Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Everyone!
We're back in Kara for the day…enjoying a hot Thanksgiving by the pool
;-) We came in this morning and are spending time on the internet
before heading to the pool and the restaurant for a cheeseburger.
Some of our friends are coming in this morning as well so we are
excited to spend the day with them.

We have been very busy in village with gardening and teaching. As for
the garden, we've had some problems with pests but Nathan is working
hard on natural pesticides (hot peppers and tobacco) and we hope to
have radishes in the next couple of weeks. Plus my cabbages are doing
well and they should be ready when our parents arrive in late
December.

I have been busy teaching at the middle school as the English teacher
has been away for a week and a half at a training. It is exhausting
to teach four classes a day! I tried to incorporate lots of creative
activities and the students seemed to enjoy the change in pace. Plus,
I led a couple of PTA meetings at the village schools concerning why
it is important to send girls to school. At the last meeting, I had
75 parents come! A record…plus I think they really enjoyed it. There
was lots of discussion about why girls have more domestic chores than
boys and thus less time to study. We made a list of all the daily
chores and the girls totaled 9 to the boys 4. The parents decided
they are too old to change their ways but they would try and more
equally distribute the chores between their children. The chief asked
if he could come by the house and have Nathan teach him how to do
laundry! I laughed so hard…but invited him over! We'll see ;-)

We are headed to Tsevie next week for the last week of training with
the trainees. They swear-in next Thursday. And I have a new dress!
I hope to post again to the blog as well as add video and pictures.
So check back in then! Hope all is well with everyone! XO

An example list of chores (I'm sure there are others!):
Girls:
Pull water from the well (2x/day)
Cook (3x/day)
Sweep (2x/day)
Wash dishes (3x/day)
Wash clothes (3x/week)
Buy goods at market (1x/week)
Sell goods at market (1x/week)
Harvest crops (daily if needed during the school year)
Take care of the younger children (daily)

Boys:
Sell animals at market (1x/week)
Take animals to pasture (1x/day)
Feed chickens (2x/day)
Plant crops (during the summer…not the school year)