The Final Pineapple

The day I've been dreading has come. . . . We just ate our last pineapple. The withdrawal will be hitting me soon.

We spent our last few days saying goodbye to friends and finalizing everything. It's been crazy and goodbyes in Africa are so much more of a process than the ones I'm used to, but so sweet as well. Our hosts gave both Hannah and I African dresses as a parting gift to thank us for all our work this summer.  They are just the sweetest and saying goodbye to them at the airport is going to be hard.

But we're ready to go. Hannah is as set as any 80-year-old woman with her compression socks, crutches, and "fit to fly" certificate. She's been practicing on her crutches and is getting better and better, but I hope I never forget the sight of her trying to walk with them for the first time. Picture a baby giraffe trying to take its first awkward steps- uncoordinated, nearly toppling over, the whole bit. She actually almost ran into a wall. It was hilarious. She was laughing too so I didn't feel too bad just sitting there and laughing so hard at how funny and awkward she looked.

So, though I am sad to have eaten my last pineapple and to have to say goodbye to friends early, I am so glad to be coming home. It's hard to be sad about something as exciting as coming home. I love airport reunions. It always feels like I'm in the opening scene of Love Actually. Can't wait to ride down those escalators and see my mom and dad. So Excited!

Even though we're coming home, our internship is definitely not over. I'll still be blogging until the end of the summer and keeping you in the loop on all of our work. Thanks for supporting us. See you state-side!

Homeward Bound

Well, we’re coming home . . . *cue shouts of joy from our parents* (no seriously, my mom literally squealed when I told her.)

This is all very unexpected and Hannah and I are trying to adjust our expectations from getting more research done to just trying to get home. It’s soo strange to think I’ll be home in 4 days. It’s always a weird feeling when big plans suddenly change so drastically. I’m a planner so this is especially throwing me for a loop, but at the same time, there’s a whole new thing I get to plan, so I’m loving it. My week is now devoted to taking care of Hannah (which I love to do) and planning and packing (two of my favorite things). So, all things considered, this is not so bad.

Becky (our awesome roommate) and Hannah. Day 4 in the Hospital. 

Hannah is doing a lot better. She has an infection called Erysepalis and it’s really good that we came to the hospital when we did because she definitely needed an IV drip of antibiotics not to mention a semi-clean place to stay for a week. . . there are not a lot of sterile places in this part of Africa. She is starting to be able to put weight on her foot and her blood test results are improving. Hannah is especially bummed to be leaving early but the decision was a little easier for me. I think she wanted to tough it out and not “quit” the internship, but I am just concerned about getting her the best care she needs. She was a little out of it for the days when she was the worst and she’s brave, so naturally she wants to stick it out. But, there is such a thing as the dad-trump card and alas, we are coming home. We all came to the same conclusion in the end, it was just nice to have such a firm decision and wise advice from her dad. It took the tough decision out of our hands.

Looking back on our internship, we are so thankful for all those crazy, exhausting days of research. Without them, I don’t know if we’d be ready to come home. Ideally, we’d be able to stay and finish our last two research trips, but we feel alright with how much data we’ve already gathered. We’ll be able to finish writing our papers and reports and analyzing our date from the States. It’s really amazing how God has orchestrated this all. We are sad to leave, but totally prepared to go. There’s a sense of needing closure still and we’re sad to cancel plans and not get to say goodbye to a lot of people, but from the logistics side, we’re ready.

Once we decided we were definitely going home (which for me, was as soon as Hannah and I woke up on Tuesday morning. She wasn’t better and I decided that was it. She took a little longer and some more logical arguing to persuade, but by noon, she had decided that was best too.) I began making plans to get our flights switched. Will was working on the medical insurance stuff (which we found out will be completely covered! Thank you Covenant for the automatic travel insurance you get every intern) and I was on flight duty. After calling several times and getting disconnected because of the whole calling-from-Africa-thing, I did what I always do when all else fails: Call my mom. Best decision I made all day because within 20 minutes, she had called a travel agent for advice, then made best friends with this awesome Delta employee named Robert who was determined to do whatever he had to to get us on a flight home this Sunday. Our flights weren’t booked together and were kind of complicated, but he manually searched for the best flights and then pulled a bunch of strings so that we wouldn’t have to pay a cent! Hannah and I hadn’t purchased travel insurance, so we knew we’d have to pay at leave $250 each and at one point, a representative told me it might cost up to $1800 each to change our flights, but Robert was the man and got us free flights. God is so good. Hannah and I were stressed about money (before we had our internet connection back and our parents threatened us not to make a single medical decision driven by our college-student instincts of saving money) and thinking about paying for staying in the hospital and switching our flights. But we didn’t have to pay a cent for either of those things. In the stress of this week, it is so good to know that money is not something we need to worry about. My mom then got Robert to give us all these extra privileges like wheel chair assistance at every gate, priority boarding, and the best seats so Hannah will have room to prop her leg up if she needs it. We are so set for our flight home on Sunday.

Now, I just need to spend this week tying up all our loose ends. I’ve already made my checklist, so I’m good to go. Hannah and I are in excellent hands. Our friends check on us everyday and are helping us with anything and everything we ask them to. It’s sad to think about leaving them, but when God has so clearly worked this all out, it’s hard not to trust him in this. Everything these last several days have been out of our control, but God, continuing his theme of teaching me who’s really in control, has been faithful. We are totally taken care of and we’re looking forward to coming home.

p.s. Sorry if some of you got multiple notifications of the same post. This internet connection isn't the greatest and I didn't realize they were going through. 

Need a little Prayer

So, things have been a little crazy these last few days. Hannah has gotten an infection in her leg and we've been in the hospital for three nights now. She is doing a ton better, but still not great yet. We could use some prayers for her healing quickly and for discernment about what to do to best care for her. Coming home is an option, but we want to be wise about it and not rash. 

I'll keep you all updated as I have access to the Internet here and there. Thanks for praying. 

Radio Silence

I feel so hardcore right now. I'm sitting in my pitch black apartment wearing my rain coat and headlamp because it's pouring outside (and I'm still soaking wet and cold from my moto ride through the downpour) and our power is out.... again. Maybe I'll write all my papers like this. I feel so ready for anything.

Sorry for the radio silence it's been on the blog for awhile now. We've been really busy and there are lots of things that fall in front of blogging on the list of priorities (such as my research...). But it's important to keep you all updated too, so here goes.

Exhibit A: Rainy Season. (I took this picture of the road as I was driving on it)

We finished up our week in the north last Thursday. Going into the week we made an ambitious plan of surveying 81 people. Neither Hannah nor I thought we could ever survey that many people, but, at the end of our five days, we had exceeded our high expectations. (Drumroll please..........) We surveyed 94 people! And, yes, it was absolutely exhausting. And everything that could have gone wrong did. But it was a great week anyway. God continued his theme of taking our plans-gone-wrong and turning them into great research for us. Though nothing as bad as "the incident" happened again, it got pretty close. Translators not showing up multiple times, groups coming to be surveyed unexpectedly (making us late for other appointments), our moto getting a flat, the power going out in the entire region for a whole day because a truck crashed into a power plant somewhere, rainy season raining out our scheduled meetings (see Exhibit A), and plenty of fatigue (sometimes we don't move or stand up for 5 hours when we're surveying people... it's like a marathon of questions. I'm pretty sure if a marathon is actually anything like this, I'm never going to run one.) It was a crazy week, but overall, we got some great work done.

Then we had a week in Lome to work on notes, etc. So much work to do with all this data. It's not going to analyze itself. Excel and I, we're going to analyze it. Also while in Lome, we were invited to our first African wedding, which we will attend next week. Hannah and I are having dresses made. (One of my favorite things about Africa... it costs $10 to get a dress custom made at a tailor. I got to design my own dress! So fun!)

The other great thing we got to do in Lome this week was speak to a Community Development class at a university. Hannah and I prepared a talk that went over the basics of our major and the research we are doing this summer. It was such a cool experience. There were over 60 people crammed in the classroom to hear us and ask us questions. They all were totally on the same page as us too. They got all the theory that is behind everything. (I'll write a blog post sometime soon about what Community Development is, because it's really cool and I want all of you to know about it too). And, most of the students weren't Christians, so it was a cool opportunity to share our faith with them. We can't talk about Community Development or the Chalmers Center without tying everything back to God, so it was great to get to share our hearts with them. One student asked us why we would come to Africa from America where we already have everything we need there. I saw that wide open door, and I took it. We explained exactly why we are here and about how we are called to care for others. It was a great time to share ideas and talk with like-minded people who care about development.

This week, we're back up north for another intense research trip. We've only been here a day and have already been rained out of doing some surveys. Oh well. I think we'll still get some good research in. On our taxi ride up here, we learned how many living things can fit into a five person car. Any guesses? Seven people and two goats. That's how many. And there probably would have been more if we Americans hadn't insisted on having (and having to pay extra for) our own seat/seatbelt. Americans, we are crazy with their wanting-to-follow-laws-and-not-die-and-such stuff. Just ridiculous we are. 

I'll write again soon and explain a little more about what I'm doing here. I realize it's probably confusing.

This week pray for:

~Good research and less everything-is-going-wrong moments
~Safe travel on the roads (lots of motos and taxis for us)
~That our last month here would be as productive as we need it to be
~For the people living here. The poverty is really staggering.

Thanks!

The Incident

As promised, here is the terrible story of yesterday’s ordeal. So it started out as any ordinary day. We were planning to leave for the north at 10 AM to stay there for 6 days giving surveys. Hannah and I were rushing around in the morning running errands to make sure everything was ready. (We had run out of Nutella and we weren’t about to spend 6 days in our tiny apartment without some form of Chocolate, so we fit in a run to the store.) We had to hurry, but we were packed and ready to go at 10. We then got a text from our translator saying that he would be “delayed” because he had to help Will (our boss) with something in the morning. We weren’t too fazed by this. The three of us had originally planned to meet our first group at 2:30 PM so we still had plenty of time to get there.

            Then an hour and a half went by and we were still waiting. At this point it was getting close to the point when we would miss our meeting. We tried to reach Mawousse, but he wouldn’t pick up. We figured he must not have made the appointment with the group after all and knows that we don’t need to be up there until later. Another hour passes and we get a text from Mawousse saying he will be coming soon and he is sorry, but he had to work for Kwasi (our other boss and pastor of the church we thought we were meeting today) after he finished working for Will. Hannah and I were a bit confused, but still fine because we figured he had our schedule figured out.

            At 2:30 PM, we call and finally get a hold of him and he promises he is on his way now. At 3:00 PM, he rings our doorbell (that’s 5 hours late if you’re keeping up with the math). Mawousse apologizes for “the delay.” (I’m really starting to hate that word. I think we have different definitions of what “delay” really means.) We say it’s ok and we thought we had a meeting at 2:30, but he must not have scheduled it so it’s ok. He then informs us that, no, he had scheduled it, everyone came and waited for us, called him wondering where we were and he said we would instead be there at 5:30. “Deep breaths, Kristin, deep breaths.” That’s what I was telling myself to avoid a culturally inappropriate scene in which I lose my cool. My organized, on-top-of-things, ethical researcher personality is freaking out at the thought of having wasted people’s time. I know it will only be worse if I question him, so I just ask for the facts and say we need to get moving if we’re gonna make it there by 5:30. I knew there was no way we would make it there in three hours, but we had to try. Our reputations as good researchers had already been slashed and trampled on and all we could do now was try to show that we are very respectful of the time they are giving up by trying to be on time.

            We get to the taxi park (also known as my least favorite part of all of Togo. It’s insane. You drive in and 20 men literally swarm your car asking where you want to go and trying to grab your luggage and put it in their cars. I’m really good at not letting them touch any of my stuff though.) and it is 3:45 before we get going because everyone is fighting over us and we literally had to strap a motorcycle into the trunk because Mawousse was bringing it up north for Kwasi. I think this whole taxi park scene was God answering every prayer I’ve ever prayed for more patience . . . The monochronic American in me was not happy. But we got on the road and I asked Mawousse to call the church facilitator and move the meeting back because there was absolutely no way we would make it there by 5:30. He called and said that the church facilitator would try to get people to come, but they were all very disappointed that we missed our first meeting and he did not know if anyone would come. Then, a little piece of me died inside. All Hannah and I are here to do this summer is research. We want to be good researchers with integrity who respect the time and opinions of those we are researching. We aren’t here to give them anything but our listening ears and the results of our research at the end of the summer, and we couldn’t even give these people (who need SO much) that. The church facilitator said he would call back if he got anyone to agree to come. There was nothing I could do at this point but wait and pray, which I did.

            I’m currently reading Radical by David Platt and decided to read chapter three in the taxi ride. (Side note: If you haven’t read Radical, you really should. Every Christian American should read it. It will shake you from the daze you don’t realize you are in, or at least it has for me.) So as I’m reading it, I’m reading how we so often limit the work God is doing to what we as capable (but finite) humans can accomplish. Yes we are great at things, yes we can do a lot, but we can do NOTHING compared to what God in His infinite power can do. Platt challenges his readers to ask God to work in ways that prove His greatness. If we only accomplish what we could have accomplished in our own power anyway, we are tempted to steal all the glory for ourselves. If, instead, we call on God to do His will in such a mighty way that it could only have come from his great power, we readily give the glory to God. It makes so much sense and is so challenging at the same time, especially to someone like me who prides herself on all she accomplishes. It was very humbling and I began to pray that God would reveal his glory, not my own, through my time and work in Togo.

            By this time, I was feeling a lot calmer about the whole situation. There was nothing more I could do and God had everything under control anyway (as much as I would have liked to have it under my control as well. . . but we’re working on this so called “need-for-control” problem, aren’t we?) So when we get closer and Mawousse calls the church facilitator again, we learn that no one else would come meet us because they had given up a lot to be there (it was there market day) and they could not afford to come again. C’est la vie. I just prayed that God would redeem the situation despite our irresponsible planning.

            What happened next was enough to crack the fragile shell of my temporary calmness. We arrived at our apartment and decided to have a meeting with Mawousse to go over the survey and schedule the next few days (a.k.a. make sure nothing like this ever, ever happens again). Just as we sat down though, Janine, Kwasi’s wife, calls Mawousse and again asks where we were. She then said the worst thing a young researcher with high hopes and big dreams of being a good researcher can hear. She and all the women were still waiting at the church for us! I have never felt so terrible. They had been waiting since 2:30! It had been FIVE HOURS!!!!! I’m can’t even begin to understand this African culture, the amount of miscommunication and poor planning it took to create this situation, the irresponsibleness of it all, and the damage this would do to our reputation as researchers. Mouths still dropped to the floor in shock, the three of us hopped on motos and raced to the church.

            We pulled up and everyone started clapping and laughing. There were about 12 women—some who had been there since 2:30 and some who had come at 5:30. We apologized profusely. They have this rule in their group that if they are late to a savings meeting, then have to pay a small fine. As a joke, they had the money pot out for us to pay our fine. We were more than happy to oblige this rule and quickly dropped in our coins (I would have dropped in the entire contents of my wallet if I thought that would have helped the situation at all) They all thought it was just the funniest thing though and laughed and laughed with us. They were laughing because it was funny. I was laughing out of hysteria because there was nothing else to do at this point in our unbelievable, ridiculous day.

            It was now 7:30 and most of the women wanted to be interviewed (though some left a little later as soon as we said they were of course free to go). We then let Janine and Mawousse explain the whole mix up and reason that we were late. I then asked to say a few words that they translated for me. I apologized profusely and said we had no idea they were waiting for us all day and we never would have let that happen if we had known. We respect their time very much and we are so sorry that we wasted it, especially on a market day. They all made gestures that sad it was ok and they were not mad. I then told them how much it means to us that they would be willing to wait all day just to meet with us and how touched we are that our sisters in Christ are so selfless. I think that patched things up as best they could be patched and we started the interviews. We were able to call our other translator who came literally on two minutes notice and then double-timed the interviews.

            Here’s where God answered that prayer about using my work to reveal His own glory. Absolutely everything that was in my control that day utterly failed, but He used it anyway. Hannah and I gave a total of 9 interviews (when we had only planned to give 6 that day) and realized that our survey is smoother than we thought and takes less time to give than we planned. What the heck? How is that the ending to this terrible story? Utter failure renders wild success. That’s obviously a God thing. (Man, it was rough getting there though. God is so quick to answer these painful, sanctifying prayers.)

The rest of the women who couldn’t wait then said they could meet us before church the next day because they were so eager to be interviewed (probably just because they had waited so long, not because we’re awesome or anything). So this morning, we went to the church at 7:30 AM and interviewed 7 more women that we weren’t even originally planning to interview on this trip. Talk about Grace. We totally messed everything up, but got great and abundant research out of it anyway. God is good.

Now, Hannah and I really hope this counts as our “failure” for the internship. There’s a running joke that our professors won’t count our internship a true success until we fail at something. . . or everything, we can't be sure. We are definitely to perfectionists and overachievers of our class and they lovingly want us to learn the valuable lesson of failing. LESSON LEARNED!!! I hope. I really hope this counts and we can never have to go through anything like this again. I’ll keep you posted.

Keep praying for us. We’re through day two of interviews and have already done 29! It’s going really well, with the exception of “the incident.” That’s what I’m gonna call it from now on, “the incident.” We hope to get about 50 more before Thursday. Pray for good interviews, honest answers, stamina in the long hours, and for people to feel loved through the time short amount of time we are spending with them. Also, I encourage you all to pray a scary prayer this week. We don’t often enough ask God for the hard things (like patience and for His glory to be so huge, we are lost in the shadow of it). So that’s your challenge. Pray a scary prayer and watch how God answers it. I’d love to hear about them.

            

History in the making...

What happened today will go down in the history of terrible stories of Community Development interns. It involves a lot of miscommunication, hours of waiting for multiple parties, lots of valuable time wasted, more hysteric laughter (see previous post) and God proving himself good through it all. Details to come. We're in crazy survey mode right now and all I have time to do is sleep (skipped dinner and everything...praise the Lord for cliff bars).

This is a request for prayer for tomorrow especially and the rest of the week. We are trying to meet with two different savings groups to survey them. It could go smoothly or it could go like... well like today did. And let me tell you, we DON'T want that again. So pray for the coordination of a lot of people to come together so good research can be done, people can feel valued and heard, and God would be glorified. For real, he deserves it.

Story of My Life....

So today was just kind of ridiculous. I would say frustrating, but it was all so funny that that word just doesn’t fit. All day, Hannah and I were steeling glances at each other that wordlessly said, “Is this seriously happening right now?” Whether it be for good reasons or bad reasons, so many things made us ask that today. We spent the day in Lome interviewing church facilitators. We’ve done this in the north, but never in the city, and it was… an adventure. Our day started out with Will picking us up in his truck where he had fresh chocolate croissants waiting for us. Yes, the alternative spelling for that last sentence is b-e-s-t-b-o-s-s-e-v-e-r. Then, we get to his house and realize (because I forgot to check my texts, whoops) that we are an hour too early for our first meeting. We were planning to meet our translator, Mawousse, at Will’s and to borrow Will’s moto so we wouldn’t have to pay for three motos to drive us around all day. Will had to leave as soon as we got there, but Mawousse wasn’t getting there for another 30 minutes at least, so Will left us his keys which we were to then leave with his landlord so he could get back in later that day. Will peaced out and Hannah and I waited for Mawousse.

When he got there, he asked for the key to Will’s moto….. you would think that one of the three of us Americans would have thought of this, since it was the whole reason we had gone to Will’s in the morning, but alas, we did not. Hannah looked through the house anyway incase there was an extra key, she found one that said “Italy” on it and excitedly shouted down to us to ask if it was the right one. Mawousse and I just kind of looked at each other and shook our heads. “No Hannah, but thanks anyway!” Mawousse then showed me his key as an example of what it would look like. It’s a strange little circle key that just seemed to mock me. You see, yesterday, Hannah and I borrowed Will’s keys and wondered what the strange little circle one was for…. We even asked someone what it was because we were so curious. Well, now I know. And I don’t appreciate the way I feel it mocking me. I then knew for sure that Will had it with him and we wouldn’t be able to borrow the moto. There was now no point in having had Will pick us up and leave us his house keys…. except we still got chocolate croissants out of it, so I think it was worth it.

            Mawousse then decided that the next best alternative would be to take his moto… it’s more like a dirt bike than a moto though. That’s important for the story to make sense. So we lock up at Will’s leave the keys with his landlord and catch a moto for me as Hannah hops on the back of Mawousse’s. We then took a really pretty moto ride to the university. The campus is very lush and tree-covered, which is a nice change from the usual city atmosphere. We pulled over on the side of some random road and waited for the church facilitator we were supposed to meet at 9:30. The next 40 minutes was characterized by confusion, impatience, and gawking. Confusion because we were trying to reach the church facilitator and describe to him where we were (but the best landmarks were unidentifiable buildings and trees, so… that when well). Impatience because we literally waited 40 minutes on the side of the road. And gawking because there was literally a herd of cows that we saw off in the distance slowly walking towards us. They were the strangest cows I had ever seen, and to be on a university campus, it was just so juxtaposed. They walked with in 2 feet of us and I couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous the whole situation was.

            Just as we sent a text to our church facilitator saying we were leaving because we were late for our next appointment, he showed up. We had a great interview with him though and I’m glad we stayed. He is studying English at the university so we didn’t need a translator for the first time in over 25 interviews. It was lovely. I actually understood everything he was trying to communicate! Celebrate the little victories, that’s my motto.

            After the interview, we went to get back on the motos. Hannah and I have the habit of always switching seats to subconsciously keep things fair, so I went to ride with Mawousse this time. Only, it was a little more difficult than I was expecting. Hannah, by a stroke of luck had chosen to wear pants that morning which is why she had such a successful moto experience the first time. I, unfortunately, chose a maxi shirt. Word to the wise: floor length skirts are not the easiest things to finagle when trying to ride a moto, especially this moto. Because it was a dirt bike style moto, the back of the seat is a lot higher than a regular moto, but doesn’t look it, that little deceptive thing…. So I went to get on the back (mind you, Hannah, the church facilitator, Mawousse and two moto drivers are all watching me…) and I didn’t quite make it. Between the mess of skirts and my failing depth perception, I nearly wiped out. Thankfully, I was wearing my Chacos (always ready for anything in those) and with some uncoordinated looking hop moves, managed to save the situation. Attempt two was also a failure, but by the third time and with my skirt gathered as modestly as I could manage, I got on. Whew.

            I thought that would be the end of my moto troubles… but I was wrong. All motos have this exhaust pipe on the back right-hand side that is scalding hot. You have to remember to get on and off on the left side to avoid getting burned. Hannah and I were told that we won’t be truly “Togolese” until we get our first moto burn on our right calf, and I am SO determined not to. Hannah fell victim last week and has a wicked burn that is still healing. (In her defense, her water bottle fell and she quickly hopped off the right side to grab it, forgetting for a moment the impending doom that awaited her on that side… an honest mistake.) So I am constantly aware of the exhaust pipe area and steer clear of it. I didn’t think that this bike would be different, but instead of being on the back right, the pipe was on the upper left, RIGHT where my leg was. Poor planning, bike designers. Seriously? Who does that? So as I was getting off, I burned my upper left leg, of all places. My cat like reflexes saved me from a bad burn, but still, it’s there and I’m mad at that sneaky exhaust pipe.

            From there we met two more church facilitators. One of them gave us each literally a liter of soda, which was so kind, but simultaneously terrifying. I knew I would have to finish all of it to not seem rude, so my tactic was slow and steady. I’m not a huge soda drinker to begin with, so this was a test of my will power and stamina. I made it though. Just in time. And all I could do to help Hannah was look at her in pity as she still had half of her bottle at the end of the interview. They told her to finish it so we could leave, and she drank as much as she could, but just wasn’t gonna win that battle. She gave up and tactfully made some joke about how it was so good but she is so full and they let her go. Whew.

Then, we made a friend in a jewelry shop. He asked if Hannah and I were married… that’s a default red flag. I was on edge, but I decided later that he was really just trying to be nice. He then tried to get me to try on silver earrings (which I realized later he was trying to give me as a gift. So sweet.) A little while later, we came back and he gave Hannah a silver bracelet, which he refused to let her refuse and promised to make me one too, since I didn’t want the earrings. When he was just fitting one on Hannah, I was a little concerned that this was the first step of his elaborate marriage proposal plan, but then he offered me one too and it felt more normal. Being in pairs is so nice sometimes. It makes situations way less awkward. So, as we left, I decided the scales had tipped from being a creepy situation to being a really sweet one where we made a new friend.

            From there, we were only supposed to see one more church facilitator, but Mawousse pulled a fast one on us and snuck another in. He’s so great and without him, we would probably be doing way less research. We always get tired and want to go home, but he keeps us moving. We had a great interview with her but it was past 1 PM and we thought we were going home so we could finally eat some lunch and type our notes. Nope! No rest for the weary or those who work with Mawousse. Back on the motos we went. Only this time, Hannah rode with Mawousse (which she volunteered for with the memory of my skirt fiasco still fresh in her mind. What a sweet friend) and they literally nearly tipped over. It was kind of hilarious. I tried not to laugh, but we all know I’m terrible at not laughing when I’m not supposed to be laughing. No actual tipping though, just near tipping, so it was all good.

            So we got to the next church facilitators shop and he did the unthinkable… offered us a sachet of water (they sell water in little sachets, or bags, on the street. It’s about 2 cups worth). I wanted to burst at the thought of drinking anything else, but we took them to be polite. I used my slow and steady tactic again and we ended up having another great interview with him. And it was really thoughtful of him to offer us water, I don’t want to seem ungrateful, it’s just too much hospitality in one day really isn’t good for one’s bladder.

At this point, Hannah and I just wanted to get home. It was 2 PM and we hadn’t eaten lunch and after drinking so much, I just really wanted to use the bathroom. Mawousse then informed us that we were near Kwasi’s house (Kwasi is sort of our boss here) and we must go for a visit. This was one of those times when I knew it would be culturally inappropriate to refuse, though I did kindly say we needed to hurry home. So, we took yet another moto ride to Kwasi’s around flooded out streets. I was just kind of laughing at everything at this point. It was so ridiculous. My burn was hurting, we were hungry, it was hot, and I was beginning to judge a little less harshly all the people who just go to the bathroom in the street. I think I know how they feel now. There’s not always a bathroom when you need one, so they just go wherever they want. This is something that really bothers me about Togo and I’m trying to get over, so this experience gave me a little more empathy for them. A little… but not enough for me to get over it. I know I have especially high standards for hygiene, cleanliness and sanitation issues, but come on people! That’s just not okay.

            Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox and wrap this up. We sat at Kwasi’s for maybe 15 minutes, just chatting. This was after Mawousse pulled his moto into Kwasi’s house because there “are a lot of robbers here.” The cherry on top of my day. Finally, after I literally laughed out loud out of a little desperation when trying to transition the small talk to how we need to be leaving, we had our chance. Hannah and I each hoped on regular motos (with hopes of never having to ride the deathtrap dirt bike again) and rode off into the sunset. We made across the city to our apartment where we thanked the Lord for indoor plumbing. It really was a great day, just sprinkled with little moments of ridiculousness.

            To top everything off, I burned my finger on a match when I tried to light the stove for dinner. Two burns in one day. Glad I’m still laughing at all this. Happy for days with hard work and lots of excitement. I think it was that chocolate croissant that got me through. Or maybe God’s strength. Probably both…. A winning combination.

            So keep praying for us. We head up north this Saturday to give our survey to as many people as we possibly can in 5 days. It’s gonna be a little intense. And it’s our longest stay up there yet, so pray for stamina. Good research and stamina and more growing. Those are my prayer requests this week. 

Houston, we have ice cubes.

We are back in Lome and enjoying ice cubes as fast as our little circa-1950s refrigerator can kick 'em out. Our research this weekend went well, thanks to those of you who prayed about that. We tested our survey  on Sunday at a savings group meeting. Working separately, Hannah and I got through a total of 8 people in an hour and a half. Whew, we're in for some long days ahead of us. The test was very helpful in revealing what we need to change about the survey and how we need to adjust the length, language, and approach. For example, we thought "How many people live in your household?" would be a simple question, but found that it often takes them a long time to understand the question and then still are not always sure how to answer it because it is common for one household to contain many family members outside the nuclear family. Also, words like "income-earners" aren't familiar. Lots of little things like this need tweaking, but we think we will be able to get our survey to a lot of people, provided they are able to meet with us. One think that both Hannah and I struggled with during the surveys was feeling overwhelmed and saddened by the suffering of our sisters and brothers in Christ here. It is clear that these savings groups are helping them in their poverty, but it is still a shock to hear about such great need. Pray for our strength in hearing difficult stories from these men and women and for trust in a God who is bigger than all of this and in the fact that he is actively sustaining them. I am only one person and can not fix the great problems I see around me, but I trust in a God who can and who promises to care for his children.

We got to attend our first traditional church service too! Oh my goodness, what an adventure. We wanted to sneak in the back and blend in... should have known that's never gonna happen by now. We were immediately given chairs in the front of the church facing the congregation. It was probably hilarious watching Hannah and I not know what to do with ourselves up there. It's definitely a little awkward to not understand anything anyone is saying and trying to participate anyway. At the end of the service, we were asked to present ourselves to the church and give the closing prayer. Being the resident extrovert of the two, I recognized my responsibility to take one for the team and lead this one. They let me pray in English, which was kind. They took my "Amen" as a queue to start the music for the dance we were to lead. Most people would be phased by this, but I jump at every opportunity to dance, so I was pumped. Give me some African drum beats, a community or believers and some loud singing, and I'm a happy girl. I LOVED it. We may not speak the same language, but we can still worship together. Here's a little snapshot of our exciting morning.

We were able to attend one of the training sessions this morning. Some members of the Chalmers staff have flown in to train the local leaders some new material. It was great to sit in and listen to how these men facilitate this training. They are all extremely good at what they do and it's a joy to see God using his faithful followers to do his work here in West Africa. We sit in a room full of men and women devoted to helping people live better lives and to sharing the love of Christ. God is moving here and I am thankful to be a part of it.

Now on to everyone's favorite blog segment (ok, maybe not "everyone's" but hey, can't win 'em all) . . .

Things I Will Never Again Take for Granted: My Mom and Dad.

Today is my dad's birthday! I love birthdays, I love him, I love this day. So much love to go around. By being in Africa all summer, I not only am missing his birthday, but also my mom's birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day and their 30th anniversary. Worst daughter ever x5. I have a lot to make up for. So this is a little post of appreciation.

I love the way they love me unconditionally and support me in everything I do (I can already hear my mom saying "How dare she think missing our birthdays, etc. is a big deal. We're so proud of her . . . blah blah blah.") I love the way they are patient with me and know I love them even when I am impatient with them. I love the way my abs hurt after I have a laughing fit with my mom. I love the way a good bear hug from my dad fixes any bad day. I love how a quick two-minute conversation between classes makes me feel like Georgia isn't really so far away. I love the anticipation of seeing them at the airport on August 8th. I love the way my mom always cries at Christmas when we get her sappy presents. I love the fierce mama-bear love she has for me. I love that I can call my dad and he'll drop everything to help me fix whatever problem I have. I love that he taught me how to write good papers and to love history. I love that he used to selflessly buy us the next season of Gilmore Girls every Christmas and then not complain when all we girls did for the next three days was sit and watch it (what a trooper).


I love the way they were SO involved in my life growing up. I love that my dad was my youth group leader for four years. I love the way they threw parties for me in high school like it was their job, having 50+ people over like it was no big deal. I love the way they came to every performance of every play and concert I was in. I love the way the hosted all nighters so the fun didn't have to stop at prom. I love the way they insisted my best friends come with us on family vacations. I love that instead of traditional graduation gifts, they surprise me and my best friends with a road trip to Canada/ tickets to the American Idol tour (don't judge, it was good back in the day).

I love that he still organizes the Turkey Bowl every year. I love that my dad surprised me with a spontaneous trip to a Chicago history museum so I could see the King Tut exhibit during my "Egypt" phase. I love how I felt after they took me to Disney World and I actually met Pooh Bear (he is so real when you are 4 years old, let me tell you).  I love the memory of tickle fights on Saturday mornings. I love the way they chaperoned any school function/trip I asked them to. I love the way my mom can run a fundraiser or other big event like it's nothing.  I love the way they really get to know and love my friends. I love that they are the "cool" parents (though my dad likes to test that sometimes in my opinion . . .) I love that they haven't missed a second of sharing and enjoying my life with me.

And as a birthday gift to my dad I'm going to list all the items he made me pack that I told him I would never use, but I've used. Knowing how stubborn I am and how over-prepared he always is, he might say this is the best present I've ever given him.
  ~That extra set of headphones. I did loose the first set... I can't believe it.
  ~That first aid survival kit. Hannah burned her leg on a moto but I had just the thing.
  ~That mini screwdriver for glasses. The tiny screws on my laptop needed tightening.
  ~Those cargo capris. He bought them without me even being there, and I love them. That's a first.
  ~The mini flashlight zipper pull. It gets dark here around 6 pm.
  ~The waterproof layer on all my bags. He sprayed it on minutes before we left for the airport, but I'm so glad. Rainy season is no joke over here.
  ~The Euros for my layover in Paris. That chocolate croissant was delicious.

So thanks Dad, for taking care of me. Happy Birthday.

I love you both very much and I hope this makes up for missing all of the major events of the summer.

Can't a Girl Get an Ice Cube?

Well, we're back up north for a few days. And, yes, that is the question that I'm sure will be going though my mind until we get back to the city. It's hot here and I have yet to see an ice cube. The tolerance that these people have for heat puts me to shame. It's not so bad though. I just appreciate ice cubes a lot more now.

We had a great week in Lome typing up notes and doing other very intern-like work. I LOVE having menial tasks to complete and there have been a few here and there that we've been able to do the help Chalmers staff get ready for the big training we are hosting here next week. They will be training trainers to train facilitators to train groups. Confusing I know. But so cool at the same time. Our task was to have 99 training manuals printed double sided and bound. Simple, right? I would have said so too (especially because I grew up doing that kind of stuff with my mom who happens to have everything we needed to accomplish the task in her office. Yeah, she's the bomb. And my school projects were always awesome.) But something that would have taken me an hour to do by myself at home took three days, lots of standing around, trying to communicate in French, double checking, and correcting mistakes. The American mindset in me is freaking out about how inefficient it all was, but at the same time, there's a little bit of African in me that loved the whole process. You see, for the people at the print shop, it wasn't about getting us our order as fast as they could, it was a chance to get to know us a bit. We were able to talk to the employees, whom I now consider friends. One woman even realized she is our neighbor and promised to come visit us sometime. It's all very different, but just as good. (Gotta love Kinko's though. Adding it to the list of things I'll never take for granted again.)

So after accomplishing little things like that, we headed back up north for round two of intense research. We are testing a survey that we hope to give to all (or more realistically, most at best) of the 150 savings group members here. Pray that we're asking the right questions, that we assess what we need to change quickly and that we finalize a good survey that will get us some helpful data. Also, I've really been aching to do some relational ministry. It's difficult with such an ambitious schedule and difficult language barrier, but I'm praying that these interviews and meetings will be a chance for God's children to be encouraged by one another. I don't have a lot to offer these people, but I can encourage them and pray for them and let them know that there is hope. Just as they can encourage me. Pray for relationships to be formed despite so many barriers. I just want to love people.

Quick list of things I'm thankful for: Pineapple (whatever we American's think we are eating in the states is NOT pineapple. There are no words to describe how amazing these pineapples are. They've ruined me for American pineapples forever I'm afraid.) My headlamp (it just makes me feel so prepared for life, especially when the power goes out, which it does often). For knowing how many people are praying for me. I am so encouraged by you all. Thank you.

Pray for:
~Safe travels. We take lots of motos and taxis around.
~Relationship building.
~Good research to be done. Especially concerning our survey.
~The Chalmers training next week. That God would use the trainers to do his work in Togo and other West African countries.
~Continued growth and a deeper understanding of grace. Always need that.

I really love blogging

...but not that moment when you're about to finish your post and the internet deletes all your hard and witty work, leaving you to start all over. Oh well, here goes...

So I love blogging. Love it. I read blogs like it's my job and now I have one of my very own. This is all so very exciting and I just can't contain my writing to only be on the subject of my summer in Africa. I'll tie it all together though so you won't hardly even notice, so hang in there with me and just keep reading. 

So update on Africa happenings: Hannah and I returned "home" to Lome this week. The feeling of returning to someplace makes me feel much more settled here. I never really feel like myself until I'm settled somewhere so coming "home" has been a blessing in the adjustment process. As lovely as it was to be back, it wasn't even the highlight of our week. We had the opportunity to go on a already-much-needed vacation to Benin for 2 days. Hannah and I expertly scheduled in a few extra days for traveling around Africa when we booked our tickets- always one step ahead we are- so we said yes when Will and Margaret asked us to join them on a quick trip to the coast of Benin. I don't think we would have taken a little time off so early if the timing had been up to us, but it actually worked out wonderfully. Week three of these internships is notoriously the worst (for culture shock, etc.) and it was lovely to have such a bright spot in ours. Some highlights of our trip: Body surfing in the big waves, being served by staff that had to dress as pirates, sipping fresh mango and pineapple smoothies by the pool, reading a good book for hours, sitting on the edge of the water realizing I'm on the coast of Africa, hanging out on the beach in the moonlight and seeing the biggest shooting star I've ever seen. It was lovely. 

Now we're back in Lome trying to tackle the never-gonna-end-until-we-get-on-the-plane-to-go-home pile of work we have to do. SO much typing to do. Now is one of those times I'm really thankful that I type like a T-Rex (you know, just picture it, I use only about four fingers) because Trinity didn't think it was a priority to teach me how to type. I love only being able to type about ten words a minute. Thank you very expensive education. (Disclaimer: I love Trinity and I believe they now teach their students how to type. I was just the one who slipped through the cracks. "No Child Left Behind?" I think not.) So anyway, we have SO much work to do and I'm praying that I will use it was a way to bring glory to God's kingdom. It's very easy to get bogged down in all this, but I'm praying and trusting that all this work will actually help someone. Working for His glory, not my own.

So now it's time for that part of my blog that doesn't really have to do with Africa so much. I'm starting a blog segment that I'm calling "Things I will never again take for granted" because being in Africa is something God is using to show me how much I truly appreciate some things but maybe don't take the time to notice. Those things that I love best and miss most. I hope these posts will serve as a reminder when I'm home to appreciate these things more. I also hope this will make you stop and think about something you may be taking for granted. Take time to say thank you for something special today. Write a note to someone, say a little prayer, whatever, just show a little extra gratitude today for all the blessings in your life. So without further ado...

Things I will never again take for granted: My lovely room mate Sarah Swygard. 

I loved living with Sarah this past year but didn't realize just how much I loved it until it was over. Thankfully we have a whole new year together ahead of us. She's the type of friend who buys you a birthday tiara and then makes you wear it so you can tell everyone that you're being forced to wear it (even though you are secretly so excited to wear it). She's the kind of friend who thinks to invite you to her too-good-to-be-true mentor's house for Easter brunch so you can have a delicious meal with a real family on a special occasion. She's the kind of friend who gets up early to come cheer you on in your first ever 5K and waits at the finish line to take pictures of you. She's the kind of friend who is up for anything and doesn't make fun of you when you want to give yourselves a celebrity couple name like "Krisarah" (catchy, isn't it?). She's the kind of friend who doesn't get mad when you wake her up at 6 am so she can drive you to the ER because you scratched your eye. She's the kind of friend who wants to start silly traditions with you like watching through every season of Alias and dancing through the theme song no matter how late it is. She is the classiest. And the sweetest. And I love her. Thankful her her selfless friendship and all that she means to me. 

Over and out. What are you extra thankful for today?

Stream of Consciousness

So quick update tonight. We are all settled into our new digs. Hannah and I have our own apartment but live above a fimily. It's pretty ideal. We have our own space, but they take care of us. They even gave us Togolese names. I'm Essie and Hannah is Effie. I'm probably spelling those wrong and it took me a good day to even learn how to say them correctly. Ewe is a tonal language and for our names, you have to raise your voice on the second syllable. These names are very common here because everyone is given as one of their names a name that corrilates to the day of the week upon which they were born. Very confusing. Essie is for Sunday even though I was born on a Thursday. I almost corrected them, but then Essie was pretty easy to say and I didn't want to risk getting a harder name. Our appartment turned out great. We have electricity, an ok internet connection, running water with enough pressure to take a shower (Woohoo!!!!) and a good bed with a mosquito net. We can cook here, but often we eat with our family downstairs, or rather they cook for us and we eat later... they are even kind enough to give us forks so we can eat American style (we all know I have germs, so this makes me happy). I ate my first Fufu yesterday. I'm not even sure how to describe it... it's a big ball of goo. Literally. It's mashed up yams (but not the yams you know. these are giant yams about 1 foot long) that magically transforms into something that looks entirely unpalatable. It's really not so bad though. I'm afraid, however, that I've offended a ton of people already because I can never finish my food. Apparently it is extremely insulting to not finish ALL of the TONS of food they give you. It's rather annoying. I either feel guilty or sick. I chose guilty for now. Maybe the whole summer. But definitely now while I'm still adjusting to local cuisine. My American stomach is wondering what the heck I'm doing to it. Hannah and I ate dinner in our apartment tonight: fresh, delicious avocados, soft, sweet bread, and peanut butter and nutella for dessert. What more could a girl ask for??? (well, I could actually think of a lot of things, but we're being thankful for what we have here).


Today was a whirlwind. Hannah and I met with and interviewed seven church facilitators (they are the people, usually totally awesome, who have gone through Chalmers training and are now starting their own savings groups). It was absolutely exhausting but challenging and encouraging at the same time. When I can forget how hot and uncomfortable I am for a moment and see what God is doing in the villages, it's really amazing. We met with two men who are Muslims using the Chalmers (explicitly Christian) materials. They said that since their training, their lives have changed dramatically for the better and other Muslims are asking them why. They are still not Christians, but pray that this connection will continue to form and plant seeds in their hearts. This is a really cool opportunity. 


Despite how busy and exhausted I've been, I've been thinking a lot lately. It's hard not to be confronted with soe big questions here. I do some of my best thinking on the back of a motobike. It's my little escape. My usual things I do to recharge are non-existent here, so I try to enjoy the time I get to spend scooting around on the back of some random dude's bike (don't worry, mom, I'm always with my translator/guide and always rocking my sweet Togolese helmet). I love to people watch-I actually drove past some guy wearing a Bettis jersey yesterday. I wanted to hug him, but I was on a moto and thought that jumping off probably wasn't worth it. Determined to get a pic with him though. Adding it to my bucket list. Anyway, so I love to people watch but it's rather heartbreaking. I struggle with how people live like this. . . and why. It's just hard when the Fall smacks you over the head and you see how broken the world is. I sometimes struggle with feeling overwhelmed with it all. What can I possibly do to make a difference here? . . . But how can I not try? It's disheartening and I'm praying that God gives me a large portion of His compassion and strength to face this all. I don't have to make sense of it, I just need to figure out his will and be faithful to it. Easier said than done. 


I stumbled across an old email today that I wrote to a friend about 2 years ago. The words hit me again and became my prayer for today and this summer. I thought I would share them with you: "I've been seeking after my own happiness and fulfillment when I know that's not what I've been called to. What the heck have I been doing? I've been so concerned with MY future, MY success and what I want that I've been blind to God. I was so worried about wasting my youth and throwing away my future, but I know that this is what my youth is for. Preparing for His future work and serving now as well. So, while things may not be perfect for me, I'm content and confident as I live for His happiness, not my own." Definitely have not figured this all out and could use your prayers here as well. 


I decided to start a little tradition on my blog where I just quickly list some things I'm thankful for. Today, I am thankful for: avocados, the crystal light packets that my mom packed me, my mosquito net/safe haven, my wonderful and hard working translator without whom we would be utterly lost, and for a God who is using this time to challenge me. What are a few things you are thankful for? Make a list and post it as a comment. 

Matthew 6

So much to tell you all. . . where to begin? I think I'll save my funny story for the end of this post to keep you reading (and when I say funny, I mean one day looking back it will be funny but right now I'm not exactly laughing...)

Our research plans are well underway. For every moment I have of "oh my goodness, how on earth am I going to do this?????" There's another of appreciation for all the help we have in planning and setting up. We have been blessed beyond belief with Will, our host. He's basically Hannah and I four years from now-he went through the same programs at Covenant as I am and had his internship in Africa too. He's been such an asset to us (pun intended. . .we're researching the ASSET program. . . anyway. . . ). We expected Will to be awesome, but what's been an unexpected blessing is the help we've received from the Mobile Training Owners who work with Chalmers in Togo, Kwasi and Theo. 

They really know their stuff and are totally invested in our work. We've already had two meetings with them in which all we did was talk about our expectations, goals, methodologies and schedule. Kwasi is a big fan of his brown craft paper and insisted upon writing down everything we said as we all brainstormed. Another thing that's been cool about these meetings is trying to understand and speak French. The five of us (Hannah, Will, Theo, Kwasi and myself) all speak (or sort of speak) French and English so it's a great chance to practice--especially to practice new vocab. French classes don't tend to teach you important words like "surveys," "focus groups," or "research design" but if you need to know how to say any particular vegetable, fruit, or article of clothing...I've got you covered. So, all that to say, Hannah and I are really thankful for the way the Lord has provided for us so far. It's still really overwhelming and I have NO idea how these next three months will go, but I'm taking this all as it comes. One part overwhelmed. One part thankful. 

Speaking of being overwhelmed but thankful... Hannah and I have made a lot of unexpected plans in the last week. We will be doing most of our research in a some small villages about two hours north of Lome. This means we won't be getting to live with Becky as much as we had planned or hang out at Will and Margaret's eating her delicious food as much as we'd hoped. We went apartment hunting yesterday and it was rather stressful on the whole. We are thankful to have found a place (with the help of Kwasi) living in an apartment above a nice family and for just $40 a month each. We hadn't budgeted for a second rent so it's definitely an answer to prayer that we found such a cheap place. But... you get what you pay for and I think living there, mostly cooking really, is going to be a challenge. It's a lesson in being thankful for having what I need though, not in wishing I had what I wanted. Once we get it better furnished and a little lived in, it's gonna work out great. If any of you have some good cooking ideas for how to feed yourselves without access to a refrigerator, clean running water (we do have running water though, praise the Lord) or oven, leave a comment. We'll have a stove top burner and a kitchen sink though so we're in business. 

Once we saw the apartment and decided it was our best choice, we had to run some errands. You see, there's a balcony area on our humble abode (balcony=luxury. This is basically the Ritz) but there was no lockable door on it which our landlord seemed to think was not a problem at all. Being my father's daughter, I was not about to let that fly so we (with Theo's help) ran around the village all afternoon getting everything for the door. You'd think it would be as easy as getting a door and some locks and hinges, and it was, sort of, but it was African style. African style=long period of waiting while nothing really happens. I've been told I'll get used to it. In this particular situation, it meant making the white girls wait in the car or seek shade somewhere while the wise locals who care about us do all the work. The moment our white skin is seen, the price gets jacked up by 300%, or at least that's what Theo keeps telling us. So, there was a lot of waiting in the heat and I promised myself I would never take Home Depot for granted ever again, but we got the doors and hardware and with one final stop at the apartment to drop it off (and like 20 minutes of waiting there and talking--African style, you know) we were on the road again- the long, hot, two hour road.

So, the last 12 days (wow, 12 days so far in Africa...) have been a blur. I've been trying to figure out/asking what God is teaching me though all of this. Here's what I've got so far: My life will be SO much better and I will have WAY more peace once I just give Him control. I have a moment every now and then when I'm stressing about where we'll live in the north or how on earth we're going to get around or feed ourselves consistently, I instead think how great it is that I can give it to Him instead. Matthew 6, baby, I didn't memorize it at camp 15 years ago for nothing (shout out to my peeps at Pine Springs!). I'm calling in on those promises this summer. I would by no means say I'm close to figuring this out, let's face it, we all know I have control issues, but if all of this is getting me closer to learning what it means to actually give my Father control, then I can do this. I want to grow this summer. Growing takes work. Pray for my growth in this way. 

So, as promised, funny story. Except, seriously I don't think its funny and I'm beginning to doubt if it ever will be to me. So a few hours ago I was sleeping in my bed, minding my own business when. . . oh man, I don't know if I can bring myself to tell this story yet. Maybe it's too soon. Oh well, I'd hate to disappoint. . . when all of a sudden I wake up with a start and hopped out of bed shaking all my limbs as quickly and violently as possible. (Go ahead, you can picture it, the story is better in visuals than in words). You see, I have killer instincts and reaction times when it comes to creepy crawly things. I don't mess around. Whatever big nasty bug had been crawling up my leg (oh! gross I can't even think about it right now...) was now  flung off of me (confirmed: not a spider, whew!). . . and lurking in our room. 

Adrenaline pumping, I flicked on the lights, grabbed my heavy hiking boot (so glad I brought them if for nothing but this exact purpose) and then I froze. This is usually the part when I make my roommate Sarah kill the gross bug for me. One problem: Sarah is currently in France. Bummer. As I try to collect myself enough to function, I realize how disappointed I am in myself. You see, everyone has been questioning how I'll function in Africa with all its germs and bugs and such (I really hate germs and bugs) and I always reply to them that I'll be fine because I have what I call "camp counselor mode" in which I turn all mama-bear-esque and can handle anything. It was in this moment, holding my boot in the air that I realized that for "camp counselor mode" to kick in, I need the very real pressure of keeping 10 twelve-year-old girls from having mental breakdowns. When the options are 1) mass chaos and screaming preteens or 2) Kristin just sucks it up and kills the bug, "camp counselor mode" is very effective. I have unfortunately underestimated how vital it is to have the threat of mass chaos to motivate me, however, and I am afraid my "camp counselor mode" will be null and void this summer. Bad news bears for this girl. 

Luckily though, Hannah chose this moment to sense danger (despite the earplugs and eye mask she was wearing) and groggily woke up. As she tried to make sense of the scene, I said "don't panic" to which she responded "is it a snake?" That instantly made me feel better. That was the dose of perspective I needed. This was not a snake. PTL. Once I told her it was just a big bug, she understood that this fell under her domain (Last semester, she and I made a deal: She'll kill all the bugs and I'll protect her and her irrational fear of snakes from snakes). She valiantly took the boot as I hopped up to safety on her bed. Unfortunately, there was only one more bug sighting and a 3 second window in which to kill it before it disappeared indefinitely. We did not succeed. . .Therefore, I slept in fear on the couch all night with the light on. Logical decision in my opinion. I'm still a little shaken up by it. It was a really big bug. And if a big nasty bug like that can get to me in my nice city apartment, I don't even want to think about what might be waiting for me in our village apartment. . . And that was the story of why Kristin will never again sleep in Africa without a mosquito net of protection around her. 

Could use your prayers of protection as well. From bugs, seriously I hate them, and other things like traveling, an encouraged spirit, strength, and for a servant's heart. 

We have a lot to do today before moving into our apartment tomorrow. Pray that everything comes together in time. We'll be living in the north for 5 days to kickstart our research. Pray also that we start getting connected up there and finding ways to get our work done. Don't know yet what the internet connection will be like up there, so if I'm out of touch for awhile, don't panic. Just pray for me.

Thanks for hangin' in there. I appreciate all your prayers. Leave a comment or two so I know you're out there! 

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Since I posted this, I located the bug (not even gonna tell you what it was) I calmly informed Hannah and she killed it for me. I definitely maimed it with my suitcase first though. Sarah would be proud of me. 

How many expats does it take to hang a hammock?

This and more exciting questions will be answered in today’s blog post. So Lome is awesome. I don’t know if I can say it’s beautiful, but it’s certainly beautiful to someone who has dreamed of going to Africa ever since she saw The Lion King as a three-year-old. I love the dirt streets (hopefully soon I’ll learn not to mind all the trash laying around or the road-kill lizard I nearly stepped on yesterday), the roadside stands selling anything and everything your heart could desire, the moto rides through traffic (which is extraordinarily tame compared to Haiti) and I love the people. It’s all so interesting to me. Moms here carry their babies on their backs all strapped in just hanging out. It’s adorable to see their little feet poking out on either side as they lean back to enjoy the ride. Also, at night, there are sometimes fires around-just people burning trash or something-but it looks so cool against the dark sky. I’ll try to snap more pictures so you all can see what life here is like rather than me trying to describe it all…

So on Sunday morning, Hannah and I met in the Paris airport and had some delicious “Pain au Chocolate” and “Café au Lait” while we caught up a bit. It was so exciting to see her face amidst so many unfamiliar things. It has been SUCH a blessing to be here together and I’m so thankful God worked that one out. Our next flight was about 6 hours and it was great, we had our own row and just got to watch movies and play Who Wants to be a Millionaire in French. (I may or may not have made her drop everything to watch the first five minutes of The Lion King with me as we flew over a very pride-rock-esque area. Seriously though, it gets you pumped up...)

When we landed in Lome, we waited for a bit in customs, but had no trouble getting through or getting our bags. Will and Margaret were right there to meet us and it was so good to see them. They are pretty much the best hosts we could have asked for. We had a nice meal at their house and then went to meet our housing host, Becky. She is an Ex-pat from the UK who works for an NGO here. (By the way, an expat, or expatriate, is basically a foreigner living in a different country). She is lovely and our house is wonderful. Hannah and I have our own room with beds and a wardrobe. My favorite part of the house is the roof terrace- pictures to come. We are really blessed to be living with Becky. She’s a lot of fun and has made us feel right at home.

Will has been taking us around town getting us set up before we start our research next week. He speaks French well and has been invaluable to us. Customs are just different here so it takes some getting used to. My favorite purchase so far has been our moto helmets. Mine has a Togolese flag stamped on the front and the back- it’s ok, you can be jealous.

Hannah and I have been enjoying getting settled in and spending time with our hosts. The food and coffee are amazing. I’m probably going to eat better (and cheaper for sure) here than I would have at home. Yesterday went grocery shopping in town. They had everything you could need. It was really nice. I wanted to cry tears of joy when I saw all the good milk on the shelves. If you know me well, you know I have a thing about milk. It has to be fresh and high quality for me to get near it (really, what did you expect when I was raised on Turners quality milk?). One of my biggest fears about Africa was that the only way I’d get milk was straight out of the cow or something. So when I saw shelves of fresh, highly purified milk, I was so relieved. It’s the little things in life . . .

I also smiled when I saw this guy hanging out on a shelf. You can take a girl out of Pittsburgh, but you can’t take the pride for all things Heinz out of the girl.  A little taste of home.

After our lovely trip into town and some really good lunch with Will and Margaret, Hannah and I came home for some down time. We decided to spend some time on the terrace and wanted to try out the new two-person hammock I brought. It took us way longer than it should have to figure out how and where to hang it best, but in the end, it was a success. This is the life.

Tmorrow we’ll be travelling north where most of our research will be done. Looking forward to getting started with that and seeing a real savings group after studying about them for so long. Hannah and I are both sort of nerds when it comes to this stuff. We love research. Seeing the lock boxes in person will probably be one of the highlights of our trip. For those of you who didn’t study microfinance for a semester, don’t worry, you’ll hear all about lock boxes from me soon.