Power Outages and Cooking

How is your week going?  I hope it is going well.  School has gotten underway at my school, and we could really use your prayers this year!  Almost all of our teachers are in country (yeah!), and the students are slowly settling back into the groove of going to school.  Our school has several new students, although none in my class (which one of my students was quick to point out that my class also was the only one without new students last year), but knows what the year will hold!  God is good, and I am excited to see the Spirit move throughout our students and our community!

Apparently while I was in the United States this summer, Suriname did not experience a lot of rainfall.  Because of this, our lake that powers our hydroelectric dam is not full enough to meet the electricity needs of the city.  The government has decided to compensate for this by having power outages every other day that last for several hours.  I am not quite sure how long these are scheduled to last, but I have heard as late as December.  These, I have decided, are actually a blessing in disguise.  Because of these power outages, I have found myself with more time to read!  I was able to finish a couple of books this weekend, which is great, because my reading list has gotten longer and longer.  Currently, I am reading Jane Austen's Emma.  I have been wanting to read this book for a long time, and am thankful for the time given to read it.  Meanwhile, I pray that God sends rain to fill up our lake, a request that He is already answering by sending torrential rain last week.  

I have been in Suriname almost three weeks now, and can say that I am ecstatic about cooking!  I tightened my food budget a little bit more this year, and am fully relying on cooking affordable meals at home.  So far, I have found it very relaxing and exciting to see how many different ways I can cook some very similar ingredients.  One of the best finds I have found was some "green beans' at the corner Chinese store.  They were cheap and I plan on having some for lunch tomorrow!  My main ingredients are potatoes, onions, spinach (frozen), bell peppers (frozen), frozen veggies, pasta, olive oil, apples, and eggs.  Tonight, I made pizza with whole-wheat tortillas, spinach, onions, peppers, pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese.  I am hoping that this passion for cooking continues.  I am really enjoying it!  If you have any simple recipe ideas, I would love to hear them!  Jan Heien, let's make tortilla pizzas when I come home, okay?

May the Lord bless you and keep you!