Templeton

I know, you're probably thinking I'm a bit crazy, but today, I'm missing little Templeton the rat from Juba. I went with my nephews to see the new "Charlotte's Web" movie, and of course, little Templeton in that movie was just like our own little Templeton in Juba. They were both kinda ornery, but yet somehow lovable.

I do highly recommend the movie. There are some great themes in it about grace and love and compassion and friendship. All those wonderful things that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. All those wonderful things that make me remember that there is still general Grace in the world, and it's not all bad! Our culture has allowed God to leave a few traces of Himself in some of our pop-culture!

Tomorrow I'm going skiing at the local hill with Dad and the two oldest nephews. And I'm still bouncing around some ideas for a presentation that I'm doing in my sister's church on Sunday. It always takes me a while to let things perculate through my brain before I can sit down and plan it all... and then I end up running out of time and wish that I had done something different... but I trust that God has some purpose for this meeting on Sunday, so I'm excited about the opportunity!

Christmas is good. Christmas is very good.

I'm sitting here in my parent's basement, watching the fake Christmas tree spin in circles, listening to my one nephew make little boy sounds as he jumps on the couch and slashes his plastic sword through the air, and helping two of my other nephews play a computer game on my OLD computer while I burn recovery DVDs for me NEW computer!

Our Christmas festivities were great fun. We went to church on Christmas Eve, which was lovely, as usual. Half the fun of going to church on Christmas Eve, I must admit, is seeing friends who are normally scattered far and near, yet all come "home" at Christmas. Amazing to see old friends and get introduced to their respective spouses and new babies!

On Christmas Day, we dragged my nephews out of bed (one of them actually had to be woken up at about 10am because we were all waiting for him so we could have our breakfast together!). After opening our presents, we set to work in the kitchen getting the feast ready. My aunt & uncle and 4 cousins came over for the big turkey feast in the afternoon. We had a grand time together - a little recreation (shuffle board, darts), a little food (ok, a LOT of food), and a little smoking (just the shisha and some frankensense & myrrh in the incense burner). All the good things of Christmas :)

Then on Boxing Day, we had the usual extended family shindig up in Edmonton! What fun it was! Every year we go, I get shorter. My cousins are all SO tall, and now they're starting to bring along their tall girl/boy friends/fiancees/spouses. There are new people to meet every time we get together. For the most part, they're all lovely people. I have a lot of respect for my cousins who bring their new significant others to the big family shindigs. I think I'll probably be married to someone before I would make him face the extended family! It's a scary thing to meet all of my relatives...

Anyways, it was great fun to catch up with my cousins and family again, especially now that we're all growed up. And it's not every day that you can fill half a church with your relatives and sing carols around the organ!

Phew, it was a lot of Chrismassing, but so worth it! What a blessing it is to be surrounded by so much family and friends.

Happy Christmas

Christmas is coming! And it's coming too fast! Since I just rejoined life again, I don't have enough time to get ready for Christmas. I just mailed a few this morning; I guess they won't get there in time, but people will be able to enjoy them more AFTER all the holiday excitement! At least, that's what I'm telling myself. I should probably get around to writing a Christmas letter/newsletter at some point, as well, but that would require some peace and quiet... which doesn't happen when my nephews are here :) Not that I'm complaining or anything!

So if you haven't gotten a Christmas card from me yet, it's on the way... and you can read these Happy Christmas greetings from me. May you have a wonderful and peaceful celebration with your families and friends.

Back in Action

So my hibernating is officially over, I think. This evening, as I was looking around at the magazines in Indigo, I realized that I am ready to face the world and start doing stuff again! I've been doing things and going places and talking to people already, of course, but now I feel ready to take on the world! Funny how I need to hibernate for a little while when I come home from overseas. I guess part of it is just resting and getting some energy back - I haven't even felt like unpacking or writing my Christmas cards or anything yet. But tonight, I think I've turned the corner and I'm ready to tackle my suitcases, email inbox, Christmas cards, PD and visiting all my friends ...

But it's already 11pm, so I think I'll go to bed and start it all in the morning :)

Brrr.... Part 3

I think being cold is just going to be a fact of life for the next few weeks! This morning, I sat in church with my mittens on, and wearing more layers than I have in months! Feels kinda like I'm the Michelin Man with so many thick clothes on. Even though I've grown up in this climate, it's a bit more of a shock to my system this time it seems.

It was good to be back in church this morning, though. I always go back to church on my first Sunday home with a bit of fear and trembling - while I love seeing everyone and being back "home" and enjoying a good service, there's always something that makes me a little nervous about seeing so many people again after such a long time away! And I never quite know what to say when people ask me, "How was your trip?". I mean, do they really want to hear all about the challenges and joys of living overseas, or do they just want to hear, "Fine!". And the noisy, busy foyer of the church is never the ideal place to chat with people, even if they do want to hear more than just "Fine!"

Anyways, it turned out to be a very nice service - Pastor Mike had a great sermon that really caused me to think about Advent - getting ready for a Big Christmas. Not just filled with all the hoopla, but really filled with Christ. So I want to spend some time being quiet this week, just hibernating and thinking about the words of Malachi 3.
I was also reminded of the last Sunday that I was in Juba. We went to the ECS Cathedral for the English service there. It was a communion Sunday, and as people were streaming up to take their communion, the song that was being sung by the choir had words that said something to the effect of "here is the Glory of God". And as I was watching people walk by me on their way to the alter, I was really filled with a real sense of the presence and glory of God in them. For the first time, I was starting to fall in love with the Sudanese people as people who can and do reflect the glory of God. And that was a really cool experience. I can't work in a place where I don't love the people, and I was seeing how God was giving me more love for the Sudanese people.

First thing in the morning on the train to Mombasa, the chimes woke us up again and we found our way back to the dining car for a lovely English breakfast, complete with grilled tomatoes! We sat with a Somali woman who works for the Kenya examination board. She was travelling down to Mombasa to take the national exams to the schools. This is a very important job in Kenya, as they take their national exams VERY seriously. Anyways, we had a really nice chat with her. But the whole time, I was feeling a little awkward sitting there and munching on my bacon while chatting with a fully covered Muslim woman!

Mid-morning, we pulled into Mombasa, and found ourslves a taxi to take us to the Voyager Beach Resort. We got an incredibly cheap deal there, so I was feeling a little out of my league with all the other folks who were there, who were spending an awful lot more money than we were! But it was very nice to be pampered and spoiled a little, especially after spending the last month with the rats and dust of Juba...

Voyager Beach Resort is right on the beach and also has 3 swimming pools to choose from! The best pool is called the "Relax" pool, where you can just sit and look out over the beach as you float in the coolness of the clear fresh water... ah.... I've never ever been on a holiday like this before, and it was wonderful! All inclusive food and drinks, so you could sit in the pool with a pineapple juice in one hand and a burger in the other :)

And, seeing so many, um, well, not so model-ish people in really small bikinis and speedos made me feel not quite so self-conscious of my own not so model-ish figure - even though I DID just spend a month doing hard labour in Juba :)

Oh, Mom needs some help decorating the Christmas tree... plus my toes are turning into ice cubes, so I need to go and find my slippers. From the white sandy Indian ocean beaches to this. Hmmm, I know where I'd rather be...

So here's an abbreviated story of my our epic adventure to the coast...

Started with a journey through the streets of downtown Nairobi, as Crystal and I followed her Kenyan friend to the train station. The Kenyan friend was very concerned for our safety, and spent his last few minutes with us warning us not to trust anyone or anything! It was cute how concerned he was for us.

We eventually followed all the other white people to the "Upper class" booking office and managed to get our boarding cards. Both Crystal and I were in a little bit of culture shock from seeing so many white folks in one place at the same time! For some reason, I find big groups of white folks in Africa a little scary...

Anyways, all the white folks didn't bite us or anything, and we did manage to find our way onto the platform and waited for the train. It all felt so colonial, as the train came chugging into the old-fashioned station. All the white folks were waiting in one section for the first class cars, while the masses of locals waited on the other end of the platform to be squashed like sardines into the front cars, closest to the diesel engine.

We had no problems getting ourselves into our compartment - a simple little berth made for two! I spent a little bit of time trying to figure out how to at least make my bag look like it was locked to something, lest someone walk away with it while we were at dinner! I think I managed to make it look fairly secure - at least, it was still in it's place when we returned from our colonial dinner.

Sometime after 9pm, someone came down the train with a little xylophone, announcing the start of the second shift of dinner. So we made our way down to the dining car. It used to be very elegant, I'm sure! But for now, it's, well, a shadow of its former glory. There was real silverware on the tables, but not all of it matched. There was nice china plates, but most of it chipped. There was white jackets on othe waiters, but most of them stained. But once upon a time, I can imagine that it was really classy!

After dinner, we went back to our compartment which had been transformed into a bedroom while we were eating - pillows and sheets and blankets had been placed on the benches. I was looking for the soap, while Crystal was looking for the chocolates on the pillows.

Being an early sleeper, Crystal was sound asleep way before me. I stayed awake for quite a few hours, listening to the rocking of the train and the clacking of the tracks below. And lo and behold, I found the soap under my pillow! So I had a little wash with it in the basin in our room, which was kinda fun. Of course, I couldn't share my joy of discovering a little bar of soap under the pillow with Crystal becuase she was sleeping like a baby.

After a little while, I heard a little "crinkle crinkle" of a plastic soap wrapper from the bed above me. "Oh good," I thought to myself, "Crystal found her soap!". After a minute, a little voice from above called out, "Can you pass me some water to drink, please". So, handing Crystal the water, I realized that in her sleep, she had found the soap and actually thought that it was a chocolate... so she took a chunk out of it with her teeth! Not so tasty, apparently!

I just couldn't stop laughing, especially since I have such funny images of the rats in Juba nibbling on our kitchen soap... !

And that's how our Mobasa adventures began! It was all uphill from there...

I'm not dead...

Hi friends - No, I'm not dead, though I know I haven't posted anything in what seems to be a lifetime.

I've got lots of stories to tell of the last week or so - 5 days of which was spent travelling down to the coast! And now I'm sitting in my parent's house, wearing my fleece pajamas and sipping real Tropicana orange juice! I had forgotten just how fast the Internet could be, as well...

I arrived home last night after a 40 hour journey. My bags didn't quite make it with me, but the airline called this morning and the bags are on their way. So I don't have to unpack for a few more minutes... :)

So once I wake up a bit, I'll post some photos and some stories of our trip to the coast... ah, it was beautiful!

Brrrrr... Part 2

So I'm feeling rather cold again today, but for a completely different reason! I've finally made it back to Nairobi! I said farewell to Juba yesterday afternoon :( It was very sad to leave, expecially since we saw so many people that we know in the airport! It makes me feel like I'm really starting to get to know people and get into tthe swing of life there - just in time to leave again.

But I will be back! Pray that I will be able to take care of things back in Canada quickly and that there will be good opportunities to share with people and have them join me in the work that we're doing there. The sooner people get on board, the sooner I get to go back to Juba!

I didn't do much blogging over the past few days, either, becuase I suddenly got quite busy. And the electricity and the Internet didn't seem to both be working at the same time... so that was a bit tricky. BUT, I feel very satisfied that through the wonder of modern technology (a wireless phone), I was able to fix the Internet for the translation teams that are working in the container! One of our collegues in a different city was on the phone and telling me where to plug different cables in and what to type and all that... he's trying to make a computer geek out of me, I'm sure. But hey, I can do it all - guesthouse manager, bilingual education specialist, IT computer techie, board carrier and rat hunter. Not to mention hand-washer extraordinaire and chef :)

On the weekend, we didn't do anything exciting, and I never did catch the rat. So dear little Templeton will live to see another year - unless one of the new guests in the house is a better rat hunter than I (which really doesn't take much!).

On our way to the airport, we saw quite a sight, which reminded me of the history and on-going political situation in our town. There was a motorcade that Jackie wisely decided not to pull out in front of, going along the road. There were several pickups full to the gills of rather fierce looking men holding big guns pointed straight out, along with some anti-aircraft missile launchers mounted on the back. In between all these pick ups were a couple of white landcruisers, obviousy transporting someone very important. It was a bit scary - I was just praying that they weren't also on their way to the airport!

Once I got to the airport, things were pretty lax - not even any security to go through! Not a single person asked to look inside my carry on, and no one even frisked me! Amazing. So I probably didn't have to worry about packing my Swiss Army knife in my checked bag. But the flight was rather uneventful. I even got a cheese sandwich and some mango juice to enjoy on the way.

Back in Nairobi, I was amazed again at how nice things were. I had a warm shower!! Yup, warm water! And the road, wow, I couldn't imagine how smooth it is! Didn't strike me as particularly smooth a few months ago :) It's all in your perspective, I guess. I also quite enjoyed turning on the light last evening without having to go to turn on the generator first. And with everything being so clean, I had sort of forgotten what it was like to live like this, and it's making me realize just how "rustic" life is in Juba. Even now, as I type, I glanced at my finger nails - there's no dirt under them! I've only washed my hands twice today, and there's no dirt under my nails! Amazing.

I think stopping in Nairobi before heading back to Canada is probably a good move - I think the shock of going straight to Canada from Juba would have been too much! And now I'm off to enjoy a Coke - a Coke that will only cost me about 25 cents, rather than $2.50!

Brrrr...

I'm sitting here in the UN NGO office and freezing my little tail off! But there is no electricity on our compound, so here I sit, freezing - perhaps I'll just chock it up to basic training for going back to Canada in 12 days! Besides, it's December 1st, and one should feel at least a little wintery now that December is here.

Today, even though I dressed "smartly" for our meeting at the Ministry of Education, I'm still dressed wrong to be here at the UN compound. Today is "World AIDS day", which means that everyone is running around here in AIDS awareness T-shirts and funny looking green hats. It's funny that there are so many NGOs and awareness campaigns around here and they all make T-shirts. So everyone proudly wears their t-shirts, emblazoned with various NGO logos, and slogans such as "Stop AIDS" or "Educate the girl child"... I think our organization needs to make a few T-shirts. Perhaps we can emblazon them with an advert for our guest-house and drum up some business... hmmm... this could have some possibilities! It would certainly make the decision of what to wear out every day that much easier. Even at official meetings and in the Ministry of Ed., you find women wearing their fancy high heals, dress skirts and then an NGO t-shirt to top off the outfit.

So yeah, yesterday and today we went for meetings at the Ministry. IT's great to see the place because it's really a picture of how this country is working at the moment. People are really doing their best to get some work done, but it's hard to do when your office is a bench under a tree! I really wanted to take a few photos to show, but with it being a gov't office, they weren't too keen on me snapping photos. And I don't want to pull a "Jan Pronk" and get kicked out of the country for saying something that could be wrongly interpreted on my blog :)

Anyways, it's good to be meeting people in the ministry and starting to figure out more about what this whole job is going to look like. And it's also amazing to me how busy we can be doing stuff, without even having much direction from the folks that we're going to working for... I think this whole chaotic scenario would drive some people truly batty... but somehow, I think God created me for ambiguity and flexibility! So I'm loving it!

I would be loving it that much more if that pesky Templeton would just take the bait and get stuck in that bucket! Last night, he didn't come to take the bait, but he did come visit my hiking shoes while I was getting ready for bed. I think I'm going to relocate the trap tonight, though, and try to catch the little guy that's been hanging out in the kitchen. I just don't like the thought of those furry little feet running amok in our kitchen every night! Next year, I really think we need a kitty cat to live with us in our guesthouse. Plus, having a kitty would give me someone to talk to in the middle of the night now that Grace isn't here anymore!

OK, now I'm frozen solid, and my fingers aren't typing so well and my tummy is growling. So it's time to blow this popsicle joint. Mmmmmm... Jackie and I decided to go for Ethiopian for dinner tonight. I can already taste the k'itfo!

Since I haven't posted any pictures in a few days, I'll just post this one, showing what a "literacy specialist" does in this city. Our organization has published some books on learning the local "lingua franca", and they had been stored in a container... which started to leak in the last rain storm. So the other day, we went and dug them out of the container. And then they had to dry. So while Grace painted boards, Jackie and I used the boards as drying racks for our books. For a few days, we were carefully tending to our sun-bathing books... We've already had several people inquire about buying multiple copies of the book, though, so it was worth it!