Sad News, and an Update

Again, if you haven't read either my Big Sis of 4 blog, or my Egypt blog, please check out my Egypt blog (http://erin-egyptandbeyond.blogspot.com). We just recieved some sad news. :(

And now.. a Les Miserables update! :)

Its now only a week and a half until opening night on November 29th. Actually (very strange, I know, but what can you do?) we have a dress rehearsal on Tuesday, a matinee for our school only on Wendnesday afternoon, and then a matinee open to anyone on Thursday afternoon.. all before official opening night, but whatever. It'll work.

Anyway, we have been working like CRAZY!! I can't even tell you. While I said a minimum of 12 hours a week a few weeks ago, its now more like 16+ hours a week! And next week.. oh man. Let me lay out our rehearsal schedule for you.. its crazy:

Monday- rehearsal from 8:00am-4:00pm (we miss the whole day of school)
Tuesday- rehearsal from 3:00pm-8:00pm (dress rehearsal starts at 4)
Wednesday- 10:30am call time for the noon matinee.. till about 3:00pm
Thursday- call time 10:30 for matinee, then till about 3:00, then call time for the 7:00 performance at 5:00 (we'll be there until about 9:30pm)
Friday- same as Thursday
Saturday- call time at 5:00, the performance will officially be over (costumes and makeup all put away etc.) at around 9:30, then we'll have our cast party. We'll be there until around 10:30/11:00.

So, in total, next week we will be there for about (forgive me if my math skills aren't up to scratch) 46 hours!! I don't even know how I will get through homework next week.. I'm trying not to think about it!

As much as I love being in Les Mis, I'll be glad when its over!

Anyway, there's not too much going on in my life to talk about, other than Les Mis and my outreach trip.. and the fact that I'm always extremely exhausted! Farewell for now. :)

Finally...

Ok, I know that not everyone will understand this, as each state/province/country has different rules for driving, but let me just get this out there, since I'm so excited :).. I got my L!! (Learner's Permit).

I could have gotten it on my birthday, which was in August, but I've been so busy that I only just had time to get it now. But I don't care... I can legally drive (with an adult in the car) now! Yay for me! :) And I passed the knowledge test with 91%! :D

I have to keep this for a minimum of a year, when I can then take the road test, and get my N (Novice Driver), which I then have to keep for another year and a half. (It takes a looong time before I get a full license!! But now I'm one step closer.)

So I just thought I'd share my little bit of exciting news with everyone.

Now I'm just going to wait for them to send me my driver's license in the mail (should be here within a week).. I'm hoping that the picture isn't too bad! :P

A New Letter

Today I got the very first letter from Reagan in Uganda!! I was so excited to get it. It wasn't a very interesting letter, as he hasn't recieved my letter yet, and it was just the basic letter the kids usually write at the very beginning, but I was very excited to get it none the less. Since it was pretty short, I'll write it down here.

"Dear Aunt Erin Wiebe,

I greet you so much in the name of Jesus. How are you?
And how is your country?

I am so glad that you are my sponsor.

I was born on 13th Jan. 2001 and my parents are living.

I have 3 brothers and 4 sisters.

My chore at home is washing dishes.

My school is Kibaale Community. I am in Nursery class.

I love my teacher Mrs. N. Vicky. My best play is football.

Thank you very much for sponsoring me;
may God bless you.

Yours faithfully,

Senyondwa Reagan. "

Its so cute! I can't wait until he starts responding to my letters, and I get to know him a little bit more. He's such a cutie.

I also got another letter from Jackie (that was really fast.. I only got the last one a couple of weeks ago! :D) This one was really long, and so adorable. Probably one of the cuter letters from her yet.
I'll copy some of it in, but not all of it, because its pretty long, for a sponsor letter.

"Dear Sponsor Erin, praise be to God!

I thank you for sending me such nice stickers and letters.
The letter was nice and am pleased when you say you
liked my pictures and drawings. The school is good and
am doing well because I want to pass to another class.
My favourite subject is language (Luganda)....

And how is Joshua, Megan, Ayana, Moses, and parents?
I send them my greetings. You asked me about my grand mom,
but she died. I have a grand father. My mom, Naluguma
also loves you, they are saved (Her Parents), and am also saved. ...

I've been told about Reagan and I have met him is a good
young boy. We look forward to enjoy Christmas.
At Christmas, we eat a lot, and visit new places and friends.
How do you celebrate Christmas?...

I love you, have a nice time.

Namulindwa Jackie."

It is such a sweet letter! And I'm so pleased that she got to meet Reagan. Now they both know each other, and maybe will get to be friends (or at least see each other sometimes.. I'm not sure how realistic it is for a 9 year old girl to be friends with a just turned 6 boy, but you never know!) I'm not entirely sure what she means by "have a nice time", but I suppose she could be refering to Christmas. Or possibly my trip to Egypt that I told her about. I'm not sure!

I'm not sure what this letter was in reply to, because with the last letters I sent to each of them, I also sent along an outfit (like I mentioned previously), but I'm assuming that they would have mentioned those if they had recieved them already. Hopefully they get those soon!

I can't wait to hear more! I'll hopefully be hearing about Jackie's house situation, and whether they have started to build their new house yet. I can't wait to hear about that. They said that they'd try to send a picture too, which will be so cool! I'm so excited to hear about that. I'll be sure to post as soon as I hear more.