Blessed.

Mwapona buti nyoonse! That’s a greeting that means “How are you all?” I’m getting good at my Tonga! :) Yesterday, Monday, we started classes! My schedule goes, Intensive Tonga at 9:00, Missionary Health Care at 10:00 and Missionary Anthropology at 11:00 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! That’s only for this week so starting next week it will be a little different. Intensive Tonga will start at 6:30 and then Humanities at 7, Breakfast at 8, chapel at 9, class at 10 and 11. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the only class we have is our 6:30 Tonga and Humanities and then we’re done for the day! I love my classes so far and I’m already learning a lot! My teacher for Tonga, Ba Siaziyu, is a great teacher! He’s so fun and really helps us learn. For the other classes, we have Ba Janice and Ba O’Neal, our teachers from Harding, but they are also great. Our classes really center around what we’re learning and experiencing here so it will make it a lot more interesting…not only are we hearing these things but then we get to go out and live them every day.  Also, our classes our just out on the front porch in beautiful weather…it feels like Austin does in the fall…cool and windy. It’s perfect! I’m going to hate next semester when I have to go back to normal classrooms! After class yesterday I took a nap, ate lunch, and then went to the havens until dinner. Of course, it was another great day there. In haven 3, I played with Matt again and some of the other little boys, Karibo, Nathan, and Barrett. We sit on the couch in the family room and they just come and play all over us! Then I went into a room with little babies. I was sitting on the floor with a precious little girl named Shannon laying in my lap and 4 older babies rolling on the floor around me. Shannon was a premature baby and I don’t know how old she is now but she probably weighs about 5 pounds. She is beautiful and so tiny but she’s starting to smile, so I would tickle the babies around me and make them laugh and Shannon would start to smile. I spent at least an hour just sitting there spending time with these babies. Shannon was wearing clothes that said “Daddy and me” and it broke my heart because I don’t know if she has a daddy. Lots of these kids have parents, but their parents aren’t able to take care of them until their older. But in Haven 3, these kids are sick, so even if they do have parents, they probably won’t live past the age of 5. It is so sad and it doesn’t seem fair. These children deserve parents and a family and good health and just to be happy and loved. While I was sitting in this room Grace, a 15 year old Zambian girl who lives in the haven and works there came in and sat next to me. She walks around and sings Tonga songs to the babies so she came and was teaching me a song. It was such a blessing to sit there and sing with here while being surrounded by Shannon and the other kids. After that I went and spent time in Haven 2. Spending time there is so fun, because these are toddlers so we just sit out on the front porch and play with all the kids. They run around and laugh and try and talk and they tackle you and play with your hair and try to work your camera. It is so fun. Rachel sat in my lap the whole time and when it was time to go I realized she had peed all over my skirt…that was the first time I’ve been peed on and apparently it happens a lot here so it wont be the last! haha but you just cant help but laugh and move on! I spent some time outside playing with the older boys and girls. We brought silly bands and these kids LOVED them. They call them bangles…they always want bangles and sweets. Last night, we ate dinner, had a practice fire drill, and then got to try a very interesting Zambian drink. It tasted like vinegar and had the texture of cottage cheese. I couldn’t make myself drink more than one drink…some people tried to make themselves drink it and ended up throwing up. And somehow, some people drank the whole thing. Our teachers made us try it because it is a very nice drink in Zambia. They have it at weddings a lot or they make it for guests, and it’s rude if you don’t drink it. So they are helping us out by getting us used to it before we actually have to drink it in front of Zambians…I still don’t know if I’ll be able to though haha it was pretty interesting. We had family time last night…we watched “She’s the Man” and just hung out and talked. It was lots of fun!

We had class again this morning, but only Tonga so the rest of the day was free. I went outside and took some playdough to play with some of the kids that live on the mission right by our house. They loved playing with the playdough! I spent a couple hours out there playing until it was lunch time. The kids are 2-6 years old and they love coming out to see us everyday. We played with playdough and my camera so everything that we made and took pictures of they taught me in Tonga. It’s amazing how much easier it is to learn a language when you’re immersed in the culture. They taught me words and helped me remember the words I learned in class this morning, and we sang songs in Tonga that I already knew. After lunch I went to the havens for the day! In Haven 3 I played with Matt again and all his little buddies and I held Shannon for a long time. Precious, the auntie that lives there told me what was wrong with all the babies. Shannon just came to the Haven last week because she has AIDS and Matt has AIDS too. That means these kids wont live very long. It breaks my heart. A little girl named Twalubwa that I love playing with was born lame and with a limp neck but she’s improving a lot! She can hold her head up and she’s getting lots more strength in her legs! Adam has AIDS, Joel has TB, Karibo has clubbed feet. There are so many sick babies that wont make it. I love hanging out with them and just giving them love! They need it so so much! I went and checked on my little baby Dillon in Haven 1 and he was peacefully sleeping! In Haven 2 I hung out with Rachel again! And made some new friends today…Emily, little Teagan sat with me for a long time.  That was the first time I met her and she was so sweet! We had some good macaroni and cheese for dinner and I took a visit to Mrs. Moona! Now we’re sitting on the front porch playing games! Everything is going good! I’m sorry if I don’t reply to your stuff on facebook. I have read it all! I just don’t have a lot of time for internet so when I do get on I don’t really do much. I will eventually reply though! Missing everyone back home! Keep praying for my team. We’ve had a few people sick…nothing bad. Just some colds and allergies, but it’s spreading around.  Also, pray that we keep our minds and hearts in the right place and that we remember how blessed we are to be here. It’s easy to get distracted and forget where we are and what we’re doing. It seems more like a fun trip. But this is life. This is real for so many people and we’re so blessed to get to experience it.