Nathan (or are you back to Richard?),

Hello again from Africa! Hope this finds you doing well enjoying another semester of school. Time seems to be flying by -- you're almost finished with a year of school already! Hard to believe also that I've been away for over two months already. And we've both been away from Iowa nearly a year (well, close enough)! Seems like such a long time ago, too, hmmm? Hope you are also still enjoying Arizona. I'd bet we're experiencing (or will experience) similar kinds of weather. It's been extremely hot lately with less rain than usual. Still, I'm loving it. Being home is definitely a different experience once you've had 5 years living on your own 1000 miles away.

Teaching keeps me really busy marking papers, planning lessons, etc. I've got two sections each of Grade 6 and 7 English and Grade 7 Social Studies. Discipline was a huge problem at first but I think they were just testing the waters a bit; they seem to have settled down now. We also finally got our social studies textbooks last week, so I think that helped. I'm also organizing the library, helping with sports, helping an environmental group, and playing with the kids all the time it seems! They're great kids, especially the younger ones. They're always hanging around and they're fascinated with all the differences -- my skin and hair, the way I talk, etc. They always watch me and touch me and follow me -- it's so funny. They also love to sing and dance, so they do that for me constantly. The kids all live at the mission in hostels, so I have no shortage of company. I am the only volunteer here, but there are a few at a nearby school so I can hang out with someone over the age of 13 once in a while. As for the mission, it's quite remote and isolated in the middle of nowhere. Not very unlike Iowa, I keep telling everyone! We have gotten out and about some. A couple of weeks ago, a few of us visited Etosha, the big game park nearby. All the cool animals -- elephants (30+ together), giraffe, rhino, zebra, wildebeests, etc. It was fun and cool to finally see some of that -- makes me really feel like I'm in Africa. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of the country during our big holidays.

Not so different really. The food is good (did I tell you I ate goat?!). The mail is low and unreliable. The phones are a nightmare (we have to crank it to get an operator!) No terrible bugs, but plenty of bats and a lizard in my house. Electricity only in the early morning and evening, but you get used to that too. Transportation is very limited, but you just hitch everywhere and hope you get where you're going when you want to get there (it's safe and hell, I'm a tough guy, right!) Not such a hard thing to make a place for yourself here really. I feel lucky so far and look forward to the rest (with the minor frustrations of course--phones, language, travel, etc).

Hope all is well with you also. It's obviously going to be difficult getting one of these to you every month (you're probably reading this 2 months after I sent it), but I will try. I've been thinking about going back to school when I get back that way. We'll see.

                                    Your pal, Simon.