday I've taken a shower that wasn't from a bucket!

Birthday celebration!




These are my kids for the math class I've been teaching.