Just one more sleep....

It is hard to believe that this trip is coming to an end.  We are at 17 days and counting, just one more night.  Carol, Ron and the grandkids have been packed since yesterday.  The 5 moms (so named because we have all given poor Sarah motherly advice on more than one occasion- We have given it to Ryan, too, but he seems unaffected - Sarah, on the other hand has taken to numbering us according to her favorites, let me correct that, her favorite...for some reason, unbeknownst to all of us Janet has risen to the top of the list- Mom #2 - Sarah's real mom was #1) are resisting packing until the last day.  Our dorm room looks like we have made ourselves quite at home.

We have taken to having a "spot of tea" in the afternoon and sitting outside in the fresh air.  A great way to detox and debrief at the end of the day.  Jannean not only fetches the tea, but she also serves it on a tray with a curtsy.  

The House of Moses is one of the rare places that has the luxury of grass, which they keep watered with their custom-made sprinkler system - a plastic water bottle with holes, held on with electrical tape (duct tape is hard to come by here).  One day we played the game "Head's Up" on Linda's iPad - it involves charades and other activities that might seem strange to people unaccustomed to grown women acting our animals or shouting out hints, etc.  We are sure that the kitchen staff was very entertained (or terrified!).  Turns out that the app actually makes a video of your antics - which then entertained us!  Ridiculous fun in the sun!

 Tonight, the Reverend and his family are coming to dinner!  The kitchen staff is taking care of the food, but we are on our own for the rest.  No fears though, Janet and Jannean or like Martha Stewart, Emily Post, and (insert the name of the kindest person you know here) all rolled into one.  We had a great dinner of steak, potatoes, and gravy cooked African style followed by an All-American dessert:  3 cakes, "Napolean" ice cream, vanilla ice cream, coke, coke light, orange soda and Caribbean Onion and Balsamic Vinegar Potato Chips!  What a feast!

There was no problem with dinner conversation either as Reverend M'Tonga was quite a captivating conversationalist....all was going well until  he asked "So, how is Obama doing?"  There was an awkward moment before I explained that it was best not to discuss politics at the dinner table as we Americans tend to have strong feelings in all directions and no problem expressing them.

The Reverend brought his two sons, not twins, a member of Presbytery and his sister-in-law and her daughter (I may be wrong on the relationship of the woman and her child - I spent half the night thinking that she was his wife!)  The kids loved the dessert an loved playing video games on the iPad with Linda.  (A few days ago, Tom brought his kids over and Linda took out her iPad and set up a game-they played once and beat her high score! hahaha).

At the end of the night, the Reverend said that he had a surprise for all of us - a gift from his church.  Each of us received a chitenga - the colorful cloth that is used as a sling, skirt, you name it.  Sarah and Ryan's were from the youth group.  Ours was from the women of the church.  Very cool!  Although I am not quite sure that we come close to knowing how to wear them correctly. Can't wait to sling mine on and head on down to ShopRite.  (Did I tell you that ShopRite is a food chain there, too?)