south africa was awesome, though i took very few pictures (it wasn’t that kind of trip) and bought nothing while i was there (other than decongestants for my cold… why do i always get colds in africa?)… i DID get to see 5 of my students from benin!
pictured are anthelme, alexis, yves, jonas, pelagie and me.
i stayed in a “luxury tent” 2 hours north of jo’burg. i wasn’t sure what that meant until the porter at the hotel ushered me to my room, at which point i exclaimed, “holy crap!” (i have a way with words.) the thatch roof made it a “tent,” while the heated floors, huge bathroom, plush furniture and chandelier made it “luxury.” it was a paradoxical week to say the least. worlds colliding on so many levels. thanks for your prayers; it was quite the blessing.
lauren laughs
proverbs 31:25 says, "strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come." well… at least i've got the laughing part down.
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off to africa
i’m leaving for jo’burg, south africa, tomorrow morning. i haven’t packed. i’ll be gone 9 days. i have a theology test 2 hours after i get back to the US, so i’m typing my little fingers off, trying to get as much information into my computer as possible so i don’t have to lug the dictionary of christian theology and the dictionary of the christian church along with me. good times. i did do laundry this morning, so at least i’ve got that going for me.
i’ll be staying in a “luxury tent.” i can’t wait to see what that means!
i’m pretty psyched that i get to spend a week working with YFC again. it’ll be great to work with youth from all over the world (it’s an international youth leadership conference), and it will be great to see some missionary friends too.
i’ll admit, though, that i’m really going to miss my kids here, and the peeps i work with, and my friends. i’m so glad i’m going to miss them. it feels good.
please pray for my safety, thanks.
picture perfect
a few words about posting pictures on eharmony.
first off, you probably don’t want to post a picture of you hanging all over a girl (if you’re a guy)… and you certainly shouldn’t post a series of pictures of you with the same girl over and over. no one wants to see how hot (or not) your ex was.
if you do post a picture of you with a girl, there’s no need to add the caption “i’m on the left” if you’re standing on the left. chances are, we can figure that out… one would hope.
shirtless pics (for guys) are a little risky. they appear especially stupid if it’s clear that you’re taking a picture of yourself… shirtless. really?
beware of cheesy captions. “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere,” “i’m too sexy for my shirt,” or “i love kids!” to name a few.
if that really is who you are, then keep it up. i’m all for authenticity. some girl (not me) will totally dig it.
that said, i probably ought to post the lone picture posted on my profile. i’m sure it’s worthy of critique as well. it’s not on this computer though. i’ll just tell you, it’s a semi-profile pic, my hair thrown up in a mess, no make-up, and a couple of discreet elephants in the background. it’s how i normally look, minus the elephants… which i really posted to see if anyone would notice the context of the picture in the first place.
addendu
m:
here is said picture…
i love my church
this isn’t a new phrase. i’ve been saying it since i moved here, but friends in baltimore know i used to say it there too. what can i say. i’m a church lady.
but really, my church is amazing. last sunday was parish day, when we celebrated the beginning of the church program year. we had blue grass, fried chicken, games, face painting, and of course… a climbing wall.
seriously? yes. and if that’s not cool enough, the wall was donated in thanksgiving of… me. i mean, some people get altar flowers donated in their honor, but what says “we’re glad you’re here” like a rock climbing wall? pretty much nothing. my church is awesome.
i found myself thinking the same this morning, as trumpets heralded the start of the worship service, a string quartet played during eucharist (the music just about made me cry), john preached a great and thoughtful sermon, and everywhere there is a sense of “we are so glad you’re here…” whether you’re a kid or an old man or a youth minister. and the altar flowers smelled nice too. i love it.
keep back!
yesterday i went wall climbing, which happens to be a ways out of town, so that provided some driving practice with friends. i did alright, except when i stalled out 3 times at the same traffic light… watching it go from green… to yellow… and red again. when i finally did go, i peeled out a bit. later in the same day i had a solid 3 second peel-out. you could smell it. i was beginning to think i’d made a huge mistake purchasing a 5-speed vehicle.
and i made it! without a single stall-out or peel-out! no one got on my back. i watched in my rear-view mirror as one lady died laughing after squinting to see the fine print on my home-made sign. ah, what a day. 
the car
i bought a car today. a mazda3 hatchback with a sunroof. i like it. sure it’s a 5-speed… and sure i didn’t know how to drive a 5-speed (until an hour or two ago)… mere minor details.
the purchase:
i bought the car at carmax, which i have to say, was a pleasant experience. the guy that worked with me was definitely a car salesman, a tad annoying at times, but he was not one bit slimey. he wasn’t clever enough to be slimey, and i mean that in a good way. very what-you-see-is-what-you-get. he’d say things that were very not-smooth, which helped his credibility. it sounds like i’m trashing the guy, but seriously, i liked him. also, carmax is bending over backwards to work with my out-of-state credit union. the credit union lady told me over the phone, “girl, are you lucky. i’ve never known carmax to treat someone this good.” maybe it helped that i brought john (a priest) to test drive the car for me (while wearing his priestly collar). so john test drove it, i bought it, and then my friend aimee drove it home. woohoo!
the lesson:
i had a crash course in driving standard. lat ran to my house, we drove back to his house, did a couple laps around his neighborhood (i stalled maybe 10 times on my first left-hand turn), picked up friends for dinner, drove back to lat’s… and then i was on my own. it’s only a 3-4 mile drive, but it’s not direct. anyway, i made it home without stalling once, thanking God for the lack of traffic. 1st gear is really tricky, but the rest isn’t too bad.
so now i have a car, but i’ll be riding my bike to my morning appointment… maybe driving standard will keep me from driving too much. the bike life has been good.
rains: then and now
i knew when i walked out the door to work this morning that it was going to rain. i was surprised the skies held back as long as they did, finally unleashing their wet fury as i started the walk back home from the office. i didn’t mind. i had a ridiculous grin on my face as i walked, glad my umbrella would hide my elation from not-so-considerate drivers, sloshing me in their wake.
i think the rain here is funny. i know it will soon be the start of the shorter rainy season in benin, where the rain seems to shoot up from the ground rather than down (or sideways) from the sky. here, the sidewalks and streets create rivers in a matter of moments. in benin, “potholes” the entire width of the dirt (really, sand) road form green filmed pools of various wastes. i don’t mind walking in the rain run-off here. sure, it’s full of harsh chemicals, but i’ve yet to see a man pee on the wall of my home in my nearly 3 months here, so i’ve got that going for me.
since i was reminiscing a bit, i thought i’d look up my journal from this day a year ago in benin. here’s an excerpt on food.
I’m getting better about eating meat off bones and using my hands. Farhan would be proud. I don’t know if I was eating pork or goat tonight… it was tough enough to be goat. It was good though. Meals basically consist of some form of meat (whole fish, pork, chicken, goat, or “bush meat”) and a cheap simple starch. The starch could be couscous or rice, or more likely pounded yam or maize, which looks gross and gelatinous when first served, but then settles and changes to a consistency similar to powdered mashed potatoes. It’s actually pretty tasty. I had fish for lunch, and I tried tasting one of the egg sacs in the fish. It actually tasted kinda like pate, but I couldn’t eat the whole thing just because of what it was. The only thing not eaten here are bones. When you eat fish, that means the brains, eye balls, and everything. I always give Josue the head to eat. Bleh. They serve a whole lot of starch at every meal so you fill up fast and then get hungry later. I don’t always clean my plate, at which point I think of the expression, “There are starving children in Africa.” I know! But a girl can only eat so much rice! Sometimes we have beans, which are called “azingoqui” in Fon. At the camp, the beans came with a side of bugs. I didn’t mind when I found one bug in my food. It had been boiled. No biggie. I showed it to Augustin and he asked, “what is his name?” and I laughed it off. But after finding 4 more (in the same plate of beans, mind you) I decided I’d had enough azingoqui and friends for the day. Every meal, I pray in my head, “God, may this food make me strong and not sick, please. Amen.” So far, so good.
sometimes i miss life in the developing world. maybe you know what i mean.
religious attachments
i’m reading the Bible right now… like straight through. it’s not a quick read, but it sure is interesting.
leviticus calls up some interesting images and philosophies.
first, all the sacrifices, especially the ones where they throw blood onto the altar, really remind me of voodoo practices in benin. they are so similar–it’s like deja vu.
which leads me back to the always interesting question of religion’s role in civil society. montesquieu would say something about how religious actions lead to religious attachments. the more you do to keep up religious traditions and trappings, the more you are bound to them and by them. and somehow that translates into order, reason and judgment… helpful components of society. if you’re attached to something, you belong to it. if you belong to it, you belong to the community espousing it as well. belonging fights chaos. meaning even “false” religions have their place in creating and preserving civility.
so interesting.
new wheels
no, not a car.
i gotta say, for having lived here only 2.5 months, i have some pretty awesome friends. one of which called the owner of “my” local bike shop today (who happens to train some of my triathlon friends) and filled him in on my situation. when i arrived with my poor bike (which is maybe 15 years old), mr. bike man hooked me up with a free (used) wheel and free (used) tires too. i told him i’d been considering moving over to a lighter tread tire, being that i was on sidewalks more than mountain trails, hoping to make my rides through town a bit faster and easier. my bike looks hilarious now, like a drag-racer, says mr. bike man. skinny tire on front, thicker tire on back, but it’s a good combination for my needs. when all was said and done, he waved me out of the store with a smile, telling me to come back when i’m ready to buy a road bike… and start training… hmmm… train?
i’m suffering a bit of delayed shoulder pain today, i guess from bracing myself at impact, which i’m hoping is extremely temporary.
other than that, i’m back on the road tomorrow. score.
lauren splats… almost
so much for not blogging…
i got hit by a car tonight on my way to the gym. i was riding my bike on the sidewalk (i’m told this is not illegal and much safer than riding on the road), going against traffic (again, i’m told this is safer), when i came to an intersection. i slowed down, noted the stopped car, checked the green light and the pedestrian crossing, and continued forward into the intersection. i saw the stopped car start into a right turn, realized what was about to happen, swerved, and CRASH. they clipped my back tire, knocking me over, but i caught myself and the bike. i have a few minor cuts and bruises, but nothing major. sadly, my bike will need a little TLC before i’ll be able to ride again (slight problem when it’s your primary means of transportation), but still nothing major. the lexus that hit me will have to get a new bumper, though… yikes. i didn’t get the driver’s contact information since 10% of me was scared i didn’t have the right of way. i can’t afford a lexus bumper. the couple that hit me was more concerned about my ability to walk than anything. i think the little lady in the passenger seat was more shaken up than i was.
anywho… my dad thinks i should get a car.
lauren laughs 