More Writings from Non-Internet Days
23/2/08
What will life be like when I get home? We haven’t had internet now for 22 days. I have no idea what’s going on at home. I’ve only talked a bit to my parents, Andrea, and now Alexa. But what about the daily lives of my friends? What’s been going on? We’ve got this theory here with the SMs the longer it takes you to reply to emails the less people reply to you, hence less and less emails.
It’s also making the planning process for going home, planning my work at camp and working on options for work or Grad school after camp. Life outside of Africa has come to a standstill. Life inside has definitely not come to a standstill.
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4/3/08
Can’t believe it’s already the 3rd month of the year! Next month I’m 25!
Since so much has happened in such a short amount of time I am going to tell some back stories. This one is from Friday Feb 22.
Stan’s coming! Tonight we went to the Béré welcome sign to do just that, welcome him! We were waiting for the truck to drive past. We left right after Church vespers. If only we’d waited for Hans we would have known that there was a small wreck that involved the truck and they weren’t going to arrive till almost midnight. (I guess that meant no packages from Kelo :0( I guess I’ll just have to wait till church to meet this Stan that I feel I already know.
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Saturday Feb 23
Making a run for the Border. :o)
Met Stan at church today. Liz and I sat at the house and waited because we figured if we waited at church we’d go nuts and always be looking back to the door. Plus I didn’t want Liz to make a scene when she sees Stan. I mean shoot, we are in church and all.
We saw the moto pass the house (yes they are African – 3 adults and 2 toddlers on one moto) so we meet them outside the church. It was strange to meet someone who just two days before was in the same village as my school. Oh, that made me long for good ol’ Collegedale. Anyway we went to concourse Roberts for lunch (that’s Gary and Wendy’s house) and when we got there this man who I’d hardly met gave me one of the most surprising gifts! You see being a good poor college student I knew the values of a good take out meal. And when I heard that Liz’s friend Stan was voyaging to my small bush village of Béré I put in my order for a Bean burrito :o) And when I told Hans about the order he laughed and said it wouldn’t work. But I held firm that it would. Even Liz was doubtful, Esther had faith. She even asked if she could have a part of my tortilla. She believed. Well when I walked in Wendy’s house Stan presented me with not just one but FOUR beautiful bean burritos from our very own Ooltewah Taco Bell. :o) Stan the Man! He brought me 4 and told me I could do what I wanted with them. I chose to give one to each of us SMs.
Here’s the scoop on how to travel with four bean burritos all the way to Africa from the local C-dale Valley. 1st go to your local Taco Bell and ask to speak with the person who is preparing the food. Explain that the product will be traveling 8,000 miles and needs to be wrapped accordingly. Also tell them it is for people who haven’t been able to taste the likes of a bean burrito in over 6 months. Then proceed to the local dried ice dealer. There you ask about legalities with dried ice on a plane and also explain to him about traveling for 2days and the importance of keeping the treasure cold. Then pack your lunch pale and head to Africa making sure to pack instant hand warmers in case said person would like to eat hers right away should she meet you at the airport.
Thank you Stan for running to the border. Sabbath lunch of haystacks was only complete because of the bean burrito and Taco Bell sauce.
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I am having a party this week. It is a party to celebrate the fact that I have been Malaria free for one month now! The entire month of February I have gone without taking any quinine or lumafartin (my nickname for the expensive treatment). Can you believe it! I thought for sure I would have that dumb disease every month that I was here. I think when I told my dad that I had gone that long he was happier than me about it. And he’s not even the one that has to take those dumb pills! But I am glad none the less about my new freedom for this month. As for next month who can say . . .
I woke up one day and I knew that something had happened. A new season had desended down on us. The season that we all must go through in our lives before we can truly truly appreciate the seasons of coolness. This is the season of HEAT! Yes we are burning, boiling, blistering, sizzling, hot, searing, sweltering, stifling, muggy without the humidity, scorching, sweaty, sticky, taosty, warm, oppressively hot people. But at least Esther gave me some deodorant.
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Ahh the joys of communication via a small wire or satellite that sends billions of messages to people all over the world. Poo on it when it’s not working! Even if it is the government that shuts it down for a while. But on a positive note about not having internet for 40 days and 40 nights I was able to start talking on the phone much more! Because people care about me and wanted to make sure I was okay they called me! I got more phone calls from people during one week than I did all the five months before! I talked to each member of my immediate family as well as a small number of good friends including one from Germany. It would seem that news of the attempted coup on the government was well traveled. I thought it was also funny that my brother and I started talking more regularly on the phone when I was only going to be here for another couple months. But hey like I said, “who am I to complain!” I love contact with those I love.
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Wednesday 5th of March
It’s 2142 hundred hours (9:45) and about a compound and a half over there was a death this morning. So now they are going to stay up all night and play the drums and sing all night. I don’t know how they can go all night but I don’t doubt that they can. I’m glad I’ve got my ipod. Death. It’s an everyday thing here. I have forever been changed by it.
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6/3/08
Father, I’ve been gone from America for a long time, 7 months now. Have I done alright? I want to work for you. I only have 2 months left, please help me to make the most of my time left. I want my famil to see You in me. To know that not only do I love them but that You love them too and have called them to be your children. Sometimes I don’t know how to show that. Please live in my so I can shine for you. I can do nothing on my own.
Where is the time going? Soon my long weekend retreat with you will be over. Then we’ll go home together and face the West, together.
What will life be like when I get home? We haven’t had internet now for 22 days. I have no idea what’s going on at home. I’ve only talked a bit to my parents, Andrea, and now Alexa. But what about the daily lives of my friends? What’s been going on? We’ve got this theory here with the SMs the longer it takes you to reply to emails the less people reply to you, hence less and less emails.
It’s also making the planning process for going home, planning my work at camp and working on options for work or Grad school after camp. Life outside of Africa has come to a standstill. Life inside has definitely not come to a standstill.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4/3/08
Can’t believe it’s already the 3rd month of the year! Next month I’m 25!
Since so much has happened in such a short amount of time I am going to tell some back stories. This one is from Friday Feb 22.
Stan’s coming! Tonight we went to the Béré welcome sign to do just that, welcome him! We were waiting for the truck to drive past. We left right after Church vespers. If only we’d waited for Hans we would have known that there was a small wreck that involved the truck and they weren’t going to arrive till almost midnight. (I guess that meant no packages from Kelo :0( I guess I’ll just have to wait till church to meet this Stan that I feel I already know.
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Saturday Feb 23
Making a run for the Border. :o)
Met Stan at church today. Liz and I sat at the house and waited because we figured if we waited at church we’d go nuts and always be looking back to the door. Plus I didn’t want Liz to make a scene when she sees Stan. I mean shoot, we are in church and all.
We saw the moto pass the house (yes they are African – 3 adults and 2 toddlers on one moto) so we meet them outside the church. It was strange to meet someone who just two days before was in the same village as my school. Oh, that made me long for good ol’ Collegedale. Anyway we went to concourse Roberts for lunch (that’s Gary and Wendy’s house) and when we got there this man who I’d hardly met gave me one of the most surprising gifts! You see being a good poor college student I knew the values of a good take out meal. And when I heard that Liz’s friend Stan was voyaging to my small bush village of Béré I put in my order for a Bean burrito :o) And when I told Hans about the order he laughed and said it wouldn’t work. But I held firm that it would. Even Liz was doubtful, Esther had faith. She even asked if she could have a part of my tortilla. She believed. Well when I walked in Wendy’s house Stan presented me with not just one but FOUR beautiful bean burritos from our very own Ooltewah Taco Bell. :o) Stan the Man! He brought me 4 and told me I could do what I wanted with them. I chose to give one to each of us SMs.
Here’s the scoop on how to travel with four bean burritos all the way to Africa from the local C-dale Valley. 1st go to your local Taco Bell and ask to speak with the person who is preparing the food. Explain that the product will be traveling 8,000 miles and needs to be wrapped accordingly. Also tell them it is for people who haven’t been able to taste the likes of a bean burrito in over 6 months. Then proceed to the local dried ice dealer. There you ask about legalities with dried ice on a plane and also explain to him about traveling for 2days and the importance of keeping the treasure cold. Then pack your lunch pale and head to Africa making sure to pack instant hand warmers in case said person would like to eat hers right away should she meet you at the airport.
Thank you Stan for running to the border. Sabbath lunch of haystacks was only complete because of the bean burrito and Taco Bell sauce.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am having a party this week. It is a party to celebrate the fact that I have been Malaria free for one month now! The entire month of February I have gone without taking any quinine or lumafartin (my nickname for the expensive treatment). Can you believe it! I thought for sure I would have that dumb disease every month that I was here. I think when I told my dad that I had gone that long he was happier than me about it. And he’s not even the one that has to take those dumb pills! But I am glad none the less about my new freedom for this month. As for next month who can say . . .
I woke up one day and I knew that something had happened. A new season had desended down on us. The season that we all must go through in our lives before we can truly truly appreciate the seasons of coolness. This is the season of HEAT! Yes we are burning, boiling, blistering, sizzling, hot, searing, sweltering, stifling, muggy without the humidity, scorching, sweaty, sticky, taosty, warm, oppressively hot people. But at least Esther gave me some deodorant.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ahh the joys of communication via a small wire or satellite that sends billions of messages to people all over the world. Poo on it when it’s not working! Even if it is the government that shuts it down for a while. But on a positive note about not having internet for 40 days and 40 nights I was able to start talking on the phone much more! Because people care about me and wanted to make sure I was okay they called me! I got more phone calls from people during one week than I did all the five months before! I talked to each member of my immediate family as well as a small number of good friends including one from Germany. It would seem that news of the attempted coup on the government was well traveled. I thought it was also funny that my brother and I started talking more regularly on the phone when I was only going to be here for another couple months. But hey like I said, “who am I to complain!” I love contact with those I love.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday 5th of March
It’s 2142 hundred hours (9:45) and about a compound and a half over there was a death this morning. So now they are going to stay up all night and play the drums and sing all night. I don’t know how they can go all night but I don’t doubt that they can. I’m glad I’ve got my ipod. Death. It’s an everyday thing here. I have forever been changed by it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6/3/08
Father, I’ve been gone from America for a long time, 7 months now. Have I done alright? I want to work for you. I only have 2 months left, please help me to make the most of my time left. I want my famil to see You in me. To know that not only do I love them but that You love them too and have called them to be your children. Sometimes I don’t know how to show that. Please live in my so I can shine for you. I can do nothing on my own.
Where is the time going? Soon my long weekend retreat with you will be over. Then we’ll go home together and face the West, together.
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