anyone lived in a pretty how town

A favorite poem... (because it's on my mind...)
anyone lived in a pretty how town
By e.e. cummings

 anyone lived in a pretty how town 

 (with up so floating many bells down) 

 spring summer autumn winter 

 he sang his didn’t he danced his did. 

 Women and men(both little and small) 

 cared for anyone not at all 

 they sowed their isn’t they reaped their same 

 sun moon stars rain 

 children guessed(but only a few 

 and down they forgot as up they grew 

 autumn winter spring summer) 

 that noone loved him more by more 

 when by now and tree by leaf 

 she laughed his joy she cried his grief 

 bird by snow and stir by still 

 anyone’s any was all to her 

 someones married their everyones 

 laughed their cryings and did their dance 

 (sleep wake hoe and then)they 

 said their nevers and they slept their dream 

 stars rain sun moon 

 (and only the snow can begin to explain 

 how children are apt for forget to remember 

 with up so floating many bells down) 

 one day anyone died i guess 

 (and noone stooped to kiss his face) 

 busy folk buried them side by side 

 little by little and was by was 

 all by all and deep by deep 

 and more by more they dream their sleep 

 noone and anyone earth by april 

 wish by spirit and if by yes. 

 Women and men(both dong and ding) 

 summer autumn winter spring 

 reaped their sowing and went their came

sun moon stars rain

10 Reasons My School is Awesomer than Yours

10. The playgrounds are legit. Seriously, we have the greatest playground(s) ever. Yep, that's right. PlaygroundS. There are 2. And they have cool things that America banned to avoid lawsuits and stuff. Yay!
9. The uniforms are adorable. I know uniforms aren't anyone's favourite thing, but the little kids look so stinkin' cute, and the older students do have decent options to choose from. I like it.
8. The classrooms are HUGE. It's really excellent. And for the most part, class sizes are relatively small! The elementary teachers have tons of bulletin board space and plenty of floor space and it's just lovely. They upper school classrooms are also large and tidy. I am still working on making mine pretty, but it's still great.
7. The parents/grandparents of students here seriously run this country. We have a bus full of kids from "the embassy" and students with parents who are in parliament and that sort of thing. Rumor is there's even a body guard or two wandering around campus. Your school can't compete with that.
6. My students are going to rule the world someday.  I love them. They're amazing! My Malawians are gonna take over the country, and all the expats are gonna do great things. I know it. It's fantastic.  And discipline problems are minimal- mostly just chatty kids.
5. I can get to know my students. That's exciting. I eat lunch with them, participate in after school activities with them, see them around campus, learn about their lives, and I really do care about them.  I'm already realizing how difficult it will be for me to leave, not to mention the fact that multiple students will move away in the next two years. That's hard. But I know they'll make a difference wherever they go.
4. I'm teaching kids from at least 10 different countries. And on the whole, they love it here.  Sure there are a few who wanna go home, but the 7th grade class today had a debate during study hall about what was the best country. Malawi unanimously won, but it was agreed that Norway was a close second. America came in last. These students aren't tied up in material things or popularity contests.  Sure, they are concerned with how they look, sure they care if they have friends- but those aren't first on their mind all the time. They are kind to each other, they don't get in fights, they don't obsess over relationships or celebrities or alcohol.  They obey teachers, they obey their parents, and they (usually) work hard. If you have ever met any 13-15 year-olds, you know just how unique this is.
3. I'm in Africa. Let's just face it- that trumps all. Malawi wins.
2. I work with really fantastic people. Teachers at the Academy are great. They're from several different countries, have all sorts of backgrounds and experiences, and they chose to be here. They love Jesus, they love their jobs, and the love these children. That's more than I can say about any school I've been in before.
1. I get to talk about Jesus every day.  It's encouraged. If I don't do it enough, my head teacher calls me out on it. That's amazing.

P.S. You- yeah you with the college degree! You should come teach here. You'll love it. There's nowhere better!

10 things YOU can do for me

1. Pray for our health. Malaria season approaches, and there have already been several cases on campus in the past couple weeks.  Also, pray for my allergies.  It's really dry here and the wind blows a lot, so everything is dusty all the time.  This sometimes creates a problem for me, as I am pretty much mildly allergic to life.  I'm fighting off a sinus infection at the moment. bleh. so yeah...pray we stay healthy.

2. Pray for my personal walk with God. This is pretty straightforward.  For those of you who think missionaries are super-spiritual or something- moving to Africa has really done nothing for my spiritual life at this point.  Except perhaps made it more difficult. But really...I have the same struggles here that I did at home, increased by the fact that I have very little privacy so finding a quiet place alone to be with Jesus is just not convenient. Obviously, though, I need that desperately. I need Him.  So pray for me as I struggle to find consistency and depth.

3. Pray for my students and my job.  I am a teacher now! woohoo!  No really, it's fun.  I am enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would, and it's so far turning out to be easier than I expected.  However, there are a lot of difficulties in terms of trying to stay organized (this is just tough for me!), trying to find enough copies of a book, trying to adjust things for new students, and trying to accommodate ESL speakers who are struggling.  Pray that I teach well and make wise choices, but also pray that I lead my students well and am able to continuously share the gospel with them through my words and actions.

4. Pray for campus life.  This is a small campus, where everyone knows everyone and it's nearly impossible not to be in someone's business.  Pray for good relationships with other missionaries and for patience as we learn to live with people who look different, act differently, and speak differently.  This is a beautiful opportunity to learn so much and meet so many fantastic people, and I don't want to waste it being selfish and proud.

5. Pray for rest.  Life just takes a little more effort here. Things take longer, communication requires more thought, and everything seems to require more energy.  We need spiritual, emotional, and physical rest.  We are a lot more worn out at the end of the day than seems possible, simply because everything takes a little more out of us. It's enjoyable and we love it, but it definitely is tiring!

Okay, I know the first five things all involve prayer. That's deliberate. You have no idea how much that really is a necessity in our lives.  We NEED your prayers in a variety of areas.  You may only read the second half of this if you really understand that prayer is half the work, for us and for you. The ability to petition God to move on my behalf is the greatest asset you have concerning my missions work.  I can't really keep you from reading the next part, but don't just assume that the bottom part of the list is the "real" stuff. The bottom half is the little stuff. The top half is the big stuff.  Don't neglect me in your prayers.

6. Send me mail!!  Seriously-I have posted my address on the side of this page. You can see it. Look right over that direction. >>> Mail is expensive if you're sending packages, or if you're sending a letter every week or something.  But if you took the time to write a card or letter or something small and cute, it would be pretty cheap to send and would really seriously make my day.  I got mail earlier this week from a couple of amazing people, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It's just so encouraging.  The more homemade and personal and random, the better. :)

7. Talk to my parents about me. Seriously, though...just go tell them you thought about me or prayed for me or something.  Number one, they tell me and it makes me happy.  But number two- you make them smile, and that makes me even happier.  They need some love, and they need prayers, mmk?  Pray for them, encourage them, and realize that it takes a lot to send your daughter to Africa for 2 years.  Would you wanna do that? Didn't think so. So go love on my mom and dad. Give them a hug for me.

8. Email, facebook, tweet at me. Comment on my blog. Laugh at my weird and random Africa pictures. Stay involved in my life here and enjoy it.  I don't want to be forgotten.  I want you to feel like you're a part of this. If you're reading now, you ARE a part of this.  So learn with me, laugh with me, cry with me, kill ants back home as part of my ongoing revenge on the entire species of little 6-legged creatures. If you really wanna participate, turn off your AC, replace your indoor furniture with whatever you've got on the patio, sleep on a piece of foam, and start EATING the ants.  But if that's just not your cup of ant-flavored tea, just read the blog and look at pics. :)

9. Keep me updated on football and Preds hockey. Okay, this seems silly, but I miss it! I'm working on getting into Aussie rules football, but somehow I just don't think it's going to fill the void in my life left by the lack of ESPN.  So send me score updates via twitter, yell extra loudly at games, learn the Preds chants, and pretend that Ole Miss has a chance at winning more than 3 games this season.

10. Give financially.  I am getting more and more shameless about asking for things, but I must admit it's still weird to ask for money.  You know though, that I am living on the gifts of people like you, so if you're able, give to me monthly or give once in a while, as you are able.  I am learning to live simply here, and I don't resent that one bit, but sometimes it's nice to be able to buy cookies or to pay a tailor 10 bucks to make curtains for my windows. If you really can't afford to make a big gift, or if you're a college student not making money either, we are really desperate for music.  iTunes gift cards are probably the greatest thing on earth.  With that we can buy some new music, purchase a new movie, or even good a good book! If you're tech savvy, you can gift that via iTunes some magical way, or if you're not, give it to my brother and he'll hook me up. Seriously though.....we're hoping for some good new music soon. There are a few albums we've had our eyes on for a while and hope to add to the library soon.

That's the list. Congrats if you made it through! I realize it's long. But thanks for what you're doing, and know that I appreciate every little thing immensely and think often of my friends and family back home. Love you all!

Perspectives on Mo(u)rning

This morning I woke up and attempted to take a shower only to realize that we had no water.  I walked away frustrated, went ahead with my getting ready for the day, and planned to complain to my roommates and anyone else who would listen for the rest of the morning. Sure, it's Africa. Sure, these things happen. Sure, I knew that. But this is clearly all about me and my comfort.  I wanted to take a shower.
Upon arriving at school, I discovered others had the same lack of water, but a few moments later I heard students entering a 4th grade classroom talking about a student dying.  I stuck around for a couple minutes and learned that Alisha, a 3rd grade student in Mrs. van Rensburg's class passed away from malaria in the early hours of the morning.  I walked to the office and found her teacher sobbing in the arms of Grandma Iris.
Perspective.
I ask that you please pray for us- for ABCCA students and teachers, and for the family and friends of Alisha.  It was a difficult day at the Academy.  In such a small school, everyone is affected- even those like me, who had never met this precious little one. Classes are cancelled tomorrow to honor this young girl and to express to her mother our participation in her grief.  We found out as the day went on that Alisha's father passed away a couple years ago, as did a sibling, so this mother is left alone with no husband and no children. It's a tremendous burden for this woman to bear, as Malawian believers often assume such tragedy is a result of one's sinful life. It is also a difficult time for the other 3rd graders and teachers at the Academy. Alisha had been in school here for 5 years and touched many lives.
Pray also for students who were able to hear the gospel today as a result of faithful teachers sharing about the hope we have in Christ.  Pray that the Word will not return void, that peace and hope will fill the lives of all those affected, as as result of the Spirit richly indwelling them. And pray that God will be glorified in the ministry of ABC and the lives of believers here through even the hardest of times.

Things about Allison that have changed in the past month

1. I kill ants with my bare feet. and fingers. and elbows and knees and anything else I can manage. oh, and Doom.
2. All my pants are falling off because I either lost weight or they don't shrink because
3. I never dry my clothes, simply because neither of our clothes driers works.
4. I sleep under a mosquito net and pretend I'm a princess. (I'm planning to decorate it soon with buttons and ribbons and stuff.)
5. I cook sometimes. Not much, not well. But it actually does happen. I'm becoming a pancake expert. I even wash dishes on my own sometimes too!
6. I drink less coke (though I still certainly drink it), and I drink instant coffee.
7. I am a teacher. I make lesson plans, I write tests, I grade papers, I get frustrated with slackers, and I love my students. Also, no big discipline problems. Isn't that fantastic?
8. I drive on the left side of the road in the right side of the car.
9. I send a text message every 3 or 4 days, maybe, as opposed to every 3 or 4 minutes.
10. I walk a lot. 'nuff said.
11. I accept the spider that lives in a crack in the ceiling over my shower as a welcome guest.
12. I don't have a cat. (What hasn't changed is that I still desperately want a kitten.)
13. I wear a skirt or dress most days of the week.
14. I respond to "Ally" and "Miss O" better than any other appellation.
15. I don't watch television or listen to the radio. Football season and Hockey season make this a very sad thing indeed.
16. I take malaria medication every day.
17. I rarely eat out- only a few times a month.
18. I effectively count money in denominations of $500. (Really this could read "I effectively count money" and still be pretty true.)
19. I accept the cute lil lizards and geckos and such all over the place.
20. I LIVE IN AFRICA!!!! How cool is that?!  I am now a proud resident of The Warm Heart of Africa- the stunningly beautiful and incredibly hospitable country of Malawi.

Chitenje Market!

I just spent like ten minutes trying desperately to figure out how to spell that word in Malawian Chichewa. They spell it differently in Zambia, and they pronounce it differently too. And sleepiness kicked in like 20 minutes ago, I couldn't seem to figure out what order the vowels were in, and I was very confused.
Anyway, this is a post about the Chitenje market. Pronounced (here) Sha-tin-jee.
Today, a wonderfully sweet lady named Scharlie Carlisle that lives a few houses down from us took us shopping.  She kindly drove us to and escorted us through the Chitenje market so we could buy some wonderful fabric.  See, we find the curtains in our house to be very bland, and we want to cover some cabinets without doors, as well as our closets that don't have doors. And Aly wants a quilt.
So here's the process:  Drive a long way, down a road known as coffin row, and then on further. Pay for parking and convince the nice men helping people park to not make you sqeeeeeeeze into a tiny parking space in reverse.  Walk back into this incredibly sketchy looking place (through an area that smells like stables) down a few steps, around a few corners, through a tiny alley, and into a big, covered area where dozens of women are lined up with fabric.  Walk through and ask to see pretty things. Bargain, converse, and enjoy the time with the ladies trying to guess what colors you like and show you certain fabrics accordingly.  Pay for 2, 4, or 6 meters of the fabric you like, and kindly decline those you decide to opt out of. Decline the tailors offering to make you clothing on the way out. Try and fail to get into the vehicle the way you got out, due to the car now parked less than a foot away from your door. Leave!
This was a wonderful experience that I thoroughly enjoyed, and in the end, we left with 2 or 4 meters of 10 different fabrics. It was a pricey day for us, but we have some really beautiful things now to use for ourselves, our house, and on others.
We also went to another market next to the post office where we got ripped off a little, but made friends with a guy named "Chicken Leg" whom I'm sure I will remember and find again next time I'm there. We came away with some wood carvings of Africa, and a gorgeous painting of elephants.
Finally we went to this really nice indoor store where we bought 2 large, matching wall hangings, one with elephants and one with giraffes. They're probably like 6 feet long. Can't wait to put them up in our house!

Overall it's been a really fun day. Aly and I cleaned the house a bit this afternoon and gathered some flowers for a lovely arrangement now sitting on our coffee table. Breakfast for dinner tonight, and now I'm just trying to stay awake! It's been a fantastic, productive day, but I am thoroughly exhausted!  This week was long and tiresome as well, but also a good week. We made it through week 2 of school, and I gave my first tests yesterday.  But more on school another day.
Thanks again for your prayers!  Yesterday marked our 4 week anniversary here in Lilongwe, and we've really learned a ton in the past month. I even ventured off campus to drive to crossroads earlier this week! It's been an exciting journey, and one that has only barely begun. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what is in store for the next month! We'll post pictures of our beautiful curtains soon!

28 days

and we're all zombies now. British accents included.