MORE POWER CUTS!

Hi all
Power off for 5 hours last night but so far tonight ok. We feel like we are at New Wine - cooking on two rings, collecting water, washing up in a small bowl of water (but the great thing is you do it on the verandah over the river so all the waste water just gets poured through the wooden slats), paddling through the mud to get anywhere - last night ankle deep so just took shoes off and paddled through. Every time it rains here the road floods as the river overflows. HOWEVER - it is very hot (30 degrees at midnight last night) and we do sort of have a flush loo. The shower is amazing - a big plastic barrel full of water and a plastic container to throw water over yourself - so not like New Wine really!
Went to a place of worship opposite the college where the students go - went to the 5 'o'clock as that is the one with the music group. Drums, keyboard and two singers - singing hymns with rhythm! The church was only built last year - seats 1000, usually full. They have the most enormouse picture of the Last Supper at the front - took up the whole wall - and the most enormous cross - both of which light up. Spectacular! We were surprised to see that it had (brand new) pews. The sermon was on 2 Corinthians 8 1-15 and was about giving (so we were told as couldn't understand most of it). We loved the fact it was in between two of the three collections of the evening, and it was 40 minutes long which seems even longer when you can't understand what's being said!
Got taken to town in the morning -in a 'taxi ankaht' which is really a small pick up truck with seats either side (we were told only tourists take 'tourist taxis'. It costs 3,000 rupiah (about 30p) for wherever you want to go. We were such a novelty that a fully robed lady asked if she could take our picture! She lined her children up in front of us, a crowd gathered as they prepared the shot and lots of other people joined in so they could be in the photo! I know how it must feel to be a Hollywood film star now!
We start our first day of teaching tomorrow at 7.15am (so leave here at 6.30) and did our last bit of preparation today. The two American girls are trainee ESL teachers anyway, so for them it is easy (although as they told us, our group will get 'proper English' and theirs will get the USA version!).
PLEASE PRAY FOR
The students who are taking this course - we understand that most of them will be going into their villages as pastors when they complete college (2 years curacy first). We were surprised that at least helf of them are girls. Some are already experiencing difficulties from families and friends there. Also the group is very sad at the moment as a minibus carrying three of them back from a village placement burst a tyre and left the road. One of them was killed, another has severe facial injuries and will be in hospital for a long time and the third was apparently unhurt and returned to her family only to start fitting and has now been sent to hospital for investigation. They are a very close group (the girls all live together in a type of dorm at the top of the college and the boys in similar down the road) so this has hit them very hard.
Love Stan and Sue