Clouds…..

 

I love taking pictures of the sky. My kids give me such grief and make fun, but I just love clouds & storms (usually…..living here we often pray for rain in this desert nation, but now the rains have proved a bit too much!). Today, the sky is quite expressive. Hmmmm,  is that possible? I started to walk around and take different shots.  You would never think these shots were taken in a short 10 minute walk around the yard. Beautiful fluffy cumulous clouds out my back door and then murky dusty clouds as I rounded the corner of the house. Storm clouds out the front and even a cloud with a silver lining.  It even sprinkled in the front yard but not the back…is the sky a bit confused?? I know I am!

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I started to think that this is really how I am feeling. All over the map, emotionally. Such devastation as the Niger River has broken it’s banks destroying homes, livelihoods and leaving Sahel Academy under water. The kids had started their last semester here with such joy and expectation and now are feeling a bit glum and uncertain about the future. My heart is heavy for the people who have lost so much. I struggle to keep perspective and not focus on my self. But these clouds are “telling”…one minute I feel like I have some good perspective (a patch of blue), I might see the silver lining but then I feel heavy, sad, uncertain, confused, upset and FULL of “rain”. I had not cried yet…well until I was in the shower a few moments ago, thinking….and as it started to pour outside,  I was able to let the tears loose. My head is spinning a bit trying to may sense of it all, I am pretty sure I will not figure it all out today though (ha ha). One day at a time and the journey/adventure continues….

I pray for restoration, good solutions and hope to shine bright. I am so thankful that God is much bigger than the weather and our current worries. The theme for school this year is “We Shine for Him”.  I know that is why I am here as well, to bring glory to God.  I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities….no matter how the sky looks! I do prefer the fluffy white clouds in a blue sky though….

RE entry

Well, today is Friday and we just got back last Friday afternoon. Coming back to this different world that I live in has many challenges. This week, I think I have met many of them head on:

Funny that in my week of re entry,  there are so many “re” words…restore, restock, repair, remember, revisit, reunited,reminisce, reset, relaxing, realizing but most of all REJOICE……so here we go, I am BACK!

reunited with Leron, he says it is a bit quite without us in the house…we sure did miss him

restored a normal sleep pattern, as I seem to have beaten jet lag quicker than expected

remembered how people drive…..have navigated crazy traffic scattered with herds of cows, goats, sheep as well as realizing that my shortcut through the dump is a big puddle filled with livestock eating trash and VERY smoky as trash burning has commenced

relaxed by the pool, love love my slower pace here…reading a lot

restocked my bare pantry (remembering that this is not one stop shopping)

returned the kids  to school

resetting schedules with realistic expectations…got back into the food prep groove (bleaching veggies, just remembering that everything just takes me a little longer here)

readjusting to a “place of MANY needs” from the “land of plenty”…still  not sure how this works out….two totally different places…..something I struggle with a lot…..who and how to help?

repaired the my kitchen sink (this is the 3rd time it has rusted through….hmmm, ya think we would be using materials that are impervious to rust) When I say it needed to be fixed, it was because any time I used it my kitchen flooded! The man came 1st thing and it was done in a jiffy.

rediscovering the wild and crazy things I get to see each day….animals in  and on vehicles, people being creative in a variety of ways, and well…I could go on, but just thought I would add a pic of a goat outside our gate stretching for the tree up above to get a fresh tasty nibble

remembering all of the beauty that is here…bougainvillea, numerous different plants, but mostly smiling faces

reminiscing…what a super summer we had

REJOICING over so so much…..safe travels, RAIN, great start to school, did I say RAIN?seeing old friends and remembering why we are here….really missed so many people! It is truly something wonderful “re”turning home!

A tough trade off

being present…..touch….so much more aware of the power of meaningful touch….hugs of family and friends who have weathered storms shared joys and pains…Niger is full of joy and pains and I am enjoying some deep and rich relationships where I enjoy a hug no matter how sweaty, but one HUGE trade off of living abroad is leaving our families/ friends and learning to love a whole new group of people and culture….while we are in the states, I have enjoyed being  with people who I have not seen…..something so powerful about seeing my 100 year old Grandma and just having her sit there and STARE in my eyes, like she is drinking in me being present….deep belly laughs, I mean laughing until I CRY with my sis in law and just laughing and laughing with great friends in our favorite cafe….something I can only truly feel the depth of being present. It just feels like when people hug me, it is longer and harder like they are string it up when I am not present. Then there is a pull, Josh posted about a recent CURE clinic in Niger and my heart was drawn there…I just love being present there too….believe me I get and give plenty of hugs in Niger whether it is from Nigerien children at the hospital or the k/1 class that I subbed in or Marie’s precious school or our CURE team (although, there are many more kisses). I am so thankful for what I am experiencing really, the joys and pains make for such a rich and rewarding life. I WILL LIVE and truly be PRESENT wherever I may go…..showing people how much they mean to me as well as Jesus…..

a stroke of the cheek …..a pat on  the head….a bear hug …..kisses on the cheeks…..tickles….. a hand shake …….looking deep into the eyes of an old woman (whether it be my Grandma or one of the my old Nigerien women I may meet)……

Means so much more than we will ever know…..valuing & loving people, in all shapes, sizes, ages, languages etc… ..

Team Mango

Ferdinand has been so great to provide us with perfectly ripened mangoes all season…..seems like was eat them about as fast as he picks them. There have been a few times where I just make sorbet and feel like I am ahead of the mangoes and I return to the kitchen only to find 20 more. He usually picks them and puts them in our store room until they are about ripe. I tell you….I average three a day myself. I just can’t get enough! His picking methods……

CLIMB ONTO THE WALL

 

POOL SKIMMER

HIS COUSON DESIRE……who eats them great and EXTRA sour!

                        

Thinking in “blog”

 

For a few weeks, I have had a hard time getting the “words” to write. I found myself several times thinking….”Oh, I am gonna write about this” or “Oh, I should take a picture of this….very interesting” but as you have probably noticed, the words and pictures have not shown up. So, in hopes of getting back “into” it, I thought I would try something  and catch you up with snippets….. here are 5 short subjects…….

Little Tuareg boy….The other day, I visited the ward with my bubbles. I had been sick the day before and almost did not go. But I am so glad I did. There was a little  boy who had got  a fresh cast. The nurses told me that he had been crying since the day before. His mother had communicated that he was in pain. She only spoke tamacheq.  Still amazes me that it is nothing for our nurses to speak 3 or 4 languages! I sometimes feel a bit limited, but there is always a way, always something I can do. So, all I could do was pull out my bubbles and Voila….the crying stopped and his mood brightened. He settled and I just enjoyed sitting with he and his mother. I could not communicate at all but the bubbles did it. Time well spent. Wish I had a pic, but alas…I don’t.

Police in sliver helmets leaving the morgue…. So I got caught in an enormous traffic jam on my way to pick the kids up at school. I have to drive by the national Hospital and the Morgue entrance is right where I pass. Every time I go past there are people waiting for a body to be released. But this particular day, there were vehicles and people everywhere. The body needs to be buried within 24 hours, so people come and pick them up, usually wrapped in a mat or in this case clean white sheets.  ALL MEN. After the body is picked up, all the cars follow to the cemetery with their hazards flashing. The police decided to jump in and gum up the works too. This was different than most days, I spotted 2 police pick ups with 4 police attendants each….the men were wearing interesting helmets. The helmets were shiny silver and made me  think of Battle Star Galactica for some reason (they were not as fancy as the Silons and did not cover their faces or have a red light, ha ha….the things I remember from my sci fi days ).I suppose that they were high profile people, military or police. There were so many people and  the parking lot was full so they just parked anywhere willy nilly! I wanted to take a picture, but did not feel that was wise, some officials can get upset and it WAS a funeral procession, besides……I did not have a “get away” plan.

            

More traffic woes…..I wonder if I will ever stop being surprised by traffic problems and the choices drivers make? I had trouble crossing the bridge after dropping the kids at school one day.  Seems like I am always driving somewhere…..well I just sat there in the middle of the bridge wondering what it could be today? Presidential convoy? Dead cow? Broken down taxi? Someone taking a pic of a hippo? Really, it does not take much to bring things to a stand still…….So when I got going….ALLI it was, an abandoned donkey cart full of wood. At least it was in the morning and I was fairly fresh and amused by all of the crazy motos …….

            

         

The duck will run and we’ll laugh…. have had a great time playing with the kids at Le Jardin D’enfants L’etoile. The person that is IT takes a flip flop and marches on the outside of the circle and sings “Le canard va courir” and the rest of the people playing, sing back “ Nous allons y rire” and the child puts the flip flop behind someone and that person has to pick up the flip flop and chase…if they catch the person or fling the shoe at them and hit them the “duck” (canard) has to sit in the middle. Sound sort of familiar? The kids LOVE to pick Tauntie Fana or Tauntie Giselle….

Could not finish this without mentioning the past few sand storms….. it is about time for the rains to come, and they have in some out lying areas. Nothing substantial here, just some muggy weather, sprinkles, thunder and dirty wind….. I just love rain and it is so hard to wait, but it will come…we (Niger) NEED rain.  SOON!  Have not had a good rain since last September? The first few will be ushered in with big sand storms that  will drop wet sand…..weird, I know. But, to me….cool especially when the sky glows orange….I am sure these pictures will not do it justice. They were taken about 6 PM and t here was so much dust in the air that I could not get a good picture. You can actually see the particles of sand. Not much of a glow, but not what the sky should look like at dinnertime.

                

Hippos in the Morning

HIPPO SIGHTING FIRST THING THIS MORNING!  Love the fact that on my daily drive to school, I can see hippos from the bridge( used to be deer or maybe the occasional fox)! I have always loved spotting wildlife wherever I am. Since my walking partner has been out of town, I have not taken my normal route over the bridges. Above is the view, to the left are the rocks that often “fool” me, but the spot to the left…..2 hippos! Below are close ups…..left rocks (complete with birds), right hippos……

      

Today, I walked/ran at the school campus and on my way home the hippos were still there. I could not stop on the bridge, so I went across turned around and went back to park so that I could run over the bridge and capture the morning hippos.  

A bunch of young men walking by stopped to ask me what I was doing and paused for a f w minutes to gaze with me. Usually you have to go further up river to see the hippos, but it seems that each hot season there are a few that migrate down stream. Spotting a hippo from my car is pretty exciting and wonderful!

Baking (in 100 degree weather) 4 my kids

I know, I may be crazy to fire up the oven in the middle of hot season!

But a certain boy that I love very much turned 13 today. Oh, the things we do for LOVE!The request??  Killer cookie! Here is a picture from last year…..

This was one of my favs when Leron and I were dating….we would get it at Guliffty’s in New Cumberland, PA….perfect for 2! We introduced the kids to this yummy dessert early and it stuck as a fav for them too! Traditionally, I make this in my deep dish pizza stone, but today we were sharing it with 7 other boys, so I modified and made it on the jelly roll pan……thanks to Auntie Mo, we had chocolate chips and the rest of the ingredients I found right here in Niamey…..flour, brown sugar, butter, salt, baking powder, eggs for the cookie, bananas from the vendor, whipped cream, chocolate syrup (oh yeah, in my stash from Hershey) and then I actually bought ice cream….a bit of a splurge (12 bucks for 2L)! Put is all together and yum!!!! A birthday success!

Love you so much Benjamin David Lehman….you are incredible and I am so delighted to see the man you are becoming! But sorry…..you will always be my lil Benny boy…. always making me laugh with your sparky personality & contagious smile. So thankful for you. Oh, the things you will experience in the next 13 years!

         

I have too many silly pics of you hamming it up that I could not pick and since you are now 13, I thought I could show you that I do not want to embarrass you on purpose…….but here are a  few that I know you approve of: