we'll call this "A Short Story"

Greetings from Iowa. Right now I'll call it "The Land of Green." I am thankful that I live in the country and that every direction I look, I see fields of green. I didn't realize how much I missed the green until I got back. It's beautiful and at times, I swear it is glowing. The temp has been amazing as well. I love warm weather, but I am enjoying these springlike temps. I thought I'd be cold, but I'm finding the weather to be so refreshing. I've considered it a small gift from God. I do apologize to the rest of you here that are wanting summer temps ;) Hold on...they are coming.

I realized I better blog about my last night in Dakar and about my trip home. I went out to dinner with one of my friends. After dinner, we went to this little shack and ordered crepes. We were commenting on the nice atmosphere as we were in this little artist area along the ocean. Then all of a sudden, we see two ladies break into a fight in the restaurant/bar right next to us. There was pushing, hair pulling, yelling, etc. I've never seen a chick fight before. It even seemed to have two rounds. Craziness...

Then on the drive home, the car in front of us hit the Mercedes in front of him. We heard the crunch and my friend was like, "That wasn't us was it?" Driving the roundpoints, you get pretty close to the vehicles around you. Fortunately we were able to maneuver around the accident and escape seeing a fight there as well.

Overall, my flights went well. Nothing major really. We had to deplane in Minneapolis after boarding late because of mechanical problems but they found us a new plane within the hour. Considering the whole trip, arriving 3 hours late was not that bad. I was impressed with how kind all the passengers were about this. I guess that's what happens when you fly into small-town USA ;). I didn't have a phone so this lady let me use hers to call my parents.
There were four other things that stood out about my travels:
1. In the security line at JFK, I was behind a girl going to the Gambia for the summer. My thoughts: small world
2. Everyone is so clean in the U.S.
3. I amused the guy behind the candy counter at the Minneapolis airport as I stood and stared for several minutes before making my selection. The final verdict: sugar babies.
4. My first meal back in the US was McDonalds: sausage, egg bisquit and hashbrowns. It was heavenly. ;) It was ironic that they had to give me $16 in ones because they were out of other change. I guess it is better than getting candy/matches like in Africa.

I think that's about it. Oh, the College World Series starts tomorrow! Wahoo!!!!!! Look for me on the left-field line.

Over and out...
Annie

these are the days

Yesterday was a lovely day. Another teacher and I took 5 students to the beach. The ocean is getting warm enough to swim again. It's a Senegalese custom to eat around a common bowl, but we took it one step further. We bought 1.5 L of ice cream and sat around the common container.

Then I was reminded I live in Africa when I returned from the beach and there was not a drop of water coming out of the faucets. Fortunately we had a plastic jug of water so I could take a bucket bath before graduation.

Graduation was beautiful, and we got to say our good-byes.

The next time I post I'll probably be in the U.S.

that's life

It’s hard to believe it’s June 1st already. Where has the time gone? In less than a week, I’ll be back on U.S. soil. It is interesting to reflect back and see how many things have become “normal” here. Here are some highlights from the past two weeks that have reminded me that I indeed live in Africa:
*We got a small fridge last Saturday. It is nice to be able to refrigerate our food again although it was not as hard as I thought living out of a freezer. I guess if I had to do it all the time, it would get old.

*Roaches have taken over our microwave. They have climbed into the panel and made a nest, and we cannot get them out. Unfortunately that means more and more roaches in our cupboards. (I look forward to a bug-free house in the U.S.) I am afraid we are creating a new species. One of our staff members says that roaches are probably the only things that will withstand a nuclear disaster. Haha (I think it’s a joke anyway.)

*My students made ABC books for geometry. Many of them had the world as their representation for a great circle or hemisphere. It was interesting to see that all of them had Africa at the center. That makes sense because Africa is their home, but I’m so used to seeing the Americas as the featured drawing.

*I was helping one of the missions cook food for their reception and there was an electric stove in the kitchen. It is the first electric stove I’ve seen here. It was a great cultural lesson observing the two MKs figure out how to turn the oven on and off. We figured it out so all was well.

*I am a junior class sponsor next year which means I have to help plan the big banquet. Another sponsor, a couple class officers, and myself were out looking at reception places when we saw an interesting site. This man was standing in the middle of the road by a round point (not unusual), but he threw a bucket full of something at a passing taxi. The bucket bounced off the taxi and got stuck under our grill. We were behind a bus (remember there are men who hang off the back of busses) so they kept pointing at our car. We quickly pulled over and I dislodged the bucket before the man could catch up with us.

That’s it for now…thanks for reading.