Snake stories

I don’t like snakes at all. Spiders, no problem, but a snake . . . definitely afraid of them. I have been blessed that in a place that has lots of snakes, I have only ever seen one, until this past year. So let me tell you my snake stories of this year.

Story #1: I ate snake! And it was delicious. Now a dead snake, I don’t mind. Our center supervisor brought us a snake that he bought from someone in the village. He gave us some, and to be polite I tried it, not expecting to like it. But it was good. I really did enjoy it. It had a lot more meat on it than I thought it would, and it was a really good flavor. So now I can say I ate snake!

Story #2: The next story is not so nice. One night I was sitting in our parlour, with our construction consultant, Dave. The generator wasn’t working, so we were sitting in the dark with our headlamps on. All of a sudden I hear Dave yell snake and jump up. I froze in fear. Next thing I know, Dave has pinned the snake with our coffee table and is beating it on the head with my chaco. . .  all just a few feet away from my feet, which at this point I had managed to move onto the couch. I was thankful that Dave was there, because I definitely was not brave enough to do anything but sit there in fear. Definitely did not enjoy having a snake inside my house. Augh!!! 

Story #3: Our nursery students are much braver than I am. I heard a lot of commotion over at the nursery school and went to see what was going on. All of the nursery students were running in and out of their classroom yelling. I went and looked in the class and saw they had cornered a snake and were stoning the it. The students running in and out were getting stones. The snake didn’t stand a chance!

So those are my snake stories. Six years, one snake . . . two months, three snakes. I think I like the first odds much better!

And I'm off

Back to Sierra Leone! Tomorrow morning I get on an airplane to DC, Brussels, and then Freetown. I'm excited to get back to Sierra Leone. School starts September 10th and we begin with staff meetings on September 3rd.

sunsets

Had so many good sunset photos, that I felt like they needed their own blog posting. So beautiful

 The view from the patio of where I live in Washinton

 San Juan Islands, the view from our campsite

 Another San Juan Islands

If it weren't for the silly power line in the way, this would be perfect!

Outdoors in Washington

I feel like I was able to fully embrace my time in Washington and get out and explore all of the beautiful places that are there. Went hiking, kayaking, camping... lots of time to enjoy all the fun summer activities. Here are some pictures of my weekend adventures!

Alhaji

There is a little boy in Mokpangumba who is deaf. I wanted to work with Mr. Foday on teaching him sign language because I knew that Mr. Foday would take the time to teach it to Alhaji.
COTN wrote up a story about Alhaji and said it better then I could, so please go look at this link. It is a really cool story of the wonderful things that are happening in Mokpangumba. Here are some pictures of Alhaji learning sign language

Pinterest Inspiration

I'm not usually a very crafty type of person but lately I have been inspired by all the cute ideas on pinterest to make some new decorations for my room. They turned out well I think and I discovered that I have a new love of painting things. I also think that the clouds behind add a nice touch to the overall look I was going for!

Ireland

On my way home from Sierra Leone this year I was able to go and spend some time in Ireland with a few of the girls from the teacher team. We went and stayed with a friend of mine who lives in Northern Ireland for a few days, then went over to the west coast for a few days! So much fun. 

 The beautiful coast of Northern Ireland

 Getting a little wet on a hike. 

 Giant's causeway

 A really beautiful Abbey

 Me on the Carrick-a-reed rope bridge

 More Giant's Causway, this place was really cool

 And of course the chaco foot picture on the Cliffs of Moher

 My traveling companions

The Gap of Dunlow, so beautiful, but so very wet

Missing Colorado

I have been scrapbooking lately and I am finishing up my scrapbook from when I lived in Denver and I am missing Denver a lot. Missing my old life there. It was such a blessed season of life with so many good friends, a good church, and so many other blessings. I am thankful for that time, but as I revisited old memories, I also am really missing it tonight. Maybe its time to put the scrapbook away for a while.

  

Washington vs. Colorado

Anyone who has talked to me would not be surprised that I do not love the weather in Washington. Seriously though, it is July and its only 60 degrees. I should not have to wear wool sock in July. There are actually a lot of things in Washington that maybe aren't ideal.

These things were making me think about a move back to Colorado and working remotely for Children of the Nations from Colorado. But, I have decided to stay put for now. As much as I want to be in Colorado, I just don't feel that it is where I am suppose to be right now. And I realized that I need to have an attitude readjustment about Washington. Even if I don't love it here, there are a lot of things to be thankful for.

I talk to my children in Sierra Leone quite often about how they need to be grateful and thankful for the blessings that they now have. Because just like us, they like to complain and grumble about all the things they don't have. But then I realized that I have that same exact attitude.

So now, I am trying to have a better attitude about my life in Washington. Trying to focus on the positives instead of the things I don't like. Like the fact that I love where I live. The Spoon family is just wonderful. I couldn't ask for a better home away from home. And the fact that my dear sister, Kristen, who I lived in Sierra Leone with for that year, is close by and I actually get to see her (she used to be in Alaska, a little long of a commute). And there are a lot of beautiful places to go explore, and my friend Jason from college moved not too far away and will go explore those places with me. I have a beautiful drive to work, along the water. There really are so many blessings that I overlook because I am spending all my time thinking about how great Colorado is.

So.... I'm going to try really hard not to complain about how cold I am, but really, those sarcastic comments about how Washington people just don't understand what a wonderful thing the sun is, are just really hard to resist!!!

Baby Naming Ceremony

Look at all this consistent blogging. I just have to write it on my to do list, right there with education policy writing and such and all of a sudden blogging looks like an easy option to cross off the list!

Last year when I left Banta in October one of the teachers in the Mokpangumba school was very pregnant. Before I left she said that she wanted to name the baby Sarah if it was a girl and if it was a boy to name it after my father. I received word that she gave birth and a friend who was in Sierra Leone came back with a picture.

When I got back to Sierra Leone in May I was so excited to get to meet little Baby Sarah in person. One of my first days there her mother came and visited me. Sarah of course wanted nothing to do with this scary white person. Her mother also told me that they had waited to have the baby naming ceremony because they wanted me to be there.

We set a date for the celebration and began to make plans. Mokpangumba is one of my favorite villages, so I was excited about the chance to have a little celebration with the people in Mokpangumba and the children in our school.

A few weeks later, on a Sunday morning, I headed over to Mokpangumba with a few children from our home and we hiked the two miles to the village, crossed the river in a canoe, and arrived at church. The village was busy with the hustle and bustle of getting preparations ready. Pastors from the nearby churches also had come for this celebration. We had a lovely church service and then we got to the baby naming part of the church service.

I had never attended a traditional baby naming ceremony, I had been to a few but it was just held at church and they prayed for the baby and the family, much like an infant dedication. But this one was very traditional. They call these ceremony's pu-na-do, which basically means to take them outside. Usually it is the first time that the mother will go outside with her baby after a week and they share the name of the baby with everyone. This one was a bit different since Sarah is 7 months old.

I held Sarah, and this time she agreed to let me hold her without screaming. Then all the pastors surrounded us and prayed for the baby. Then I went outside with Sarah and her mother and they told me to pray a blessing over Sarah in the characteristics of myself that I would like to see in Sarah. Um... a bit of a humbling experience there to think about the characteristics I want to see in this precious girl and realize how many of those I needed to work on in my own life. Also I felt very blessed to be able to pray such a blessing over this precious little girl. I prayed that she would stand up for justice, that she would fight to provide education for her village, and that above all she would seek the Lord with her whole heart and serve others.

We then went back inside and sang praise and worship salone style! After church was over, then the party began. The children got treats and popcorn, and a big plate of rice, as did the adults. We talked and laughed, and took pictures. And just enjoyed each others company as we celebrated the life of this precious girl. Aunty Sombo's (Sarah's mother) family had come from many different villages to join in the celebration and I enjoyed spending time with all of them.

We could have stayed all day, and no one wanted to leave but a rain storm was approaching and I knew we had a walk back to Ngolala. The family followed us back the river and said their goodbyes as we went across.

The walk back to Ngolala was a joyful one. It has been such a wonderful day of celebration. In Sierra Leone, there is a lot of heartache and difficult times, so having a day of just getting to enjoy the people that I work with was such a blessing.

 I think that Sarah is the only one that did not enjoy her time at her own ceremony! 

Sierra Leone

Well my attempts at blogging with words are a complete failure. Can't seem to say what I want to say and then I just give up. Kind of how my processing of life is going at the moment as well! Hard to sum up life in a few words, but pictures I can do. That is easy. They speak for themselves in a lot of ways, so here are some pictures. 

 Our first group of students to sit their entrance exams into University. Results comes out in September. Typically, in Sierra Leone, only 10-15% of students that sit the exam actually pass. We are all anxious and excited to see what the results are.

 This is Mr. Foday in Mokpangumba, an amazing teacher. In this picture, he is teaching Alhaji sign language. Alhaji is deaf and struggles at school. Mr. Foday is taking time to help Alhaji learn a way to communicate. More to come on this kid...

 Just too cute, no words needed

 This is Amie, again more to come on this precious little girl

Went to a baby naming ceremony in Mokpangumba for a new little baby Sarah. Was one of my favorite experiences in Sierra Leone. Had a wonderful day celebrating the life of this little girl. 

back

And I am back... after a whirlwind few weeks in Ireland and England, I am back in Washington. Lots of processing that needs to happen, lots of pictures to share, and so many memories running through my mind, but for now I need to go grocery shopping and get a good long night of sleep. The other things can wait for later. 

I wrote this in my journal the other day. It was a profound moment and I wanted to share.


"I've given up. Given up on what I am trying to do here in the school. Given up on the fact that anything in the school can change. The challenge seems to great, the task too overwhelming."


As soon as I wrote that, I just felt like God was saying. "perfect, this is right where I want you to be. You now realize that there is nothing apart from me that you can do. I am glad you have surrendered your own inadequacies to me. Only I can change the hearts of the teachers, only I can help these children learn how to read, only I can do the impossible. I'm glad you've given up and gotten out of the way so that I can show you the ways that I want to use you and to work through you."


It's funny, you think that when you are a "missionary" that it must automatically mean that you rely on God. Ha! How easy it is to rely on your own strength and try and accomplish your own plans. I think these moments of forced complete surrender are good. They hurt but they remind you how desperately we need our Lord.

And I'm off

The bags are packed, the errands are finished, the in-services are almost planned. Tomorrow bright and early I head to the airport. Sierra Leone here I come. 

And Sierra Leone here I come!

I leave for Sierra Leone so soon! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. I am so excited, and so ready to go back. My to do list before I leave is looming before me, but things will get done, they always do. The suitcases are half packed-trying to figure out how to move around those 100 pounds that I am given in to two suitcases. In-services and work projects are almost finished, those will have to wait until Monday and the last errands have to be run! But then I will be there. I will be back in my second home with my family. Back in the humid warm climate surrounded my children and friends. Back in Banta Mokelleh, a very different climate then the world I currently live in but one that has become normal and familiar.

Tulips!

We have had amazing weather in Washington since I have been back and I am so thankful for some sun in my life. It has been a busy three weeks, of getting things done and preparing to go back to Sierra Leone in a week. I should have spent Saturday getting things done, but instead I decided to go to the tulip festival! I went with my friend Bianca, her family, and my friend Jason. It was beautiful. It was photographers heaven! So many pretty things. I wanted to post all 250 photos that I took, but I figured that no one else would want to see all of them, so I picked out the best ones. 

In other news, I leave for Sierra Leone on May 1st, have a week of meetings, and am procrastinating a long overdue email update. So that will be coming! (I figure if I post it here that an email update is coming that it will force me to actually write it)