Flat Stanley, Vol. I...

Hi, Logan!

I took Flat Stanley with me today to university. He has been sitting on my desk since we got back and it seemed like he was getting bored of watching me do homework all day. So, today we went out.

We took one of these to school. I wanted to take a picture, but, um...Stanley was too shy.

After I was done at school Stanley and I went across the road to this place...

This is the British Museum! The British Museum has been on this spot since 1759, but this building was built in 1857. This is one of my favorite places to go, and since it is right across the street from my university I can go whenever I like!

When you go into the museum this is the first place you come to. It is called the Great Court. Look at the ceiling! It is always full of light and always very noisy!

The Museum is full of very, very old things, like this very, very old Egyptian statue! (Stanley always stands too close to the camera, that's why his face is blurry- sorry!)

This lion is from 860 BC! That is REALLY old!

This is one of my favorite rooms in the Museum.

And here's Stanley again!

Okay, that's all for now. Stanley and I bought you a postcard from the Museum so he will travel to Canada with it very soon!

Love, Auntie.

More New Years photos...

I'd like to title this series:

"Happy Happy Happy Suspicious Sad Happy."

(Alternatively titled, "My face is round and Brenda's is not.")

Happy happy

Happy suspicious

Sad happy

Home...

"You can go through life and make new friends every year--every month practically--but there was never any substitute for those friendships of childhood that survive into adult years. Those are the ones in which we are bound to one another with hoops of steel."

-Alexander McCall Smith-

(Photos from my trip back to Canada for Christmas and New Years. I apologize for the general blurriness- I'm still sorting out how to use my new camera!)

Brenda, with the entirety of her army relegated to Iceland, carefully considers her next move.

Pictionary masters, reunited at last.

Judging by the expressions, this is the point in the game when Brenda was trying in vain to get her team to guess the words "Bugs Bunny."

Ramie waits eagerly for her beloved husband to mess up so she can use the buzzer.

Matt waits eagerly to return the favor to his lovely wife.

I set up the auto timer on my camera in order to capture us toasting the New Year when the clock struck midnight. Unfortunately, I didn't check the angle. Hence, we only have a picture of Clayton toasting in the New Year.

Attempt #2: Happy (fake) New Year!

Cracking out the vintage Super Nintendo for old times sake.

Me and a portion of the E family.

Catching up with friends from my mom's group (haha, true story).

Christmas...

Seeing as my housemates and I will all be dispersing for the Christmas holiday, we decided to declare last weekend "Christmas Tree Day" in our home. I don't have any pictures of the tree, but hopefully these shots will satisfy those eager for some photographic evidence of my life (i.e, mom).

Here we are enjoying our Christmas Tree Day brunch. Note the festive Christmas crackers and crowns. One housemate is missing from this photos, but I'm sure he'll show up on here eventually.

I included this shot to prove that I was actually there. I didn't Photoshop myself into this one, I promise.

Festive, London-esque Christmas Tree Day centerpiece.

After brunch we went to get a Christmas tree from a home supply store. I don't have any photos of this leg of the day. This is unfortunate, because it was slightly hilarious.

We were a bit short on ornaments, so we decided to make birds. I was borderline obsessed with bird Christmas tree ornaments last year in Mozambique. Apparently that's carried over a bit.

Housemate L takes her turn.

Clearly an emotional moment between crafter and craft.

She deserves a lot of applause for cutting out roughly 239, 494, 202 cookies.

This is only a fraction. Some we ate, some we hung on the tree. Some...are still sitting in Tupperware containers in the kitchen.

Last but not least, here are our beloved chickens (Annabel, Bruiser and Joan) in front of their coop! The third one is around there somewhere.

Our chickens used to live on a commercial egg farm and were a little lacking in feathers and high on post traumatic stress disorder when they came to live with us. However, they get prettier all the time and seem to love their new life in our back garden.

I finished up my first term at LSHTM on Friday. It was a great term, definitely the most challenged I've been academically (ever), but I do feel like I've learned a lot and I'm looking forward to jumping back in come January.

If the weather here cooperates, I should be back in Canada early next week for some rest and some time with a lot of my favorite people. Looking forward to seeing many of you very soon!

Beauty...

I'm still fresh out of pictures of my London life, but I wanted to post these photos.

I've been thinking a lot about Mozambique lately, partly because I've settled into some sort of routine here and have had time to stop and think about all the changes that have come about in my life in the past few months.

During one of my last weeks in Mozambique The General and I headed out to the school to meet up with the girls who were learning to sew. We had a lovely morning together. They were so excited to finish their first animals and so proud of their accomplishments. We laughed and chatted (as best we could!) and just had a wonderful hour. It turned out to be our last time together, and I hope that it is as good of a memory for them as it is for me.

Anyways, here are some photos from that morning of the girls and their creations. Aren't these girls beautiful? If you are of the praying persuasion, you can pray for them- that they will be safe and healthy and able to continue going to school.

London...

I have been in London for a few weeks now.

I love grad school! The course is proving to be fairly challenging, but I appreciate my school more every day and I am so excited to be in such a top notch learning environment. This term consists of core courses like statistics, health economics, etc, most of which I have never studied before. This has led to a steep learning curve in some areas, but I really enjoy it! One of the greatest surprises of my life is how much I like statistics. Honestly. Our class has just over 60 people in it (I think?) from all over the world and from such different backgrounds. Fantastic!

I also could not have asked for a better living situation. I am living in a house with five other people in northwest London. Having found this house on-line, I was a little anxious about what I was getting myself into but I have been pleasantly surprised over and over. We just adopted three chickens who live in a little coop we built in our backyard. We have failed somewhat in naming them and right now they are called 1, 2, and 3. We do intend to give them actual names at some point, for the record.

Some of you have asked for pictures. The unfortunate thing is that my camera was stolen during a mini- crime spree in Mozambique (along with my watch, my glasses, a necklace, some shampoo, etc, etc, anyways) so I'm not able to take photos right now. However, I hate to disappoint, so here is a little sampling to tide us all over until I get my hands on a camera again:

Here I am enjoying a slushie while wearing my bridesmaids dress in front of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine! You can't really see it in this photo, but all around the exterior of the school are bronze insects and animals like mosquitoes, ticks, and rats- all things that carry illnesses harmful to humans! I love my school. Even the art is health related!

Here I am (same day, obviously) in front of St. Paul's Cathedral!. Beautiful!

Lastly, here I am in front of an iconic red phone booth (this one is for you, Esther).

So, to summarize, I:

• Love school
• Love my house
• Love our chickens
• Love statistics
• Love living in London

However, I can't help but miss Three Hills and Edmonton and Mucombeze, etc. Come and visit!

Checking in...

My friend Esther told me that I needed to write on here again because "people who read your blog but don't know you personally will think that you've died."

I don't know if anyone reads this blog who I don't know personally, but just in case, here we go.

I am alive. I am in Canada.

It has been very nice being back in Canada. This is one of my favorite times of year- autumn- and it has been lovely to watch the wheat ripen and the leaves begin to turn. It's also been lovely to catch up with friends and family. I love my friends and family.

The two things people have said to me the most since I got back are:
1. You are back already?
2. Why don't you have a tan?

The two things that I have had the hardest time remembering since returning to Canada are:
1. To yield to pedestrians
2. That hot water comes out of taps here (ouch!)

Leaving Mozambique was pretty sad. I was speaking in staff devotions that morning and I had something all eloquent planned but then most of my mental effort was spent trying not to sob convulsively. I did pretty well with the not sobbing until I went to say goodbye to Tendai and her mom. Tendai wasn't sure what all the fuss was about, but she gave me a hug and two kisses anyways.

(Lynn and I at the Beira airport)

Dwight and Lynn very kindly flew me from Chimoio to Beira where I caught my first flight to Johannesburg.

(The plane getting some fuel under Dwight's supervision while I try to soak in my last glimpses of Moz)

While I was waiting for my flight out of Beira I decided to organize the loose change that was clinking around in my wallet. The tally was:

$2.01 CAN
£ 1.17
2 MZM (that's Moz currency)
7.10 ZAR (South African Rand)

I'm pretty sure that this all comes to less than $6.00. The only reason that this is notable is because when I got to London I went to the British Museum to see one of the moai (aka a giant stone head from Easter Island). I wanted to leave my rather weighty backpack in the coat check but alas...it cost £1.50 to leave your backpack at the coat check and, if you will recall, I only had £1.17.

I stumbled around the museum for a while but my backpack was SO heavy and I was SO tired and had SUCH a bad headache after flying all night. I made my way out of the main entrance to the museum, sat down on the steps, looked up and made the very happy discovery that there was a Starbucks right across the street. I hastened over, bought a tea and a muffin, and went back to the museum steps to sit in the sun and have my snack (and some Tylenol. Good thing I don't leave home these days without a malaria survival kit!)

After the Starbucks and the drugs kicked in I decided to go find the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). I will be beginning my masters degree at said school this coming Monday and I wanted to check the place out.

In May I really began to regret my decision not to go to school this year. In late June I was looking around at the websites of some of the schools I was the most interested in applying to, one of which was the LSHTM. While I was browsing I noticed that the LSHTM didn't have an application deadline! I wasn't sure how things could work out, seeing at it was kind of late in the game and I had, well, no money, but I decided to just go for it an apply! I applied in early July and, two days before I left Mozambique, I was shocked to find out that I was accepted! I didn't think that I was be able to go (remember, no money) but on my flight home while I was waiting in the Johannesburg airport I checked my e-mail. There was a message in my inbox informing me that a line of credit was available to me which would cover my tuition and living costs. I was one happy girl!

So, I came back to Canada, waited the mandatory 28 days until I could apply for my student visa (don't ask me why you have to wait 28 days, I have no idea), applied for my visa, bought a plane ticket and then received my visa last Friday! I leave for London this Friday and school begins the following Monday. I am SO grateful for this opportunity. It seems like God has so quickly brought everything together that I needed to go to school this year, including a great airfare and what looks to be a fantastic living situation. I don't think I'm really going to believe that this is all true until I'm through the registration line and sitting in my first lecture! I am very happy and thankful and excited, both for the last wonderfully rich year of my life and for this new chapter, full of possibility.