By Kayle on 5/26/2008 3:49 AM

   We've had a new maid, Margaret, helping us out over the past few weeks while our steady maid has been ill.  Margaret was recommended to me by the wife of a man who works at the college, Helene Stambolie, and she's worked out to be very helpful.
    A few times when Margaret has addressed me, she has called me Mrs. Sta-something...I could never quite make out what it was that she was calling me.  Was she calling me Mrs. Stambolie, thinking I was related to Helene?  Finally I figured out today what she was calling me--Mrs. Starbuck.  Since all of our coffee mugs here say "Starbucks", I guess she assumed our last name was etched onto our mugs!  Anyway, I got quite a laugh out of it!

By Kayle on 5/23/2008 3:38 AM

   Our church is a very young church, mostly composed of college students.  In fact, Mat and I are probably the third oldest couple to attend the church!  The reality here in Zimbabwe is that middle aged is considered mid-twenties.  If you make it to 40, then you're considered old as you've surpassed the average life expectancy age here!  The average life expectancy age here is mid-thirties. 
   Anyway, our church put together a karaoke night where small groups competed against each other for prizes.  Our small group, composed of all the oldest couples in the church, has been painstakingly practicing for this night for about 2 months...we would choose a song, practice it, and then change the song for a "cleaner" song or for a better song that may win...We started off with "The Gambler", then "River of Dreams", then "Day-O", then "All for Love" and fi ... Read More »

By Kayle on 5/20/2008 3:59 AM

    This term I (Kayle) am teaching Biblical Backgrounds to the OT (a course I've taught before) and a book study through the book of Amos (a new class I haven't taught).  I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the teaching load, most especially with taking on a new course and doing all the prep work for that. 
   During the first week of class, I asked who had signed up for the class and no one had signed up for it.  The academic dean said I could cancel the class if I wanted to.  Hoping that I had found a way out of my feelings of being overwhelmed, I told him I would ask the Biblical Studies Chair, Craig, about what I should do.  Craig suggested that I advertise the course and open it up to the community to sit in on it.  I must admit, I wasn't thrilled about it and had to really change my attitude about it.  But once I began advertising the course to local churches, I began to g ... Read More »

By Kayle on 5/17/2008 1:22 AM

By Kayle on 5/14/2008 3:56 AM

    When Mat and I were in the US waiting to come to Zimbabwe, the main thing holding us up was getting our work permits.  We had applied and 3.5 months later we found out we were rejected so we applied again and 3.5 months later we found out we were accepted.  The total process was 7 months of waiting!  Our TEP (Temporary Work Permit) was for 2 years and it expires in Oct. 2008.  So now we need to renew our work permits to stay in Zim for hopefully another 3 years. 
    The process of getting a TEP is tricky.  We were hoping to wait until after elections to apply (as foreigners were being kicked out of the country so they wouldn't see how elections were run), but since the election process is up in the air we're not sure how soon to apply.  Also, tonight our American friends told us that they just received a rejection on their application for a work permit simply on the b ... Read More »

By Kayle on 5/12/2008 4:29 AM

By Kayle on 5/11/2008 4:26 AM

By Kayle on 5/8/2008 12:24 PM

By Kayle on 5/7/2008 5:37 AM

   Mat and I have been searching for firewood as the winter is creeping up on us.  We really need wood to start fires as that is our only source of heat in the winter.  Also, we use wood scraps in our grill when grilling out.  Last year we would pick up the scraps from a few carpentry places, but this year these companies are using their own scraps.  So we've began to wonder how we were going to find firewood.
    Today I was driving into town and saw a man pushing a Zimbabwean wheelbarrow (about 4 times the size of our wheelbarrows) full of freshly chopped firewood.  I stopped the car, turned around and asked him if it was for sale.  He said it was, so I told him to wait for me while I went to the bank to get cash.  I got the money and came back to him.  He filled up the back of the SUV with the firewood while I fed Calvin!  He took down my phone number and is to ... Read More »