Trip to Nizi

After a few weeks of regular day-to-day routine and sickness, I am finally back to blogging. For the past month I've mnaged to go through a cold, allergies, and a sinus infection - one right after another. Thank goodness I am finally getting over all of it!

I've still been teaching at the school and am happy to say that everything is going well- the kids I teach (Grades 4, 5, and 6) are very quick and listen very well to what I have to say, whether they completely understand it or not. I've been picking up a bit more language and now know to ask,"Nini?"when I am unsure of a word in French or Swahili (Nini is Swahili for What). The kids love to volunteer to come and write words on the board and instead of just raising their hands, they typically raise their hand and start snapping their fingers at you until you call on them. 

Today I was able to get out and take a 1-hour drive to Nizi to see the gold mining that happens there. The drive was beautiful and we were able to get a few good pictures (above: landscape from the top of a mountain where a school is located, children from the school who followed us over to where we were taking pictures, the river beneath us). We did not see much mining due to some flooding from the rain (they stop mining when it floods), but we were still able to see where they do everything and the equipment. It was absolutely beautiful in the area and it was also interesting to see how many people knew our driver, Furaha's father (Furaha is the headmistress at the school I teach at). Furaha's father grew up and went to school there. It was amusing every time he would see someone he recognized and they would greet each other with a very firm handshake and big smiles. 

I will be back home in the United States in six weeks! I can't wait to see family and friends. Please pray for health, continued energy, empathy, and enthusiasm (Thank you, Ms. Yahr!) for teaching at the school, and guidance for the future.

Maranatha.

-Kelly