Kids and Questions

This is pretty random but it was really cold this past week, especially up North where it got to be -20 in some places. So I was just thinking, back in Sudan when I left it was about 125 degrees and if I went up North now, theoretically, I would experience a 145 degree change in temperature. I wonder if that would be some sort of world record?

Anyways, this week I did a few presentations for some 4th & 5th grade classes at my Mom's school. I enjoyed it and the kids had some really great and very random questions. Some of them I didn't even have an answer for. I'll list just a few of the hundreds.

I've heard that if a donkey kicks you in the head you can die...is that true?
Is their skin so brown because they can't afford sun screen?
Why do diseases spread when it rains?
Did an elephant ever get mad and charge at you?
Did you ever see a real live crocodile on the Nile?
Which do you like to eat more, goat or sheep?
How long were the little kids scared of you?
How did the kids make their own soccer balls?
Did you fly over Nigeria when you went?
Can you really get milk from a camel?
Do they have coke there?
How did the people understand you if they don't speak English?
Why do all the kids look so happy when they don't have anything, not even enough food?
When their balloons popped did the people think it was a gun shot?
Do the people there like to dance?
What sorts of things do African brothers and sisters argue about?
Do they have a president? How do they decide who will be president?
How can everyone just walk around barefoot, doesn't the ground burn their feet?
How do the people take a shower when they don't have running water?
Where did the people who sold food in the market get it from?
If the kids didn't go to school how did they learn to read?
How tall is a camel?
Did you ever have to eat an animal brain or stomach?
How long did it take for your body to adjust to the heat?
If the kids didn't have electricity or a TV then what did they do all day?
If you go back, what are some things you would take in your suitcase?
How old did they have to be before they got married?
When you went inside a pyramid did you have to bring your own flashlight or did they hand them out there?
Do they have pets?
So if a terrorist kills people for no reason and the people there are killing people for no reason then does that make them terrorists?
Had your friends ever ridden in a car before?
Did you know anyone that died from disease or from the war?
Why do you think that we were born in America where we are so blessed and not in poverty like these kids?
What happened if you double dipped?
(After the presentation) So is pretty much everything there the exact opposite of America?
Do they not have electricity because it is too hot?
So you mean for the price of just one wii game an African kid could go to school for an entire year?
Do they have special clothes to help them not feel so hot?
Do people suffocate in dust storms?
When did you know that going to Africa was what you were supposed to do?
Was it disrespectful if you didn't eat something someone gave you? So was that hard when the poor people who didn't have enough to eat gave you their food and you had to eat it?

Of course most classes wanted me to say something to them in Arabic but one class actually remembered what I told them and, when I left, said 'shukran, masalama!'. (thank you, bye) I thought that was really cute. The girl who asked the last two questions was really insightful...I think they were my favorite serious questions out of all of them.

Family Picture Day

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone. There was plenty of food and lots of desserts. Actually we had so many desserts that there was enough for each of us to have half of one...we didn't, but I think that's just a little telling of where our Thanksgiving lunch priorities were. I loved it though! I've spent the last 2 Thankgivings in the desert pretending that chicken is just the same as turkey...it's not. But there is something special about celebrating a holiday in the middle of a barren land and giving thanks for the many blessings you have received that I don't even know that I can explain in a blog and I wouldn't trade those Thanksgivings with wonderful friends and old taped football games for anything! This year it was so great to spend time with my family. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, and lots of cousins. For us Thanksgiving lasted the entire weekend!

And of course, what Thanksgiving is complete without family pictures?

I didn't know how the entire family would feel having their pictures posted so I just stuck with the ones of me and my sisters and parents. Here's my sisters and I.

Kaitlyn and I on the swings.

Me & Lauren
The whole family.

And here's baby Noah. My cousin had him in October just before I got home and he is sooo precious! I don't know what he is to me, maybe my second cousin? I just had a conversation about this and I still can't figure it out. It doesn't matter. I love him anyways!!