Working with the orphans

Before we arrived in Zimbabwe, I was in contact with a woman who runs a Suzuki violin program at Harare International School (where our girls go to school).  It turns out that she also runs a Suzuki program for a group of orphans through her church.  She had recently received some cellos (previously they had only played violin) and was excited that I might be able to work with them.

Since our arrival, I have been working with the cellists about twice a month.  In December they prepared for playing some carols at the church in the lobby before their Christmas musical.  My favorite moment in getting ready for the performance was when they asked if they could add The First Noel to the list, which they had figured out all on their own!  

Photos from the final rehearsal:

Photo from the performance:

Video:

Tomatoes

First ones from the garden.  There are going to be a lot!

Christmas in Harare

Last Friday night our church hosted the Light Up night at the local shopping village.  One part of what we did was a processional through the village with church members dressed in nativity costumes.  It was a real Zimbabwe experience that I thought was worth sharing.

Here we are at church getting ready:

A very young Mary

Joseph and a shepherd

The angels

Walking as a group from the church to the shopping village which wasn't very far away.  It had threatened rain all afternoon and some areas had heavy downpours, but we escaped with a few sprinkles!

One of the decorations that had been up for a while.

Gathering at the village before we paraded through

The procession

Joseph with a bit older Mary

Arrival of Father Christmas

Elves

Waiting for the light up moment

Video of the big moment!

The lights in the village as we walked back to the car.

The night ended with a little excitement as we got separated from Abigail and the girl that she had been hanging out with as we left the stage where Father Christmas had been.  John, Arianna and I were with the other girl's dad, but they were not with us!  Thankfully they were with the rest of the group and we were able to join them after a few phone calls.  Cell phones are great when they work!

Christmas Cactus??

One morning I looked across our front yard and saw the cactus in full bloom!  It was pretty spectacular and I never quite got a photo of the full effect (the blooms might have opened in the morning sun but closed a lot by the afternoon), but here are a few photos to give you the idea:

Our own variety of a Christmas cactus!!

Thanksgiving!

One of the many things that I am thankful for is that I have been able to have really nice Thanksgiving celebrations no matter where we live.  Here in Zimbabwe we enjoyed the day with some new friends with a traditional dinner of turkey, stuffing and a great variety of side dishes.  Of course, the dinner was completed with pumpkin pie.  We are fortunate to have a commissary here in Zimbabwe so between that and our consumable shipment (two more things to be thankful for) we were able to have the full dinner.  It was nice to share it with some friends who aren't part of the embassy and who don't have as much access to American goodies as we do.

 Arianna discovered that one of her friends from school didn't have a Thanksgiving Day celebration planned so she asked if Ranya could join us.  She was a great addition to the day.  The girls blew up the pool floats since it's been pretty warm lately.  But then storm clouds rolled in and threatened the rest of the afternoon.

 This little one must have eaten a whole can of black olives which really warmed my heart since it's a holiday tradition that I remember loving as a kid (and still do).  She also looks an awful lot like pictures of my older sister who was about the same age in some Thanksgiving photos.

 One friend brought this lovely tablecloth that she bought while living in Indonesia.  We ended up moving one table inside due to the threatening rain.  Fortunately the adults who ate outside managed to finish dinner before the rain started.

About half of the crowd and the feast!

We had the added fun of a one year old birthday!  It's not really that often in life that I've gotten to be around for this special event so I was glad to have it coincide on our celebration.  This is the family that I mentioned in an earlier post who delivered Mercy soon after their arrival in Zim just over a year ago.

A little help from big sister in blowing out the candles.  You can see my pie in the foreground.  Second year in a row that I've made crust from scratch (last year being the first time ever).  The things we learn to do while living abroad!

 The birthday girl!

I think my favorite part of the day was how the "big kids" all enjoyed each others' company so much.  They sat down to play games together and got along great - even though there was only one boy and they were spread apart in ages.  It really made the day for me!

I love thinking back on all the great Thanksgivings that I've had.  I cherish each one and all the people that I've been able to celebrate with over the years.  Thanksgiving 2012 is added to the list!