1st week at Moroni

It's hard to think that a week ago we were in Auckland getting ready to fly out to Fiji. This first week has been busy. School started on Tuesday. We helped with getting the kids lined out with their schedules and visiting all of the TVET classes. The TVET classes are - Fashion Design, Baking and Pasteries, Computers, Intro to TVET, Life Skills, Self Reliance, Agriculture, and Carpentry. The Kids grade levels are called Forms rather than grades. So the Seniors are Form 6 but can be in Form 7 classes. Form 7 is grade 13 in the US. The Form system is the British system of schooling.
The school is near the town of Eita.
Our apartment is right on school grounds in the back. It is to the right of the car in the picture.

Our view looking out front

Our view looking out the back.

We have a washing machine on the back porch but we hang our clothes to dry.

It is a nice small apartment like the one we had in Tucson. It may not be as modern but it has all that we need.

The other senior missionaries helped us get settled and fed us until we could get to town to shop. Now shopping here is more like hunting. You go from one little store to another until you find what you need. But to our surprise we were able to find most of what we needed. Do not expect the same kinds of food as we have in the USA. But the necessities were there. Could not find any fresh fruits or vegetables except Susan did find some carrots in one store. They do have frozen vegetables and canned vegetables. Never the less all food is expensive. We spent around $800 for 3 weeks to a month worth of food if we are cautious. We found some Coca-Cola. A 24 pack cost $21. I bought a half gallon of ice cream for $16.50. We will be savoring our coke. One can split between us maybe twice a week. Below are 2 of the 4 stores we went hunting in.

How about some Sanitarium Corn Flakes!!!

On Wednesday we were asked to speak at the High School Devotional. We were the guests of Honor.

We spoke to over 600 students who attend the high school.

I finally got a router installed in our apartment. Internet is spotty. Think late 1990s modem speed. So I finally figured out how to do my blog quicker than I had before. I downloaded a photo compression app which really sped up the uploading of photos and the final publishing of the blog. Douglas tell Mike that I love my iPad Pro. That is what I use all day for my computer work and to write this blog.

I baked some bread on Thursday.

On Thursday evening Brother Suri told us all about coconuts and their nutritional value. He had Elder Takias climb a tree and get 4 coconuts. Elder Takias was the missionary serving in Draper that we took to lunch. They then husked the coconuts and gave us each one to drink and one to take home for later. Then on Friday Bro. Suri brought us some Bread fruit that he had prepared from the Bread fruit trees in front of the school. He told us to slice it up thin and fry it. We did and it tasted a lot like potato chips, very delicious.

Friday night was a school celebration celebrating the kids coming back, the new students at the school, and the Form 6 & 7 students in their last year. They met out on the basketball court and had a dinner and dance. It was suppose to start a 7pm but didn't start till 8. The kids had a lot of fun. They even drug Susan and I out on the court to dance with them. I have videos but I can't get them to upload. So here are some pictures.

I took a picture of our first sunrise last Tuesday. It was the dawning of our mission life here in Kiribati. Quite the week and I didn't tell half the story. I need to save some stories for later around the campfire when we get home. We think of our Family and friends often. Please know that we feel your love and prayers.