Last Day at the School

We tried to sleep in this morning, but Megan and I were both up by 6:30. We went and enjoyed a long breakfast. We arrived at the school and everyone was getting ready for the ‘Winner” show. This was going to be the groups that had done well in the recent competitions. We enjoyed being with the kids and teachers. All the teachers were dressed up for our dinner later tonight. The groups preformed and were amazing. It really is awesome the talent that our school has for the conditions they live in. Megan was missing home and spent most of the day with Pops inside. She is doing great!
Axi had the dancers use their cowboy hats and they loved it. We left the school about 1:00 to go home and get ready for our dinner with the teachers. It was sad telling the children goodbye. They touched our hearts these past two weeks in so many ways. Their smiles and eyes will stay with us forever!
We got ready and head for the restaurant around 3:30 for dinner. It seems strange to head for a restaurant so early for dinner, but we are in Africa and things move at a different speed. We arrived at the Sahara City, the restaurant, and it was so great. They were cooking our food on ginkgos, small charcoal stoves, and the tables were set up outside. Megan found a playground and was happy as could be. The teachers arrived and we had planned an icebreaker to help introduce each person. We were all so excited to have dinner with them. This was a real treat for everyone. We took turns introducing each other and telling 4 or 5 things about the other. Several of the teachers commented that the loved the activity. The food was served and everyone enjoyed it. Then we just enjoyed time together. Patrick, the principal, did not make it in time to join us. He had gone to the airport to collect the 2 boxes of books we had shipped before we left. He got both boxes by 8:00 and met us as we were leaving. It was a miracle he got the boxes. A few years ago, it took my day 3 days to get a generator we shipped.
The teacher left for home on one bus and we left on another. Megan fell asleep in my lap. The about 15 minutes into our trip, our bus stopped and I looked up to see smoke coming up from the driver seat. Then I hear Joy say, “Fire…Fire! Everyone off the bus!” We all quickly got out of our seats and as we got off the bus, traffic was coming on the side we exited on. Joy stood in the middle of the road and held up her hand and told the car to “Stop!” Toni was one of the first off. She stepped over the side into a mud pit. Her foot was covered in mud. We all got off and we must have been a funny sight… a bunch of white people running off a bus into on coming traffic. I bet a few Africans had quite a laugh. We laughed all the way back to the Guest House. We got back on the bus and all was well. It seems to wires and touched and thus caused a small fire. It is just another African experience! Lucky we all made it home safe and sound!