Hello my adorable Thinkers!
This week I am releasing the fourth of eight emails I wrote while I was in Zimbabwe last year. With this email I am also sharing a lot of pictures that were taken around the same time that I wrote the email.
Things have been quite busy for me lately with the High Holy Days coming up and finishing the second module (out of eight) of my Midwifery school. I plan to write about the High Holy Days soon for those who might be interested.
Now for the fourth email!
This past week I have been figuring out what my daily schedule will look like. Emily and I started last week by planning our menu for the next month. I am so glad that we did because it has been very useful and reduces the daily stress of figuring out what food to eat. We have also been writing weekly shopping lists so that we don’t have to go to the shops often.
My daily schedule looks something like this. I get up around 5:30-6am and get ready for the day. I head over to the cottage and either make breakfast or hang out until breakfast is ready.
After breakfast Ishmael goes to work while Emily and I clean the cottage. We usually get done cleaning by 11 if we don’t have laundry to do and noon if we do. We then eat lunch either outside or by the door where there is a nice breeze.
In the afternoons we work on projects that we either brought or were given to do. Usually one of us takes a nap at some point in the afternoon. Oddly if one of us is sleeping, so far, the other doesn’t. While one of us starts dinner (or after depending on how long dinner has to cook) I do the dishes from the morning. We do the dishes twice a day to save on soap and reduce the dishes that must be done after dinner.
Around 5, Ishmael gets home, we finish dinner, and then eat. Around dinner time we usually have a teaching to listen to. We usually go to bed in the house around 9pm. Then the whole process starts over the next day! Schedules are my friend. Being able to predict what will happen reduces my stress so much.
I mentioned last week that I was going to a nature reserve on the weekend. Unfortunately that got delayed, so the plan is to go this weekend. We are planning to bring chicken to braai and my Mom’s recipe of potato salad. I am still really excited! I will hopefully be able to take lots of pictures! (Here is a sneak peak at one of the pictures I took at the nature reserve)
Most of the projects I am working on in the afternoons have been to prepare for the future. For example I have been writing my application essay for the Midwifery school that I will hopefully be able to start once I get back to the States. There are some other projects I have been working on as well but I will talk about those in the future if/when they become relevant. I have also been writing a whole lot lately. I write what I call “articles” but they are not published anywhere. I have two of them that I am working on, one on proving Paul’s writings with the Old Testament and the other I have titled “Purity” and have not come up with a better title yet. Before I left, my Dad gave me a book about proving Paul so I have been reading that and writing a lot on that article. (Not just things from the book, it just gets me thinking in that direction)
The rainy season is coming, yesterday was very cloudy with a lot of thunder and it even hailed in some places. I have been told that the rainy season usually starts in late October, but I have yet to see it rain much at all. People tell me that when it rains it gets even more beautiful here. I am excited to see that because it is already so pretty!
Until next time my adorable thinkers! ~ The Pondering Panda
Panda's Ponderings 