A New Blog

I don't know if anyone even still checks this blog or not. I haven't updated in a long time and I apologize. Thank you for keeping up with me and my crazy travels over the past 3 years. I have enjoyed all of your comments and emails and I hope that you have enjoyed my stories and embarassing moments.

The good news is that I've started a new blog for my new job. I am very excited and I hope that you will continue to follow my journey over there.

I won't post the link for the new blog on this one because I don't want to connect them but if you are interested you can leave me a comment (that I will NOT post) with your email address and I will send you the link.
Love y'all!!

Kindergarten

Today was my first time to substitute in a Kindergarten class. It was an adventure and I'm just not so certain that I did all that well.

To start off with, I forgot a kid. First thing in the morning the kids went to PE so I lined them up at the classroom door, we walked through the halls quietly to the gym and I dropped them off. When I got back to the classroom there was a kid sitting at his desk. I didn't see him so it scared me when I heard this little voice say 'um miss? You forgot me.' Oops. After that I found a student list so that from then on I could know that there were actually 17 kids.

The kids all get free breakfast at school. Apparently there is a list of students and the teacher is supposed to check off that everyone got their breakfast. First off, I didn't even know that there was a list. So when the cafeteria lady came to the classroom looking for one I was completely lost. Then at lunch the head cafeteria lady pulled me aside and emphasized how important the list was. I don't quite understand why it's so important but she insisted that I find it. But I couldn't. I looked all over the class, I even looked in the trash and it was not anywhere. THEN the cafeteria lady called me and I had to get all the kids to go an a mass hunt for the breakfast list. We still didn't find it and that cafeteria lady was not happy but what was I supposed to do? I'm just the sub who has no idea what's going on.

So I broke 2 apparently important rules, on accident of course. I understand about forgetting the kid but the breakfast list? Really? Throw in the fact that I fell down in the hallway and I think that qualifies as an extra long day. At least it was after school and not in front of the class. It's been a good 10 months since the last time I fell down but somehow this time was different. I feel like in Africa there was always a good reason, big holes, mud, long skirts. Today there was no reason...much more embarassing.

But I get a second try this week. On Friday I get a Kindergarten ESL class full of kids who don't speak English. That should be great.

2 Months???

So I guess it's been 2 months since I posted anything. I don't know. My life in America is definitely not nearly as exciting as life in Sudan. I kind of feel like I set the bar a little high with all the weird, crazy African stories and that anything I write on here now will be a little disappointing. But I'll try.

Last week I went with a friend to visit a Sudanese lady. I'd never met her before but she was sweet and we got onto the topic of sudanese foods, which ones she makes here, which ones she misses the most, which were my favorite, etc. She talked about how she makes fool all the time (the mashed up bowl of beans with lots of salt, oil and tomatoes) and when I was in Sudan I looooved fool, ate it quite often and have been craving it lately but haven't been able to find the right kind of beans anywhere. I was instantly intrigued and asked her where she buys the beans. Of course she just said 'the market', like I was a little stupid for not knowing that you get beans at the market. So I asked 'which market' and she waved her hand in the air and said 'that one, over there.' Obviously we weren't getting anywhere so I dropped it and we moved on but I did NOT forget. The minute I left her house I was on the hunt for fool beans.

There are tons of Indian stores around my part of town so I started with those. They had all kinds of beans but not fool beans. So I moved farther south to an Indian store that is in the same little shopping complex as a muslim sweets store. This little store didn't have the beans but they do have a few plastic tables and chairs that serve as a restaurant and, just as I was ready to give up, I heard a man speaking Sudanese Arabic. 3 years ago before I went to Africa I would NEVER have done this, but I guess I'm a different person now (or a little crazy from the fool craving) because I totally went up to their table and said 'excuse me but are you Sudanese?' They were a little shocked and probably a little weirded out too but they said they were and I went through how I really wanted to make fool but can't find the beans and asked 'do you eat fool?' He laughed and said 'um, of course.' So I said 'In America?' and he said 'yah' and then he pointed me to the only store where he has found the beans.

Then there was that awkward moment where they invited me to sit down to eat lunch with them but I declined. And then the questions of 'how did you know we were sudanese?' and 'how do you know arabic?', etc. I answered quickly and then left to go get some beans, leaving them with an odd story about the one time that American girl asked them about fool. Sad thing though, the store had the beans but they didn't have any of the motor oil (the oil that they put on top. I call it motor oil, really I don't know what kind it is except I think it's sesame seed oil) so I finally had the beans but no oil. Now I'm on a search to find sesame seed oil. In Sudan I used to buy it in 5 cent increments. I would give the guy in the shop a coin, any coin really, and he would get a small plastic bag and put the appropriate amount in the bag. Same thing with the beans. I would just give him 50 cents and he would fill up a plastic bag with the correct amount of beans...they were cooked and I found carrying a plastic bag full of beans a little strange, but you do what you have to, right?

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!!

A Few Family Pics

Here I am with my little sisters at the reception my parents gave me.
And this is my Mom and I at the MacArthur homecoming football game.

Some Getting Used To

Life in America takes some getting used to and I'm getting there, slowly.

Last week I was at the Sonic drive thru (who knew they had drive thrus?) and the lady said 'how would you like those burgers?' I took a second and then said 'well...um...I guess medium well?' The lady was really nice and said 'oh no sweetheart. What do you want on them?' and I said 'Are there choices?' And she was confused and said 'of course. mayo, mustard, tomatoes, stuff like that.' And I said 'um...I don't know, I guess I want all of it?' She was so sweet, she just said 'sweetheart, why don't you just pull up to the window and we'll get you all settled.' She didn't think I was strange, at least she didn't say that or anything.

It's not that I don't remember what you're supposed to put on American hamburgers. It's that I haven't been able to choose what I wanted on my food in a restaurant since I went to Africa. They don't have special orders in Sudan. I tried a few times to order my hamburger without eggs but they would just look at me like I was crazy and hand me a burger with eggs on it. I got so used to just accepting whatever I was given and picking things off later that I was caught off guard when I was given the opportunity to choose whatever I wanted on my burger...and then to not even be able to order without making some sort of choice, now that's just crazy. I didn't know what to do. Top that off with the fact that I was distracted by one of my many new favorite country songs on the radio and it led to a bit of an awkward situation. Thank goodness the lady was so kind and helpful.

I still haven't used an ATM or a credit card yet. I do get some strange looks from cashiers every once in a while, especially when I pay in exact change. But, in my defense, I have been conditioned to expect that stores will NOT have change. There were several times in the Sandbox when I couldn't buy something because the guy didn't have change. Even one time in particular when I was willing to not get any change back, just give him the extra money so I could get what I needed and he refused to sell it to me because he didn't have any change. Talk about frustrating. But you can just imagine the looks I get at target when I'm counting out my cash to the penny while everyone else just swipes their card.

Another thing I'm working on getting used to is this busyness thing. Everyone here is just so busy. I'm not all that busy and I don't particularly want to be. This week there was one day where I did dishes, laundry, dropped off pictures at sams, sat at starbucks for 2 hours, and grocery shopped and when I got home I thought 'wow, that was a productive day. I can't believe I managed to get all that done in one day.' Then I thought about it and really, in the American scheme of things, that was nothing. What I did is what everyone else does in the evenings after they've already been at work all day long.

I distinctly remember when I first got to the Sandbox I had the exact same struggle with not being busy. I would make up reasons to go places just to do something. First it was 'oh, I have an hour free, I'll just go to the market.' Then it came to 'oh, I have an hour free, I'll just walk a mile to the market'. After a few weeks of pretty persistent heat exhaustion I realized that it just wasn't feasible to always be busy in 100's+ and I got used to taking things a little more slowly.

People keep asking me if I'm bored and I guess it makes sense that people should assume that I am since I don't have a job and I don't have a schedule like everyone else. However I think most people don't understand what true boredom is. I mean, until you've been stuck in your house for 5 days straight without being allowed to leave (without satellite and with tricky electricity and water) you just won't understand. I actually find it pretty impossible to be bored around here, what with all the malls and starbucks and parks and libraries around I don't understand how you could be! I guess a couple of years in Africa gave me a bit of a forced appreciation for the simpler things in life but I'm pretty content with that now.

That's it for now. I guess my life isn't really all that entertaining these days but hopefully things will pick up after a while. Love y'all!!!

Bumpy Roads

Well life in America is not nearly as exciting as Sudan but maybe I can put up a few things of interest for y'all.

I'm living at home and driving my Dad's truck. He has a huge 4 door, 4WD, extended bed Chevy truck. It's so big that it won't fit into parking spaces so everywhere I go I have to park at the back of the parking lot and walk which is fine until you go somewhere without that option. Yesterday I went to Starbucks but realized when I got there that there was no way I was going to be able to park that thing successfully so I actually left and went to another one. Good thing there's a Starbucks on every corner!!

Every morning I drop my Dad off at work and then I usually go to this park that has a walking trail around a pond and walk around it a few times. I don't quite understand but somehow I am a magnet for internationals. I like it, don't get me wrong. But every day I go walk it never fails that someone stops to ask me a question or just to talk and then we end up standing there for half an hour which totally defeats the purpose of walking but oh well. Maybe it's that the park is full of Indians and North Africans and I'm the only white girl (didn't expect that in America!) so they figure I have an answer to their questions...that's my only idea. Yesterday an Indian man stopped me to ask me if I knew how he could get into coin collecting in Dallas. 30 minutes later I was playing with his granddaughter and meeting more of his friends. Another 2 North African ladies talked to me for several minutes that day too. Anyways, I guess my neighborhood is a great place to meet internationals.

Also I am loving the country music. I can't get enough. I don't know why. I had satellite radio in Sudan and there was a country station so it's not like I've been deprived of the 'cowboy music' as my Sudanese friends called it. I guess there's just something different about it when you're driving down the road in a truck along with everyone else in their trucks and all of us with our Texas accents. It's great!

People are still just as friendly as ever. Today I had 3 separate elevator conversations with 3 different people and it still throws me off when people say things like 'sure thing honey' or 'I'll get that right to you sugar'. And I love sitting at stop signs when people refuse to go, allowing the other person to go first while that person is doing the same thing so no one ends up going for a while. This 'you go ahead' mentality is completely opposite of the 'elbow and fight your way to the front of the large crowd of people' but it doesn't take long to get used to.

Today, yet again, I was the only white girl around for a while. I was down at the Dept of Health and Human Services getting a TB test. Not many middle-class white girls deal with TB on a regular basis so I was just a little bit out of place. The waiting room was filled with about 10 different nationalities which I thought was kind of fun. Anyways, so I know I was exposed to TB...repeatedly. Mary's husband had TB and not only did I spend quite a bit of time with their family but I also ate out of the same bowl as he did and I'm pretty sure that at least once I drank out of the same cup. Obviously I tried to avoid these situations but sometimes it just doesn't work out very well.

Anyways, so I went down there to the 'free clinic' that is not free but is cheaper than the real doctor and now I have to spend the entire weekend watching the red spot on my arm slowly get bigger and hoping that it won't get big enough that I need to get chest x-rays next week. We'll see. I probably don't have TB so no one panic or think I need to be quarantined, this is just precautionary. When I went in the lady was like 'why do you think you need a TB test?' and I told her that I knew I was exposed and she just looked at me like I was crazy and said 'how do you know you were exposed and where were you that you would be exposed??'

Oddly enough I've found that I feel more comfortable down in the waiting room at the free TB clinic than sitting in Starbucks surrounded by people who are in this unseen race to have the most money and to be more successful than the next guy. I mean, I can sit there and drink my caramel frappuccino and read a book with the best of 'em but I feel right at home making conversation with an immigrant who speaks poor English and is struggling to provide for her family. Have I always been that way or is that a new development in life? I'm not sure.

*

I voted. It was good. I felt pretty patriotic. It was great to see people taking advantage of their right to vote. Coming from a country that hasn't had a democratic election in, well, ever, it gives you a bit of a new perspective on life and govt and a whole new appreciation for the bill of rights, or any rights at all. I can't say that I'm all that excited about our new president but I can say that I am very grateful that I am in a peaceful country that hasn't broken out into violent riots or a country where the new president now systematically wipes out any and all opposition to his party or a country where it would be completely acceptable for the other opponent to build up a following, storm the capitol and try to take the govt over by force. Having recently been up close and personal with one of those situations (http://heathernafrica.blogspot.com/2008/05/snow-day.html) I have to say that this peaceful, democratic process is much better, even if the person you voted for didn't win.

*

I still remember back to the time I was with one of my Sudanese friends and we were talking about the election and she said 'that's amazing. So on that day everyone gets to vote? Everyone? And after that you find out who won, you don't already know? Here we might or might not have an election next year and already we know who will win.' Democracy people. Appreciate it.

A few more things I enjoyed about this week. I went to the bank and they had money there. I wrote some thank you notes and now all I have to do is buy some stamps and leave them on the front porch and they will, more than likely, get to their intended destination within 2 days. Restaurants have food, more specifically they have ALL the things that are printed on the menu. Gas stations have gas (and for remarkably cheap...$1.96!!). The grocery store had everything I could want and more and I only had to go to one store to get it all. I made dinners using recipes and I actually had available to me ALL of the ingredients in the recipes...I didn't have to pick and choose what I would cook based on the things we can 'get' here. I didn't fall down, not even once, and I didn't accidentally offend anyone by using the wrong word and calling them a name.

Last story. I was taking my Dad to work, driving his big truck, and he says 'now there's a big bump coming up here so you have to slow way down'. I slow down, don't feel a bump, don't feel a bump, feel a small bump and say 'was that it?'. Obviously my definition of a 'big bump' has changed drastically and now every time I drive over it I can see in my peripheral vision my Dad cringing because he doesn't think I slowed down enough. I really am trying to slow down Dad, I'll do better, I promise.

So that's life this week. I hope that someone somewhere is getting some laughs from my small culture shock experiences.

Tom Thumb

America is going well. I've pretty much been going non-stop despite the jet lag but finally today things slowed down so I figured I'd go wander around the grocery store. I didn't need anything in particular, just wanted to see what's new in the world of food.

So I walked to Tom Thumb. (that's right, I walked. It's only 5 minutes, although in this land where no one walks anywhere it did feel a little strange) I got there, grabbed a little basket and walked slowly up and down each and every aisle just taking it all in. I've already done the walmart thing and it wasn't so bad, so today I wasn't going slow because I was overwhelmed, I was mainly intrigued.

I hadn't been there but 5 minutes when I ran into the first person who worked there who asked me if he could help me. I said no thanks and continued wandering with my empty basket. 2 minutes later someone else asked if I needed help finding something and I said no thanks. not 2 minutes later another guy asked if he could help me. I was like 'no thanks, I'm just looking'. The look on his face told me that was the wrong thing to say...who goes to the grocery store just to look??

No lie, 6 different people asked me if they could help me find something and they all did it with a smile. I probably did look a little strange...carrying around an empty basket and spending 5 minutes studying the different flavors of pop tarts but still, what is with all this customer service? I really missed it in Sudan when it was non-existent but today I wanted to turn around and say 'Did I ask you if you could help me find something? No. So please quit bothering me.'

Before you think I'm a horrible person I would like to point out that this is probably just a little reverse culture shock, nothing to worry about. I mean, I didn't actually say it out loud or anything. I guess I just have to get used to friendly people who are actually here to help.

Today I am Thankful For...

...Chic Fil-A, slurpees, GAP, automatic SUVs, Target, fountain Dr Pepper, Wal Mart, Sonic happy hour, turkey sandwiches, and candy corn. Not everyone will appreciate this list, but some will.

So obviously I made it back to America. The trip was a bit of an adventure. All was well from Paris to Dublin but then the flight from Dublin was late and I missed my connection in DC. Well, I didn't just miss it. I rushed through customs, grabbed my suitcase, answered 'a few' questions from customs and then ran to make the connection. Only I couldn't find the check in desk and when I finally found someone who knew what was going on I had already missed it.

Then it was an automated check in thing and I sure could NOT figure that out...my first experience with all this new, mind-boggling technology. I finally got things together and figured out, got myself rebooked on a new airline (where an airline employee had to come and do my automated check in for me) and headed off for security. This is where the fun began.

While I was still in line, still in line, for them to check my ticket the first time so I could put my carryon onto the xray machine a security lady comes up and says very quietly and discreetly 'maam can you please come with me?' She takes my ticket and passport before I can answer and leads me to a special x-ray machine where she takes everything from me and sends me through the metal detector. A lady on the other side leads me to this glass booth that has a door with no handle on the inside. They put me in that solitary confinement booth and left me there!!

Then from outside the glass booth the lady says that I have been selected for extensive security screening and that they will keep me in that booth until they thoroughly search my bags, at which time my person will be extensively searched. What can I do? I'm stuck inside the glass booth with all the regular passengers walking past me and looking at me like I did something wrong, like I'm a terrorist!!

They took about 10 minutes to go through my carry on and purse, taking every single item out and inspecting it. Then they took me out and searched me too. Finally they figured out that I wasn't carrying a bomb or anything else and they let me go repack my bags and get to my gate.

Good thing I had already missed and been rebooked for my flight or I would have been really angry but I guess I can see why they might have chosen me. My passport is old and wouldn't scan when I checked in for my flight...never mind that Sudan stapled stuff inside of it right next to where it says 'do not staple'. Throw in the fact that I looked especially nervous and anxious (coming home after 3 years can be just a little nerve wracking) AND I was probably a little disheveled from running through the airport with a heavy suitcase. Then I just happened to have lived in a country that is one of the top 3 state sponsors of terrorism, plus how many other questionable places have I visited? Yah, I guess I can't blame them for picking me.

I finally made it to Dallas and my family and friends were there with signs and flowers. It was very sweet. Now I've been busy shopping and sleeping. Fun times!