a post by your friend Lauren (or Laurel, or Gloria, or Laura... depending on who you are)

            I am so proud of my kids! And all the elementary kids!  They performed their Christmas Program for the Middle School/High School chapel today and they did so well!!  It was so fun to see them in their costumes!! They are way too cute!  Okay, enough of that!

            The fifth graders threw a surprise going-away party for their teacher today.  She was their 4^th grade teacher last year and agreed to stay another half year as the fifth grade teacher this year because the regular 5^th grade teacher was on furlough.  So he is coming back for next semester and she is going to Maine.  She is the most spunky 77 year old you will ever meet, and she has blessed me SO MUCH in my short time here.  Always telling me how thankful she is that I am here and how I am an answer to her prayers.. seriously she is so sweet!  Sometimes, she thinks my name is Laurel, but that’s okay.  For some reason, most people think I say something else when I first introduce myself.  Just last weekend at church, the lady sitting in front of me thought my name was Gloria.  One of the guards calls me Laura.

            Back to the topic at hand.. last week I found a note in my box that said she was ripping her prayer journals up in preparation to leave and she found a prayer that she wrote for a new 4^th grade teacher.  And then she said “so, you see, Lauren, you are an answer to prayer!”  It came at the perfect time too!

            One of the parents was welcoming everybody and Pat (the 5^th grade teacher) stands up and gives this whole speech about how she is so thankful I am here and how she knows I will be a teacher forever “with maybe a break in there to get married and have kids!”  She went on and on and I felt so guilty because it was HER party… but after a speech like that, how can I leave this school after a year?  If only it wasn’t so far from home!  That would make the decision a whole lot easier!

            I have all the presents for my kids wrapped which I am so excited about because when I give them the presents, it will be the last day of school which means I will get to board a plane soon! : )

eleven!

            I have had a rude awakening BOTH mornings this weekend… probably by the same mosquito team.  They like to wake me up by playing a very high pitched song in my ear.  Actually, they do it all throughout the night.  Even when I hide under my covers and seal myself in, they still find me! Is there a nest INSIDE my bed or what?  And if I turn the fan on to blow them away, I get too cold!  Ugh. But this morning, I had sweet revenge on one of them.  Then this afternoon I swatted one mid-air while I was doing dishes and it fell into a bowl that was soaking getting ready to be washed.   And the little bugger drowned… serves him (or her) right!

            I went to the other church (meaning not the one at DA) today, and they had their children’s program.  It was super cute and I am happy I got to see it since I will miss Oak Grove’s. : (  It was an okay substitute, but I must say Oak Grove has some pretty spectacular children programs!

            We went to an International Fair after church.  A lot of people from a lot of countries come to sell their stuff, and it was fun!  But I really just like shopping when there are set prices and I don’t have to bargain for a decent price.  Especially since I am white.. it never works out very well for me.  They want me to spend $40 on a shirt? No thank you.

            Anyway, I just got back from a student’s piano recital.  She was so cute!  On my way there, I saw my favorite guard right before the school and we had the usual conversation.  He says some French that I understand one or two words out of.  I either say yes or no, depending on what I THINK he said.  He laughs (I guess my interpretation is usually wrong). I laugh, and keep walking.  But this time, a taxi man stopped and said “taxi, madam?” and I said “no, merci”.  And the guard said “they loooooooooooove you!” 

            I’m not quite sure who “they” is… but sometimes “they” love me just a little too much.  Remember when I wrote about how if I talk to the people, they just end up bugging me more and talking more?  Well this story proves it…

            After the piano recital, I went to the fruit stand and on my way there a boy.. probably about 16ish said “bonjour” and I said “bonjour” and kept walking.  Then, he starts following me and saying “mama!” “mama!” ugh.  about 20 feet later, two other boys (a little bit younger than the other one) say bonjour, so I say it back, and then they start laughing at their friend.  At this point the older one says “Pomme! Pomme!” I think he wanted me to buy him an apple.  So I just said “I’m not your mama, go away.”  Because let’s face it, kid:
            1) I’m not old enough to be your mama.
            2) If I was your mama

                        a. you wouldn’t be harassing strangers.

                        b. You would be saying please, instead of just using one-word demands.

                        c. I would hope that you wouldn’t be as annoying.

            3) I would never buy an apple for somebody who is rude.

Is that outline clear enough for you, little buckaroo?

            Apparently not, because after I tried to tell him that I was indeed not his mother, he kept yelling at me.  I had just reached the fruit stand, but nobody was there, so I went across the street to the other one.  The old one followed me across the street, while his little friends stayed on the other side just laughing.  So I said hello to the fruit men, who ended up being angels in disguise.  Two of them chased those 3 bullies away, while the other one kindly got me some fruit.  And before I left, I think the one helping me asked which way I was going because he pointed one way then the other, so I told him which way I was going and he said good, because the bad guys were the other way.  Then he said something else in French.. and I went home. And now here I am.  I’m pretty sure, those boys would have followed me home if the fruit men hadn’t chased them off!  So, I am very thankful for God’s protection, and those gentlemanly fruit men.  

            Just eleven more days until home! Almost to the single digits!

TWELVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

            I have been writing little sticky notes of things I want to make sure I blog about.. let’s see how much my 90-year old memory can remember.

            People are always putting things in the office that they want to sell.  On Monday, I went in during recess time and there was a little Christmas tree for five bucks!  I couldn’t pass that opportunity up, especially since I was so sad that all the trees at the store I went to were way expensive.. like $100.  I just couldn’t bring myself to spend that much on a FAKE tree.  If it was a really pretty real tree, maybe I would do it.. seeing as how they don’t even exist here, I think $100 would be a reasonable price. Especially cause then you get the smell.. I just love real trees. Okay, so I bought it and took it home to decorate it!  Tried to make the lights look all pretty on it, but ended up just throwing them on there because I got too frustrated.  Later in the week I borrowed some more decorations, so my tree is very eclectic, and some might even say clashy.. but I like it still!  Even if it would never make it onto pinterest, it makes me so happy!!

            Then, we had our Christmas staff dinner.  It was at a really nice restaurant and when we got there we had little goodie bags full of yummy Christmas cookies sitting on our table.  The tables all had really cute centerpieces with some fake snow sprinkled around.  It was also one of the first days of the true COLD season, so it was really starting to feel like Christmas!  Seriously, I never thought I would say this while living in AFRICA.. but brr!!  I truly regret my decision not to pack warm clothes because I was thinking “the low is 70.. that will feel good!” but I have been freezing at night!!! I don’t know what is wrong with me.. it’s so weird! 

            Okay, so back to the dinner.. I had a really yummy salad with goat cheese and some lamb… hopefully it wasn’t lambchop! : )  I still haven’t decided if I liked it or not.  It was very interesting.  I think the highlight of the dinner, though was the fishies in the aquarium.  They had poop hanging out of them that was seriously twice as long as their bodies.. I wish I had my camera with me!! : (  It was seriously so funny and so amazing!! One of them got stuck on a rock with all his poop, and finally the poop broke off.  I wonder what they are feeding those poor fish!

            Also this week, I got to try some authentic food that they eat in the bush!  I forget what it is called, because I couldn’t say it anyway.. it was beef and the root that they make tapioca out of (a big hunk of it) covered in green slimy spicy sauce (kind of what I would imagine gruel to be), I think they said it was made out of okra leaves.  I kind of liked it in a very weird way.. but definitely would not choose to eat it every night!

            Friday morning I was packing everything up to get ready to go to school, and as I was putting my laptop away, I noticed there was a knot in my charger cord.  So, I undid the knot, thinking that would be helpful and a good thing to do.  But then I heard a sizzly noise and the light on my computer that tells me it is charging went off.. and it smelled like electric fire or whatever.  But, thankfully we have a super awesome technology man here that had a universal laptop charger that I can borrow until I go home and get a new charger (or a new laptop, Mom and Dad???? ;) )  I am thankful for people who know about technology.. because I sure do not!

            I just got back from downtown.. I pretended like I was in New York for a little while.  Sometimes I pretend like im in France too, since everybody speaks French.  It works for a little while, but then reality sets in that I’m actually in Africa.. which I have to admit, is still pretty cool! : )

            We went shopping and I got some pretty good stuff!   Most of it is a secret as of right now though! : )  It’s that time of year!  I will say that I got my kids some pretty cool gifts though!! Spended more than I would have liked, but I just couldn’t pass up the bubble wands and popper thingies (the ones that you throw on the ground and they pop.. SO COOL!)  I also got a pretty sweet headband with those bobby-things on it which are Santas.  Oohh yes.

            When we were sitting in the taxi waiting for traffic to move, one of the people walking around selling things came up to the window (it was rolled down because it was warm again today) and said “How is you Canada? Are you feeling good?” that is the second time somebody here has thought I was from Canada! Why is that, I wonder?  How do you tell the difference between a Canadian and an American?   I just ignored him because once you acknowledge them, they just keep talking to you.  So then he said “what? You don’t talk to the people here?”  Thanks for making me feel like a jerk, dude.  After we started going again, I realized I should have looked at him and pointed to my ears to pretend like I was deaf.. I still need to try that trick!!

            Twelve days til I hop on a plane!!!!!!!!!!!! Yahooooooooooooo! 

A Christmas Music Candlelit Dinner For One

Is what I am enjoying right now! Thanks to a delightful package received on Monday.  And the candle smells like cinnamon frosting! Yummy!! Maybe I should burn it instead of eating desert.. but, since the power is out right now, I should eat my ice cream for dessert or else it will melt :) The only thing that would make this better is if I could plug my Christmas lights in.  I have been looking forward to it getting dark lately just so I can look at my lonely string of lights : )

            Also in the package was every unperishable (Word says it is imperishable??) pumpkin item possible and some reeses!! And a birthday card. A wonderful package if I do say so myself! 

            About the power.. it has been going out a lot more recently, which I am actually thankful for because I would rather have it be going out now rather than a month ago when it was too hot to bear without a fan.  It was actually super nice today, I didn’t even use the AC in my classroom.  At first because the power was out, but then because it felt just fine with only the ceiling fans and windows open!

            Today in Math we were doing bar graphs, and one of the problems had the year 2000 in it.  One of the girls said “I wasn’t even ALIVE in 2000.”  Wow.. that made me feel OLD.

            And also today, another girl gave me a very inspirational drawing with some kind words written on it. Something like “be yourself no matter what anybody tells you” and something else really cute too! I will have to look at it tomorrow and quote it exactly for you :)

            So, this was a very hodge-podgey sort of blog, but I guess a lot of them have been that way recently! 

The past few days!

             My first Thanksgiving away from home…Was pretty good! Lots of new experiences (always plenty of those in Africa), laughs and fun people!  For dinner we ate canned duck.. yes that’s right.  It was actually really yummy!  Also on the table were green beans, potatoes, rolls, and jello salad.  For desert (the most important part) we had pecan pie, pumpkin pie and chocolate mousse!! Yummmm!! I missed being with my family, but am thankful that I got to skype with them before they ate for a few minutes before my power went out! 

            Yesterday, I went shopping at a huge store and bought some Christmas decorations for my apartment : ) and then we had a Christmas movie marathon with Home Alone and all the Santa Clauses.. good day!

            Today, I got to go to the animal reserve today and it was SO FUN! We left bright and early at 6:30, and got there right when they opened. We saw lots of animals.. most importantly giraffes! And some cute little baby ones and baby zebras too! And I got half-charged by a rhino… we rode in this big truck that had benches in the back.  We were stopped in the rhinoceros area, and the guide was telling us all about the facts and how the male rhino had to have its horn cut off because it killed one of the females during mating season.. which seems weird to me because why wouldn’t he kill one of the other males instead? Anyway, we got all our pictures so the guide motioned very calmly for the driver to keep going.  When the truck started the rhino must have been startled because he stopped eating, looked up, and started running right where I was sitting.  The guide banged on the side of the truck and yelled “ADVANCE ADVANCE ADVANCE!”

            Pictures to come : )

Some updates...

            I made cookies for the first time here last weekend, I was very proud of myself because the oven has 5 temperatures: 1,2,3,4, or 5! I don’t know how that correlates to 350, but somehow the cookies came out and tasted yummy!  I just had to share my accomplishment with you all! : )

            Today I was able to eat a carrot stick, which I also think is a great accomplishment.. after I finished it I noticed I didn’t even remember that my esophagus was there.  It’s funny how much I can take for granted each day… I guess funny isn’t the right word.. more like sad.  Somebody was talking about how God can use seemingly insignificant events to grow us spiritually… I think it was staff devotions!  Okay so anyway, this whole thing with my esophagus has reminded me that I need to be thankful EVERY day for my health and all the other things I take for granted, because anything could be taken away in an instant!  Another example is the electricity and water.. the water has been out just about every night this week.. something about the tank on the bottom being smaller than the tank on the top?  I don’t really understand WHY, I just know that it would be nice to be able to take a shower when I want to!  I hear that the electric cuts are much better this year, and I believe it!  It really hasn’t gone out as much as I expected it to, and I have come to the conclusion that I would much rather be without electricity than running water.  Flashlights work wonders.  So, I’m working on being thankful for the small things and not taking anything for granted.  I know it’s a pretty elementary principle, buuuuuuut I guess that’s why I am an elementary teacher.. I don’t know enough to go any higher! : )

            I was also reminded this week of what a huge blessing my little class of 10 kids are.  I had to go to the “Stranger Police” (I think it is so funny that it is called that) to do some work on my recipisee.. basically my visa.  So, I had to get a sub and when I came back she said “They are such a good class!” and kept going on and on about them.. I take them for granted much too often.  They really are a super great class!

            My birthday was really great! On Sunday night I had a little game night for a pre-birthday celebration and then on Monday.. THEE day, I got lots of birthday wishes on facebook, cards in the mail, and came back to a decorated apartment and tacos and a yummy birthday cake!  We played games again and it was just a grand old time! 

            Lambchop has been relocated.. to my stomach.  Just kidding!  Truly though, what am I going to do with a sheep?  It would take 6 months to fatten him up.. just think of all the money and time that would take!! He was a PRIZE.. prizes should not take manual labor.  They should have just given me a sheep’s worth of meat.  Much more useful.  That’s what I think, anyway.  On top of all that, I found out he has worms.  Some prize.  I gave him to one of the guards at the school who already has a sheep, so Lambchop will have a friend!  The guard told me he would take pictures for me, which I very much appreciate. 

            This weekend is the Ladies’ Retreat, which I am very much looking forward to!  We will be staying at a hotel right next to the ocean in the same place that the staff retreat was! I looked at the reviews for this hotel and one of them said “bad hotel with fantastic staff”… but the pictures look fine! I am just hoping for a flushing toilet.  At the staff retreat, our toilet wouldn’t flush the toilet paper! So annoying. : )

            I think those are all the updates I have for now... Can't believe i will be home in just a little over a month!!!

The day “little blue peep” found her sheep… and later that night chemically burned her esophagus

Last Saturday, I was trying to decide whether or not I should go back to the store to cry to claim my sheep.  Jill said that she and her husband Darl (like Carl but with a D) were going already, so I gave the ticket to her.  On Monday, there was a baby poop green mug in my box.. the other prize that I won!  So I asked her what they said about the sheep and she said they were so excited and wanted to know which cashier gave her the winning ticket.  The manager told them she would call them once the sheep came home.  I don’t know if they all ran away because of Tabaski (like the turkeys do at home around Thanksgiving) or if the shepherds took them for a vacation or what, but the point is.. they didn’t have it.

            So, Jill and Darl went back every single day to see if the sheep was there yet.  Finally, on Friday, they called Darl.  He found me in the staff room after I had finished my lunch and asked how much longer I had because he was going to go on a “special errand”.  I told him I only had 5 more minutes and tried to think of ways I could pawn my kids off on someone else, but to no avail.  I went back to my classroom and had read aloud time with the kids (one of my favorite parts of the day).  Right when I finished, Darl came in with a bowl and said “here is your food bowl, the sheep is tied up next to the guard gate.”  Darl likes nicknames and mine is “blue”, but now he changed it to “little blue peep”, pretty clever, huh?

            So, of course I had to take my kids to meet my grand prize.  We walked over and met the little guy.  He needs a bath and he is so scrawny and sad looking.  The kids have been wanting me to get a class pet for so long now and have suggested everything from a dog to a baby gecko.  I don’t know where they think we would keep a dog (or a sheep, for that matter) in our tiny classroom, but I guess they just don’t think about the little details like that. : ) after we got a good look at the sheep, we came back and talked about what we should name the sheep.  One boy suggested Lambchop, which I like a lot and I think we are going to stick with that unless something better comes up!

            Luckily it was the end of the day because I don’t think I could have accomplished anything else with them if I would have tried, they were so excited about this sheep.  When we got outside to wait for their parents, they were bragging about our new class pet to all the other classes.  I think they are going to be very disappointed when they find out his fate.  Although, I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed too.  After all the kids got picked up, I went back over to see him and he was diarrhea-ing everywhere, poor little guy! : (  And then I took a picture with him (When I was imagining taking pictures with him, I thought I would be hugging him, but I didn’t want to touch him because he was yucky dirty and I didn’t want to get his diarrhea) and he just looked at me with this big eyes, as if he was saying “please don’t eat me!”  I think I am in love!

            And then I thought “it might be interesting to have sheep for thanksgiving dinner, and we could probably get him nice and fat in time” and I was so angry at myself for thinking that!   I hope that either way, Lambchop will grow up to be nice and strong and have a fun childhood while it lasts.

            Moving on.. remember when I said I was thankful for malaria medicine? well, I guess I still am, but I am just a little upset too.  I usually take my malaria pill when I eat dinner, but last night I forgot until right before I went to bed.  So I took it and then went to bed.  Then, two hours later I woke up with the worst chest pain ever, and it felt like something was stuck in my throat.  I got up and drank about a liter of water, but it was still there!  So I ate some applesauce (they have the yummiest applesauce here, you can get all different kind of flavors mixed in with the applesauce.. my favorite so far is pear applesauce!)  to see if that would dislodge the pill, but it didn’t. 

            So, I went on the internet and found out that I have “drug induced esophagitis”. Self-diagnosed, maybe.. but I’m pretty sure that I have all the symptoms for it!  I was reading about it and all the websites said that doxycycline is responsible for 50% of all reported cases!  Why was I not informed about this?  It said you have to drink a full glass of water when you take the pill and stay sitting or standing for at least 30 minutes after you take the pill.  I went straight to bed after I took the pill.  Woops.  So,  if I understand correctly, the pill just sat in my throat and made a chemical burn in my esophagus! Rude!

            As I was reading more and more, it got scarier and scarier, so I shut my laptop and prayed and prayed and prayed!  It finally stopped hurting enough so that I could fall asleep and when I woke up I thought it was all better, but then I ate a piece of toast and it started hurting again once I swallowed.   

            Apparently, there’s nothing I can really do about it except wait for my esophagus lining to heal.  Also, it said to stop taking the medicine while it is healing, but then I will probably just get malaria, which would be ten times worse than this I’m sure, so I’m not going to do that!  

             I am just hoping and praying that it will be better in time for my birthday!! Because I have to eat cake on my birthday!   I learned my lesson and I vow to always drink a full glass of water with my doxycycline and never lay down within an hour of taking it.

Unlucky kind of Luck

              We don’t have school today because of a Muslim holiday called Tabaski, so after we lost our handball tournament : ( I was able to watch ALL of game 2 last night! GOO giants!! Unfortunately, the power went off in the bottom of the 3^rd inning, and when the power goes off, the internet does too : ( BUT they were having a middle school all nighter at school, so we knew they would probably turn the generator on, so we walked over and finally got set up to watch it in the office : ) and we didn’t miss anything too important! But the internet connection was as good, so it kept pausing.  It was rare to see a full pitch, and sometimes somebody would get on base and we had no idea what was going to happen.  But the main thing is we won! 

            On our way back home we saw a HUGE rat scurrying across the street. I mean, this thing was the king kong of rats. Disgusting. But we made it home alive and I finally got to go to bed about 4 am.. I don’t even remember the last time I stayed up that late.  I slept in until 11! I looked at the clock and couldn’t even believe it.

            I decided to come to school and do some work, but I got on facebook first of course.  I saw a status update from another teacher here that said she won something from the grocery store.  They are giving away prizes to celebrate Tabaski.  The grand prize is a sheep, which they “sacrifice”… I’m not really sure what the holiday is all about though.  But, anyway, I saw that she had won a mug, which reminded me that I had two scratcher tickets that I had never scratched off because I knew I wasn’t going to win anything.  But, I decided to just check.. so I scratched the first one off and it said mouton.. which is THE GRAND PRIZE.  I couldn’t believe my eyes, so I scratched the next one off and it said tasse.. which is a cup.  I had no idea what to do.  I figured the store would be closed by now, but I decided I couldn’t pass up this opportunity so I went and checked with some friends to be sure I wasn’t crazy and they told me to go!  So Katie and I went to the store but it was closed.  There was a guard there who told us to come back tomorrow and maybe they would still have one. 

            There was also a lady there who tried to steal my water bottle and then tried to get in the back of the truck.  The guard said she was crazy.. and I believe it because she wouldn’t even let me shut the door!  People can be scary here.

            I truly sincerely hope they do have a sheep left for me.  I would drive it to the jungle and set it free.  Or at least I hope I can still win the mug!

            Anyway, I learned my lesson… never doubt the scratcher ticket.  I can’t believe how unlucky I am.. even when I get lucky and win something it’s too late to actually claim the prize.  

A Really Great Week!!

            I got a package from home this week and it could not have come at a more perfect time!  SO many great fall items and lots of yummy treats!  Half of my class.. so 5 kids.. had not even tried candy corn before!! How sad is that?  So, I shared it with them, but not before they did some candy corn division to earn it! : ) I got 3 of them hooked on it, but the other two said it was just okay! Crazy kids.. and by the way mom, the candy corn m&ms are SOOO YUMMY!  Thank you everyone for the package! It cured my homesickness for just a bit. : )

            Friday.. yesterday.. was the day of parent/teacher conferences!! They went well for the most part, and I am so thankful to have such supportive parents!  Harvest Fest was also yesterday and it was so fun!  Each high school class puts on a big event and this was the Senior class’s event.  They had a bunch of fun games and activities.. big inflatable bowling, sack races, “hay” rides (I would call it more of a “dust ride” though), karaoke, the balance beam thing where you knock people off, zip lining (only for kids) : (, bean bag toss, a jail, sponge throw, toilet flush (kind of like the opposite of a dunk tank, there is a toilet on the top and somebody sitting right under it.  A person throws a baseball at the target and if they hit it, the toilet “flushes” and dumps its water on the person sitting under it.. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it, I don’t know what I was thinking!!), square dancing, cake walk, and probably some others too! and lots of yummy food!  I had a BLT wrap, bacon is a precious item here, so it was a delightful treat!  And even prizes!

            So, the first thing I did of course was the cake walk.  We got a group of people together and decided to split the winnings.. that way we were guaranteed to win.  We made a mistake when we went inside to look at all the cakes, because by the time we did that, another group had already gone and they took the cake we wanted!!! It looked SO GOOD. Chocolate ganache : ( but we got some chocolate cupcakes instead, and they were good too! And easier to split up between us.  Then, some boys came up to me and said “Are you Miss Fisher?” and I said “nope” because I KNEW they were going to take me to jail.  And they grabbed my arms and took me anyway!! Can you even believe it? Throwing teachers in jail.. rude.  I guess I should explain this whole jail thing.. you can pay to have anybody you want thrown in jail.  Unless you are in 1^st grade and your teacher tells you that you aren’t allowed to put your teacher in jail… but, 4^th graders don’t believe that!  So then they come and take you.  Some people put up a big fight.. but I decided I just wasn’t going to win.  So I paid my 5 minute sentence, and all my students got their jollies.  At least I got it over with early, right? Not.. more to come!

            After getting out of jail, I went and played a few games and then ate my BLT wrap and pasta salad.   As I was eating, the boys came back and said “I’m sorry, Miss Fisher, we are taking you to jail again.” Luckily, I was sitting with some smart ladies who told them about real life meal reprieves or something.. so they told me I could come after I ate. Phew.  Well, by the time I got there, somebody else had given me even MORE jail time.. so I had to stay in for 10 minutes that time.  And there were a lot of unruly prisoners that time, kicking up sand and making me cranky.. not really, but I was a little annoyed.  And all I could think about was when one of my students came to school with a note from her mom that said she had worms in her feet from running around in the dust.  They had originally thought they were mosquito bites, but she had to start taking medicine to get rid of the words.  I could just feel the worms crawling around in my feet.  As I watched this tiny 1^st grader slip through the jail bars, I wished I had not eaten that piece of apple pie at lunch… but it was so yummy and it was to celebrate a birthday, so it would have been wrong of me not to.  Anyway, I finally got out, and had a yummy blizzard!!  You are probably getting pretty jealous of this event by now! : )
            I did the cake walk with a different group.. this time we had our eyes on a pumpkin cake.. and by the time we won, the group before us was walking out of the office with our cake! so we were stuck with the very last cake.. an upside down apricot cake.  I'm sure it will be delicious?

            Then we did the sack races, got our faces painted, watched some square dancing, went on the dust ride.. it totally reminded me of something we would do at camp! They took a quad and hooked up a trailer to it.. put some mats down on the trailer and then just went around and around on the field! Super fun, but I couldn’t smile or laugh or talk because then I would swallow so much dirt! Then we got some super cool slap bracelets with our tickets from the game and some yummy snowcones and then it was time for square dancing!  Let me just tell you, we were the best square of dancers on the dance floor.  Not really.. we were fine when it was the basic square dancing.. but then they tried to add all the grand allemandes and that’s when we got messed up.  It probably had to do with the fact that we were all girls, so we were getting confused about the man’s part and woman’s part.  Even with our mustaches, we couldn’t quite get into character.  And I was partners with another mustache, so we were two girls confused as men, and it just wasn’t working out.. but I bet we had the most fun out of all the squares of dancers, so that’s what counts!  Then I had to go pay my time in the sponge throw and they were letting people throw sponges at me without even paying! Rude! Oh well.. then this little boy stands 6 inches from me and throws the sponge at me.. and picks it up and puts it right in my mouth right when I was about to call him a “dirty rotten cheater”.  He washed my mouth out before I even had the chance to chew him out!  But then, he decided he wanted to see what it was like, so I got out of the rest of my shift.. most of the kids had gone home by that point anyway.. next time I will sign up for the first shift when the water and sponges are still somewhat clean.

            Then, I went home and took a 3 hour nap and woke up to watch my giants, and I got to see Lance mess the whole game up and I couldn’t be more proud of Zito bunting that run in!! I thought with two outs, they were just going to have to be happy with 3 runs, but he did it! Yay!! So good!           

The Little Things...

            About a week ago, during read aloud time, 2 of my students were having some issues deciding where the territory line was on their desks.  As they were fighting over whose property was whose, I had one of them move to the back of the room and continued reading.  I didn’t think it was a big deal, but then the other one starts crying!  So I send him outside to collect himself.  I read for about 5 more minutes and then it was time for Chapel.  We take our backpacks to the shelter before going to Chapel, because school is over right after Chapel.  So, on the way to the shelter, I had a conversation with the boy who was crying.  He said “Can I stay here?” and I said “no, we need to all stay together!”  I have to admit I was a little annoyed that he was making this a WAY huger deal than it should have been.  So he says “I just can’t go to chapel.. my arm hurts.”  And shows me this TINY little pink mark. Sigh.

            So, I told him to go to the office to see if they could do anything for him (I feel bad for the office people most of the time… but for some reason students feel better when they go to the office even if nothing can be done, they just feel like they are being validated.. so whatever)  anyway, I told him to get some ice or whatever and then join us in chapel. 

            Well, he decided to call his mom using his cell phone.. and she comes to the school furious and talks to the principal.. and I was a little bit afraid I was going to get fired, but really, how bad would that be? Then I would get to go home! Okay, just kidding.  I didn’t ACTUALLY think I would be fired, but I was scared.

            So, I was feeling VERY nervous for this student’s parent/teacher conference because I didn’t know if mom would still be angry about the situation.. but then today this student was absent and his mom came to get some work for him and she was so nice and friendly with no hint of bitterness!

            Praising God for the little things he does to remind us that HE is in control! : )

2 for the price of 1!

I wrote this yesterday, but it wouldn't let me post so here it is on saturday!

 

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” –Galatians 1:10

            I was reading last night and came across this familiar verse.   I was convicted because I HAVE been trying to please “man”… my students, their parents, the principal, the other teachers… the list goes on.  Just about every lesson I have done has made me wonder “will the kids like me for this lesson, or do I need to make it more fun?” rather than wondering “Is this lesson going to glorify God, and is this what He wants these kids to learn?”

            Ultimately, I just need to remember that the reason I even came here in the first place was to serve God, not to make the kids like me!  Please be praying with me that I will be able to get out of the way and let God work through me! : )

            Parent/teacher conferences are coming up next week and I am both excited and nervous!  Excited because we get a half day of school.. nervous because I have to talk to parents for 15 minutes each!  But the parents are all really great, so I don’t think it will be bad at all!  I just have this fear in the back of my mind that one of them will say “why do you do __________ this way?” but there I go trying to please man again…

            This week has gone by super fast and I can’t believe it is already Friday!   We had “Best Buds” today where a high school student and an elementary student are paired up and they eat lunch together once a month.   They make hotdogs, so I got to have a very American lunch today.. a hotdog, cheez-its and a Capri-sun!! yummy! So good.

            Also, check out the school newspaper! http://www.dakar-academy.org/publications/newspapers/01%20Lions%20Eyes%202012-2013.pdf There is an article about me on page 4.  The day they came in to take pictures of me I was trying so hard not to fall asleep while I was reading!  That week was a sleepy week for me!

And now for my Saturday, so far...

           I drove for the first time ever here today!  I remember thinking “I will never drive on these crazy roads..” but “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!”  : ) I only went to my favorite grocery store and back… and on Saturdays the traffic isn’t very bad.  So, it was a good way to start!  The truck had NO power steering, so I definitely got my workout for the day!  I will be happy when I can drive in a regular car on regular streets again.. although I may be a more aggressive driver when I get back.  Who knows...

A Chocolate Syrup Weekend

            On Friday, the Sophomore class had their fundraiser… Superhero Movie Night!  People dressed up as superheroes (I couldn’t get anything together, sadly.. but I think other people’s costumes made up for my lack of one!), they served bacon cheeseburgers and some yummy deserts and then showed The Incredibles and The Avengers.  I really wanted to be able to stay awake until the Avengers came on, but I just couldn’t make it.. so I went home about 10 minutes into The Incredibles.  I am getting too old for this! 

            On Saturday I went to a fancy grocery store with 2 floors… and also… THE AMERICAN STORE!!!!! It was an amazing little touch of home.  They have peanut butter, cereal, candy, granola bars, BROWN SUGAR, and my pride and joy of the day… HERSHEYS CHOCOLATE SYRUP! For 7 dollars!  But compared to the Tide detergent for (if I remember correctly) $36, it seemed like a pretty good idea to me!  I decided it was worth it so that I could disguise my powdered milk.. and oh boy, it WAS worth it.  So many possibilities.  Although, I may have gotten a little TOO excited about it.. I don’t recommend mixing chocolate syrup with yogurt.  I will just stick with the chocolate milk from now on.  and maybe ice cream.  I also got some sour patch kids, reeses, peanut butter crackers, and fla-vor-ice (to help me remember camp!)  these flavorices were regular sized ones though, not the huge ones! But still delicious, I’m sure!

            At the fancy grocery store, I got some dried mangoes, which have almost made up for the fact that mango season was MUCH too short.   And… soy milk! I think between the chocolate syrup and my soy milk, powdered milk will no longer be a thorn in my flesh!  Okay, so it’s not really that bad, but I really miss REAL milk and that’s one of the things I won’t be able to bring back at Christmas time!

            I drank some delightful chocolate milk right when I got home and just couldn’t wipe the smile (or the chocolate mustache) off my face for the rest of the day.

            Then, it was time for Oktoberfest!  Yup, they have it here in Dakar, but it’s probably not quite what you would think!  They had a voting booth set up so I got to vote, and even got an “I voted” sticker! Woo hoo!  And they had delicious BBQ chicken… with garlic potatoes and pita bread and garlic mayonnaise.. Lebanese food.. yum!

            After my tummy was full, they played The Avengers on a blow up screen under the stars!  Don’t know why The Avengers was the movie of the weekend, but I didn’t miss it this time around!  When the movie FINALLY ended, we got in the truck to go home and had to stop to get gas (my first ever time at a gas station in Africa, woo hoo!)  and then we were going to drive right by Mamma Mia (a really yummy ice cream place) so we had to stop and get some of course! 

            So obviously, Saturday was a good day!! Chocolate syrup AND ice cream.

            We are ALMOST half way through October (the hottest month of the year here) now.. although I have to say it seems like it has been less humid.  Whenever I tell that to someone here, though, they just look at me like I’m crazy.. so I don’t know what it is.  Maybe it is because I’m used to the heat, but not the humidity so when its “only” 80 degrees with 70% humidity, I only notice the humidity, but when its 90 degrees with 80% humidity, I know how to handle it.. but that just doesn’t make sense.  Anyway, I have been surviving October so far, and  I am looking forward to some cooler weather in the near future! : )
            I was informed yesterday that I will be home in 75 days, which means today its 74 days! That’s nothing!

            I am ready for next weekend already!

a fancy weekend!

            Last week was only a 4 day week! Woo hoo! On Friday we had  Professional Development which consisted of meetings… but mostly pizza and pretzels and apples and oranges and ICE CREAM!!! Yippee!! But the best part of all was that after lunch, we got on buses to go to STAFF RETREAT!!! We just got back and the only bad part about it was how short it was! I would be just fine staying there for another week or so.. People there need to know about Jesus too!!!

            Anyway, it took us two short hours to get to the Neptune Hotel.  I stayed in a fancy little villa with three other girls! Super fun!  There was a nice pool and it was just a short walk to get to the beach.  The only time I was hungry the whole weekend was before we ate dinner because each meal was HUGE and DELICIOUS.  There was an appetizer, then a main course, and a desert.  For some of them, I felt like the appetizer could have been the main dish! But I don’t regret eating ANY thing. 

            It was cloudy most of the time, but I am happy it was because it was less hot that way and not as skin-cancery.

            It was so nice sleeping in an air conditioned room and actually using the covers and getting cold in the middle of the night! Quite a treat!! The only sad thing about our room was that the toilet wouldn’t flush the toilet paper : ( kinda yucky..

            On Saturday, I went to the beach and walked for a little while and then hung out by/in the pool the rest of the day.. then we had a little worship session in an AIR CONDITIONED room!! And some of the hotel workers had asked us to pray for them! How cool is that??

            Then we played some games and did this CRAZY puzzle that you had to figure out where the pieces went because they had words on them that told you where they were.. and it was just ridiculous. 

            Today we had a little church service in the same room and then I went to the beach again.  As I was sitting on the beach, looking at all the fun seashells (actually WHOLE seashells, and a lot of them!!) a cigarette man comes up and says “it is hot” in English.. usually I can just say “no francais” and they leave me alone, but when he spoke English to me I was just so shocked that I said “yes”. So, he starts telling me about how Americans talk too fast.. and how he wonders why some people are white and some are black.  “It’s just the way God made us!” I said.. he didn’t really like that answer though.  He just kind of ignored it.  Then he starts talking about music and how he wouldn’t want to live in a world without music, and starts singing a song about calling 911.  This whole time, I am just sitting there not even looking at him responding with one word answers.  Why couldn’t he get the hint that I wanted him to GO AWAY!! That is my only complaint about the beach.. people want you to take a picture with their fish they just caught.. or come to their restaurant.. or sit in their beach chair.  They can’t leave you alone.  So finally, I just stood up and said bye.. and he said he wanted my address so he could send me a postcard and I said I didn’t have an address and he said “next time you come, you eat lobster” and I said “no. goodbye”  and I was VERY upset that I had to leave that spot, cause I was finding some good shells!  Next time, I will just make sign language up and pretend I am deaf.

            So anyway, then I went back and had our last delicious meal, and I definitely won’t need to eat dinner tonight and maybe won’t even need to eat for the rest of this week because my stomach is just so full..
            Getting back to school took about double the amount of time it took us to get there due to an accident.. apparently they don't like to wait for things to clear up here, so they will go the long way even if it is double the distance, double the time... oh my. its okay though, because i was sitting next to the most knowledgable lady in the world so i learned a lot about everything! a free tour! i am just thankful that it wasn't on the way THERE, because this way, we didn't lose any valuable time at the hotel : )

            Pictures will be coming soon.. just you wait!

Thankful..

            Today, God reminded me that His timing is perfect, and I am so thankful for that truth.  I can’t share any details yet, but I am looking forward to some exciting things!  I am also SO thankful for the people that God has surrounded me and blessed me with here in Africa.  I couldn’t have asked for a more welcoming group of people!  Yesterday morning, one of my favorite ladies shared during devotions and we sung “Great is Thy Faithfulness” at the end of devotions and it was so perfect!  Just what I needed to hear/speak with my own mouth.

            I also realized today that I have been thinking about all the material things that I have been missing, and thinking of those things has distracted me from focusing on JESUS!  I can survive without all those things because no matter where I go, Jesus is with me!  And He goes before me!  The only thing I truly miss is all the people I left at home in Redding.  But, praise the Lord for Facebook and Skype!  I was reading a book earlier this week that a missionary wrote about her experiences in a VILLAGE in Africa.. no electricity among many other challenges.  I really do have it SO easy here.

            Anyway, I apologize for all the complaining I have been doing in my blog lately, I’m working on my attitude. : )

            To top it all off, I was blessed with a pair of flip flops today!  Not just any flip flops, but Teva flip flops.. lightly used, but they are sooo comfy!  

R.I.P. Fall

            Today it is more than half way through September, which means it is almost October.. I love October.  And November.  And December.  But, let’s not get too carried away here.  The point is… I’m missing Fall.  Everything about it!!  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the hot, humid weather here.  I just love how I get all sticky walking from my classroom to the office.  I love how bananas turn SO quickly here (is that because of the humidity, I don’t know!).  I love dripping sweat onto a child’s paper as I lean over to help them.  (okay that last one hasn’t happened, yet.. thanks to my trusty air conditioner!!  Which, by the way worked FABULOUSLY today.. it has its ups and downs for sure! But how scarring would that be to get your teacher’s sweat on your paper.. gross!!)  anyway, I don’t actually love those things.

            But I DO love Fall.  The pretty colors, pumpkin spice lattes, the perfect weather, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, apple hill (okay, I have only been there once.. but it was SO fun and I want to go again),  pumpkin pie ice cream, Thanksgiving, and everything pumpkin… and everything else!

            Mug and Muffin (the youth pastor’s wife has all the ladies over in the middle of the day and feeds us delicious treats and yummy drinks) was today and we had this yummy apple bread stuff with apple cinnamon cream cheesey spread.. ahhh soo good.  And she had decorated her house with all these cute fall decorations.  I had been thinking about how much I missed it already, but today really made me realize it.  So, I am already looking forward to the next Fall I will get to experience!!  And then I was thinking about people who stay here for their whole lives.. they hardly ever get to have a true Fall.. except on furloughs.. but that is a real sacrifice! 

Maybe it's Time to Get a Mosquito Net

            There were little spots of blood on my sheets this morning.. those stupid mosquitoes are not fighting fairly!!  They make me so angry!  Speaking of sheets, if you ever live in Africa, do NOT use white (or off white sheets)  I don’t know how they decided white would be good, but I have had multiple experiences which have proven they are NOT good.  One day I washed my sheets and hung them up to dry, and then when I took them down there was a streak of dirt where they were hanging on the clothesline!!! Ugh! I guess I should have wiped the clothesline off first, but who even thinks to do that?? And then, the mosquitoes being messy with their bloodsucking.. and also, sometimes on Tuesdays (before Josephine comes on Wednesday to clean) the floor is just pretty dirty and i don’t always remember to wash my feet before I jump on my bed, so I have footprints all over my sheets until I wash them again!  Big sigh.

            Although, I must say, an even bigger mistake than putting white sheets on a bed in Africa is not bringing flip flops to Africa.  This one I can’t blame on anyone but myself.   And the humidity.  It is mostly the humidity’s fault and this is why:  When I was packing, I thought to myself “I definitely need to bring flip flops” but, as my bags started filling up, the flip flops just kept getting pushed to the side because I thought “well, I’m going to be at school most of the time, and flip flops just aren’t very professional.”  Well, guess what? I don’t care anymore! I would totally wear flip flops to school every day, because right now I usually wear my goofy water shoes to school every day, and they usually don’t match and people probably think I’m kind of a weirdo.  I brought two pairs of sandals, but they just take so much work to put on!! One of them has TWO pairs of straps on each shoe, and the other one just has one.. but flip flops just sound like the best thing ever right now.  Okay, so back to the humidity.  Eventually, my bags got full and in all honesty, I probably could have fit just one little pair of flip flops in, but I just wasn’t thinking.  My hair dryer and straightener took up SO MUCH room, and I don’t even use them here!! I used them the first few days, but after about an hour, my hair just looked horrible anyway, so what’s the point??  Therefore, logically speaking, it is the humidity’s fault that I did not bring flip flops because if it wasn’t so humid, I would be able to do my hair and the blow dryer and straightener would be useful tools, but since it is humid, the blow dryer and straightener sit in a drawer in my room never being used, and the flip flops sit in my closet in a far away land.. Redding, getting no use as well. 

            So, as you can see, I have been learning a lot, and I just wanted to share my knowledge with you all.  Just in case you are ever in a situation where you need to decide between white sheets and black sheets.. choose black, 100% of the time… and when you need to decide between hair supplies and flip flops, choose flip flops always.