Happy Thanksgiving!

>>> OUR THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I trust you had a wonderful holiday! Many people have asked me to tell them what we had for our Thanksgiving dinner...so, I am going to do my best to describe it.
First of all, you may be disappointed to hear that we did not have anything exotic. Exotic happens enough the rest of the time, we decided to change things up and go for as close to normal as possible. :) In that frame of mind, we had to start off by giving up on Turkey (no one here has even heard of a 20 pound bird here)...so, chickens were the next closest thing. Ironically, we even had a hard time buying some of those...but, after much effort, we triumphed. This meant waking up at 2 am, 3 am, 4 am, etc. to the lovely choir of competing cock-a doodlers. FUN - especially since their house is right outside our bedroom window!!! Thursday was not possible for us, since school was in session (Thanksgiving is not a holiday here)...so, we had our feast on Saturday! Saturday morning, we had a quick breakfast of cinnamon rolls, then headed out to kill the birds. You would have really enjoyed it. Dad knows how to wing the chicken around in a full circle, and then flick his wrist and snap it's neck. The head comes off in his hand and the headless body flops frantically around on the ground for a few minutes. Caleb and Seth (and Roy, although he would never admit it) all wanted to learn how to do it. SO, our entire family went out... on what was our thanksgiving morning, to cheer, film, and photograph the events as the "menfolk" attempted to "wring" the chickens necks (and first, they had to catch them...). You want to talk about entertainment... You all had a football game, but I can guarantee you that we had more laughs and fun than you did! It was hilarious!
But, back to the food... We then fried up the chicken, then put it into the pressure cooker. If we had not done that, we might as well of had beef jerky... these chickens out here are TOUGH!!! Clare and I had already worked the day before to cook up sweet potatoes - which were then made into sweet potato pie and sweet potato casserole, homemade oatmeal rolls, and coconut custard pie (using coconut I had previously grated, roasted, and dried). We then put a squash in our solar oven and pulled out some much treasured jars of pickles and olives! I am telling you... we ate like kings! We even had cool whip for our sweet potato pie and our coconut custard pie! Clare got a kick out of our way of making cool whip, so she took a picture.
At any rate, I have decided that being thankful really has absolutely NOTHING to do with what you have or don't have. Life is so much simpler, yet harder here... and yet, I find myself being much more thankful. I am grateful for so many things and yet as I mentally list them, I realize that many people in the western world would not even notice them as blessings, and yet so many people here don't even have these things at all. I am thankful for firewood, bandaids, spices, parmesan cheese, powdered milk, sunshine, and the ability to read... just to name a few. I am thankful when I manage to get all of the clothes off the line and folded without getting bitten by any ants, and I am thankful that my children are well (other than the occasional bouts of ringworm). I am grateful to be daily astounded by the beauty and variety of God's creation outside my backdoor, bugs, butterflies, birds, etc. AND, I am grateful for YOU! Thank you so much for your prayers and support... and for caring enough to read the crazy rantings of one woman...taking one day at a time...relying completely on the one true God!

Yesterday, in the Diploma class, as we were covering Erikson's Stages of Development, we came to Intimacy versus Isolation. For those of you unfamiliar with Erikson, this stage describes what is commonly encountered in the 18-35 year old range. In this stage, according to the theory, we as human being grapple with the issue of creating truly intimate relationships rather than spending our days in isolation. It specifically looks at this age group as one seeks a marriage partner and begins a family. My diploma class is made up entirely of men, most of whom are married and have a family. However, in this culture marriage is not viewed the same as you and I do. The conversation went something like this...
Me: So, why do you think this age group seeks a wife?
Class: So that you will have someone to cook for you, wash your clothes and help make the farm.
Me: What if you could live alone and have someone just bring meals to you and wash your clothes for you?
Class: Well, then you would need children also.
Me: Alright then, what if someone brought you some children, said that you could have them, and then did the work of raising them for you.
Class: Well, the children need to actually be your own.
Me: OK, then the children are yours and someone else raises them for you, why do you need a wife?
Class: Uh........???

Interesting, isn't it. How do you translate the concept of emotional intimacy between a man and wife to a culture that does not even understand that. On the other hand, they understand the biblical idea of the friendship between David and Jonathan much better than we do, because they are closer to members of their own gender than they are to their wives. Our culture, where men smile and nod at each other, and exchange gun stories or sports trivia, does not understand it as well. I commented to my class that my husband was my best friend and they were shocked! :)
In contrast, today I proceeded still further in translating Pride and Prejudice into Krio for my Certificate level class, who, surprisingly... are thoroughly enjoying the story. We dealt with the idea that it is foolish to marry someone just for the sake of their inheritance, rather than for who they are... and that marriage is not something to be taken lightly. Interestingly enough, that concept seemed to translate just fine.! I have so much to learn. :)
I sometimes feel like my life is a paradox of characters. I sometimes feel like June Cleaver in Leave it to Beaver... wearing my long skirts as I cook and bake everything from scratch... until I trip over one of my three stones that make up my stove/oven... and then I remember that I probably have a lot more in common with the mother of the Swiss Family Robinson. I can relate to Amelia Earhart, as I carefully tread the fine line of teaching men in a male dominated culture... one in which women are simply workers, without much of a voice... and yet at the same time I often feel like Christy - thrown in over my head with no idea of what I have gotten myself into.
Here is the coolest thing... I have developed - at least momentarily.... a fearlessness that says "Let the chips fall where they may, I will continue on the path I know that God has for me" I am no longer afraid of opposition or failure. God is in control of both circumstances and timing. I have nothing to fear. So, I dive from one literary comparison to the other in my day to day adventures, knowing the end of the story is in God's capable hands - so I just enjoy the adventures, the suspense, the ups and the downs...all the while knowing it will all turn out just right in the end.

One year ago yesterday, we landed in Freetown. Can you believe it? It seems like a lifetime ago, and yet it was yesterday... I look at how we have changed and grown, and I HOPE that we have brought as much as we have received.

Whipped up Entertainment!

As you have all gathered by now, living here is not simple and often requires thinking outside the lines. On the flip side, we enjoy such luxuries as tree-ripened tropical fruit and year-long sunshine. The other day, we got some fresh coconut,so we grated it, roasted it, and made coconut custard pie from scratch (no drooling please). We wanted to make some cool whip for the top of it, but as we do not have electricity, and our manual handmixer is in the crates... this posed a problem. I took a shish-ka-bob skewer, bent one end into a loop (somewhat like a paperclip) and put the other end into my husband cordless drill (Isn't he nice to let me borrow it?) Voila! A hand mixer!! I am delighted to report that not only did it work...but, the pie was excellent! :) The funniest part was the clean-up however. We had mixed it in a large canning jar. Jeepy (our genet) was very interested in the whipped cream, so we put the jar on the floor to see what he would do. He circled it suspiciously a few times...and then went for it. As you can see from the photos, he pretty much dived in. The kids got a huge kick out of watching him lick it clean from the inside with the front half of his body also on the inside of the jar. How cool is that... dinner AND entertainment!

Funny T-shirts

Most recent entries for the funny t-shirt contest:

1. I (heart) Dallas Foot-ball - This was on a pink tee being worn by a young man approx. 20 years of age, and while that is funny... it is even funnier to realize that here "football" means soccer.
2. Google- I have to wonder what this guy thinks that means.
3. Raging Crocodile Round-up - I'm not even sure what that one means.
4. As I was riding down the road, I passed several people walking in single file. The first one was wearing a shirt that said We're bringing sexy back". The person walking right behind him was an old lady wearing a shirt that said "Italians do it better". I am fairly sure that it was not very "missionary-ish" to laugh at that one, but it was just too funny!
5. AND... last but not least... one of our Bible School students came to class wearing a shirt that said "O'Colleen - Kiss me, I'm American" and it had a four-leaf clover shape in the colors of the American flag.

ENJOY! ;)

I have really been wondering whether or not I am getting through. I teach the Bible School students from 11:00 to 2:00 each day and they have not been all that responsive. If I LIKED to hear myself talk, that would not be a problem...but, I teach with more of a Socratic method...you know, a line of questioning (somewhat like a 2-year-old) that leads the student to think for themselves. I also try to get them to discuss as much as possible. In short, unresponsive students make me nervous. I think it is also because, teaching cross-culturally, I depend on the feedback to know that they understand.
I found out yesterday that they ARE hearing me. WHEW!!! The students each take a turn either leading the worship or preaching. Yesterday was our Wednesday night service, and the worship leader referred to Job ( which we are covering in our English class) as someone who praised God even in his trials. The preacher took his sermon from the book of Job, chapter one, and did a fabulous job covering the concepts we discussed in class. Isn't God good! I didn't want to teach this class. I came here planning on setting up a clinic, and instead, ended up teaching...WITHOUT any curriculum or books. I said no at first because I didn't see how I could possibly teach the students AND my kids. Now I am teaching 7 classes for the Bible School, none of which have a textbook or curriculum, AND I am teaching my own three children...without a curriculum.
I can honestly witness to the fact that GOD CAN! Whatever you are facing today, no matter how impossible it seems... you think you can't do it! Well, YOU probably can't. BUT, I personally promise... GOD CAN!

Today I had the unique privilege of translating Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice into Krio, which is probably an unusual thing to put on a resume. One of the classes I am teaching is English Literature - Certificate level. I have tried to cover the fact that Literature is made up of prose and poetry... although trying to explain poetry in another culture to someone who speaks a different language is a challenge, I have to say. I explained it as words that have a drum beat in them. That seemed to work better than anything else. In prose, of course we have fiction and non-fiction, that was fairly straight forward. But now we are covering examples of different eras of Literature. I don't have many things on hand, so I am using what I have. The best part was... THEY LOVED IT!!! In a culture in which marriages are arranged, the idea of being preoccupied with finding a wealthy husband for your girls... well, that it is just logical. For Mrs. Bennet to be so silly about it, well that is downright funny!!! It would seem that what truly makes a good author is the ability to get down to what really makes us tick... those universal tendencies to foolishness and humor... and portray them in a way that allows us to relate across time and culture. Amazing... and really fun!!! I have always enjoyed reading... but this puts a whole new spin on things.
The best part is that, since I am teaching in a Bible School, I can point out to my students that God is the "author" of the Bible, and He has the ultimate ability to see into the hearts of men across time and culture. He portrays things with grace and humor in such a way that we have the opportunity to see ourselves in truth. He is the "author AND finisher of our faith..." How cool is that? I feel so fortunate to be able to explore with my class, all of the dimensions of literature and how, really, we as "mortal man" are not all that different from each other. I wonder if Jane Austen would have ever imagined that she would be used to teach spiritual concepts to people in Sierra Leone, West Africa.