July 4, 2007 (written by Janeen)

Lumelang and Happy 4^th of July! It has been quite some time since I have written a blog. Jason has been to Maseru one more time than me and we were having problems with our internet connection here at school. My school just got internet. They already had the idea in their heads and then they saw our phone and access and decided to go ahead with it. We are actually using their Bluetooth connector right now with our air time. Another funny thing is that here you pre-pay for electricity. Each house has a box, but you have to buy it in town. So, the school was out of electricity, and we couldn’t use the computer there & now one is in our living room! ;) It feels strange having a computer in my home!

Anyway, I am proud to say that I finished grading my 200 exams today. It is such a relief! Now all I am left with are the reports and they should not be too bad. I was lucky to have help grading from our visitors. We have a few friends staying with us right now. The initial intent was to work on generating some curriculum that integrates HIV/AIDS education into our English lessons this week. We have done some of that, but not too much (because I still have been grading). We are planning to continue working tomorrow and the next day.

So there won’t be any fireworks for us tonight, but we do have some decorations thanks to our friend Bari. She sent flag socks; flag pinwheels; red, white, & blue star necklaces; and a sign. There are six of us celebrating together. We are going to BBQ some chicken and hang out.

Well, not much else is going on. It is nice having a break from teaching. I am really looking forward to getting out of the cold and going to Mauritius! :) We send our love & miss you all so much!

Love,
Janeen