Tomorrow? Morning?

You may have wondered at my last blog - it might have led you to believe that I had time on my hands for a few days. How come? Hasn't there been an Intermediate language class since the 21st February? And a Beginners class shortly thereafter?

One of my fellow GAP-ers made the discovery recently that Spanish has the same words for "tomorrow" and "morning". Thankfully it's a million times simpler in Portuguese. The Portuguese for tomorrow is "amanha", whereas the morning is "a manha". Phew, that's a relief.

If you're quick enough, you'll have worked out where this is going. A couple of blogs ago I explained how my new English class was to be starting that afternoon. This was based on the fact that I'd turned up the previous day and the secretary had explained it would start 'tomorrow'. Or so I thought. It turns out what she was telling me was that it is now being held in the mornings and by-the-way I'm not teaching them any more (come to think of it, it was probably "tomorrow morning: amanha de manha").

So that was a bit of shame. I was quite glad I didn't understand at first; Senhor Avolino (the dean of students) referred to it in English the next day, he is so nice that I couldn't possibly be annoyed!

Over the next day or two, Peggy and I discussed all the options at great length, and two exciting possibilities emerged. The first was that she has been keen for some time to start a "post-graduate" class to further stretch those who have finished the 3-year course at ISTEL. This would be at advanced level. The second came from Steve (her husband) who pointed out that he needs somebody to teach medical staff at the hospital: English will become a pre-requisite for working there, as they'll have an increasing number of English-speaking doctors and medical students when the hospital opens. This would be at beginning/elementary level.

And so Friday morning saw me getting up early as Peggy and I went up to the new hospital. I think I've told you about Cristo Rei, the statue of Christ with his arms outstretched towards the city up on the top of a huge cliff ... well, anyway, the hospital is behind there. I copied my multichoice English assessment and Peggy took me on a little tour of the hospital. There's only really guards and admin staff at the moment.

And so I had the strange sensation of sitting with my prospective students in the intensive care unit. They had raided the ward of bedside tables to use as desks.

Analysis of the results was much as expected, and so I will be starting two levels: Beginners and Intermediate. Dani, the administrator and one of the main music guys in the church, fared much better and so we're bumping him up to the advanced class at ISTEL (Tom's class).

Which reminds me what I did on Thursday pm ... there is a family here that used to be with SIM called the Holdens. One of the things they do now is run an English school downtown, and Jim (the dad) did his thesis on a method called TPR (Total Physical Response). I went down to the school with Esther to get a taste of it in action, and then Peggy remembered that she had a book about running an English ministry using this method. So I shall be using the Beginners as my TPR guinea-pigs.

On our way back from the hospital, Peggy and I dropped into ISTEL, where Avolino confirmed that they would like to start a post-advanced class ... we'd been waiting for an answer for a few days. So that will now start on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

The church have been rehearsing for an Easter Concert, which is going to be a mammoth affair with big choirs and all that jazz. It turns out that their best drummers are unavailable and their other ones (my pupils) are not up to the job yet. So, Cesar approached me on Saturday and asked me to play for the concert. What a privilege! We have about 4 rehearsals a week, which could be a big problem time-wise, but God's in control. I've been greatly enjoying rehearsals so far, and the guys seem pleased with what I've been doing.

So my timetable is at last filling out. Monday-Friday: 1000-1230 teaching at the hospital; Weds and Thurs: 1800-1900 teaching at ISTEL. Then there's music rehearsals on Monday (1600-2000ish), Tuesday (1700-1930) and Friday (as Monday) evenings, Saturday mornings... plus music lessons, lesson prep time... Brilliant.

And then on Sunday night at the English Bible study, Astrid (from Germany) approached me and asked if I can do a percussion workshop with the ISTEL kids. I find this really exciting: it's ages since I made hand-drums, and shakers out of dried peas and seeds, and all that kind of thing. These kids are the children of missionaries, pastors-in-training and teachers, etc. Very cool.

Last Wednesday was 2 years since I passed my driving test. And I shall soon be putting those few tens of thousands of miles to Angolan use... yes, I've now been for a little practice-drive in Becky's Land Rover [called Tinka], so I can get used to sitting on the wrong side, changing gear with the wrong hand, driving on the wrong side, plus of course maneouvring a slightly larger vehicle. Then, on Tuesdays-Fridays, I shall be driving up the mountain road to the hospital. Thankfully, at present, it's quite a quiet road (about a 15-minute journey I think) in terms of traffic volume. I shall be employing all the defensive driving skills I know, but I'm sure my parents would appreciate it if you would pray for my safety and that of those around me.

I'd also ask you to pray for some young men I met on the way to Peggy's on Friday night. It was almost time for a music rehearsal and I couldn't find my sticks anywhere. I decided I must have left them at Steve and Peggy's, so went over there with my Portuguese Bible in hand so that I could dash to the rehearsal and then on to a Bible study. It turned out the sticks were in our kitchen utensil holder on the windowsill back in our flat, thanks to Jerry. A wasted journey? No, for on my way to Peggy's I was accosted by some young, slightly drunk men (probably about my age), who were wondering where I was going and why I had a Bible in my hand etc. We chatted for a couple of minutes, and then I explained I was really in a hurry and had to go. Since then, I had one of them hail me from the other side of the road, and spoke briefly with him again... they were asking where my Bible was this time! I hope to be able to talk to them about Jesus (I need to work out a few important words in Portuguese first), and ask that you would pray that God would guide things...

Pray too for Avril and Philippa in Uruguay. Give thanks, first, for the great birthday celebrations Philippa had recently, but pray too for them as they start the next phase of their ministry at the English school. Summer camps are over ... and they are looking forward to forming new relationships.

And I can now confirm that letters sent in the UK do reach Angola - in batches, apparently - and vice versa. So if you'd like to write it's:
C.P.33
Lubango
Angola via Portugal
Angola
but by far the quickest way of communicating with me is to use the Comment option on the blog below - so please do so! It would be a great encouragement to me to know someone is reading all this!