Softball started up Saturday. What a day. We won both of our games (both shutouts) which brings our record to 6-2. Woot! Woot!
I played catcher for the very first time. It's not that hard b/c the ball has to bounce on the plate and wooden piece around it for it to be a strike. Well, it's not supposed to be hard at least. The very first warmup throw, I took it hard off the ankle. My leg went partially numb and I now have a nice knot to show. Needless to say, I iced it and played through the pain.
In the first game, the other team had bases loaded and the batter hit it back to the pitcher. The pitcher tossed it high so I had to stretch into the baseline but fortunately the player coming home was nice and took the fall instead of knocking me over. (He is a nice DA student :) ).
In the second game, we had a stellar play between us girls. There was a single to right field. The rightfielder tossed it to the second baseman. The player at third decided to test the 2nd baseman's arm so he ran. She threw it home to me, and I stretched to get the batter out by inches. This was the first game us girls wore our 2-in-1 baseball socks so we figure it must be the socks...lol...
Other newsworthy things from Saturday:
1. I got my first hit to the outfield. Granted it rolled out there but it made it past the infield.
2. One of our opponents lost part of her hair while sliding into third (hairpiece)
3. I was warming up with the bat and hit the backstop pole. Not cool...
3 more weekends of softball...but who's counting ;)
Monday, January 26, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
I survived Outreach '09
I know this post is long overdue, but it's been pretty crazy since I've returned to Senegal. I landed in Senegal with enough time to take a 1 hour nap before starting professional development here at DA. I had four days to get ready for classes, and then we all hit the ground running.
Last Friday was another Outreach. I did not come down with malaria (Yay!) so I was able to participate in all the events.
Schedule:
*Meet at school at 5:00 am
*Depart by pushing one of the busses/vans out of the parking lot
*Ride four hours to the YWAM Center which was very nice for the African bush. The YWAM Center had squatty potties (a hole in the ground) and showers that had water most of the time. It also had foam beds for us adults!!!
*Depart for the various locations: drama, roofing, foundation, medical, VBS, and basecamp. I worked at the basecamp setting up tents and filtering water.
*Eat supper at 6 pm. We ate out of the common bowl. That is, 7 of us sat around a big bowl and shared the contents.
*Depart for the evangelism campaign which started at 8:45 and ended at 11:30 pm. At the campaign, we sang songs in French, Wolor, Serrar (tribal languages), and English. There was also drama, speaking, and a video.
*Bed time
Saturday pretty much looked like the schedule above except my job was different. I made bricks. That's right, I made bricks by hand. It was fun. I worked with 3 of my students, and we had a great time.
On Sunday we were able to worship at a church that the DA students helped with last year. It was awesome to hear that there had been 50 baptisms at this church in the last year. God is really moving in this part of Senegal. It's humbling to think that we are a part of it.
Other events:
*It is cold. That's right, cold. I know I shouldn't be complaining b/c it's probably in the upper 50s, lower 60s in the mornings, but that is cold for here. I definitely did not bring enough warm clothes so I keep wearing the same thing each morning. ;)
*We had to do a lice check on our students. That was interesting. I feel like I know my students pretty well now after picking through their hair. I mean, how do you politely ask someone if they have dandruff? Ah well, we all survived. The students are used to this so it wasn't that big of a deal.
*Softball starts up again Saturday. I bought baseball socks for us girls on the team so we are going to wear them for the first time on Saturday. We figure we can at least look good playing this game. ;)
Well, I think that's all the news in my life right now. Thanks for reading.
Last Friday was another Outreach. I did not come down with malaria (Yay!) so I was able to participate in all the events.
Schedule:
*Meet at school at 5:00 am
*Depart by pushing one of the busses/vans out of the parking lot
*Ride four hours to the YWAM Center which was very nice for the African bush. The YWAM Center had squatty potties (a hole in the ground) and showers that had water most of the time. It also had foam beds for us adults!!!
*Depart for the various locations: drama, roofing, foundation, medical, VBS, and basecamp. I worked at the basecamp setting up tents and filtering water.
*Eat supper at 6 pm. We ate out of the common bowl. That is, 7 of us sat around a big bowl and shared the contents.
*Depart for the evangelism campaign which started at 8:45 and ended at 11:30 pm. At the campaign, we sang songs in French, Wolor, Serrar (tribal languages), and English. There was also drama, speaking, and a video.
*Bed time
Saturday pretty much looked like the schedule above except my job was different. I made bricks. That's right, I made bricks by hand. It was fun. I worked with 3 of my students, and we had a great time.
On Sunday we were able to worship at a church that the DA students helped with last year. It was awesome to hear that there had been 50 baptisms at this church in the last year. God is really moving in this part of Senegal. It's humbling to think that we are a part of it.
Other events:
*It is cold. That's right, cold. I know I shouldn't be complaining b/c it's probably in the upper 50s, lower 60s in the mornings, but that is cold for here. I definitely did not bring enough warm clothes so I keep wearing the same thing each morning. ;)
*We had to do a lice check on our students. That was interesting. I feel like I know my students pretty well now after picking through their hair. I mean, how do you politely ask someone if they have dandruff? Ah well, we all survived. The students are used to this so it wasn't that big of a deal.
*Softball starts up again Saturday. I bought baseball socks for us girls on the team so we are going to wear them for the first time on Saturday. We figure we can at least look good playing this game. ;)
Well, I think that's all the news in my life right now. Thanks for reading.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
quick thoughts
Highlights of Break:
-Having so much time with my family
-Seeing old roomies, colleagues, students, and friends
-Being able to continue great relationships that were formed in Tipton
-Sledding
-Iowa fb victory
-Having parents who are amazing cooks
-Eating roast and potatoes four times
-Graeters, apple dumplings, Baklava, peanut butter balls, fudge, caramel corn, etc
-blueberry pie shake from Hamburg Inn
-cutting down the Christmas tree
-having soft hair (no soft hair in Africa)
Lowlights
-not having my Gma Hall home
-Ice, ice, and more ice whenever I was traveling
-The Detroit airport
-MM’s injury
-sledding over the cherry tree
Saddening things
-seeing the self-centeredness and “victim” mentality that is permeating more and more of society
-seeing what people fill their lives with in order to be happy
Overall it was a fabulous vacation. It was great to spend time with my amazing family and to catch up with people who have helped me become who I am today. I love Iowa, but I know right now that God wants me to make my home in Africa.
-Having so much time with my family
-Seeing old roomies, colleagues, students, and friends
-Being able to continue great relationships that were formed in Tipton
-Sledding
-Iowa fb victory
-Having parents who are amazing cooks
-Eating roast and potatoes four times
-Graeters, apple dumplings, Baklava, peanut butter balls, fudge, caramel corn, etc
-blueberry pie shake from Hamburg Inn
-cutting down the Christmas tree
-having soft hair (no soft hair in Africa)
Lowlights
-not having my Gma Hall home
-Ice, ice, and more ice whenever I was traveling
-The Detroit airport
-MM’s injury
-sledding over the cherry tree
Saddening things
-seeing the self-centeredness and “victim” mentality that is permeating more and more of society
-seeing what people fill their lives with in order to be happy
Overall it was a fabulous vacation. It was great to spend time with my amazing family and to catch up with people who have helped me become who I am today. I love Iowa, but I know right now that God wants me to make my home in Africa.
Friday, January 2, 2009
now that's unique
She walked in the door with a slight bend in her posture and a cane in her hand. She then started to walk slowly around the indoor track while the 6th grade girls shot hoops. As I was finishing my workout she appeared in the door, caneless, and settled down on a weight machine.
I always wish I could write a book that took place at the Neola community center It's such a fascinating place. I mean, there are probably few other places in the U.S. where you can find yourself working out with a former Miss Basketball and an 80+ person. I love watching the elderly lift weights. It's so cool. And don't be fooled by their age-those farm women are strong!
Today is my last full day at home, that is, if the weather cooperates. Tomorrow I begin my Eastern Iowa journey to Ames followed by 2+ days in Tipton. It should be fun. It's hard to believe how much my life has changed in the time since I last left these two towns.
My adjustment to the US was fine. No real culture shock. I didn't like shopping at Walmart though. Halfway through I started getting frustrated with all the choices. I couldn't decide what type of canned chicken I wanted. Fortunately there was only one type of canned ham so that settled me down. (We'll see what these taste like in Senegal.)
Highlights:
"sledding" with Hannah. It was all icy and on my very first run, I knocked over the cherry tree in our yard! Then we decided to be brave and sled in the pasture. We flew down that hill. Hannah only slipped 18 times on the ice that day. ;)
seeing my grandma gradually improve from her stroke that occurred the same day I came down with malaria
cooking with my dad. It's funny that we don't know what we did when we only had one oven in the house. ;)
an Iowa bowl victory...in convincing fashion I might add
the every day events with my family. I love them so much
Next post should be from the other side of the Atlantic!
I always wish I could write a book that took place at the Neola community center It's such a fascinating place. I mean, there are probably few other places in the U.S. where you can find yourself working out with a former Miss Basketball and an 80+ person. I love watching the elderly lift weights. It's so cool. And don't be fooled by their age-those farm women are strong!
Today is my last full day at home, that is, if the weather cooperates. Tomorrow I begin my Eastern Iowa journey to Ames followed by 2+ days in Tipton. It should be fun. It's hard to believe how much my life has changed in the time since I last left these two towns.
My adjustment to the US was fine. No real culture shock. I didn't like shopping at Walmart though. Halfway through I started getting frustrated with all the choices. I couldn't decide what type of canned chicken I wanted. Fortunately there was only one type of canned ham so that settled me down. (We'll see what these taste like in Senegal.)
Highlights:
"sledding" with Hannah. It was all icy and on my very first run, I knocked over the cherry tree in our yard! Then we decided to be brave and sled in the pasture. We flew down that hill. Hannah only slipped 18 times on the ice that day. ;)
seeing my grandma gradually improve from her stroke that occurred the same day I came down with malaria
cooking with my dad. It's funny that we don't know what we did when we only had one oven in the house. ;)
an Iowa bowl victory...in convincing fashion I might add
the every day events with my family. I love them so much
Next post should be from the other side of the Atlantic!
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