This...

 

This is my little buddy who I hadn't seen in two weeks.  (Since Leah was staying here, I didn't get over to see J&A, and it felt like forever!  Well, maybe not quite forever, but definitely too long.)

 

 

 

 

This is Mafé Monday...

 

 

...and Chebu Guinaar [chicken] Friday.

 

There's a little hole-in-the-wall place right by the classroom, and the lady sells two different plates every day.  We've got her schedule figured out now. :)

 

 

This is because math is so much more fun in French!  Just kidding.  I just discovered the book lying around at the classroom one day and skimmed it during break.

 

 

This is what happened when I baked a batch of brownies in a slightly-too-small baking dish.  (It was someone else's pan, not the one I usually use.)

 

 

 

 

This is the clean-up from the brownie disaster.  Not that the brownies turned out bad - they were fine, it's just the bottom of my oven was a disaster!

 

 

This is a happy sign of dry season: a colorful variety of vegetables available.  Clockwise from top left, we have cabbage, eggplant, navet (which means turnips, but they aren't quite like the turnips I'm familiar with back home), carrots, sweet potatoes, limes, chile peppers (orange and green), and okra.

 

 

This a smaller-than-normal clementine (about 2/3 the size, I'd say).  Extra cute!

 

 

This is the evidence of some tiny critter that apparently was snacking on my almonds.

 

 

This is a trio of African teas.  Yummy!

 

 

This book (which I was using for French) made me want to go into linguist mode, with that whole side-by-side translation thing going on.  But thankfully I didn't have the time to get myself into such an undertaking, because if I had, I'm sure I would have quickly remembered why I hated that semester so much.

 

 

This is Michael being his usual entertaining self.

 

 

This is Hailah wanting to take her own picture.

 

 

This is a girls movie night at Ruth's.  So fun.  So good.  Just the thing after all-day meetings.

 

 

This is when she licked the ice cream spoon (and I caught her on camera!). ;)

 

 

This is my "new" journal.  (New meaning I just started writing in it.  I've actually had it for over two years.  And it wasn't new when I got it. :))

 

 

This is a Christmas card that arrived...a month after Christmas (and nearly two months from the date it was postmarked).  Yay for mail, no matter when it comes!

 

 

This is because the lock on the front door broke (as in, got stuck and wouldn't let the door close) one afternoon when Leah was there by herself.  Thankfully Norbert was able to replace it...front doors that lock are always a good thing.

 

 

This made my day: mail from kids at my home church.

 

 

This is the new look of Spare 'Oom.  (When Leah left, she took the spare bed frame, since there weren't any extras in storage at the Mission.)

 

 

This was Leah's welcome dinner.

 

 

This is Veronique and her little friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is waiting for dinner.  Which was difficult, because the food smelled so. good.

 

 

 

 

This was our keynote speaker...and her official translator.

 

 

This is cake-cutting time.

 

 

This is us girls...or at least some of us. :)