* I'm on mid term break right now. Four days of vacation. FABULOUS! We were supposed to get our mid term exams two weeks ago, but three supply planes came and went and no exams on any of them, so we decided to just do the exams later and go for break now, which means that it's a real live break and I don't have to spend my four days marking, marking, marking. WOOT!
* I taught a bunch of kids the Funky Chicken the other day. They were so chocked that their madam would do something so undignified that at first, when I started flapping my arms and knocking my knees, they all covered their mouths, screamed, and ran away. I modified it for the desert... no bacon sizzling, try "Let me see your chapati sizzle." No Frankenstein, try "Let me see your camel wobble." No garden hose, try "Let me see your hyena laughing..." They loved it so much that when we got to the end they wanted to do it all again. One girl told me, "Woooy, madam, it's sooo funnnyyyy!" and slapped my arm in a chummy gesture. She gave me a bruise!
* Scorpions seem to be thinking that my room is a cool place to hang out lately. It's not. I need a sign on the door that says, "If you enter, YOU WILL DIE."
* I started the 100 push ups challenge for something fun and exciting to do (what was I thinking?!), but after about a week and a half, my wrists really really hurt. I blamed the concrete floor (I really should have brought a yoga mat or something) and ditched. I felt kinda wussy, but oh well. Then I learned that my wrists were hurting from doing laundry, not the push ups. Now I feel even MORE wussy (seriously?! a LAUNDRY injury???), and have last my excuse for not doing the pushups. Dang.
* I'm almost finished making my Rendille necklaces, and some girls from my class are going to help me make a rimirimo (the headgear that the women wear). I'm excited! Along the same lines, I'm very much enjoying "fashion freedom" while I'm living here. My friend Trudy observed when she went to Niger that the rule seems to be "pretty + pretty = pretty" and basically anything goes. Green skirt? Pink shirt? Awesome! Hey look, I'm a peppermint! Huge bold patterns? The more gaudy the better! And sequins! Everything is better when it sparkles! (Right, Vicky?!?) And also, for example, I relish the fact that wearing a complete sack is the norm (a la my tie die dress/sac). It's SO COMFORTABLE, and I love it. Here's my demonstration of the totally un-Stacy & Clinton approved outfit. Oh, baby... runways of the world, LOOK OUT! This girl is FIERCE! (Buah hah haaaaaa!)
* After the mid term break, I'm going to try to start a really fun writing project with the kids (if they don't mutiny on me cause it's not the typical weekly boring-as-stink meaningless, reason-less "COMPOSITION" that they always so!). I want to know some traditional Rendille fables, so the kids are going to write them down for me. We'll revise, we'll edit (shocking!!! You mean, not just a one-off and hand to the teacher for some meaningless mark type work?!?!), and we'll make a good copy that will be published in a binder with page protectors. We'll make pictures to go with it, and I'll leave the book in the school library. Wahoo! They have a PURPOSE for writing! They're excited, and so am I!
* I'm rather amazed at technology. Here I sit, and my computer takes in my voice, and beams it over to the wireless receiver at Grant and Loki's house. The receiver sends it to the satellite dish, which in turn sends it to SPACE and bounces it back to Canada somewhere. It goes from the receiver in Canada to a phone network, and calls my family and friends and WE CAN TALK! Kinda like pulling a "nyah-nyah nyah-nyah boo-boo" at this remote desert place. Ha ha! But even better than that? I can TALK TO YOU!!! Seriously, folks, if I've talked to you, you have NO idea how happy that makes me! And if I haven't talked to you, why on earth not?! :)
* Ummm.... that's all for now! More tids and bits later. OH! No! I forgot! Tids and bits reminded me of Tim Bits, which reminded me of this: I made my own donuts today! Well, donuts is a term used very loosely. Basically I fried some lumps of dough in boiling fat. But mmmmm, were they good! All sprinkled with icing sugar and hot and delicious! AND?! I made maple syrup. I went out and tapped a maple tree in our backyard and... oh, wait. Nope - water, brown sugar, a little bit of corn starch, and some maple flavouring, and voila! Ok, Canadians, I know, it's not the real thing, but it certainly did the trick for my French Toast! (let me tell you how happy I was to finally find three eggs that didn't have chickens growing in them)
And here's a fun picture - just because - of me and a cutie patootie who came to sit with me at church last week:
2 comments:
love it Hillary!!! You sound so happy and well-adjusted...hope things will continue to go well in your last few months :o) Korr is lucky to have you!
What? You don't like incipient chicks in your eggs?
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