Approaching two weeks

In just two more days we will have been in Africa for two weeks already! Some days seem to pass more quickly than others. None of the days seem too long since we only have 12 hours of daylight every day. We tend to want to go to bed earlier and get up earlier than in the States.

Yesterday I tried my first baking experiment since arriving. At any rate, it seemed like an experiment to me since some of the ingredients were a bit different than what I use at home. I decided to try my hand at making my molasses cookies. I was pleasantly surprised to have them turn out about as good as they do when I make them at home. In fact, Lee said he liked them almost better because they were a bit fluffier. Whatever the case, I will definitely make these again. My next endeavor will probably be banana bread since we have some overly ripe bananas that need to be used in a productive way! I also want to try making my brownies and apple crisp. As anyone can see, we must be missing some of our "normal" desserts. Not that we need them, but I do believe that with the change of diet, especially when we choose to eat in the campus cafeteria, we have probably lost rather than gained weight. We'll see what happens over the long term of 3 more months. We tried the ugali ( a staple here - somewhat like hard, very bland grits just yesterday. I think we will stick with the rice or mashed potatoes!

Yesterday was also our first opportunity to attend a chapel service on campus. We were introduced during that service. The chapel services tend to run longer than they do on the SNU campus. Chapel is scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We also went to a Bible Study last evening. Mary, the other volunteer who is teaching in the Religion Dept. conducted it. Besides Lee and me, Mary and one of the religion lecturers, only two students came. Perhaps by next week, the student involvement will improve. We are studying the book of John. I'm looking forward to gaining new insights as we study together.

Lee had his first official class yesterday. It was Integral Calculus with eight students enrolled. Two students showed up! Let's hope the attendance percentage improves drastically! Today he is meeting with his first Linear Algebra class. He has twenty or so students on the roll for that class. I wonder how many will appear???

We have a driver scheduled to take us to the store later this afternoon so we can pick up a few more groceries. I hope to get more sugar. Since there is a sugar shortage here, it's not always available. So (maybe to our benefit) if sugar is limited my baking will be limited as well! We will see. I would like to share my baked goods with different ones on campus as I see this as a form of ministry for me.

One other project I hope to get up and running is the updating of an Orientation Manual for Mission Corps volunteers on the Africa East Field Church of the Nazarene and the Africa Nazarene University more specifically. I have wished so many times that I had seen this manual before we ever left the States. It would have been so helpful in preparing me for some of the not so expected experiences I've had with culture shock. Thankfully, as I have no doubt mentioned before, God has placed some wonderful people in my path, who have helped me to bridge the gap. I will never forget their offers of help and encouragement.

We are still enjoying the gorgeous weather here. It's amazing not to be too hot, nor too cold, even without the benefit of heat or air conditioning! The crisp, mountain air seems to agree with me.

We have another sight seeing outing planned for this weekend that I will have to share about in another post. So - stayed tuned!