But where do they get the new ones?

Carissa said I need to put up more pictures. The sad truth is that I haven't taken any since Thanksgiving weekend. So. Here's a look at one of my favorite signs in Pretoria North:

I've been to the zoo...

On Thursday afternoon, the five apprentices were sent on an outing to the zoo (to keep us away from Pangani and the secretive farewell dinner preparations). Sarah's parents & brother are visiting and they came along, too--making a perfect total of eight people for two golf carts.

Where did Sarah's family go? Sarah looks so forlorn.


The pelican that came very close to eating Carissa's arm:


I really don't know. Can they?


Tyler's sweet new bachelor pad


The baboon that, according to Sarah's mom, looks like Will Ferrell. I think I see the resemblance...

Happy Birthday, Daleen

We celebrated Daleen's birthday at a local cafe called Deja Vu. (Have I been there before? Hmmm.) I stole these pictures from Carissa...




Small explanation of the below: the music for the afternoon consisted of an eclectic mix of classical, Christmas carols, hymns, and...The Star-Spangled Banner. The last of those we heard at least twice. Was it that obvious that all but three of us were American??

Hangout with Melissa

Melissa was Sarah's and my staff coach/mentor this year. The three of us went out together for a goodbye hangout time...snif.

Baby shower

We had a baby shower this afternoon for one of the girls who works for the EI business here at Pangani.

Jostinah and Muriel

















Petunia, Lizzy, Carissa, Evelyn, Kevin, and Kele (the mom-to-be)

















I won the diaper game...don't ask.

Year-End Celebration & Prayer on the Mountain

This afternoon was our year-end celebration, which was held at Wonderboom Fort. We invited friends who've been part of our lives and ministries over the year and had a meal together at the top of the mountain. Afterwards, we spread out around the walls of the fort and spent time praying for the city.

Katie enjoys some watermelon






















Bryan and Tyler and the guys from Sosh

















Prayer on the walls, looking down over the city

















Goodbye to Annah

















Clouds and rain in the distance

Goodbyes at Potter's House

Tonight was my last visit to Potter's House. And it was an interesting night. Dinner, anyone?



Yes, those are chicken feet.

Painting

We've been meaning to get this room painted all year. On Sunday, we finally got to work...


































































And we concluded the day with dinner out.

Write me a caption

Another Monday at Potter's House

The kids always want to do my hair. Often several of them at once...

Coming home

Here's the conclusion of the road trip. Sunrise...then I went to bed.

McDonald's and Jacarandas

I have never in my life been excited about a McDonald's opening. Until today, when the Pretoria North McDonald's opened...






















(Really? Kuwait? Huh.)























The drive home--this is the street I live on, with the jacarandas all in bloom:

Picnic and shout-out

This one goes out to my old co-workers, especially to the ones who attended that testing workshop...


We celebrated Melissa's birthday with a picnic and jazz concert at the botanical gardens. I got separated from my camera, but Kevin took this awesome shot of me and Anne talking to Daleen. It doesn't get much better than this...;-)

Tings 'n Times

Melissa and I took Anne and Karen to see some live music in Hatfield...


You can take this picture one of two ways...

Downtown

Anne driving on the left hand side of the road! Anne & Karen rented a car for the end of this week, and Anne's major excitement of the day was navigating through downtown traffic, taxis, and pedestrians.


Sunset from the Union Buildings--looking out over Pretoria


Me with the Pretoria skyline


Anne and Karen with the Union Buildings

Dinner at Pappa's

Yes, it was.

Soccer and Bunny Chow

This afternoon, we hung out at the park and played soccer with a bunch of street guys who park cars near the mall. Melissa has worked with these guys a lot over the past couple years, and they know all the NieuCommunities cars. When we drive the couple blocks down to the mall and nearby grocery store, these guys will often chat with us, saying "You stay at Pangani!"


















After the soccer game, we had a meal together: bunny chow. No, it's not rabbit food, neither is it made of rabbit meat. Bunny chow is curry (in this case, chicken) inside 1/3 of a loaf of bread. Here's Jo-An and Carissa chowing down. Ha.


















And here are the Kabongo kids: Mosky with her baby sister Bahati.

Compass and Potter's House

On Monday, we spent the morning at Kwalata, a local game reserve, where we did a little orienteering in the bush. Armed with just a couple of compasses, we navigated our way around, collecting neon green disks and eventually finding our way back to camp. My team rocked the compass and made it back to camp way ahead of the other team. Here we have Bryan and Benny manning the compass.























Monday evening, we took the road trippers to Potter's House for dinner with the women and kids there. As always, much fun was had by all. Here's Melanie with a crowd of kids playing with her hair, and Jody looking a bit surprised.

Feast of the Clowns

This morning a bunch of us headed to downtown Pretoria to attend a carnival put on by the Tshwane Leadership Foundation, the parent organization of Potter's House. We had a lot of fun on this march through the city...I got pulled along by one of the women from Potter's House and drafted into handing out flyers to onlookers.