First Week of School at DA! (well, 3 days anyway)

Our first week of school was a success!  Here is a breakdown of each person and what their week looked like:

Daisy had a great start to 7th grade!  She is one of 5 girls in her class of 20 students.  Needless to say, she has had an instant group of friends (the girls gotta stick together).  She has a great class with sweet students.  She is taking the usual, Math, Language Arts, Social Studies, Science.  Her electives are Bible & French 1.  She rotates through PE, Art, Music, & Computers.  She will begin girls intermediate soccer in a few weeks.

Reid had a great start to the year as well!  He is in 4th grade and he really likes his teacher.  Reid is also taking French.  He has made friends with a few kids from his class and he loves staying on campus long after school playing soccer and playing with friends.  His favorite part of the day is recess.  He will begin Junior Basketball in a few weeks.

Sam had a great start to 2nd grade.  We got to know his teacher, Ms. Toy, in orientation because she was new to DA as well.  He has made a few friends in his class, but has also become buds with a group of high school kids.  It is neat how everyone in the DA community cares for one another.  He enjoys running and playing on campus each afternoon until time to go home.

Lindsay had a very busy start to the school week.  Not only was she teaching 9th grade health (1st period on the first day with 25 students) but she also spent Thursday and Friday afternoon doing physicals for all the students who are participating in sports.  She had a great 2 days (Wed & Fri) in class with her 9th graders.  She teaches her class MWF.

I had a fabulous first 3 days.  I have such an interesting group of students from all over Africa.  It was cool learning how they spent their summer and learning the different languages they know and speak in their home.  We have also enjoyed sampling the local food during lunch.

The week ended with open house Friday night and an outdoor showing of Wonder.  It was a late night, but we got to sleep in a bit today.  Once we got up and moving, we ventured out to one of the local bakeries, Brioche Doree.  After eating some pastries, we headed to one of the the local grocery stores.  After grocery shopping, we braved getting a taxi for the first time.  In our limited French, we managed to get a ride back close to home for 1/2 the price that he gave us initially.  

One unique thing we are discovering is how important relationships are here.  Before buying something, you greet the person.  Ask how they are doing, ask about their family.  I will share about a few people in our community that we have connected with this way, despite our limited French, in a later post.  

Please pray for this upcoming week here.  There is a Muslim holiday Wednesday called Tabaski.  It is a holiday in Senegal and Gambia to celebrate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael.  Yes, I stated that correctly.  In the Quran, it was Ishmael instead of Isaac who Abraham willingly took up the mountain to sacrifice, and God provided a ram instead.  This will bring many people to Dakar and people all over the city are buying and selling rams.  Think Christmas tree lots at every corner right after Thanksgiving...but substitute rams.  People pay an incredible amount of money for the best rams.  They will sacrifice and eat the rams on Wednesday.  Below are a few pictures from this week.  Thank you everyone for your prayers and support!  We are building community here and look forward to ministering to students and the surrounding community.


Lindsay & Daisy in their panas.  It is custom for women to wear clothing down to their knees.  These are wraps they can wear while we walk back & forth from campus so they can wear shorts while at DA.

One of the many lizards we see daily on campus.  They are about as common as squirrels are in NC.

Obligatory first day of school pic.  Despite his face, Sam was happy and had a great first day.

Love to you all!

-The Mussers

PS: Still waiting to see which friends/family will be the first to come visit!


Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 19, 2018 at 9:44 AM

    I am loving reading about your Grand Adventure -- also Wonder is a very good movie. Blessings!

    Kathy McLean

    ReplyDelete
  2. terriAugust 21, 2018 at 5:27 PM

    Keep the posts coming! I’m loving every word!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Margaret AnnAugust 29, 2018 at 8:07 AM

    Missing y'all and praying for your days of getting into a routine. Thanks so much for sharing the details of your daily life. Much love to all of you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. SorenAugust 29, 2018 at 5:18 PM

    I have been thinking about you all. Thank you for the updates! Fascinating about the Muslim holiday traditions. Does that make them more like to be UNC or Duke fans?!?

    ReplyDelete
  5. ToriAugust 30, 2018 at 9:33 AM

    Lindsay, let me know if you need any help doing physicals :) Thanks for writing to let us know about all your adventures!

    ReplyDelete

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