"Chicken What?"

It's hard to remember how it started, but for quite awhile now Lily has jokingly been calling people she's comfortable with "chicken burrito". Now she and Anya throw it around randomly in prayers, comments, etc. Lacy (the Williams' 4 year old) has started using the phrase "chicken burrito" as well! All last year we were telling Lily that people in South Africa might be confused if she jokes with them in this way. So today we went swimming at our friend's house again (which was so great because I've been sweating for the past few days wondering how we will survive the heat). They are our friends who we met at the cafe one day...they just moved back from England. When we were leaving Lily said to Louise (the mom) "Bye chicken burrito!" and Louise (in her sweet English accent) says "chicken what?" I explained about Lily's humor, and Loise laughed and said "bye egg's nest!" We all laughed at the humor of the whole situation...I'm glad she was so understanding:). And I'm glad that Lily is feeling comfortable! She doesn't even like chicken burritos...can't figure it out:).
Lily scraped her knee today at school because she was "playing ball with the boys and she tripped". I was happy to hear a couple of things in that sentence. 1. She was playing with other kids 2. She was kicking a ball. She said she made a new friend today, but couldn't remember his name. She said "Mom, he's from Cape Town, and he talks like Ariela (Louise's daughter)...I can't understand anything he says!" I guess she's still getting used to the accent here. Maybe that's why she's not remembering anyone's names at school? She had a "plaster" on her knee for her scrape, and I could see this bright red stuff underneath. I thought "Wow! That looks bad!" But then I looked closer and the teacher must have sprayed some sort of red antibiotic on it...made it look worse than it was!
It sounds like the past few days have been atypically warm here. We've been kicking ourselves for getting a car without AC. The apartment hasn't been too bad...but we sweat most of the day. Sounds like it's really hot in February and then it starts to cool down. We will prioritize parking in the shade until then.
I'm getting used to washing the dishes by hand. But I'm not used to the stores closing at 7pm and not getting to do my grocery shopping in the evening. I haven't been cooking much because 1. It's been SO HOT (have I mentioned that?) and 2. I never seem to have the right ingredients for meals I normally make. So maybe I haven't minded the dishes because we've been eating out more?:) I was able to find some protein powder and organic peanut butter, so I made some peanut butter balls. They taste just like home! I'm so glad there is peanut butter here! But we haven't found any chicken burritos. We went to a restaurant called "Mexico Spur" fully expecting some sort of Mexican food...only to be disappointed. The only thing it had on the menu that was Mexican was a "cheese quesadilla with a chicken filling". And nachos with "sticky cheese" and "chunky cottage cheese"...no thank you. The cheeseburger was good though!
The chocolate and dried fruit varieties are my favorite treats so far. Oh...and the Magnum ice cream bars. The food is all really good, actually...we aren't going hungry!
We have some praises! The Stint guys found an apartment and it's close to the Stint girls' house! They are all going to share a car, so that will be perfect! The Stint girls have had a rough start in their apartment, as it seems to have a cockroach and spider problem...as well as a few other issues. Lauren hasn't been sleeping more than a few hours every night for the past week because she is deathly afraid of bugs. We've been praying for her (and helping them clean, paint, and shop for things to make it home) and 2 nights ago... she slept! Praise God! Continue to pray for them and the guys in their adjustment. That they would feel settled and comfortable.
A family praise is that we are officially a diaper free household thanks to Anya keeping dry at night!  Yay for reallotting the diaper fund in the budget!:)
And one final praise is that I drove by myself to pick Lily up from school!  And then Shannon successfully drove the kids and I to our friend's house to swim!  Two successful driving ventures in one day!  We are getting more confident...which is good, since the guys will be starting work next week.
We've been wrestling a little bit with the idea of leaving the kids with a babysitter (everyone feels like a stranger right now) so we can be a part of staff meetings next week. So we've opted out of a couple of things. But the Best's (the family who has been here for a couple of years) have had this high school girl at their church babysit quite often for their kids, and she comes highly recommended. So we are going to go to the Tuesday staff meeting next week. Just pray for peace of mind, protection, and a great experience for all.
Pray also that God will lead us and prepare our hearts as we learn more about the history, culture, and spiritual dynamics on campus and meet to plan for the year! We met with Leon (campus director) and his wife Melanie today, and we are really excited for all the Lord has in store this year! We are loving Cape Town and our team...should be a great year!
Thank you for your prayers!