Sub-par

I got hired this week to substitute teach for two-and-a-half weeks. I'm thankful it's only a part-time subbing job--two classes a day--but it still seems to add a lot of work. I'm teaching 10th grade English class, periods 4 and 7, and I'm supposed to be teaching them to write essays in the SAT style. Considering they didn't have essays on the SAT when I took it, this is a bit challenging.

It's been all right so far. Some of the kids are rambunctious and talk back. Others are quiet and complacent. It's a good mix--about 25 students in all, including two siblings of my classmates. Now that's interesting.

My greatest hurdle so far has been trying to get across to the students the importance of vocabulary words. They memorise ten words a week for a quiz each Friday, but they don't remember them or their meanings. What's the point of learning them? I admit: I was bad at learning vocab words, too. Considering my parentage and my English degree, I have quite a limited vocabulary. I know I need to improve it... And maybe teaching is giving me the extra push I need. But how can I express the importance of words to my students? In less than three weeks?

Well, anyway, I could sure use prayer!

Joshua's birthday

Wednesday we celebrated Joshua's 34th birthday.

"Who is Joshua?" I'm so glad you asked!

Joshua is an old family friend of ours we first met 16 years ago upon our arrival in Jos. He is a charismatic young man with brittle bone disease (osteogenesis imperfecta). Because his bones are brittle and break easily, he has never been able to walk (as far as I know) and is transported around town in a wagon. Although he's faced tremendous challenges, he has spunk and an optimistic spirit. He coaches a football (soccer) team, loves to preach, and is currently working on the script for a video. We thank God for Joshua's 34 years and how He has blessed Joshua in spite of physical suffering.

Joshua had said that he'd hoped his party could be Saturday because a relative from out of town couldn't come on Wednesday. But we'd already planned on coming to visit him Wednesday, since that was his actual birthday, so we hoped we could avoid the crowd by keeping with our original plan. Mom baked and decorated two huge birthday cakes, and we put together our small gifts and birthday cards. We piled into my parents' car (I knew my car would never survive the journey) and drove out to Joshua's house, where he lives with (and is taken care of by) his mother, Esther.

The road to Joshua's house is absolutely wretched. At one point, I asked if I could get out and walk instead. I'm terrified of bad roads, and this one was truly the pits. One place was impassable, so we had to take an alternate route (which proved better anyway). When we arrived, we discovered--to our great surprise--a small crowd gathered under two canopies. There was a sound system set up--although no power to run it--and maybe a hundred plastic chairs beneath the canopies. We greeted Joshua, delivered the cakes, and sat down outside. Soon, Auntie Esther came and insisted we sit inside the house.

The walls of the living room are plastered with football posters and articles. There's no way to mistake Joshua's favourite sport (one he's never played himself). It was hot and stuffy inside, and after a little while, we went back outside. Clouds were gathering, promising an imminent rainstorm. After awhile, a man stood up next to Joshua's wagon and welcomed everyone. He then asked my husband to pray to begin the party. David did so (in Hausa). Then the man asked my dad to give an "exhortation" to those congregated. Dad spoke about Joshua's thanksgiving attitude and how we should also rejoice in all circumstances. Then the man asked for a few people to sing Joshua a special number. One person led us in "Happy Birthday," but the rest of us were rescued due to lack of time, as the storm clouds were descending. We sang Joshua "Happy Birthday" again, and Mom posed to cut the cake with Joshua for a photo.

Afterwards was a quick photo shoot--oh and did I mention there was a cameraman from the local Nigerian TV network?

...and then it began to rain, softly at first. It was also getting dark, even though it was only about 5:30, and my family all agreed we should leave before the rain really began. Not only did we not want to get wet, but the road would become impossible in the rain. So we piled back into my parents' car, giving Auntie Esther our apologies. (She kept insisting we stay for the food, but we emphatically told her we weren't offended that we were missing the refreshments.)

And it poured as soon as we reached the main road; we'd traveled the dirt road just in time!

So we did what we had gone to do: greet Joshua and wish him "many happy returns" on his birthday, and deliver his birthday cakes. He was happy. His mother was happy. And we were happy not to remain for the whole program. But I do wish we'd gotten to taste the birthday cake!

007

I watched my first James Bond movie over the weekend. Okay, so maybe this isn't an event worthy of a post, but too bad. If you don't like it, don't read it.

David and I watched GoldenEye, and it was my first experience ever with a James Bond film. Why? Because I'd heard enough about James Bond to have already formed a pretty accurate opinion of him: He's a 20th century Captain James T. Kirk. But one of the characters in the movie put it best, using the words "sexist" and "misogynist." That about sums it up for me. The fact that the man goes around kissing every woman he meets--including the enemies--just turns me completely off. Okay, so he only sleeps with one or two. *gag* The guy's a schmoozing, arrogant player if you ask me. Some might call him, "suave" and "debonair," but not I. No sir. (My husband's a Mr. Knightly, thank you very much.)

But the other thing that just made me roll my eyes is the total unrealism. Okay, so I'm a science fiction and fantasy fan. I love Star Trek, Star Wars, and most movies and books that take place in the future or another world. But to watch a train blow up and see Bond standing up with a pristine white shirt and straight tie, not a speck of dust on his suit jacket... That's just going a little too far.

Besides, seeing things blown up in the first place isn't my idea of a great way to spend time. No, I don't hate action movies. I've seen lots that I like, including any with Harrison Ford. But the plot has to be clever enough to make up for the overuse of explosions, machine guns, and running for cover. I like intelligent movies. (Okay, okay, and some stupid funny ones, too, but not the really stupid ones. I will never watch Austin Powers, and I usually avoid Jim Carrey movies.)

So that's my impression of James Bond. If I've missed something, please tell me. I'd be happy to watch another one--one more, mind you--if you can recommend a really great one. Maybe one with Sean Connery?

Trip to the zoo

We took a family trip to the zoo on Saturday.

The Jos Zoo is right across a small street from the museum, where there was a wedding taking place. So the zoo was crowded with visitors, and it was hard for us to find a place to park. But we found a place and entered the zoo. The entrance fee is only N50 for adults (N20 for kids), which is less than 50 cents. But they charge N200 if you want to bring in a camera. Fortunately, we've done this enough times to have known that ahead of time, and I took in my camera.

When we first go in, we pass through a turnstile and then walk across a narrow plank bridge that always makes me nervous. First we see the crocodile, then the tortoises. Then the baboons, chimps, lots of other monkeys... On the left are some ostriches and then a pen for gazelles. But we don't see any gazelles--just a donkey walking behind the gazelle pen. We pass the lion cage on our right, but we can't see the lion well. He's sunbathing on top of a heap of rocks, so all we can see is his mane. There's a walled pit where the boa constrictor lives. He's curled up on top of his thatched hut, fast asleep, and a yellow-and-black lizard is relaxing on top.

In the very back of the zoo, there are a few cages with birds, including a caged area with peafowl and its neighbouring swans. (David says they're a kind of duck, but there's no sign, and they look like swans to us.) There's a break in a fence, and we see a horse (Hausa, doki)munching grass on the other side. Dad sees a camel way back, but I can't see him. While we're snapping the horse, a roaming donkey comes up to us and sniffs the horse. Luke's terrified of the donkey, and when Dad picks him up so I can get a photo, Luke screams to be let down again--which makes the rest of us laugh. It's a donkey, for heaven's sake! (Hausa, jaki)

In other other cages are lots of other monkeys and birds. We see another donkey in a pen. A young girl follows us around with a bucket on her head. In the bucket are some bean cakes; Dad thinks they're like Nigerian tofu. We don't want to eat any (not sure of the sanitation anyway), but Dad buys one to feed the monkeys. One of the chimps even does some "dances" for us after we give him the food. Our last stop before we leave is the hyena enclosure. We can see one hyena only. Luke says he doesn't want to get too close, and Dad remarks on the cage wire. The squares are a good 5" by 5", quite large enough for a hyena paw to get through!

All in all, it's a fun trip, with lots of pictures I put on Flickr. Not quite like my trip to the San Diego Zoo a year-and-a-half ago, but, hey, this is Africa!

Scamming

Nigeria’s famous for its scams, especially email scams. I remember my roommate Heather once asking me about an email she’d received from someone claiming to have just inherited several million dollars. The writer wanted access to an American bank account to which he could transfer the money so that it would be safe. Of course, he asked for assistance in starting a bank account and–the best part–a deposit in good faith. Heather was smart enough to be suspicious, and we laughed about it later.

This is just normal for us. We’re used to it. We laugh about it a lot–although not when people we know are led astray. But this is a call to alertness. Daddy just had an unfortunate experience with someone scamming in his name, using his personal information and identity. (See his blog at http://www.ecwaevangel.org/blog/no-free-puppies_193/ for the details.)

So if you get an email from someone you know trying to sell something, offer some financial deal, or anything like that, don’t be easily misled! Don’t reply to the email address they give, but get in touch with your friend directly using his personal email address. Ask questions. Be suspicious. I won’t be offended if you raise an eyebrow at something I send in an email, so it’s better to be safe and check things out.

Okay, stepping down off my soapbox now.

I can post again!!

It works! It works! Yay! Sorry for the long wait. Now I have two blogs to maintain!! :) I don't know if anyone is even reading this anymore, but I think I might as well keep blogging here since it's actually a million times easier to use (when it works). So if you are reading this, never fear. You can continue here (and at Baby Trek).

Thanks for keeping up with me!

Benson's printing press

The press actually has a name, but we never use it. We always just talk about "Benson" this and "Benson" that, since he's the one who runs the place.

Benson is one of the printers who works for both ACTS and Joint Project (the two organisations for which I work). Most recently, Joint Project hired him to print their younger children Sunday School materials for 2008 and the upcoming adaptation of Pilgrim's Progress. So we went today to see how things are coming along.

I'd never been to a printing press before. It's not one of the field trips my class ever got to take growing up. But wow, was it fascinating! First we talked with Benson about the cover for Pilgrim's Progress. He showed us some samples, but his personal printer had just run out of yellow ink, so it was hard to imagine what they should have looked like. We took his samples to consider. Then he showed us the "sets" of illustrations for Pilgrim's Progress. Each sheet of paper was about 1 meter by 1.5 meters and had four illustrations on it. This was how a plate was made. (We got to see these plates later on.)

Then Benson showed us the laminating machine, which they use to make glossy book covers. From there we went through the collating room. There were about a dozen people there, standing around a table and putting pages in the right order--collating by hand each and every book to be bound. A young woman sat at one end and looked at every set to make sure the pages were in the right order. Beside her, at another smaller table, sat a man who put the cover and spine on each book.

We followed Benson back downstairs to the press room. It was noisy in there, and smelled of ink fumes. I tried to listen as much as possible to what Benson told us about the way the presses worked. Each piece of paper (80grams) goes through the press four times--first for blue ink, then for yellow, then red, and finally black. That's why the paper has to be reasonably heavy-weight. He showed us the plates that are used in the press, and I stepped forward a bit to see the press run. So cool! Who came up with the idea for this machine, anyway?

But then I got overwhelmed by the fumes and noise and had to step outside. We thanked Benson, said we'd be in touch about the cover, and bade him farewell. So now I've been to a real printing press!

Cat sitting over!

What with the change-over in blogs, I forgot to announce that we are no longer cat-sitting!
My friend Sara and her husband were gone for SIX WEEKS instead of two. Now, I love cats. I really do. They’re my favourite animal. (I like camels, but honestly, I wouldn’t want to own one.) And I enjoyed having two cats. In fact, I would have loved to keep little Tigger…

…except that he never did use the litter box. Of all the annoying things cats can do–including yowling at night, scratching furniture, biting your toes, etc.–that has to be the worst. And since I’m pregnant and terrified of toxoplasmosis or whatever it is, I won’t touch the cat’s messes. So my poor househelp, Ladi, who I swear is a saint, had to clean up after the kitty three times a week. Poor, sweet Ladi!

So I was sad but glad to say goodbye to Tigger when Sara called to say she was back in town. The only thing was that she’s just taken a new job that will involve a lot of travel. So she decided she couldn’t keep the kitten. It just wasn’t practical. She said she’d try to find him a permanent home. Well, I sent out an email to our missionary community asking if anyone wanted little Tigger. And while Sara was at my house on Monday–surprise! A lady I’d met in February popped in to ask if she could have the kitten. So Sara and I both got to talk to her, and she took Tigger right then and there. PHEW! God is good–all the time!

So we no longer have Tigger. I miss him, but I sure don’t miss the house’s smelling like a loo. Thank you, Mrs. Galadima, for adopting Tigger! (And good luck!)

Evening cacophany

I don’t often listen to the nature sounds around me. Not that I don’t like them and am trying to ignore them. I just have gotten so used to them that I hardly pay them mind anymore.

Tonight’s different, though. I don’t have on any music, and Luke’s playing computer in another room, so it’s quiet in the living room. Human quiet, that is. Outside there’s a symphony going on. I think the cicadas have to be the loudest of the bunch, but the crickets aren’t far behind. And then there are the fruit bats. It’s bewildering how loud they are, and even more bewildering how little I usually take notice.

Isn’t it funny how life can be like that? You adjust to some things so easily that you don’t even notice their existence? Take our lack of running water, for example. One day a week or two ago, David said, “Water!” At first I didn’t even know what he was talking about. Then he pointed to the sink and said, “We have running water!” No way! Water was gushing from the faucet, and I couldn’t believe it. It didn’t last very long, and we didn’t even need water at that point because it’s been raining so frequently we usually catch all the water we need. Besides, it’s not as if our shower works, or our toilet flushes, so running water isn’t entirely useful in our household. But boy was it strange to have water flowing from the faucet! When something is gone, you just don’t miss it after awhile. I had a chocolate Kiss today for the first time in months and months. And it was good. But I think I’ll survive without it for another few months.

That being said, I hope that will never happen in my marriage! David has traveled to Ibadan this week (again) for a medical conference. Last time I was lucky enough to be on working retreat, so I wouldn’t have seen him much anyway. This time I’m home all week—five days without my husband. Yesterday I cried and cried. I don’t like being apart from David anyway, but especially now that I’m pregnant, with hormones raging (and giving me any and every excuse to weep), I’m just an emotional wreck. So sue me. But we will never be apart long enough for the absence to become “normal.” No marriage by correspondence. That was something we agreed upon before we married. Nope, I treasure our days together and long for Saturday to come quickly.

And the creatures outside actually do sound nice.

Mom's new baby

Mom got another baby two weeks ago. It’s hard to believe, I know, but here she is. Abigail is two weeks old today, and she’s a scrawny little thing, but cute. Compared to Lydia, this little one is pretty colicky. But it’s not really fair to compare her to Lydia, who was an exceptionally pleasant baby. (God, please let me have another Lydia of my own!)

We don’t really know anything about Abigail’s background. Her mom showed up in the crisis pregnancy centre at the hopital on Tuesday and delivered her baby on Wednesday. I’ll try to find out more. She weighed in at 7lbs 11oz at birth, but I think she’s smaller than that now. She does this cute thing with opening and closing her mouth. And she loves to shake her head.

I really don’t know how Mom keeps up with these babies, but she genuinely enjoys it. It’s truly her “thing.” What an amazing woman!

Children of Eden

I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of it. It’s not nearly as popular as, say, The Phantom of the Opera or Cats. But it’s an amazing musical, telling the story of Genesis from the creation of the world through the end of the flood.

Hillcrest—my school—put on Children of Eden when I was a senior in high school. It was my last chance to be in a dramatic and musical production, and I was disappointed to only get a part in the chorus. Over time, though, and after going to rehearsal after rehearsal, I fell in love with the musical and even the role of the chorus. As in so many Greek plays, the chorus in Children of Eden are the storytellers, the ones who do the actual narration. They’re a vital part of the story.

But it was Adam and Eve who truly stole the show. That was their purpose, and boy, did they succeed. They evoked tears and laughter, and everyone was blown away by their performance. When I listen to the professional recording, I instead here Bob’s voice as Adam, and Titi as Eve. They brought the characters to life. I still cry when I listen to the song “World without You,” when Adam chooses Eve instead of God.

Although the story is biblical, it’s not exactly Christian. But both the songs and message are poignant and moving. Throw in a hint of comedy with Noah and his family, and the whole production is fantabulous. My favourite memories of high school are from rehearsing that production, coming together with the others in our cast to worship God through music. I’ll never forget going barefoot on stage and mourning the death of Abel, or holding candles to represent the stars coming out after the flood. The very music is inside me, along with all my memories.

If you haven’t ever seen or heard this musical, you must.