My latest blog was meant to come from tanzania but yet again it took me so long to finish that I'm now posting it 2 weeks later back in Zambia so i apologise for its ridiculous length! It was a great trip but it's nice to not be travelling anymore having slept in 6 different beds and spent over 30 hours on planes, buses, taxis, boats and waiting in airports! 

I was surprised how different tanzania seems to Zambia seeing as they are bordering countries. Tanzania feels like it has a faster pace of life but I think a lot of that is down to the crazy traffic. There are motorbikes everywhere, or piki-pikis as they call them, which are used as taxis. I enjoyed using the Dhala dhalas, small minibuses which carried a ridiculous number of passengers, some of them often hanging out the open door. 

I spent the first 10 days in musoma staying with my friend David from the UK who was working with a team of 16 people for Tearfund. When I arrived the team were preparing for an Easter fair on the Saturday and I got involved with the games for the kids including face painting which I thought I could probably manage as long as the requests were simple, unfortunately the first child decided he wanted to be a lion. For once my creative skills didn't let me down too much and thankfully he was happy with the result. 

On Sunday we went to church and I loved watching the 'choir' singing and dancing to a song that resembled more of a clubbing tune. I then had to join in with the team singing some of our own worship songs to the church. Unfortunately the whole service was in Swahili so I obviously didn't understand anything said. The most interesting part was at the end when they had an auction of items the church members had donated to raise money for the church, something which they do every week in most churches. 

On the Tuesday David and I took a day off with two other team members and went to a small island on lake Victoria. We had a half an hour boat trip then welcome drinks on arrival. I think we were all surprised by how nice the place was. We had a cooked breakfast and then went on a walking tour if the island which only has 150 people living there. Dave and I then took a canoe out to a 'island' of rocks. We didn't stay on it long when we discovered a monitor lizard (a bit like a small crocodile) and a snake. We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool, eating a 3 course lunch and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. 

I went with one half of the team to visit a 19 year old boy called Mtani who fell from a coconut tree and was paralysed from the waist down. The team were building a shower/wash room and had a new wheelchair for him. We went to cut some strips of metal but also got to spend some time talking to Mtani who was one of the happiest and kindest people I've met. I felt very challenged after seeing him because despite his difficult life he seems very content and finds a lot of joy in life. 

I had another first since being in Africa...slaughtering chickens. The team have been running a chicken farm and were getting the chickens ready to be sold. On the one hand there was something terrible about killing something and feeling the blood drain out but it also wasn't as bad as I though it would be. We had to pluck the chickens (a laborious and annoying job) but then we had to gut the chickens which I found fascinating and a tiny bit gross especially when I got bits of lung under my fingernails as I scraped them out of the ribs. The weirdest part was eating those same chickens for dinner...it certainly motivated me to prepare them properly! 

After leaving Dave and his team I went and met Cherie and Simon in Zanzibar for a 4 day holiday. It's a beautiful island and we had a great time on boat trips to islands, swimming in warm seas, snorkelling in the reefs, feeding 189year old giant turtles, hiring mopeds to drive around the island, having cocktails at sunset, going dolphin watching and enjoying the crazy local market. (Who knew you could cram so much into 4 days!)

Before going to tanzania I spent 2 days staying in the capital of Zambia, lusaka, where I managed to go to the cinema 3 times, a bit excessive but when you haven't been in 5 months it feels justified.  

Since being back in Zambia I've had another week off which I spent getting things ready for the next term and we've had two weeks back at school already. We started a new topic of our world and the kids were very excited to find an 'airport' in our classroom on Monday. They became even more excited when we told them were taking a trip to the real airport the following week! 

I also went on Arise visitations this week and it was one of the toughest ones yet. One of the ladies we visited has been sick for 6 years with sores all over her hands and feet and is getting progressively worse. We took her to the hospital a while back, where she stayed for one month but then was sent home. The hardest part was seeing how she seems to have given up and doesn't want to fight anymore and she's no older than 50. We took her some new medication so we're just praying it works. We visited another lady who has had a very difficult life, all her children and her husband died and as a result her community believe she's a witch and sent her away to essentially be a prisoner to a witch doctor. Fortunately she was released but when we saw her she hadn't eaten in 3 days so we took her some money for coal and food. 

Since being back I've also been playing lots of basket ball with a friend and surprisingly I'm not too terrible, went to the big graduation ceremony at the bible college, spent some time with a new team here from Denmark and done lots of sunbathing by pool as (I'm sorry to make you all green with jealousy) the weather's been glorious!

Life out here seems to be rushing by faster and faster and it seems crazy to me that I have just over 4 months left. Every time friday comes around again I find myself feeling very surprised that another week has gone by. We have one more week of school and then we will have completed our first full term and I feel pretty happy with what we've managed to achieve. Last Monday Cherie went back to the UK where she's staying for a month so I've had 2 weeks in the class with just myself and Fatima and it's been great to see how there's less of a need for both us which means the children are learning to become more independent.

Cultural differences are still a big challenge and it was only yesterday, whilst talking with a Zambian, that I leant some things about discipline here and it completely changed my perception of the children when I'm disciplining them at the school. Here a child would not look at an adult when being told off and even if they're asked a question they wouldn't respond as it would seem as though they are challenging them. So when I've been getting frustrated that children won't look me in the eye or tell me why I've put them on the thinking chair (even though I know they know why) they've actually been showing me respect. All these small differences make teaching here a much bigger adjustment then I could have anticipated. Although the children are pushing and challenging me more than children did in England they are also showing me more love and, I think, appreciating me more which in the end makes it worth it. 

I know for certain that when I return to teaching in the UK in September I won't be taking TAs for granted and I now know just how much they do and how invaluable they are to the running of a class!

We had our school opening a few weeks ago which was a big success. We opened the school for the morning so people could come around and see how we teach and then unexpectedly everyone stayed and watched me teach a phonics lesson. I've been observed lots of times before but never by more than 2 or 3 people...in this lesson there were at least 30 but luckily the children were on their best behaviour! We then had a celebration in the bible college with the parents and guardians, the workers, the students and friends of the school so it was a big celebration. We had the children talk a bit about what they'd learnt so far, show some of their work and sing some songs and I was very proud of how well they did. For one of the songs we made everybody join in and unfortunately as we were teaching them a new song and I was 'leading' the children I had to stand on the stage and 'sing' the song...I'm not sure who it was worse for, me or the audience! But all in all it was a great success and everyone had a lot of positive things to say about the school and the teaching so it was great to be so encouraged! 

On our half term break I went to Nsobe with the girls I live with, Cherie and Anne-Mette and her family. We stayed in chalets in a completely private area, which is a good thing because the bathroom which was attached to the back of each chalet only had 3 walls (an intentional design) and therefore you didn't need to worry when you're showering outside for the whole world to see. It was also a strange experience to be showering whilst it was raining so you're washing in both hot and cold water, very bizarre! We ate lots of nice food, played games and even managed to convince the men to 'serve' us whilst we pampered ourselves with a pedicure! 

I went to my first ever football match recently, Zambia against Uganda and I enjoyed it much more than I expected. The atmosphere was great and the final score was 2.1 to Zambia so there was great atmosphere and it was fun to join in with their crazy over the top celebration of each goal. 

A few weekends ago Cherie and I took a trip to lusaka, the capital city, because Cherie needed to pay for a flight and I hadn't been there yet. It was very strange to be back in a place that's so westernised compared to Ndola. To be able to do things like go to the cinema (which we did twice) get my haircut and have a cocktail seemed like a big deal which shows how quickly you can get used to the environment you're living in. I hadn't realised how much I'd missed small things like going to KFC and being able to walk to a local shop. Coming back to Ndola I also realised how nice it is to not always have those conveniences and to live a little more simply and then when you have these treats it makes you appreciate them more. 

This year has definitely been more of a challenge then I think I could have imagined and there are so many small and big things that I had no idea I would struggle with but I really believe God has been with me the whole time and I know it sounds like a cliche but I have learnt so much. I think it is meeting my expectations of being a life changing year, I just pray that those changes are for the better and that they are long lasting! 

It's been a long time since I've blogged and I guess that tells something of my life the past few months. We've finally reached our goal and opened the school which has been both exciting and exhausting. Today we have completed our first half term and its been a great start so far! We now have 17 children in our grade one class, 7 of which are also in the Arise orphan project. It was so great to finally open the school and get stuck into what's been my main purpose and passion since deciding to come to Zambia. Seeing the kids all running full pelt, up the path to school on the first day made me realise the hard work has all been worth it. The first half term has been a massive challenge and big learning curve in my teaching career but also really rewarding. I've had to learn how to teach children who have very little concept of discipline and don't seem to understand the meaning of the word 'no'! The language barrier also creates a lot of new problems but we're so pleased and surprised by how much and how quickly the children are learning English. But then you have days like yesterday where you doubt the children understand anything you say. I asked the children 'what day is it today?' and I got replies of 'chicken' and 'bananas' and then one child said 'fruits of the spirit' (which we've been learning about in our God Time) which caused all the children to shout out random fruits and love, peace, patience etc....I guess I should be pleased they're remembering them at least! Despite the tough days I love my new class and they have learnt the class routines and rules really well and seem to love school. One girl, Mabel, even insisted she should come to school despite her grandma telling her she had to stay at home because it was raining. The rain can create issues as Zambians tend to skip school if the rain is heavy enough and doesn't stop, which happened this week and resulted in there being 3 adults to teach 6 children. The class also give us a lot of laughs, one child turned to Cherie and I one day and asked 'do you have a Mr muzungu?' (meaning white person) He also told me today that when he grows up he's going to be my mummy...I'm not quite sure why!

We've already taken the children on their first trip to the farm over the road as that's been our topic for the first half term. They enjoyed sitting on a tractor and then having a trailer ride. They were quite wary of the animals but most were brave enough to sit on the horse. I joined in and then only week a later ate some horse steak from the very horse I had sat on as it had been slaughtered and sold in the farm shop. (Very tasty meat-I'd recommend it!) 

I've also braved one of the local delicacies of fried caterpillar which I bought from a street shop and cooked myself...Im not so quick to recommend them and after eating 6 I still couldn't figure out why the Zambians enjoy them so much. They taste as bad as they smell and are crunchy on the outside and squidgy on the inside. 

Thunder storms are still going strong here and just as scary and exciting as ever. Unfortunately one we had this week meant we didn't have power or water for 48 hours and the generator they used to try and give us power (at 4.30 in the morning!) also blew up causing a lot of chargers and sockets to be destroyed, TIA! 

I've had 3 very interesting/frustrating trips to kamfinsa, the local village where I teach in a community school. The first 2 weeks I cycled there on my own and hadn't been since before Christmas, the grass had grown very long which makes everything look different. Unfortunately they were also cutting down the forest which I normally cycled through so I couldn't find the route and even if I could I wouldn't have been able to get through due to the massive log trucks, all the trees falling down and the insane puddles. I was fairly confident my sense of direction could get me there by going a different way however an hour an a half later I was definitely very lost! 

Christmas seems like a very long time ago but I had an amazing family holiday in South Africa, probably my best so far. The highlight however was finally meeting my scrumptious nephew who is the cutest and smiliest little boy and such a delight the whole holiday. It's hard not being in England to watch him growing bigger and doing more and more things but thankfully he performs well on Skype and gives me plenty of smiles. 

The last 3 weeks we've had a Danish team of 7 living with us, which was a lot of fun and a nice change to have so many young people around. It was surprisingly tiring to have people in 'our house' all the time but great to have more people to play games with, take for ice cream and go for dinner to the new Chinese restaurant. 

And finally I received a marriage proposal from a Zambian, he stopped me as I was going for a walk around the block, he professed his love for me and then told me he was going to marry me. I thanked him and then when I asked how old he was he replied 'I'm 9'...hmmm.