By Air

Virtually everything we eat, sit or sleep upon, cook on or wash with is delivered to us by air. Due to our remote location, we depend heavily upon our pilots, Jon and Jerry, not only for the goods they bring us, but for the security they offer in case of a medical emergency or safety evacuation (such as the one we encountered in Napep in 2009).

It should go without saying, but I am going to say it, we LOVE our AIM pilots and their families. They consistently go way, WAY out of their way to make our lives more comfortable, fun and safe here in the middle of nowhere Sudan.

They've been known to air-drop amoeba medication, frozen mozzarella cheese,mail and even, on a rare occasion, mint chocolate chip ice cream! Last week, Jon and his wife, Ginny, purchased and delivered a birthday dinner of hamburgers and fries and ICE. The ice was not only an extra special treat in our cold dinner sodas, but was used in a rockin' 3 States of Matter science lesson (future post is coming soon). Both Jon and Jerry have made the long hike from the airstrip to our compound on more than one occasion to cheerfully help me fix all sort of things - like my perpetually leaky roof or solar panels.

About two weeks ago, Jerry's wife Breanna delivered their 4th child, John Harrison Daniel Hurd - Jack. Due to pretty extreme complications with Breanna's blood pressure, the Hurd's were forced to make an emergency trip home to the States, where Jack was delivered months early. Through God's grace, I am happy to report that both mother and son are doing well! To learn more about this amazing family and their little miracle, Jack, please take a look at their blog: http://dustheatanddreams.blogspot.co.uk/

Here are just a few flying of my latest flying pictures.

Juba

Our Didinga Hills at sunset.

Napep's, Mur Kuzen in the distance.

Pilot Jerry with Phil Byler in the cockpit.

Burning fields in Sudan.

The Didinga Hills.

The NGO sprawl of Juba, Sudan.

There is only an estimated 25 miles of paved roads in all of Southern Sudan.

The Nile.

I didn't take this picture or the next two, but I sure do like them. Way to go Trey Mims.

Little Adelaide and her grandma wave goodbye to the 206 in Nagishot.

Nagishot's international dirt airstrip.

School

School is in full swing. My class at City on the Hill Primary School is hovering around 40-45 students; a number that is, in my opinion, bordering on insanity (I should mention that this number is still quite small when compared to many East African classes, which can commonly swell to more than 100 plus students!).

Half of my class is made up of my former Faith Nursery School students. These students are very near and dear to my heart. I am proud to say that they are thriving academically and continue to hold the prize for sweetest group of youngsters on planet Earth. Most are now between the ages of 11 and 13 and are functioning around a 4^th grade level in math and maybe, on a really good day, a 2^nd grade level in literacy. These kids are the reason why I LOVE my job – I adore these kiddos! They give me hope for the future and a confidence in my own teaching abilities.

The other half of my class comes from one of Nagishot’s neighboring villages, Thuguro. Before school began five weeks ago, I had previously only met a handful of these students. Didinga people are notoriously weary of newcomers, and for good reason, as they rarely, if ever, encounter an outsider. Following suite, my Thuguro crew wasn’t all too sure of their new, white, female teacher. However, with time, patience, consistency and great deal of love many new relationships are developing.

These Thuguro students are, on average, between the ages of 15 and 24. Most are functioning at a kindergarten to perhaps, if I were to be incredibly generous, first grade level. Some don’t know their ABC’s, many don’t know how to count to 100.

Though I have been teaching for some years now, this is the first time I have ever been faced with the task of teaching a grown man his ABC’s. Though my teaching tricks have been successful with wee ones, they’ve recently proven to be a bit juvenile. Tweaking kindergarten lesson plans – ie. the singing, acting, constructive playing and coloring - to meet the needs of a more mature audience, is a new challenge for me. So far, I’m following the old rule of thumb – if you confidently act like it’s cool, a class will also, most likely, think it’s cool.

This is my first class of giants. I’m a pretty tall lady and eight year-olds tend to be pretty short. This year, at least half of my class is taller than me. It’s weird.

This is also the first time I have been challenged to teach kindergarden, 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th grade curriculum simultaneously, in a foreign language (think, one room Didinga speaking school house). I am learning how to effectively teach a four year old and twenty-four year old the same subject matter (due to the sheer lack of teachers, I am teaching P1-P4 social studies, science and geography), in the same room, at the same time. I am learning that the main ingredient needed in disciplining a cocky, disrespectful 18 year-old Didinga boy, in this male-dominated society, is bravery!

We are all learning.

Here’s to the 2012 Didinga school year! Let the learning begin!

Poi and Yaya's New Dresses

Joyce, my good friend, hauls water for us in dry season. As a part of her payment, I had these dresses tailored for her little girls in Nairobi. I appreciate Joyce so much and I love her two little ladies, Poi and Yaya, more than I could ever say.

When Poi first saw her and Yaya's new dresses, she jumped up and down, giggled uncontrollably and repeatedly ran around in circles.

Then, once she realized that there were only two new dresses, she turned to Joyce, and solemnly asked her momma where her new dress was. Joyce sweetly assured her that her new dress was coming soon.

Melted my heart...

It's never easy getting good shot of little ones.

However, Lokoro, the little man on the far left, was adamant about persevering in our picture taking pursuit until we were finally able to subdue a thrilled Yaya and take a good one.

when my two worlds collide, weird things happen

• I am writing this blog from the comforts of my mudhut. Yes, my house is made from mud and yes, there are naked children hunting rats with handmade bows and arrows just outside my door. Yet, due to the boundary breaking capabilities of technology, I can now harvest wheat with a sickle in the morning and enjoy Ree's, Pioneer Woman, blog, "chats" with family and friends and mostly, refreshingly Western Facebook updates in the evening.
• The other day I found a cow, on my porch, drinking my dirty dishwater.
• While working to place teachers on the new 2012 school time-table, I actually had to ask the question, "Can this teacher read?". Side-note, he can't.
  
• The other morning, thanks to a clear cell phone network, I was able to simultaneously talk with my sister Stephanie, in Washington State, and my friend Joyce, here in Nagishot. Stephanie had just gotten home from town and tucked her brood into bed for the night. Joyce was just coming up from the stream, carrying 40 liters of water on her head and her quite large and incredibly adorable baby on her back. Stephanie, couldn't believe how clear the cell phone connection was. Joyce, couldn't understand why I was talking to myself. I, couldn't stop laughing.

Carrying water with Joyce.

• In an effort to meet our need for physical activity, Katie, Lauren and I have started Jillian Michael's, 30 Day Shred. Have you heard of it? It's stinkin' INTENSE! Yesterday, hiding behind the eucalyptus trees, in the area now designated as our gym, we begged Jillian for mercy while barely, and I do mean barely, making it through our 12th straight day of jumping planks and power lunges (whoop whoop!!!). Meanwhile, on the other side of the stick fence, unaware of our "traditional dances", a large group of Didinga men blew large whistles made from cow horns, sang ancient chants about their harvest and jumped up and down until a dust cloud rose over their heads.
  
  
  

Poi and Yaya weren't really sure they liked, Jillian.
I know the feeling ...

• A few months ago, three men from Texas visited our team here in Nagishot. Obviously, their visit led to a Didinga/Khawaja monkey feast and hoe down. Under a full moon a monkey was roasted and tentatively sampled, Abbi played her fiddle and then, we all danced. We Twisted, 2 Stepped or, as our Didinga friends like to call it, Stepped 2ed, in long Sudanese/American lines we Electric Slid back and forth through the dust, small naked boys did the Rock Lobster, we even broke out the Macarena. Didinga people LOVE to dance. Think of an occasion, any occasion, and they have a dance for it; there are specific day dances, night dances, praise dances, harvest dances... However, I'm pretty confident that all of the men, women and children gathered together that gloriously strange November night had never experienced anything quite like our Texas hoe down. I know that I hadn't.

Monkey, it's what's for dinner.

Life is sometimes very strange here in Sudan.
Blending my Western roots with my daily Didinga life,
can be challenging.
However, the challenge is a happy one. A funny one.
Most everyday I'm still amazed that God
allows me to journey through life here,
in this foreign land, amongst people I so dearly love.
He is good.

Oh my, look at the time!
I've got to go pay the 8 year old boy
who's been diligently working on my fence.
Child Labor Laws. Um...we don't really have those.

Elly's Visit

Elly's surprise visit went off without a hitch.

Moments were spent visiting old Didinga friends, reminiscing about those ol' Didinga days in Napep and praying about the future, specifically Elly's as she prepares for and wonders about her next life chapter. The days were comfortable. Our time together was sweet.

Flying from Juba to Nagishot on the 206

Nagishot did a fine job of welcoming us home -
sunset landing, yes please!

Elly's first weekend back in Sudan was a busy one.
Our pilot, Jerry and his oldest daughter, Olivia were visiting,
Phil and Linda were in from Uganda
and a few other guys (not pictured), working in a nearby village,
climbed up the mountain for the weekend as well.
From Top Left to Right:
Mark, Diana, Katie, Jonathan, Abbi, Phil, Trey, Jerry
Bottom Left to Right:
Lauren with Adelaide, Olivia, Me, Elly and Linda

Elly and I did a lot of hiking while she was here.

And a lot of visiting with old friends.

Playing locally made instruments.

She's still got it!
Elly hauling water.

Elly brought along enough American snacks
to keep a small army hopping.
She also blessed us all by making her famous Didinga calzones.
They were quite tasty!

Calzones!!!

Old Friends - Elly and Lino from Napep with Dario in the background.

Elly, sure do hope you "surprise" me again real soon.
Love you!

Volleyball

A few weeks ago, we had quite the crew of out-of-towners here in Nagishot. We were lucky enough to host our pilot, Jerry and his oldest daughter, Olivia. Two fellas working in a nearby Didinga village with the NGO, Yokefellows, climbed up the mountain for the weekend as well. Our wonderful bosses, Phil and Linda, were in from Uganda and Elly was visiting from Florida.

Our dinner table swelled to 15 places! We ate grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade tomato soup.

We played intense games of Settlers.

We laughed.

And... we played volleyball. I LOVE volleyball!

Trey snapped these great shots of our Sunday afternoon game. Enjoy.

Who needs a net when you have a long piece of string?