Bemused thoughts of the ill

Have you ever been ill for three days or more? Have you ever lain in the same bed for hours and hours? What do you think about? I need suggestions. :)

Yep, it's been a rough week. I've been sick on and off--mostly on--and am getting pretty tired of it. March in Nigeria is the hottest month (that I'm aware of), and it's been pretty unbearable recently. Our living room catches the morning sun directly and doesn't cool down until late evening. And there's no cross-breeze. But our "bedroom," where we have the mattress on the floor, is not much cooler. At least the living room has our only working fan protruding from the ceiling. I've spent a lot of time looking at that fan, listening to it squeak and whine. Do fans ever fall on top of people?

I know other people are sicker than I. My grandma died of breast cancer the day before I turned five, and I know she must have endured quite a lot, especially there toward the end. But I don't remember it. I know there are patients even at our own hospital who are in their death throes, or who are suffering from cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, meningitis, etc., etc. I shouldn't be complaining. Then again, to quote our family's favourite movie, "...if you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything" (The Princess Bride).

What do I think about? The way the cat attacks my fingers. First she licks them and then bites them, and when I try to move my hand away, she comes at it with teeth and claws. I think about the way ice melts, spreading out across the surface of a drink so that you drink only water if you're careful how you sip. I think about the holes in our ceiling and what caused them. Some are round, the size of a silver dollar. Others are just like pinpricks. Were they caused by bugs? Rodents? I think about the calls to prayer I can hear from our front room. It sure seems like they take place more than five times a day, but it's so easy to lose track when one's sick. God is great. Yep. I think about food... and then I immediately stop thinking about food.

And finally, I think about rain. I imagine it beating the roof above me, drumming down, maybe even with a bit of hail. I can almost smell the wet earth and feel the humidity rise, enjoy the cool breeze dancing through the open windows.

And I wonder if our roof leaks.

Seeing Sharon!

What a weekend!

I've known Sharon for seven years now, which seems crazy. We met at Orientation just before school started my freshman year at Wheaton. We got to chatting on our way into Chicago for Big Sibs (when sophomores take freshmen out on the town for an evening). Well... we didn't hang out a whole lot in college, so when I got an email from my friend Ruth in January saying, "Sharon's going to Nigeria!" I got the details!

Sharon came for a weekend visit in January, and she spent this past weekend with us, too. She works with an organisation that sends her here to do research and training about family planning. She'll come again in July, when she'll finally get to see green and luscious Nigeria instead of dry and dusty Nigeria!

One of the first things Sharon asked for when she got here was amala, the black pounded yam I've learned to love. (I'll have to get a photo next time we go to the amala joint.) Yummy! We also went swimming, played some games, and talked a lot about public health. Phew. Good but exhausting! Have a safe trip back to the States, Sharon!

The week's news

Okay. Okay. I know it's been over a week since my last post. It's so silly. Last week I was waiting for something exciting to happen to write about. (Namely, my nephew's birth, which didn't come.) On Saturday we attended a wedding (at least, part of one) that I could have written about, but the Internet went down earlier this week for four days, so I didn't get a chance to write about it while it was fresh in my mind! Then Monday I got locked out for two hours, which was actually something exciting and worth writing about, but...the net was down. And then Tuesday my nephew was finally born (11 days late), but... the net was down.

And now, what is there that's exciting to tell you? I'll give you some snapshots from the ten days I missed:

Wedding: A doctor here got married on Saturday out at the Chapel of Faith on the University of Jos permanent site. We arrived 1-1/2 hours late (intentionally) and still sat through over an hour of the service. There were five groomsmen and I think seven bridesmaids, but we couldn't see them because in Nigerian tradition, the bridal party sits in the front row (including the bride and groom). The sermon was from Matthew 7, about their marriage's having a firm foundation. The best part was when the preacher (whom I couldn't understand 75% of the time because of distortion from the sound system) said that on average, women speak 5000 words a day, while men only speak 1200! We left right after the ceremony. (I was reluctant to go because I wanted food!!)

Locked out: It was actually pretty amusing for the most part. I got home around 4:30 on Monday, which was a little earlier than I'd expected. We've got two locks on our door, and we usually only lock one. But both had been locked. (I found out later it was because a friend had been in our house fixing up our cooking cas for the oven. And he didn't know we only use the one lock.) I figured David would be home reasonably soon, so I settled myself down on the porch (hard, cold cement) to wait. And wait. (I could have sat on either of the two chairs on our porch, but both were covered with goat droppings, so...) I had a book, fortunately (Hogfather, by Terry Prachett). Zoë heard me out on the porch and went absolutely bonkers. At first she stood at the front door and just meowed pitifully. Then she jumped up onto the sink by the front door (something she'd never done before) and climbed into our louvered window, knocking over the dish drain in the process. She climbed in between the screen and the bars on our window! By this time, a bunch of neighbourhood boys had heard her meowing and had come to see the show. I kept reading while the boys meowed at the cat and chatted, eating mangoes on my porch. After a little while, a little girl came along and asked if she could plait my hair. *shrug* Why not? So she joined our little group and started braiding my hair. David got home at 6:00, finally, but I laughed when he told me he didn't have the key! He'd given his copy to the man who'd fixed our cooking gas, and the friend hadn't returned it yet... Well, David tried to call our friend, but the number wouldn't go through. So he went next-door to see if someone else had his number. We finally got a hold of our friend, who arrived on motorcycle at 6:20 to let us into the house. Phew! He demonstrated that the stove and oven now worked. (Thanks!) But we were just glad to be home, especially because we were due at my mom's for dinner at 6:30! What an adventure. Poor Zoë was quite relieved to have us home to feed her!!

New Nephew: On Tuesday morning, my sister-in-law Lori gave birth to my nephew Ian in Eau Claire, Wisconsin! He was 7lbs, 5oz and 20" long. I'm sure he's just adorable, but I haven't seen any pictures yet. Both mama and baby are doing well. (This is their second. They have a son, Rowan, who's 2-and-a-bit.) I'm so excited to have another nephew! This makes four!

I think that's all the news from here. Today's Daddy's birthday. :) And this weekend we're welcoming a college friend, Sharon, on her second trip to Nigeria for her work. I'm excited to see her again and am looking forward to going hiking and/or swimming.

That's all for now, folks!

Carnival day

Saturday was the annual Carnival at Hillcrest School (our local Christian school begun for missionaries, and my alma mater). David and I weren't real thrilled about going, but I hadn't been in five years, so he agreed to go for a little while.

It was so different from the carnivals I remember of years past! It wasn't an insane mass of people. There weren't so many activities I couldn't think straight. There wasn't enough food to make anyone sick. But the essential bits were the same. There's still a contraption like the dunk tank, where you throw the ball, hit the circle, and get the teacher soaking wet. There's still a bean-bag toss at the wooden clown whose face is a teacher's. There's still horseback riding and face painting, still the zip line and all the little games in the gym for smaller children.

And we had a grand old time exhausting ourselves! David rode a horse... for the first time ever! He also rode the zip line... for the first time ever! I was so proud; he faced both challenges like a man and laughed about them. He also had his first real hot dog - with ketchup and mustard. (We ran out of tickets before he got to have his first snow cone or cotton candy, though!)

And little Luke got to ride on a motorcycle!

Forty-seven states (verbal snapshots)

Alabama – Bull weevil statue in Enterprise, hills around Montgomery, palm trees?

Arizona – hot, dry, the Mexican restaurant in Yuma, vastness of the Grand Canyon (in winter and summer), being marooned in Holbrook for a week with Mary (their Pizza Hut is good)

Arkansas – Misty Mountains, driving through at night in Feb 2005, visiting Erwins

California – place of my kauye (village), brilliant sunsets on the beach, rocky crags and plunging waterfalls of Yosemite, redwoods along the coast

Colorado – flat east, sand dunes, cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, Rocky

Connecticut – trees, a man from Togo pumped my gas

Delaware – visiting Singers, watching the World Series '04, my first white Christmas ('00)!

Florida – hot, muggy, mosquitoes, swampy, Kennedy Space Center (WOW), touching the Gulf of Mexico

Georgia – visiting Laura, seeing Parks, the Coke museum, trees and hills, Lookout Mountain

Idaho – mountains, eating lunch at Subway

Illinois – Urbana: flat flat flat flat flat, Chicago, Navy Pier, rolling hills along the Mississippi, spring walks along the Fox River with budding trees overhead, my home away from home

Indiana – farms, the Greyhound bus station in Indianapolis, congestion around Lake Michigan, visiting Harrigans in Ft. Wayne with John and Jimmy

Iowa – gas prices in Des Moines! visiting Charisa, rolling hills in the east, green

Kansas – trees, crossing the border to say I'd been there, no postcards!

Kentucky – beautiful mountains, crossing the river into Louisville, always passing the caverns sign and wishing I had enough time to detour

Louisiana – Shreveport, swampy trees, listening to My Antonia on tape for my American Lit class

Maine – apples, lots and lots of trees, a mailbox in the shape of a barn, eating lobster (after watching it die in the cooking pot)

Maryland – the airport in Baltimore had a mock cockpit in it, visiting Ardills

Massachusetts – driving under Boston (Wait...what?), now I've “been to Boston in the fall”

Michigan – another home, the shores of Lake Michigan, snow snow snow, ice-skating outside in Grand Rapids the day before Thanksgiving, spinning on ice, the Meijer Gardens in full bloom, lots and lots of trees, visiting Murrays in snowy grey Detroit

Minnesota – cold, very cold, Leslie's wedding in John Piper's church, riding the Ferris wheel at the Mall of America, watching Titanic in the theatre with Laura, lots of snow

Mississippi – I like the river better than the state (no offense), wet

Missouri – rolling hills, sparse trees, AN ELEPHANT viewed from the freeway, all country radio, meeting Brandon for an hour at Denny's, following a yellow moving truck in a heavy downpour so I wouldn't have an accident

Montana – moose and fires at Yellowstone, red sun, Northern Lights, driving when I was 16 without a speed limit

Nebraska – Are we there yet? Bugs on the windshield, farms, corn, TRUCKS

Nevada – flat, dry, hot, lights of Las Vegas (Lord, deliver us from evil), seeing gorgeous snowy Lake Tahoe from Reno, visiting Racheal and Christopher, no hotels to stay in if you're under 21

New Hampshire – beauty beyond words, trees, hills, touring Dartmouth with Ben

New Jersey – putting my feet in the freezing cold Atlantic at 11PM in October with Anna and Kari, watching the World Series, getting up before dawn to go to the bakery, why is it the garden state? turnpike

New Mexico – visiting Arrowsmiths, mountains and desert, dusting of snow, the Navajo flea market, Ruth's wedding and outdoor reception at the state park (beautiful red rocks), Carlsbad Caverns (one of my favourite places in the country)

New York - 4^th of July concert in the mountains, cascade of Niagara Falls, driving into Manhattan to meet Brent & Jenny for church (and paying $30 for parking – never again!), Phantom of the Opera

North Carolina – Charlotte, driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway with Thomas (it really does look blue), SIMCO '89, enjoying fall colours Thanksgiving '00 with the class and Tolars

Ohio – visiting John at Cedarville (one stoplight in the town), corn fields, driving across in such a heavy rainstorm that I had to pull over for 20 minutes, beautiful reds oranges browns on trees

Oklahoma – visiting Anstines with my sister and later with Mary, atrocious road signs, fields and fields

Oregon – majestic mountains, full service gas stations, taking Sarah Rondema out to dinner, meeting Michael W. Smith & shaking his hand

Pennsylvania – green hills, a full rainbow after the storm of Ohio, “Where is my oil cap?”, the Liberty Bell, eating Chinese take-out outside the museum in Philadelphia

Rhode Island - **blink** Where did it go? I didn't even get a chance to get a postcard!

South Carolina – seeing Josh at camp in the mountains, touring Furman & Greenville with Thomas, seeing Laura, lush green hills and meadows, lemonade at Chick-fil-A, Coach's memorial service

South Dakota – Mt. Rushmore...that's all I remember – honest

Tennessee – picking blueberries with Megan, Chattanooga, driving across the Mississippi to Memphis, Justin's wedding, hazy mountains, getting stranded in Knoxville on the way to Coach's memorial service

Texas – Linda's wedding, road trip with Danny, John, Jimmy, and Mark; nighttime speed limit (be aware!), flat west, real Mexican food in El Paso, tornado warning; touring downtown Dallas with Marc, Daniel, & Young Jun; hot and muggy Houston

Utah – Zion National Park, climbing Angel's Landing and feeling on top of the earth, walking the Narrows along the river with rock walls on both sides, Bryce Canyon, trees that smell like vanilla

Vermont – vibrant fall colours, low mountains full of trees, fresh air

Virginia – staying with Lisa, driving an hour to the nearest town with a FedEx-Kinkos, Hannah's wedding in Fredericksburg, everyone claiming “Stonewall Jackson was here,” hills and trees

Washington – rainy Seattle, dry Yakima, rocky peaks in between, visiting Sauerweins, practicing driving in an orchard

West Virginia – going two hours out of the way with Heather to say we'd been there, the biggest teapot in the world?

Wisconsin – visiting Jonathan and Lori, cold, cows, green hills

Wyoming – Devil's Tower, prairie dogs, mountains,

Return of the harmattan

*sigh* The dust came back today.

Those of us who are way too young to remember the Dust Bowl (was that an American football game?) have to imagine what it must have been like. But those of us who live anywhere near the Sahara - or perhaps any desert - can guess.

It had gotten pretty warm, which is pretty normal for this time of year. By March it's usually hot and humid, and we're all wishing the rains would come. It had gotten warm enough that David and I had moved a mattress to the living room so we could sleep under our only fan.

And then suddenly it all changed.

Yesterday I went to work and was cold at my makeshift desk. I really wanted a jumper. Crazy. And today, my househelp Ladi showed up in a heavy jacket! I even wore a jumper throughout the morning. Unbelievable. Then when I stepped outside, I understood.

These photos don't quite capture the extent, but it is very dusty. This isn't fog or smoke; it's fine reddish brown dust. RAIN! Where are you?!?