We kicked off last weekend with Tsumeb Thanksgiving - the volunteers in the area got together for chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, and apple pie. Yum! We played Christmas music in the background and between that and the decorations it felt almost more like Christmas than Thanksgiving. In the picture - Allison (and her dog Tulah), Chris (and his dog Arya), me and Dylan (minus Other Dog who was temporarily banned from the house due to fleas), and Kelly (who does not have a dog). In the background - our cleverly created Christmas decorations!

All Christmas activities tend to happen in late November here since school is out and everyone travels as of the beginning of December. The day after we had our Thanksgiving meal, our church had its Christmas program featuring the children and youth. We've been watching Christmas movies in our free time such as: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Elf, White Christmas, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (so far). =) Next week, Christmas cookies are on the menu.

The learners had their final exams earlier this week, so they are now gone for holidays. Teachers will still come for the next week, finishing up marking and making reports. It's very quiet without the kids here!

We're having our first good hard rain as I write - it's been pouring since about 7am (it's now 11am) and shows no sign of stopping. This is the real rainy season! I'm anticipating rivers running down our street when I get home.

We're looking forward to meeting up with some old friends this weekend and going to Etosha (hopefully the animals come out in the rain?). These friends happen to be Americans, who we know from England, who are now living in Gabon. It's one of those crazy coincidences that we now get to visit with them in Tsumeb, Namibia! 

These pictures are actually from a couple weeks ago when Dylan and I hiked to Otjiwarongo for a games weekend with friends. It was wet and rainy and cold, which was kind of wonderful, except it kept trying to put our fire out. Hence the marshmallow toasting inside on candles... (see below)
We were extremely happy to have rain again last night! It cooled everything off and has stayed cloudy today, which makes a big difference. 

 As a headline stated today, the strike seems to have fizzled out, even in Windhoek where it was strongest. Good thing as all learners should now be able to take their end of year exams! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers on that. =)

At my school and Dylan's school, things are running normally. Only 3 or 4 teachers are striking (really effective right?) so the learners are having classes and we're expecting to start exams on time, which is a relief. However, the situation in and around Windhoek hasn't really changed - in some schools there have been no classes for almost 2 weeks. We're not sure what'll happen if some schools get to take their exams and other schools don't. Exams start on Monday so they have to sort it out this weekend!