Adventures in Botswana: Ok, Time to Catch Up

So, I am kind of on break right now. The internship is over, school is out, and I am now working with Jana and Theresa on the Christmas Newsletter and annual magazine. That will be a great way to spend my time over these next few weeks until school starts up again. I just realized that I never finished writing about last week. Time to catch you up on my life!

Last week was the last week of the school year. It consisted of a lot of fun activities (sports, contests, parties, etc.) for the students and staff alike. Monday afternoon we had a staff vs. students volleyball game. There were 6 of us for the staff team and we played against some of the students in secondary school. I thought this was just some fun little game, no big deal...no. The entire school was there to watch us. I didn't have time to change, so I played in a skirt and Dietra played in black pants and a nice top. We weren't prepared, to say the least. We had a blast though, and that's all that matters, right? :)

As I mentioned in a previous post, Tuesday morning I went to the Tree Lodge with Andrea's class. It was a very hot and sunny day, so by the time we got back to the plot I was wiped. In fact, all the students (who are ages 11-13) were so wiped that they could barely walk while on the guided tour. So I got home and took a twenty minute rest and then...time to move! For the past 6 weeks, our work projects have consisted of getting another house on the plot into a livable condition. It was decided that we needed to live there for a little while to make sure it's all set up for the next internship group that comes here...problem was, the place was a construction site. The bathrooms were being completely redone and the roof needed to be fixed. I really wish I had my camera on me as we were moving in...it was absolutely ridiculous. Scaffolding, ladders, tools and trash everywhere. Not only did we have to move our personal items, but we also had to move furniture, a stove, a propane tank, a washing machine, and a refrigerator. The Stallion (our pickup) is broken down, so we didn't even have a vehicle to move our stuff. Needless to say, the move took a couple of days, and we were exhausted.

When I woke up Wednesday morning I could barely move. I dragged myself out of bed and basically crawled over to the school, only to find...it was the swimming gala day! The entire school came out for some swimming competitions, starting with the floaties race and the piggyback races for the little kids. It was a very fun way to spend the morning!

A very nervous Darren trying to be brave before the race

On your marks...(spoiler alert. the girl without the floaties won)

Piggyback time!

Everyone in the school was cheering on little Darren. Pays to be the tiniest kid on Earth :)

These are some of the Standard 3 kids that I did swimming and reading with the whole term

My little Muslims! Suhail, Farras, and Amir.

That afternoon we had our final Bible Study session for Heart Ablaze. Friends and family back home- I highly encourage you to check out this study. It's pretty intense! After that, we continued the move into the new house and then headed off to Ms Pat's for a dinner party with the other missionaries. Lots of good food, conversations, and games!