Well the trip getting home to Africa was full of events. To start it off...
1. Nicole said she would drive me to JFK from New Hampshire which was so nice of her, except that as we pulled out of the driveway we realized the AC was broken. That would not have been so much of a problem except for the fact that it was the hottest day of New England, I think the temperature reached 101. Therefore, as Nicole put it, she was just trying to get me ready for life in Africa. We started off the trip by getting subs at Joe's Meat Market, (my last of deli meats for yet another year) then headed to NYC. About half way there we made a stop to switch drivers and realized we had not only sweat through to the back of our shirts, but the back of our pants and Nicole was wearing white pants. (Love you Nicole)
2. Then we finally arrived at JFK after hitting traffic at 3:30pm, Nicole went in with me and I had my last Starbucks ice coffee, then headed through security to catch my flight. Of course the flight was delayed an hour and a half, which meant my connecting flight in Paris was going to be a little tight. What I didn't know was tight turned out to be 15 minuted to change terminals; ride the damn bus, run up and down the stairs, head through security again, then run to the gate. I arrived sweating and out of breath, made the flight but had a feeling my luggage was not coming with me.
3. I enjoyed the food on the flight, savoring meat, cheese, yogurt and drinks with ice, but halfway through my flight they said over the intercom that we would be landing in Mauritania. It was the neatest thing! As we began the descent, all I could see was dessert, then finally out of nowhere, all these sand built houses appeared, some where painted vibrant colors, but there would be packed neighborhoods, then no little houses for a while, only about 3 paved roads that stretched tough the capital city. It was very interesting to see and the man I was sitting next to was Canadian, was an engineer and worked there said the culture was interesting and the people incredibly friendly.
4. About an hour later we took off and headed for home. I arrived at the airport and saw the lines to get through customs were all over the place, people yelling at each other, blaming always someone else, made it through customs and waited for my bag. NO SHOW! yep, I made it but my bag didn't. I filed a claim and they said it should arrive in 2 days with the next flight heading my way. We shall see. I am not angry about the bag being lost, but the contents included mainly gifts for my village, host family and friends here in country, so please everyone cross your fingers for it to arrive. Also the first thing I heard when I left the airport was a man who worked at the airport say, "Stephanie" I said that I was she, he said there was a car waiting for me, but then said, "Did you bring me a gift?" And then I knew I was home!!!
Friday, June 22, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
The Last Supper
It has been such an amazing time being at home with my family and friends and I have really enjoyed my time here. Thank you to all who I was able to visit with and sorry to the others I was unable to tie up with.
My grandfather is doing better, he's out of the hospital and now into rehab but taking a little bit longer to recover than he would like. He's been trying to get his legs working again, or as he says, "Start training for my marathon". I made him a GRAMPA MARATHON RUNNER shirt which he seemed to enjoy. We watched the birds eating out of the bird house my mom set up outside his window and the squirrels slipping down the pole because my gram pa was angry they (the squirrels) were eating the bird food and told us we needed to grease the bird feeder pole, which we did with petroleum jelly.
I've had such an amazing time getting to run again where no one follows you, people don't look at you funny and ask you were your going; eating as much ice cream as physically possible; taking walks on the beach with my friends and siblings; watching too many reality TV shows, having a few too many drinks with my room mates; showering in warm running water or brushing my teeth with clean water; turning the lights off once i've been able to climb into bed and read with a side lamp; drinking ice cold water after a long run or while sun bathing on the beach; sharing a bathroom with my brother and coming home to find out my toothbrush and all toiletries had been moved to my room; going out to lunch with my co-workers in Boston with wonderful food; a car that goes forward and has the appropriate ratio of seats to person; listening to new American music on the radio; I could go on for ever, but I will stop while I am ahead.
Thank you for everyones support with my decision to head back to Africa and thank you for all the helpful ideas for secondary projects I can do with my students and village. Please if you have any other ideas feel free to e-mail me. I'll let you know when I get home to Africa, see you in August 2013!
My grandfather is doing better, he's out of the hospital and now into rehab but taking a little bit longer to recover than he would like. He's been trying to get his legs working again, or as he says, "Start training for my marathon". I made him a GRAMPA MARATHON RUNNER shirt which he seemed to enjoy. We watched the birds eating out of the bird house my mom set up outside his window and the squirrels slipping down the pole because my gram pa was angry they (the squirrels) were eating the bird food and told us we needed to grease the bird feeder pole, which we did with petroleum jelly.
I've had such an amazing time getting to run again where no one follows you, people don't look at you funny and ask you were your going; eating as much ice cream as physically possible; taking walks on the beach with my friends and siblings; watching too many reality TV shows, having a few too many drinks with my room mates; showering in warm running water or brushing my teeth with clean water; turning the lights off once i've been able to climb into bed and read with a side lamp; drinking ice cold water after a long run or while sun bathing on the beach; sharing a bathroom with my brother and coming home to find out my toothbrush and all toiletries had been moved to my room; going out to lunch with my co-workers in Boston with wonderful food; a car that goes forward and has the appropriate ratio of seats to person; listening to new American music on the radio; I could go on for ever, but I will stop while I am ahead.
Thank you for everyones support with my decision to head back to Africa and thank you for all the helpful ideas for secondary projects I can do with my students and village. Please if you have any other ideas feel free to e-mail me. I'll let you know when I get home to Africa, see you in August 2013!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Home Sweet Home
Well Nicole arrived safe and soundly! Thankfully she was not hassled and seemed right at home when she got here. My mother had sent two LARGE duffel bags of food and necessary items, THANK YOU MOM, but which meant we had to get them home to site! We arrived at the taxi station which as always is crazy, got out of the car and had boys grab the large duffel bags, asked us where we were going and led us to our car. We got loaded in and began the journey home at 9am. About 4 hours into the drive, we broke down, so everyone piled out of the car, and we sat for 4 hours waiting for the driver to come back and fix the issue. If you didn't know the drivers are also mechanics, that's a joke, but he was able to fix it and we were back on the road and driving in the dark. We arrived at site around 11:30pm, walked home in the dark and I welcomed her to my home. Poor thing was so tired like myself and tried to be so accommodating and said, "It's just so dark!" It's true though, imagine going from NY City to camping 24/7!
My Principal arrive that night to welcome her, then he said I could take the day off tomorrow to settle in and sleep, so we woke up the next morning and all my neighbors were so excited to see her. So I brought her around the village, everyone shaking her hand and so excited to see another white person in the village. I finished my week of school, Nicole came with me and got to monitor me and give me helpful tips of advice! She couldn't believe how many students were in the class and how difficult it was to maintain order in the classroom. I made math posters for my 10th grade students for their brevet (test to go on to high school), because we have been doing exercises and exercises preparing for the brevet and the students were are really excited to have some color in the room, the other teachers even came over to look at the posters and ask me questions about them, where I made them and was I working outside/after school?
Nicole and I then went and spent a night with the missionaries which was so wonderful, and a break for me from having to cook and make sure she was well fed. Then I had one more week left of school, so Nicole would come with me when she felt like it, otherwise she stayed home and worked on her school work. But it was funny because when she didn't come with me the whole village asked where she was and what she was doing.
Nicole and I also attended a wedding in the village as well, which consisted of us heading over with the other teachers of the village, riding in the taxi with the bride and groom, 2 other people with us, sitting at the front of the ceremony and acting like we knew the bride and groom which we really did not. But fun and interesting for Nicole to see how a wedding was done in Africa.
Unfortunately at the end of the week, I got a really high temperature and Nicole had to take care of me, putting cold socks on my head, and filling me with Advil and Tylenol. She was able to cool me down the first two nights, then the next night my fever sky rocketed again to 104 and she and I were very nervous because it wouldn't drop from almost 2 hours. She stayed up all night with me, making sure I was doing okay and changing the cloths. The next day we headed to the capital so I could be tested for malaria, which turned out to be negative, and they stated it must just be an infection of some kind and to wait it out. Therefore Nicole and I decided why not just fly home surprise my family, check on my grampa, and make a doctors appointment.
So we took off for Paris, had a chocolate croissant in the airport and wonderful coffee (Nice and strong) then arrived in JFK, rented a car and arrived home in NH. I was showering when my dad came home, so when he walked around the corner of the room, I tip toed down the stairs and surprised him on the other side of the wall. He had know idea I was home, just thought that Nicole was home. It was so nice to see him and give him a hug. Immediately we made a drink and sat down all three of us to sit and chat. We saw my moms car coming up the drive way, so I ran upstairs and waited. She came strolling in, wondering whose car was in the drive way, then saw Nicole and said, "Your home early" Then she started asking why she was home so early and how she got home, then asked where I was. So I walked around the corner of the stairs and said I was right here and she jumped and screamed and ran over and gave me a great big hug. That night we went out to dinner as a family and I have never been happier in my life!
I came home one, because I was so sick, sad Nicole was leaving and because my grandfather is in the hospital. I have been able to see my grandfather and hang out with my family which was something I had been dreaming about for such a long time. He's doing okay but certainly not as good as when I had left him. I'll be home till the 20th of June then heading back to finish the one year that remains. Hope to see as many of my friends and family as possible. Hope everyone is well!
If you need me I will be eating as much American food as possible, showering as many times a day as possible due to running water, turning on and off the lights because I finally can, and running and taking walks without having to worry about people following of looking at me funny! Love you all! Thank you Nicole for coming and staying with me in Africa, I had such a fun and amazing time with you!
My Principal arrive that night to welcome her, then he said I could take the day off tomorrow to settle in and sleep, so we woke up the next morning and all my neighbors were so excited to see her. So I brought her around the village, everyone shaking her hand and so excited to see another white person in the village. I finished my week of school, Nicole came with me and got to monitor me and give me helpful tips of advice! She couldn't believe how many students were in the class and how difficult it was to maintain order in the classroom. I made math posters for my 10th grade students for their brevet (test to go on to high school), because we have been doing exercises and exercises preparing for the brevet and the students were are really excited to have some color in the room, the other teachers even came over to look at the posters and ask me questions about them, where I made them and was I working outside/after school?
Nicole and I then went and spent a night with the missionaries which was so wonderful, and a break for me from having to cook and make sure she was well fed. Then I had one more week left of school, so Nicole would come with me when she felt like it, otherwise she stayed home and worked on her school work. But it was funny because when she didn't come with me the whole village asked where she was and what she was doing.
Nicole and I also attended a wedding in the village as well, which consisted of us heading over with the other teachers of the village, riding in the taxi with the bride and groom, 2 other people with us, sitting at the front of the ceremony and acting like we knew the bride and groom which we really did not. But fun and interesting for Nicole to see how a wedding was done in Africa.
Unfortunately at the end of the week, I got a really high temperature and Nicole had to take care of me, putting cold socks on my head, and filling me with Advil and Tylenol. She was able to cool me down the first two nights, then the next night my fever sky rocketed again to 104 and she and I were very nervous because it wouldn't drop from almost 2 hours. She stayed up all night with me, making sure I was doing okay and changing the cloths. The next day we headed to the capital so I could be tested for malaria, which turned out to be negative, and they stated it must just be an infection of some kind and to wait it out. Therefore Nicole and I decided why not just fly home surprise my family, check on my grampa, and make a doctors appointment.
So we took off for Paris, had a chocolate croissant in the airport and wonderful coffee (Nice and strong) then arrived in JFK, rented a car and arrived home in NH. I was showering when my dad came home, so when he walked around the corner of the room, I tip toed down the stairs and surprised him on the other side of the wall. He had know idea I was home, just thought that Nicole was home. It was so nice to see him and give him a hug. Immediately we made a drink and sat down all three of us to sit and chat. We saw my moms car coming up the drive way, so I ran upstairs and waited. She came strolling in, wondering whose car was in the drive way, then saw Nicole and said, "Your home early" Then she started asking why she was home so early and how she got home, then asked where I was. So I walked around the corner of the stairs and said I was right here and she jumped and screamed and ran over and gave me a great big hug. That night we went out to dinner as a family and I have never been happier in my life!
I came home one, because I was so sick, sad Nicole was leaving and because my grandfather is in the hospital. I have been able to see my grandfather and hang out with my family which was something I had been dreaming about for such a long time. He's doing okay but certainly not as good as when I had left him. I'll be home till the 20th of June then heading back to finish the one year that remains. Hope to see as many of my friends and family as possible. Hope everyone is well!
If you need me I will be eating as much American food as possible, showering as many times a day as possible due to running water, turning on and off the lights because I finally can, and running and taking walks without having to worry about people following of looking at me funny! Love you all! Thank you Nicole for coming and staying with me in Africa, I had such a fun and amazing time with you!
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