IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Here at ABC the first day of school consists of meeting your teacher and class and then attending a school wide assembly where all of the teachers are introduced to the parents and students. SO... thats what we did today! Hope you enjoy the pictures! 

We Have Returned!

Oh my oh my oh my!! So much has happened since the last time I posted anything. My last month in Malawi was a whirlwind of experiences and emotions. Perhaps I'll back track a little later with pictures and fun stories on what happened. :) Then of course I was home for about six weeks, the details of which I think I will also save for a later date. But here and now I want to share a few fresh thoughts upon my return to The Warm Heart of Africa.

    As is expected the day leading up to leaving were crazy and stressful and a bit emotional at times. Visiting people, raising funds, spending time with my family, packing, enjoying a last deli sandwich or two... all of it makes for very very crazy days. Our travel was SMOOOTH all the way and I am so glad. The thought of packing up and heading to the airport causes nothing but anxiety and knowing that days of travel are ahead.. ahhh! I can't even think about it. I met Ogles in NYC and we spent the night there, and got up early the next morning and headed for Malawi. We had a wonderful? 14 hour flight to Johannesburg and despite being hassled by an airport employee looking for money we caught our flight to Lilongwe and arrived save and sound. We waited for, what felt like forever, our luggage and were very warmly welcomed by Jeremy and AJ Kyser. IT was so great to see familiar faces and hear familiar sounds and smell familiar smells!
I am so excited to be back. We spent the first few days unpacking and getting settled in our new house, the we just jumped right in. We went shopping (a bigger adventure than one might think). We started getting our classrooms ready (not that we had much other option, school starts MONDAY). And now, we just write lesson plans, decorate our classrooms, write the names of my Kindergarten students 19,000 times and prepare for the beginning of the school year.
So theres that, we're back. I'm back in MALAWI! I love it. I didn't realize how much I had missed it. Of course there are things that I didn't miss like, the ants (I don't think I will ever miss ants), and inconsistency in power and water. But I missed the people, the simplicity of life here, the sounds, the smells. I missed my friends and my students. It's so good to be back. It's so much easier already the second time.  I have practically no anxiety about starting school on Monday, I know people, I know how to shop and what to cook here. I know what struggles I may face and what things are going to be difficult for me personally. But I also know that I can handle it, that my strength comes from God and that I don't need to do anything on my own. HA! Wow! fabulous.
The year will be tough, I still have a lot to learn in my time here, but I'm excited and I have faith that I will learn and grow through everything and I do and learn from everyone I meet.

Until next time...

 ^"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us." 1 John 4.7-12

31 Days!

That's all we have left until we go home! 31 DAYS! I was thinking back to when we had only been here for 31 days... it doesn't seem like that long again, but in all reality it was. I was still getting used to everything. Life here was still mostly terrifying and there were some many things we were new and fun and crazy... and guess what?!?! 305 days later... I'm not really convinced things have changed all that much. I'm still learning crazy things everyday. I'm still finding new and exciting experiences to have, and sometimes life here is still hard and sometimes mostly terrifying. BUT! That's all okay because I did it! I have almost survived my first year in Malawi. The next four weeks are going to be insane we're going to be busy, and we're going to try and cram lots and lots of stuff into the next couple of weeks, but it's going to be incredible! I can't wait!
      When I looked back to see when the last time I posted a blog was, so I would know where to pick up the story I couldn't believe it had been so long ago. The past weeks have flown by. I've been so busy that I didn't even realize that I hadn't posted in FOREVER! Sorry guys. Well, I'm going to try and catch everyone up, without killing you by forcing you to read my horrible writing. So we'll use the bullet format, with a few longer entries for things here and there.
I'm going to start after school started back up because I think that's right about the time the last one was written.
*We started school back up after spring break with a great out break of allergies. EVERYONE was plagued with the horrible disease! It was crazy, but we survived.
*We also did lots of the things that come with living life like grocery shopping and having pizza with our favorite people.
*We've had great times babysitting for several families on campus and off. Abi Floreen is probably our favorite. She's adorable.
*We have managed to create and UNO monster out of Bule. But I don't think we mind that much we've gone several times to hangout and play UNO and drink cokes with our friends.
*We went to the LAKE! Lake Malawi is gorgeous and HUGE, so sometimes I just pretend its the ocean. It's very likely I've already told about the lake....
*It started to get cold! What on earth is that all about. We'll probably freeze before we can make it home. The nights an morning are frEEEEEEzing... Now that's possibly a little bit dramatic, but it's cold nonetheless. I didn't know. I didn't really come prepared for such nonsense.
*I called my mom! ON THE PHONE! OH MAN! The Kysers are the most wonderful people EVER!
*There were lots of days off of school right after we started back up just some different holidays and things. Most of which we managed to use quite wisely by not getting out of bed for more time than was necessary to get a quick bite to eat or set up a movie...
*I started going out on Friday afternoons with Bule and some other folks on campus to Malikah Village where Bule heads up some different ministries. The first week I just played with sweet kiddos and held lots of hands.
*Ogles and I spent a fun day shopping with Rachel and Sharlie for fabric and other fun things.
*I spent several afternoon assessing kindergarten students for next year.
*We had our end of the year ballet and choir recital! We had so much fun, I help with the little girls ballet classes and O helps with the choir classes at the academy. So we really enjoyed the evening and were proud of our sweet girls they all did a great job.
*We went to LOTS of very INTENSE basketball games, all of which our wonderful ABC Lions won. But they were crazy!
*The next Friday at the village I had the privilege of being thrust from any comfort zone I was clinging on to when Bule asked me if I would share with the women of the village... OH MY GOODNESS! well with the help of Esnart, who is awesome, I managed to share something with them. I can't even describe how incredibly blessed I was.
*Then Mrs. Jan and Mary CAME, and OH WE WERE EXCITED! I'm not certain I realized exactly how great it would be to see familiar faces and hear familiar voices! They are just normal people and it's wonderful. Since Jan and Mary were here we took that opportunity to do lots of fun things.
*We went out Sunday to and orphanage at Bunda that the Kysers have gotten pretty involved in. We went to the church there, the pastor is an ABC grad and the music is lead by a student. Afterward we had lunch and just played with beautiful kids and toured the facility.
*Monday was a holiday here so we decided to take a day trip to Dedza. Dedza is about 2 hours away, its a beautiful drive. Dedza is known for its pottery so we went to a cute little shop where you can sit and eat and look at all kinds of wonderful things.
*There was also a fabulous team here from Arizona. More amazingly wonderful  normal people. We had tons of fun hanging out with them and getting to know them.
*We've spent lots of time lately at the Crisis nursery with the team, with Mary, just the two of us.
*Wednesday we took the day off to tag-a-long with the team and all the fun things they were doing. We went out to a village not to far from ABC where some people have started a school. The kids there sang songs for us and recited prayers and just showed us lots of fun things they have been learning. Then we colored with them and sang and just had fun. We played fun games and just got to love on all the adorable little kids.
*The Lady Lions won their basketball game!
*The college year is coming to a close so we've been doing lots of fun things to celebrate the soon to be graduates. The junior class puts on a dinner each year. They did a great job! Everything was beautiful and they succeeded is celebrating their brothers and sisters well.
*We attended a crazy soccer game, there was yelling and fighting and then we left.
I'm sure we have done all kinds of other things i'm forgetting but I think this is enough for now.
I have learned so much in just the last week about service, about ministry, about loving people. Some of it is still processing... some of it may be years in the processing stage, but I'm grateful for the experiences I've been able to have.

Until next time...
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1.7

A Few Promised Pictures

At the Crisis Nursery with sweet Pempho

All of our wonderful friends (also they volleyball team) hanging out at the Crisis Nursery

Can you see the egg?

A lovely fanta, tootsie pop trail

We stuck these right in the ground. 

We even hid some leftover candy canes. 

Some of the guys listening intently to instructions... 

AND THEY'RE OFF!

At the end of it, everyone is happy! 

The fantastic beach in Salima, a perfect weekend get-away

Hey MOM! We're alive, and REALLY happy to be at the beach!

Blessed

It’s time once again for another exciting chapter of the life and adventures of Aly! We actually been quite busy lately, this is nice for me because I feel less horrible for not having posted in so long. So bear with me, the may be a longer post but I think all of the wonderful and exciting things we have been doing will make up for it!! Okay HERE WE GO!

            First off, Ogles hiked a MOUNTAIN! This has very little to do with me other than the fact that she was gone over the weekend I was left alone to fret and worry over what might happen to her while she climbing this mountain. She slipped and bruised her bum a little, but other than that she returned in one piece. I still hold that the worrying was merited. Anywhoo for more on that little adventure you’ll have to visit Ogles’ blog.

            Michelle’s parents arrived here the same weekend Ogles was gone. It was nice to spend time with a family. They were lovely and just accepted all of my weirdness and let us pretend they were our parents for a while. They even delivered fun birthday packages and goodies from home!

            This week also marked the first weekend of our Spring Break! Oh, how we desperately needed a break. We had reached that point in life where you just need a break. Our kids were tired, teachers were tired (and possibly a bit cranky), all you want to do is go home. Praise the Lord, He provides. We had decided not to do much over our break which was probably best. Michelle’s mom and dad were still here so we got to hang out with them, and watch movies and eat yummy food and candy. Easter was also during our break. Although we didn’t have fancy new dresses and hats and shoes to wear, nor did we have our families to spend the day with I think we found a pretty phenomenal alternative.

            Here on campus we have a group of students that are guards, they sit outside of the buildings and houses in the evening, just to make sure that no unwelcome guests join us. They’re all really great people  and many that we have grown to love. So, while most of campus goes home over long breaks a few of them remain to make sure that the rest of us stay safe. I’m not sure when the tradition started but Michelle has been throwing them an Easter party for a few years now so this year we got to help her with that. It was really excellent. We spent evening coloring eggs to hide and stuffing plastic eggs full of candy. Sunday after church we… Well first we took some really fabulous awkward family photo type pictures while we were all dressed up. Then we started cooking. We were expecting about 30 guys to show up so, I’m sure you can imagine we needed A LOT of food. We asked some of the guys to come early and help grill chicken and make giant pots of rice and other yummy goodness. So while  the guys were busy cooking Michelle, Ogles, Momma Halemeier, and myself took dozens of eggs, candy, some crates of drinks, and candy canes and ran to the garden to hide them all for the big hunt! We also hid a few golden and silver eggs that were worth money; just make things a little more interesting. We had so much fun, they guys came up to the garden and hunted eggs and candy and money, and then we went back to the house and ate dinner. Really it was just a good time of celebrating and fellowshipping together. (look forward to pictures some time soon).  

             Ogles and I also house/baby sat for a family on campus that was taking advantage of the long break as well. It was really nice to have some different settings for a few days. We enjoyed hanging out with the boys and spoiling them a bit with very few rules and no chores. The following weekend was my birthday, Ogles decided she wanted to go out of town so we didn’t do a whole lot. The Headmaster at ABC, Brian Carlisle, who is also just an amazing person, happens to have the same birthday. We had a fun farewell/birthday breakfast at Michelle’s before her parents left, and then relaxed for the rest of the day. Later we had a lovely TACO DINNER with all of our wonderful/crazy friends. It was a perfect day.

            After two weeks of eating junk food and watching movies, the next week it was back to work and I have to say I was glad to see all those adorable little faces shining bright Monday morning. We managed fall quickly back into our routine and have a very successful week. It was the start of the forth quarter, which is actually quite hard to believe.

            During the course of Spring break here, the President passed away. That was a very interesting transition to be part of. (If you would like more info on that feel free to e-mail me).  Well due to that Monday was declared a public holiday for the Presidents funeral. That in combination with some other good circumstances allowed us to go away for the weekend. So we three girls packed ourselves into Michelle’s car and headed to the Lake! We went up Saturday afternoon and spent Saturday night, Sunday, and Monday morning there. The Lake is beautiful! The weather was perfect and we went without and agenda. The best way to take a long weekend. We played on the beach, ate dinner listening to the waves and did nothing! IT was the perfect weekend! We headed back Monday morning and just enjoyed the drive home. Malawi is a gorgeous country. Right now everything is still green and the flowers are blooming. The people are so happy and colorful no one is in hurry. Everyone is just enjoying life. There is so much beauty in the simplicity of things here.  We arrived back on campus and spent the rest of the day doing nothing. Like I said, a PERFECT weekend.

            I must take a minute now to tell you about the wonderful friends we’ve made here. Everyone we meet is wonderful, for sure, but we’ve found a few friends that are really just excellent! For example, I’ve mentioned before that driving and shopping here is nothing short of STRESSFUL! So, Ogles and I generally opt to 1. not go or 2. go and get the minimal amount of things we’ll need. Well after several weeks of doing that we were in desperate need of groceries. So we called upon Titu and Blessing, (and Ben, but he was MIA). The graciously drove us around town, pushed our trollies (buggies), and were excellent company for the afternoon. I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of many others that would so willingly spend the afternoon doing grocery shopping… ? We’ve also found Michelle, who is probably the only reason either of us are sane. She opens her house to us, and feeds us yummy things, and takes us places, she’s excellent. Then we have Owen who is always up for a coke and just hanging out. The Floreens and Carlisles have also been far beyond kind to us opening their homes and allowing us to simply share life with them. These are just a few of the wonderfully splendid people God has provided for us who are better friends than we deserve. 

           

Until next time…

 “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written ‘The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.’ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15: 2-4

Yet another borrowed post...

As I am certain many of you sit around anxiously waiting for the next exciting tale from Africa, I'm doing my best to provide... hahahaha okay just accept that. Its Spring Break in Malawi, there is no fuel to be found in the country and so we are at home still in our pjs taking a break, in the purest form. But in order to assure everyone that we are still in fact alive I'm sharing a post of Ogles. An old Malawian folktale a friend shared with her. A beautiful picture of God working through all of us. Enjoy!
Oh yeah click here

Just a Quick(ish) Update

Every time I sit down to write a blog I say... This time I'll do better I and won't let a month pass before I update again. Well, this time I'm not going to say that I'm just going to sit down and write the blog and hopefully sometime in the near future I'll sit down and write another one. :D

  As far as fun and super exciting things go we haven't done a whole lot since Ogles' birthday. But we have been keeping busy. We're over halfway finished with our third quarter of school which is crazy to think about. We have two weeks until Spring Break and then after that we'll only have 9 weeks of school left! That's not long at all! CRAZY! The first term felt like it went on forever and this one just seems to be flying by. Some days I can't say that I mind, but then other days it would just be nice to slow down for a while.
Soon we will have been here for 8 months! In 8 months here I have seen more, learned, more and been challenged more that ever before in my life I'm pretty sure. I've had to adjust to life as an "adult," a teacher, and a missionary all in a very short time. Fortunately, I do not have to rely on myself to get through these things. It's been fun, It's been hard (I think I say that every time) I'm still glad I did it. 
 In other exciting news... I GOT A PACKAGE FROM MY FAMILY! It was full of lots of fun stuff and yummy goodies for us to enjoy here. OH and its official I'll be home this summer! Ogles has promised that tomorrow we'll go and pay for our plane tickets! I'll be home June 28th - August something 7, 8, 9 one of those days. and I must say I'm am very excited about it.

In a effort to be more blogger friendly send me your questions and I'll be happy (to do my best) to answer them.

Okay I've included a few pictures hopefully to make up for my lack of posting.

We recently got to show off our swim skills at our very own Kindergarten Swim Gala! 

Everyone did a great job! 

This a man riding in the back of a truck in the rain, holding onto some wood AAAND an umbrella, thats talent kids.

A giant snail. 

We took a field trip up campus to see Mr. Epperson's garden. His worms were, of course, the favorite part. 

Another picture, just to remind everyone that I live in a beautiful BEAUTIFUL place. 

As always prayers are needed and greatly appreciated.  Although I've grown to love this place and the people here, homesickness in still a part of life here. Pray for Malawi, the country, the government, the people, everything. Pray for my fellow missionaries. 

Until next time... 

"O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Psalm 95.1