sydney

hiya!
do you have video games there? i no you dont have a TV but do some other people do to play video games on. what about handheld like gameboy and stuff like that? i was just playing a video game with erica yesterday where we crashed cars and sruff. it was funny.
miss you!!!!
oodles of love, sydney

Hey Sydney,
I think only a few people have video games here but not many even hand held ones. I had a really old gameboy that I would play but home but I left it there. So very few if any have video games. Oodles!
Terra

From Lizzie

Hey terra!,
when you go to stores there are there brand names there from here? does every girl wear a skirt there? cause i know you do! why do you have to wear a skirt? if you dont wear a skirt would you get in trouble? miss you so much Terra!
Love,
Lizzie

Hi Lizzie!!!
To tell you the truth I don't really know if in Malawi we have the same brand names as the ones in America but I don't think we have many of the same if we have any. It depends where you are in terms of wearing skirts. In school, out in villages, and in church every girl wears a skirt to show respect and modest I guess but hanging out with friends, in the city, at my youth group, and at home I usually wear shorts or jeans. Out in the villages or in church you won't get in trouble for not wearing a skirt but it's disrespectful especially in church. In school you will get in trouble because it's part of the uniform but on cold days we have pants that are part of the uniform that we can wear to school.
Terra

RAH RAH RACHELLLLLLLL!!!! <3333333

HEY TERRA!!! HERE ARE THE PICS FROM THE RED SOX VS. YANKEES GAME, ON SOME OF THE SHOTS I DIDN'T EVEN USE ZOOM BECAUSE WE WERE SOOOOOOOOO CLOSE!!! MUCHO AMORE!!!

Those are REALLY cool! That's awesome how close you were to the players and field!
Terra

seedney

Hi Terra =)! School is coming up soon and I am SOOO excited!! I can't wait. Only 6 days left! It must be 4 days for you because you go back the 2nd. Are you excited? Anyway, we go back the 4th, the same day as the first Giants football game. I love football!!!! (Watching it anyway). You get so into it and it's so much fun. Do you like football? If so, what team? Well, tonight I'm going over to Erica's for a movie night. We're watching Mean Girls. Have you ever seen that movie? Julie is coming to, and possibly Lizzie, Megan, and Hannah. I don't know yet, Erica didn't say. I know you said before that you don't have TV, but you watch movies on your dad's DVD player. Does anyone in Malawi have a TV? Well, I have to go now. Can you believe you're coming back so soon?! I can not wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Especially when we graduate together!! Highschool, can you believe it? Woah, I said "can you belive it" a lot. So i'm gonna go now lol. Oodle of love, Seedney!!!! Miss you tremendusly!!!

Hey Seedney!!!!
I'm very nervous for school to start because I have no idea where to go on the first day. They don't send out any letters or anything you just have to hunt around and figure out where your homeroom is for the first day and then once you find it then you get your schedule. That's nerve racking but I'm sure once I find my friends and everything I'll be fine. My dad and brother love football so I've grown up watching it. It's okay but I get board after a bit. We like the Green Bay Packers!! YAY!!! I hope you have a great time tonight! Mean Girls sounds familiar but I can't remember if I've ever seen it. We do watch movies on my dad's laptop and we've been watching a movie almost every night!! We discovered that there is a movie store here so we joined and are able to get almost any movie there. We've watched the first Stars Wars (which I think is actually the 4th.), National Treasure which was scratched so we couldn't watch it, Hoodwinked, and tonight we will watch Stars Wars 5 the Empire Strikes Back. Only 3 and a half more months until I come home!!! Miss you sooooooooo much!!!!
Love,
Terra

RA RA RACHELLLLLLLLL!!!!! <33333333333

Hey Terrrrra!!!!!

Anyway, a while back when we were talking about sports in Malawi, I asked if girls' had softball there, now I'm curious, do boys have baseball there? I ask this because I thought of you on the 26th when I was jetting down to New York to see the Red Sox vs. Yankees game. IT WAS SO AMAZING!!! I have to go to my Aunt's house for lunch soon, so I don't have time to post all the pics now but maybe later today or tomorrow! YOU HAVE TO SEE THEM, THEY ROCK!!!! :) lol. We drove down to the Hamilton train station and caught a train going to NY, there were a lot of stops and we were riding the train for almost an hour. Do you have trains in Malawi? Anyway, when we got there we found the subway and rode it to Yankee Stadium with other fans of the Red Sox and Yankees (boooo, lol) Anyway, it was really crowded in the subway and super hot but it was worth the wait, when we got to Yankee Stadium, it was really crowded but we gave the tickets and got it quickly. We had box seats that we 7 or 8 rows away from the field, the view was phenomenal! We had the best view of the players! But, that wasn't the only thing I found cool about it, we also had a full menu and waitresses to take our orders so we never had to leave our seats when we were hungry!!! Hope & I shared the chicken fingers and fries for dinner, it tasted so good!!! Anyway, after we had placed our order, we walked down to the field where David Ortiz, Jason Bay, Jed Lowrie and some other players were practicing. We called their names and David Ortiz looked and us and waved, it was cool!!! Well, the game started and when the Red Sox got a run, Hope & I would cheer, well, these guys sitting 2 rows behind us got drunk and chucked a beer bottle at us when we cheered. We didn't know for certain it was them but they were all yukking it up and drinking the same beer as the one that had been thrown. Luckily no one got hit. But, it was really cool because foul balls kept popping up to our section but we didn't catch one because they were slightly farther than our seats. The Red Sox ended up winning, I think the score was 7 to 3 and we were so happy! Anyway, we left quickly and took the subway to get to Penn Station were we caught the train back home. It was about 12ish at night and we were all tired when we hear this big fuss on the train and these two girls emerged from the bathroom with their noses all red and everything. I was freaking out because I didn't know what was going on, it turned out that the girls had been doing cocaine. I think they were kicked off the train but no one found out. Anyway, after that scare was over we rode home and fell asleep. It was SOOOOOOOOOOO cool Terra!!!! I wish you could've been there with us!!!!! I miss you sooo much Terra!! Not much longer till you get back! MUCHO AMORE, BOATLOADS, TRUCKLOADS, AND TRAINLOADS OF LUV!!!!

SINCERELY ME,
RACHEL :)

Hey Rachel,
Wow, that sounds like an exciting trip and game! I love going to baseball games! GO PHILLIES!!!! I'm not sure if boys have baseball here. The big sport for boys is soccer and rugby. We do have trains here but they don't carry people. I miss you so much!!
Love,
Terra

FROM LIZZIE!

Hey Terra!,
yesterday i went to play mini golf and i thought of u! I know that kids in the villages are poor but where do the kids in your school go to have fun...is there like an arcade or mini golf or anything? miss you!
Love,
Lizzie

Hi Lizzie!
Mini Golf is so much fun!!! (I'm not very good at it though!) There aren't many places to go to have fun but some kids go to this place called the "Food Court" You can get ice-cream, pizza, sandwiches, etc. there and sometimes I see kids hanging out there but there aren't arcades and stuff because it isn't safe here for kids to go places by themselves. I can't wait to go and do fun stuff with you especially now that we're older and we can go and do stuff by ourselves! Miss you too!
Love,
Terra

SEEDNEY

Hi! I know in a recent question I asked, you said you had sodas. What kind of soda do you have there? Do you have American brands (Pepsi, Coke, etc)? If not what type do you have? What flavors? Thanks, Seedney. Oodles, and I miss you lots!!!

Hey Sydney!
We have some American brands like Coke, Sprite, and Fanta but we also have this kind called Sobo. I'm not sure if that's American as well. For Fanta we have different flavors like Pineapple, orange, and Passion. Also for sobo we have different flavors like Cherry Plum, Cocopina, and Orange Squash. Oodles!
Love,
Terra

ERICA

TERRA,

hey, how are you? i have a few questions for you! #1 do a lot of people who speak english? or do most of them speak swahilian, or some other african language? #2 what kind of vacations do you take? i no you guys like to hike, but do you go on beach vacations? is there a beach near you? keep on checking the share blog, i made some posts i want you to see!!!!!!! got to go!

YACHTS FULL OF LOVE!!!!!!!!

ERICA!!!!!!!!

Hi Erica!
It depends where you are. Obviously everyone is my school and Jordan's school speak English and in the city most people speak English but out in the villages usually no one speaks English. You might find 1 or 2 people in a village that speak English. Swahilian isn't spoken in Malawi. In the south (where I am) people speak Chichewa and in the north people speak Tambooka. (I don't know how to spell Tambooka.) We do go to Lake Malawi sometimes for vacations and there are places around the lake that have a beach. We also go snorkeling at Lake Malawi which is amazing! The fish are so colorful and cool! I miss you!
Terra

FROM LIZZIE

hey terra!,
when do you start school? i found out on edline that me syd and erica are all in the same homeroom which is miss staley! i hope when you come back u are with us! u r coming back actually kinda soon if you think about how fast it is going! i miss you so much! did u hear miss collins is still going to do youth group? im happy she decided to stay! misss you again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

love,
Lizzie

Hey Lizzie!!!
We start school on September 2nd. Ugh.... I hope I get in the same homeroom as you all too!!! That would be awesome! Time is flying by here! I can't believe I've been in malawi for almost 8 months and I'm leaving in December! That's great that Mrs. Collins is still doing youth group! I can't wait to go with you when I get back! It'll be great! Oodles!
Terra

Seedney

Hey there Terra! The mail truck just came and I was wondering how you get mail. Do you get mail? Do you have a mail truck and mail box? Or do you have to go to a post office? Do you also have like UPS of FED-EX trucks to deliver packages, or do you have to pick them up too? And also, do you know who Phil Collins was? He was with a band called Genesis. I was in the shower and I heard a song of his that made me think of you. I really have NO idea why it just did. The song is called In the Air Tonight. I didn't really get the lyrics, but please don't be offended by them. It was mostly the beat. Again, I don't know why I thought of you, my brain is weird like that ha. If you haven't heard the song, here is a link to listen to it on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=manxPVTLth8
Be ware, I think he's a tiny bit creepy but whatever. Thanks so much! Oodles of love, Sydney! Miss you lots!

Hey Sydney,
We do have mail but in malawi mail boxes don't exist so everyone has P.O. boxes. Everything goes from the airport or whatever the mail comes in for us straight to the Post Office to Box 413 and from the post office it goes to Blantyre Synod (the church) where they have a little mail box that has our name on it. If we get a package we get a little letter that tells us to go to the actual Post Office to pick it up. I've heard of the band Genesis but I don't know who Phil Collins is. I would go and watch the video but I'm not allowed because the internet costs so much. Anyway it's hard to explain all the details about our internet expenses but I'll definitely look at it if I'm allowed some other time. Miss you! Oodles!!!!!
Terra
PS-I think we should all make Oodles our little slogan type thing!!

<3 Rah Rah Rachelllllllll!!!!! <3

Heyy Terra!

That's super awesome you got your surprise box!!!! I hope you love everything in it!!! It was such good news! Anyway, I had a question for you.... I'm about to head off to a softball/ Little League pool party/ BBQ thingie so I was wondering, in Malawi do you have softball for girls to play? If so, do they have teams and tournaments? Well, I've got to roll but I miiiissss you soooo much!!! MUCHO AMORE!!!

Sincerely Me,
Rachel :)

Hey Rachel!
We do play softball in Gym sometimes but we the only competition we have is when we split the class in half and then play against each other. We don't play other schools because the only school we compete against is up in the capital. We only play against them because it's the only other really good private secondary school in the country and it's a 3 to 4 hour drive so they only come down or we go up to them on special occasions. Hope you had fun at BBQ!
Love,
Terra

FROM LIZZIE!

HEY TERRA!
I WAS JUST WONDERING IF U COULD POST SOME PICTURES OF WHAT YOUR HOUSE LOOKS LIKE BECAUSE I AM REALLY INTERESTED IN HOW DIFFERENT IT IS THERE! MISS YOU SO MUCH TERRA!
LOVE,
lIZZIE

P.S IF YOU DONT HAVE PICTURES ITS OK! =)

Hey Lizzie!!!!!
I would definitely post pictures but it takes a really long time to download them. I was just looking a my family's blog and I think we had a post which had a picture of our house on it. You go to apcmalawi.blogspot.com. Then scroll down to the bottom and click on the older posts, then scroll down to the bottom again and click on the older posts and I think it will be on that page. I think the post is called Home Sweet Home or something like that. I hope you can find it! MISS YOU TOO!!!!
Love,
Terra

FROM LIZZIE!

HEY TERRA!
thank you so much for setting up the pen pal thing! She e-mailed me today!! and we seem to be getting to know eachother and it is really exciting! this isnt really a question i just wanted to say thanks!
miss you!
love,
Lizzie

That's so awesome that she emailed you!!!! I'm really glad she did. To everyone else who wants a pen pal: I haven't seen my other friends over the summer but when I go back to school I'll give out your emails to them. Lizzie, you can email me this but just out of curiosity I was wondering what she said? Miss you too! I'm glad this is working out!
Terra

Seedney

Yola Terra. I just a had a few random questions that I thought about and it were really bugging me. Does your school have a separate high school? Elementary school? Do they have a separate elementary, middle, and high school? Also, do they serve lunches in your school? What kind? Oodely doodely doo! LOL. Ok, lots of love, bye! Love, Sydney! MISS YOU UNBELIEVABLY!

Hey Sydney!
We go by the British school system here so we have primary and secondary school but they are separate schools. Primary school goes up to 5th grade and then secondary school is everything else until the end of high school until you go to a different university. We don't have lunch at our school because we get out at 12:30 so people just go home for lunch. You can go to a school shop and get something though if you want to. You can get snacks and sodas there.
Terra

<3 Rah Rah Rachellllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<3

Hey Terra!

Soooo, I had a couple questions for you about school and stuff like that about Malawi, so here I go. Do you have to go school shopping in Malawi, and if you do, what kind of supplies do you need? Also, when does school start? I hope your mission work is going well! Have you passed out all the mosquito nets yet? Say hello to Ethan for me! It's really a great thing you're doing and I am SO SO SO SO SO SO proud of you!! :) Anyway, but my sister and I got our school supplies yesterday! It was fun because I got to pick out the colors and patterns, stuff like that. I think, dorky as it may sound, that school shopping is one of my fav. parts of summer lol! Just because I like to get all organized and everything. Do you have summer assignments for your school? I know we had a math packet, reading log, and interview packet full of questions for a "Journey to our Roots" thing. I've finished all my assignments so at least I don't have to stress about it. I thought of you the other night while I was watching the Olympics, a commercial came on from Exxon Mobile asking for donations to help distribute mosquito nets in Africa. The man was saying that, " It can't be done in one day, or by one person. We need the world to help." It was kind of cool because YOU'RE doing that. Well, I have to go now but I miss you soooo much Terra! I hope to talk to you soon! But..... if I had a drop of water for everytime I missed you, I'd own the ocean!! lol. MUCHO MUCHO MUCHO MUCHO AMORE!

SINCERELY ME,
Rachel :)

Hey Rachel!
We don't really have to go shopping for school supplies because I have pens and everything and the school supplies us with notebooks and everything. We don't have to do any summer assignments!! HAHA!!!! I miss you so much too!!!
Terra

FROM LIZZIE

PICS OF MY 2 kittens!

They are sooooooo cute!!! Keep them small for me!!!
Terra

FROM LA LA LA LA LA LIZZIE JK!

.............................

hey terra!,

today me and syd babysat the kids me and u used to babysit all of the time! i have been babysitting them alot this summer! sophia got so big and she can kind of talk now! they have so much energy! but it was still fun! when do you start school? vvvvvvv TOMARROW I START SURFING CAMP AT LBI! I AM SO EXCIED! I WILL SEND U PICS OF ME SURFING AND STUFF!!! WOO! is skateboarding big there at all??? cause here it is hudge! well i know u are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo busy and stuff and there are so many posts so take you time responding! =) can u post on your other blog about the missions? that stuff is so exciting! i read on the other blog about that kid in the orphanage and he seems so sweet! what was your best experience there so far? i bet that there are many! when i went babysitting it was so cute because ellise said that you went off to work for god! it was soo sweet! i miss you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oldles and nodles of love!

-Lizzie

.................................

&*&^&&&&&&!!!!!!!!@#$%^&*(

Hey Lizzie!
We start school on September 2nd and I'm soooo nervous but I'm sure it will be fine after the first week or so. Surfing will be so much fun! Tell me all about it!! Skateboarding isn't big here. I don't even know if you can get a skateboard here! I will post stuff about the missions soon on my other blog. If you have anything else specific you want me to post on it just tell me! Then I can get ideas and everything! My best experience has probably been molding bricks alongside the locals in a village! That was amazing! Tell all the kids I say hi!
Terra

<3 RAH RAH RACHELLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3

Hey Terra!

I just felt like posting a picture of our two dogs to show you how they're doing! Anyway, I had a few questions for you, do you have a pet store in Malawi? Also, do people have dogs in Malawi? Anyway, Angie sleeps on the bed every night, she's very spoiled. Meanwhile, Penny sleeps under the bed or with my sister Hope. Both of them are terrified of thunderstorms which we had last night. They have these bones filled with meat that they love, it's so funny to watch them. Also, if you do have dogs in Malawi, do you have different kinds of treats that they like to eat that we don't have here? Okay, I have to eat lunch now but I'll talk to you soon! I miss you so very much!!!! MUCHO AMORE!

SINCERELY ME,

RACHEL :)

Oh, by the way, Michael Phelps won his second medal for swimming! On another note, the U.S.A. gymnastics girls were having a rough night last night, some had trouble with slipping of the balance beam and sticking their landings but many of them did a really good job. We saw men playing field hockey on T.V. today for the Olympics and I thought of you, because of the field hockey :) My mom was saying that she'd never seen it before and it was the oldest sport or something. I know you don't have a T.V., but are you watching the Olympics online?

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO U.S.A.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, but get this, I bought a wordsearch book thingy today at the supermarket and it had this advertisement for a poetry contest inside of it. I forget the name but I'm going to enter it!!! It said you could win cash prizes and get your poem published. I like to think that I write nicely so I'm entering. I miss you soooo much Terra!!! If I had a piglet for everytime I thought of you, I'd have a hee-uge barnyard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I MISS YOU SOOO MUCH TERRA! MUCHO AMORE! <333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

Hey Rachel!
We don't have pet stores in Malawi whatsoever but we do have places where you can get food and stuff. Most people do have dogs especially the white people for protection. We were going to get a dog here but it never happened. :( I think people can probably get treats but I'm not sure. We aren't watching the olympics online but I wish we were back in America to watch them. They're so exciting!! I miss you sooooo much!
Terra

SEEDNEY

Heyyy Terra!
I recently got back from my awesome trip to Virginia, and I have some pictures! The eagle is in Busch Gardens along with the horses. They are called Clydesdales, and are the stars in the Anheuser Busch commercials. It's a beer that sponsors the theme park in case you didn't know. I don't know why I'm asking this, but do people drink beer in Malawi?? Also, the picture of me in a bathing suit is me in Water Country USA. It's easily the best water park ever. Do you have theme parks over there? The random people are re-in actors at Colonial Williamsburg. It's really cool, because they are so believable and are always in character. Were there any wars in Malawi? I also went on the bumper cars and was constantly following and bumping my brother (hehe). Me in the "skiing outfit" was obviously a cut-out for my head. It was in front of a roller coaster called Alpinegeist. It's swiss because the roller coaster was in the "Switzerland" part of Busch Gardens. The roller coaster was supposed to be a bob-sledding track gone out of control because of a bad storm (ha). It was kind of ironic actually, because it was SO deathly hot. It was really humid too. Did it ever snow there? The last picture is me playing Pirate Mini-Golf! Yarrr! We did the tougher, Black Beard's green. I beat my brother 61 to 64, pretty bad scores :). It was great to be in Virginia again, but it was great to be back home. I was having a bit of an anxiety attack with all the summer work I still had to do. It was an awesome vacation and I can't wait until summer next year. When we're older, we should all go on a road trip together lol. Oodles, SEEDNEY! Miss you extra super duper quadrillion times much!

Hey!
People do drink beer over here but it's considered extremely bad in the church so we can't serve beer to pretty much anyone unless they are from outside of Malawi. We don't have theme parks in Malawi which stinks! There have never been any wars in Malawi which is really good because it's a very peaceful country and generally the people are very nice and welcoming. It has never snowed here because even in the "winter" it's still warm. The coldest it gets is like 60 degrees or something like that. When we're older that would be so cool to go on a road trip together. Before my brother came over here he was just on a road trip to California and back with 3 other friends. It sounded like so much fun and I can't wait until we're old enough to do that! Miss you!!
Terra

<3 RAH RAH RACHELLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!! <3

Hey Terra!

I wanted to tell you about the fun I had today, so, my family and I went down to the beach along with Lauren and Nicole! Since we had woke up that morning, we knew it was going to be bad weather but we went anyway 'cause we had a backup plan. It was stormy and overcast the whole morning. I know Africa is pretty dry usually, but when is the "rainy season" and what is it like when it storms down there? Are there hurricanes? Anyway, on the ride there we chatted mostly and laughed a lot. When we got there the sky was pretty dark but not that bad. So, we went on the beach while my dad found a parking space and then caught up with us on the beach. I had brought a tube so Lauren, Nicole, and I all went and rode the waves! The water was 72 degrees and surprisingly really warm! Clear, circular jellyfish kept bumping up against us and we would scream "JELLYFISHHHHHH!!!!" at the top of our lungs every time. The clear jellyfish are harmless so we could hold them and take a look at them, I'm not exaggerating when I say there were at least 26 in the water with us. Do you have anything potentially dangerous where you swim? In Malawi, are there any foreign animals or bugs that we don't have here? If so, what do they look like and what do they eat? The only one we had to watch out for was this vibrant red one, it would sting us if we tried to pick it up or got near it! Well, after 40 minutes in the water, it started to thunder and so we had to get off the beach, we didn't really mind that much because we had got some pretty decent time in the water. We swiftly grabbed our things and ran to Joey Tomato's, home of the BEST pizza in the world!!!!! We got two hee-uge regular pies and there was only one slice left.... which was eaten shortly since the pizza there is pretty much irresistible. Is the pizza you have in Malawi tasty? I hope it is because I know you like it! :) Anyway, it was still raining so we went into the arcade, otherwise known as "Frank's Fun Center". My parents gave us money and we spent literally 3 hours playing in there! First, we tried to win some stuffed animals, but the crane machines weren't picking up, so we went into the back where we played the slots and Joker Poker. It was sooooo much fun!!!!!! Do you have arcades in Malawi? If you do, does it have slot machines and poker? If it does, you should try it sometime because it's a blast! Anyway, we were trying to win lots of tickets so we could redeem them for something cool at the prize counter, you had to have thousands of tickets for everything. Anyway, we had some luck at the slots and then tried Joker Poker, you could win up to 5000 tickets if you played right. We won hundreds of tickets each!!!! So, get a load of this, while we were there, a lady from the state was checking the machines to make sure they were fairly picking up for the players. My dad was talking to her and she said it was the worst arcade she had ever seen ( meaning that nothing was picking up, not that it was a bad arcade.) and that it was being fined $750 dollars! So, the Joker Poker machine had eaten one of my quarters, the game never even started! My dad was talking to one of the arcade guys telling him what happened and the guy walked up to me and gave me handfuls of tickets!!! The guy thought my dad was an investigator because he saw my dad talking to the arcade lady! We went to the " Ticket Eater" and fed it our tickets and in exchange got the receipt for our amount of tickets each. I had many tickets! So, then we went to the prize counter and chose what we wanted to redeem our tickets for. I got a pink fish figurine and a purple spikey ball!!! Nicole got a turtle figurine and a little pirate guy for her sister while Lauren got us and herself monkey paddle balls, she also got a jumping frog! Don't worry, it wasn't real! I thought it was a really fun day! On the way home we stopped at Strollo's for an Italian ice, it was so good! The day was over but the good times never ended! Terra, I wish you would've been there, that's the only thing that could've made it better! When you come back, you can come with us!! I miss you so much! I'm counting down the days until December!! MUCHO AMORE!

SINCERELY ME,

RACHEL :)

Hey Rachel,
Sounds like a great day you had with Lauren and Nicole. When it's the rainy season it just rains for days and days without stopping. Usually the electricity goes off each night which I though was really cool and first but then when we were in the middle of cooking dinner and it went off it was really annoying! We have crocodiles and hippos were we swim but it's safe in the actual areas that we swim in. It's not safe for the local fisherman though who go out deep. There have been stories of crocodiles jumping up into their boats! I'm sure we have lots of different bugs and things but I don't know what the names are and everything about them. The pizza isn't very good here especially at my school but there are a couple of places where we can get decent pizza. I don't think we have arcades here and if we do I've never been to one but I always loved going to them back at home. I miss you so much!!!
Terra

SEEDNEY

Erica, sorry to "bump you off" but. . .
HEY TERRA! Whats going on? I just got back from a sleepover with Lizzie, Erica, and Megan. It was awesome. We didn't stay up too late this time, I wonder why. . .But anyway, I know there is a 6 hour time difference between here and there, but are the seasons different too? Like, when it's summer here, is it winter there? Also, I know you and the mission team are very busy, what do you do? I know you're handing out mosquito nets, but what else? Well, I'm going to go watch the Olympics now. . . OODLES, Seedney!!! Miss you a quadrillion times (lol)!!!!

Hey Sydney!
Yes, right now it's "winter" here although it's 70 degrees here! They say in October it gets up to 120 degrees though! That's soooo hot!!! We also molded bricks with the mission team, got to know the people,and handed out pre-school supplies. I wish I could watch the Olympics!!! Miss you!!!!
Terra

TERRA!

TERRA,

hey, just to let you now, one of my posts that u didn't respond to is on the 'older posts' page, someone bumped it off. so just to let u know that i have questions on the other page. so........how is it going? i saw the malawi olympic team march in the opening ceremony's the other night. i love to look at all of the countrys. did you watch it? there were a lot of teams from africa! did you hear that michael phelps beat the olympic record!!!! and on the very first day!

gtg

love erica

Hi!
I didn't see the opening ceremony because we don't have a tv. I'm really disappointed because in the past years I didn't watch a lot of the Olympics but now I'm really interested in them. Oh well..I guess in 2 years I'll get to. I heard the malawi team was pretty small though!! Miss you!
Terra

<3 RAH RAH RACHELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!! <3

Hey Terra!!!!

The other day my family and I walked into town and fed the geese this week. As you can see, there were tons of newish girl ducks. If you look carefully, you can see that they're pretty much all the same duck :) While we were walking around, we ran into a friend of yours who came running up to greet us and asked me to give you a "big sloppy kiss". So here it comes! Press your face against the monitor! Slobber! Wolf! Bow wow! Lol, we all miss you so much! Anyway, how are your custom clothes coming along? On average, how long do these things take? I misssssss youuuuuuuuuuuuu sooo much Terra! MUCHO AMORE!!!!!!!!!!!:)

SINCERELY ME,

RACHEL :)

Hey Rachel,
I love seeing Scout! I miss her so much! (Not as much as you of course!) Haha. We got back our dresses about a week ago! I love mine but it's a bit loose around my waist but I'll grow into it. I haven't worn it yet but I'm thinking I might wear it to church tomorrow. I'm not sure how long it took because I forget when we gave her the material but not too long. Miss you!
Terra

SEEDNEY

Hey Terra!
I know you're busy and the questions are piling up, but I'm back home now and I have pictures of Breaking Dawn, here they are. I had to block Erica and Julie's faces because they're not allowed to be on the internet and I don't know about Adriana, but you can still see how awesome they look.

Hey!
All of you look so good!! I wish I was there to go with you! That would have been so much fun but I'm sure you had a lot of fun anyway! Miss you all!
Terra

A FEW INTERNATIONAL QUESTIONS!!!!!!

terra,

i have some questions that concern international stuff. is barack obama big over in africa? u know like cus he is african-american? do the ppl in africa want him to win? and this one i was wondering.....r the olympics really big over there? are there any really good athletes from africa going? what sports are they doing? r the ppl really excited? who do you want to win? i really want michael phelps to win a lot of his swimming events! he recently broke the top record for like fastest freestyle ever! or something huge like that!!!!!! what things are you and the mition team doing? i no u said u r handing out mosquito nets, i could use one!!! i am being eaten alive!!! must be because i am so sweet! lol jk. tell everyone hi, ima looking forward to the answers on these questions!! oh and i was just wondering....i had chinese food for lunch, do they have international foods there? like sushi, or like hot dogs? do u have italian dishes like chicken parmesean? and most importantly, PIZZA?????? let me know!!!!


if love was time.......eons and eons and eons of love!!!!


ERICA!!!!!

Hey Erica!
Barack Obama is pretty big over here but not nearly as big as he is in America! I think my parents are going to do an online voting. The olympics aren't that big but we did have a team from Malawi go. A girl who was 14 from my school actually went for running so that's cool. I saw her training when I would run and everything. With the mission team we also molded bricks and made friends with the people. One little 3 year old boy really liked me and everytime I would get out of the car all the little kids would yell to him and he would come over! It was so cute! We do have some international foods but it's not very good unless my mom makes it. We do have one delicious Italian restaurant but it's really expensive so we don't go there very often. We also have some pizza places but most of them are disgusting. There is one that is actually okay but I still can't wait to come back and have NJ pizza!!
Terra

GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT!!!!

TERRA,

I AM GOING TO SEE THE JONAS BROTHERS AT BRYANT PARK TOMORROW!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i no the jonas brothers r huge over here, r they popular in africa? do they know who they are? r u having fun with the mition team? i hope you are! well gtg!


lots and lots of love!!!!!

ERICA!!!!!!

Hey Erica!
I don't think the Jonas brothers are big over here but I'm not really sure. The mission team left on Thursday but I had so much fun with them. I'll email you more about what I did later but we had a lot of fun. It won't be long until I see you though! 4 and a half months!
Terra

SEEDNEY

Hey Terra! I'm still in Virginia but it's so fun! Yesterday we went on this ride called the Griffin. It was a lot like Nitro except it went upside down. Did you ever go on Nitro? Anyway, school is coming up and I'm so excited. We're gonna rule the school in our last year of that building. I'm also kind of nervous because I haven't finished one summer assignment yet :P. I hope those snotty, "popular" girls just set aside their snobby-ness so we can all have a good last year before highschool. HIGHSCHOOL! Can you believe it?? Are you going to start school in Africa and continue here, or just not start in Africa? I'm so happy you love the bear! OODLES! Seedney. MISS YOU TONS!

Hey Sydney!
I've never gone on Nitro! I'm sooooo scared of roller coasters! You are going to have to change me when I get back but I have a feeling it will take a lot of convincing to get me on one! Haha. I can't wait for high school. My older brother and sister have been telling me soooo many funny things about high school and how different teachers are going to tease and make fun of me because they had my siblings! Uh oh....I'm kind of nervous. I'm going to start school here in September for the first term and then I'll be back in December and start up with you in January after Christmas break. Miss you too!!!
Terra

HEY THERE TERRA!!!!!

TERRA!!!!!!!!!!

hey!!!!!!! i miss you so0oo0o0o0o0o0o000o much!!!!! what is your school like? like how many kids are in a class? do u switch classes? and mostly....do u still have the same old middle school drama? like the obnoxious ppl and the ppl who think they r all that? or are they nicer? i hope they r nicer, enjoy it now, cus when u get back to allentown ima sure the stupid ppl r gonna be even more annoying!!!!!! gtg..
lots of love

erica

Hey Erica,
The class size is about the same. 20 to 25 people probably but I'm not sure. I think there is about 100 people in my grade or something close to that number. We switch classes so much. Everyday is different classes. It was SO confusing the first few weeks I was there!! There are some incidences with middle school drama but definitely not as much especially with the girls I'm friends with. They NEVER get into fights or anything!!! It's so weird but also really nice. I would say generally people are nicer but girls are also the same around the world. Miss you!
Terra

<3 Rah Rah Rachelllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3

Hey Terra,

Say hi to Ethan for me! I heard he's already arrived there. It must be nice for you to see a familiar face, someone you know. Well, I know you guys are gearing up to go to the village and pass out mosquito nets so I was wondering on average, how many people live in a typical village? Also, how many mosquito nets do you have? It's a great thing that you're doing to help people, imagine how many lives you're going to save! Anyway, sports physicals are tomorrow, I'm going to get mine for field hockey. Do you have field hockey in Malawi? I hope so because I know you enjoy it! I'm going out for the team again this year, it won't be the same without you!!!!!!!!!!! I have to go but I MISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU SOOOO MUCH! I hope to talk to you again soon!!!!! ;) MUCHO AMORE!
SINCERELY ME,
RACHEL :)

Hey Rachel,
About 2500 people live in one village and we are working with about 14 villages that are in the area of Sakata. We are hoping to make a partnership with the area of Sakata. So there are about 35000 people in all. We only has 200 mosquito nets so the chiefs of each village took 15 of the most vulnerable families to give nets to. That adds up to 210 nets to I think they had to equal it out someway. I'm not really sure. We do have field hockey here but I don't really enjoy playing it. I guess since I've played it so much in Allentown I got used to our way but it's kind of different here. Anyway I can't wait to play with you when I get back. Thanks for the package!
Terra

MISS YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH

terra,

i am so glad that you love the bear!!!!! we picked him out just for you!!!!!!!! we knew you would appreciate it!! tell ethan thanks from bringing it over....it saved us for paying shipping!!! lol just kidding! somtimes i just crack myself up!!!! lol well on monday i am leaving for south carolina again!!! i decided not to talk about the breaking dawn party, cus even i was bored reading about it.....even though i was there!!!!! it is really cool that i am going again!!!! this time with my great aunt and great uncle, and my cousin from brooklyn! oh and my sister....not so happy about that! lol just kidding! i love swimming in the ocean so it will be really fun!!!! when me, syd and liz went to lbi, i kept on saying "one more time guys i promise this will be the last" and then we all went running into the ocean! it was like 65 degrees! which is really cold for the ocean. me and syd got ear aches!!!!! then me and syd ditched lizzie in the lake and we rode the paddle boat back! it was funny! sry liz, but it was!!!! lol jk miss you bunches!!!!!! oh, and that was so sweet in the e-mail what u said about the bear and how it reminds u of ur 4 best friends. that was really sweet, cus like i know u have lots of best friends over in africa, and it was nice to know that u think of us as ur 4 best friends...still!!!!! miss you!!!

<3 style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);" face="arial">ERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Erica,
Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. I've been SO busy with the mission team. South Carolina will be so much fun! Well I miss you soooooo much!!! I'll email people soon!
Terra

<3 Rah Rah Rachelllllll!!!!!<3

Good Morning Terra,

I know school is coming up quickly for both of us so I was wondering if you could give one of your friends my e-mail address so that we could be pen pals. I thought that would be really cool since I love to write and get mail! <3333333>
Sincerely Me,
Rachel :)

Hey Rachel,
I will definitely give you one of my friend's email addresses. I will ask all of my friends at school one day and whoever is interested I'll hand out everyone's email addresses to one of them or something like that. Hopefully this will work!
Terra

SEEDNEY

Terra,
How are you? I am just spectacular! 2 days ago was the Breaking Dawn release and it was amazing. First I picked up Erica, Julie, and Lizzie and drove to the book store very excited (well obviously I didn't drive but whatever). First we got our fortunes told by Alice and it was pretty cool but not worth waiting in the really long line for. We met up with Adriana who was team Jacob (:P) Then we walked around and made masks and pinned the tail on the werewolf. I was having a really awesome time. We were all dressed up except for Lizzie who said she ruined her costume (I'm sure it was fine) but she was wearing fangs. I had to say everyone looked great but I think I was really pretty. Julie, Erica and Lizzie were amazing looking. I don't know if I fit Bella's description, but I looked really good. I also didn't win the contest, but I really didn't expect to. It was just SO much fun dressing up. That was probably the best part of the night. I hope I look that good during my real prom.(I'm not saying this to be stuck up, just that I thought I looked good.) My mom borrowed an actual walking cast from one of her friends at work, and it was very believable. It was really hard to walk though. You wouldn't guess how many people came up and asked me what I did to my foot. I guess I really sold the act. Then they would say how great I looked. It was kind of embarrassing, but whatever. We also had our pictures taken with the characters which kind of freaked me out (ha ha). Then it was basically time to get the book. We pre-ordered so my mom was one of the first in line. I waited towards the back with Lizzie, Julie, Erica, and Adriana. Lizzie and Adriana's sister was ahead in line, like my mom, but we waited with our friends. They started the countdown to the release and I started screaming my lungs out. I was so excited, and this big dude was screaming and clapping while he was jumping in the air. I nearly peed myself because it was so funny. I got my copy and was so protective of it, I wouldn't let anyone touch it (he he). So we went home, and I sat on the couch and read the book all night. I read it into yesterday, and today and now I'm done. The book was truly amazing. Best in the series by a lot. Although I didn't really like the beginning. I can't reveal anything though because you might want to read it and other people are probably reading this post too. Sorry I don't have any pictures. I'm on my dad's laptop in Virginia. They went to the store for snackage. Our hotel is awesome!! It has 2 bedrooms (a king and two queens), two bathrooms, a family room, and a kitchen. I could easily live here. Do you have hotels somewhere near you?? Well, I'm going to get off so you can read this by your 17th birthday, and my brother is having a heart-attack. Oodles, Seedney! Miss you insanely!

Hey Sydney!
Breaking Dawn sounds like so much fun! We have about 2 or 3 nice hotels in Blantyre but I've never stayed in any of them but the outside is really nice and I've swam in one of the pools which was really really nice!!! Have a fun time in Virginia!!
Terra

Breaking Dawn was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 RAH RAH RACHELLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<3

Hey Terra,

The Breaking Dawn release party was yesterday night and it was so much fun! I went as Bella Swan, the main female character in the Twilight saga. My mom curled my hair and wove flowers in, just like the book. The release party started around 9 and ended around 12ish. There were many different activities to do, such as fortune telling, jewelry making, mask making, pin the tail on the wolf, and "Forks High" pictures. I had my picture taken by a photographer and my mom, the photographer was hired to take "prom" pictures. The person standing next to me is Edward, Bella's love in the books. The "Forks High" photos had the mini trellis with some trees painted around. It was really cool! Then, I met up with my friend Stephanie at jewelry making! We were both on Team Edward. There was also a Team Jacob. When you walked in the door you had to choose, obviously I chose Team Edward because I was Bella. At the jewelry making section, there were wolf and heart charms, which Edward and Jacob gave to Bella in Eclipse. I got both of them on my bracelet and it looks awesome! Stephanie and I played pin the tail on the wolf and walked around a lot to see what was going on in the store. There were three different people who asked to take my picture and I let them, it was SO cool! There was a group of girls who told me that, " You should win, because you're the best Bella here and if you don't, we're going to start yelling and rebel!!!" It was funny because everytime Stephanie and I walked by them, they would go, " Hey look, it's the winner!" Of course they hadn't yet announced the winner but it was amazing, I felt like a million bucks! Later on, my dad and I walked to the front of the store and a lady named Susan told me that she was from Public Relations and that I had WONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN the costume contest!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! Susan asked me to stand by the Customer Service desk and they would announce it in a couple of minutes. I was so excited! Then, they went on the loudspeaker and announced that, " We'd like to announce the winner of the costume contest and it's Rachel in the ballgown!" People were screaming and clapping for me, it was an amazing feeling. But, the coolest thing was, that I won out of all the different characters there, not just Bella. First place was the only place they had and I won, can you believe it?!?! Susan then awarded me with two handmade wooden bracelets, one red, one black, with special Breaking Dawn ribbons holding them together! They're beautiful, if you look in the picture at the top, you can see them. I was so lucky to have won. The funny thing is, that was a dress my mom had kept in the attic for years and pulled it out because she saw it when she had been cleaning the attic out. It's a one of a kind dress, you wouldn't find that in a mall!! Then, they began to call numbers for people who had pre ordered the book, I didn't but it wasn't a big deal because I got a book. What happened was, after the people who pre ordered got their books, they had tons left that you could buy. We were about the second ones in line so I was fortunate and got a book. There had to be at least 200 people there. The pink table you see me standing at holding Breaking Dawn held a birthday book for Bella that you could sign, I did. After I won, Susan took my picture there. The only thing that could make it better would be if you were there to share in the magic with me. I started Breaking Dawn and I think it's really good so far. I'm so tired, today was a big day for me as well! Nicole, Lauren, and I went to the Freehold Mall today to celebrate Nicole's birthday! It was a lot of fun, we drove down to the mall and it was awesome because we had a looong time to talk and it was fun just driving there! When we got there, we went to J. C. Penny's for a photo shoot at the picture thing. The theme was monkeys and we could do whatever we wanted as long as it was decent for photos! It only took about ten minutes but we just had fun with it. Then, we waited about 15 minutes and the woman uploaded the pictures on the computer and we get copies of them which I'll scan and post for you to see when I get them. We were sooooooo hungry so we went to Johnny Rocket's, the COOLEST restaraunt in the world! It was 1950's style and the food was amazing there! Lauren, Nicole, and I shared fries and onion rings with our cheeseburgers, double bacon stackers, and chicken fingers. The cheeseburger was so good, in fact, everything was! We had rootbeer floats and Nicole got a milkshake. It was so funny though because someone had a birthday and the waitresses had a disco dance routine to "Stayin Alive", it was hilarious! Johnny Rocket's had a jukebox and even the booths from the pictures in the 1950's! It was really really cool. When I get the pictures, I'll post them so you can see. We had to be back by 5 so we had a lot of extra time on our hands so we walked around in the mall and went into the stores. First we hit Abercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle, Hot Topic, and Claire's. We all had money so at Claire's we decided to get Friendship necklaces! It was kind of hard to find packs of multiple matching ones but luckily we did! So we walked around while each of us secretly bought secret presents for each other. When we got back to the car, we took them out and gave them to each other! I bought us 4 a BFF necklace that had rainbow stars on it, Lauren bought me and Nicole hee-uge bottles of nailpolish, I got purple and she got pink! Then, Nicole gave us the star BFF necklaces! We all have two BFF necklaces! I have one for you for when you come back! You, Nicole, and Lauren are the ideal friends! There's no one else I'd want to share them with! :) Well, as you can see, I had a fun-packed week and it's not over yet!!!! I'm going to go read Breaking Dawn some more! I hope to hear from you soon!

SINCERELY ME,

RAH RAH RACHEL!

Hey Rachel,
Breaking Dawn sounds like so much fun!! Congratulations on winning the prize! That must have been an awesome feeling! Miss you!
Terra

BREAKING DAWN!!!!!

terra,

last night was the breaking dawn party!!! the book is so0o0o0o00o0o00o00o00o good!!! we all had a ton of fun. i went as alice and my mom like spiked my hair, it looked so cool.
i have a few questions. #1 do they have bookstores over there? do they now who stephenie meyer is? gtg

love you lots, xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
oxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

erica

Erica,
Like I said before I'm not sure if they have book stores here. Also I'm not sure if people know who stephanie meyer is because malawi is always behind in the newest things so they probably will get the books in a couple of years or something if they ever to make it over here.
Terra

FROM LIZZIE!

hey terra!.
guess what.............Ethan is taking the present we got u with him so you will get it in the next few days!!!!!!!!!! yay! it is from me,julie,sydney and erica!

Hey,
I can't wait to get it! They are sleeping and resting right now but I'll see them soon so when I do I'll ask him or maybe when he unpacks he'll give it to me! Thanks so much!
Terra