Football, NVA style

School is clipping along with updated schedules and more classes to teach. Just this week we realized we only have 13 more weeks with these students and with NVA before heading out to other endeavors. We try to remind ourselves of this when the kids become unruly, disobedient or just down right irritating... patience, compassion and purpose!

Football Update: The football (soccer) season is in full swing, Eddy coaching the Under 11 Boys and Jess the Under 11 girls. The girls are holding their own with one loss (our first time goalie did a "woops" and kicked the ball into our own goal) and one tie. This is basically a huge success for us as we practice on a small rented field 1-2x/week and our opponents have their own pitches to play on to their hearts content! The boys are having a bit more trouble with an injured star player and 2 losses. We're hoping for strong comebacks for both teams and eagerly await our upcoming games- Go Crocs!

Kenya Plans: We have tentative plans to travel to Kenya in February for a meeting regarding our purpose. Our team (of sorts) here has expressed great interest in our attendence, almost begging us to come. While we are eager to have the opportunity to go, we dread the exit/re-entry visa hassles and cringe when considering the finances needed to leave this place... ouch! But we know that he is beyond faithful and has been/is an abundant provider. We'll keep you posted!

Football Quotes of the Week: There is no end to the interesting comments from onlookers and parents, reminding us that we are not in our home cultures... Here are a few teasers...
After practice one day: "The girls should stick with basketball; Soccer is a man's sport."
From a student, not allowed to play: "My father says I'm getting too dark."
From a student, not allowed to play: "My mom says my legs are not going to be feminine when I grow up."
From a mother of a boy player, commenting about our shared jerseys: "The jerseys should be for the boys, and the girls can wear something else."


Photos: I took my camera to our football match only to discover the dreaded flashing battery sign on the screen- Mushkila! So here are a few photos from our flat... Flowers are more readily available now with the cooler temps- this one is on the windowsill in front of my stove... Our new chairs! Friends sold us these to replace our rather uncomfortable metal ones, $20 for both and we had them recovered for $8-- the fabric is cheerful and brightens up our rather plain little flat! Mashallah comfy charis!