ange in africa

What I'm up to

2007-11-06T06:34:00.000-08:00

Okay, here’s my update. I got to speak at WBC this weekend and share about the last two years.

I went to the doctor and he said the ulcer has healed, but because I’m still having problems, he performed a full retinal exam and he found a retinal tear! he did some laser treatment on it. It hurts, but it’s okay. I was doing some reading on the internet and apparently retinal tears are common in people ages 50-70 or if you got hit in the head real hard. Not really sure how I got mine. I asked the doctor and he glared at me and said “you can’t control what happens inside your eye, NO ONE can control what happens inside their eye.” Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks.

Working on planning our wedding and pretending to look for a job. Daniel comes home on the weekends and we have so much fun. He makes me laugh so hard that my face hurts. Oh, and we found a place to live. We’re going to rent a nice cute little house, and we’re going to start moving stuff in this weekend.

I owe a lot of you phone calls or emails or whatever and I’m sorry. just cut me some slack-- my face hurts, and my eye hurts.

Briefly

2007-10-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

Hooray! My vision is back to normal!
I am looking for a job.
Daniel and I had so much fun this weekend.
The End.

My Eye

2007-10-17T07:51:00.001-07:00

Wow, I had no idea people would still read this blog. Booyeah to Marc and Jessie and to myself. I probably should change the title though.
Here's the update on my eye. I went to a specialist in Memphis 3 times last week, he gave me all kinds of medicines, showed me to some other doctors, they decided it was not herpes. I think basically they have no idea what it is.
The good news is that somehow the medicines are working. As of this weekend I'm not wearing my eye patch anymore, and my vision is slowly returning. I'm not in so much pain now. The doc said yesterday that he thinks I have turned a corner! that means that I will try to read and reply to all these emails you've sent me. I'll go to the doc again on Friday.
I tried to take new pictures of me and Daniel, but since I couldn't see, he took his opportunity to make horrible faces in all of them. I ought to post them all here just to punish him.

for Jason and Beth

2007-10-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

Jason and Beth wanted me to write about how I've changed since I moved overseas. I have been writing about that a lot lately. But here are two really bad changes.
1) I have turned into a big liar. Over the past two years, I lied to just about everyone for the real reason I lived in Paradise. Even my closest friends. That stinks. And on the way home, the airport people kept asking me who packed my bags and I lied and said I packed them, just because it was less trouble to explain that I had an emergency medical exit and I actually didn't pack a single one of my bags, all my friends packed them for me.
2) I never pay attention to signs or announcements because I'm used to not understanding them. I got in big trouble for ignoring the rules on the way home.

Marc said that my life is boring now and Jessie said I should never post anything again, EVER. Marc also said that I'm late all the time now. It's true. And, Jessie owes me $4.27 and a free pedicure. And, I get to see my sweet fiance tomorrow. And, sorry my life is so boring now.

Awww

2007-10-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Aren't these pretty flowers, and don't I look amazing with an eye patch?

HI from Amsterdam

2007-10-08T02:28:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm in Amsterdam now. Don't know if anyone is checking this, but I am doing okay. I have had some strangers show a lot of kindness to me, so I am thankful for that. I just have one more flight in a few hours. Oh, and dang, it's cold. I need some socks!

3 things

2007-10-04T00:05:00.000-07:00

1. I found this internet tool that helps you make a budget for your wedding. All you have to do is type in how much money you want to spend, then it tells you how much you can spend on each thing. Sounds helpful, except it's not. This budget allows us to spend $20 on wedding rings. And $4 total for all flowers for the groomsmen. But it also had money for alcohol and videography, neither of which we'll need. I might as well just make my own budget.
2. Some of my coworkers here like to watch the tv show "Grey's Anatomy" to destress. I can't stand that show because, you know, it's trashy. I also find all of the characters incredibly annoying and unrealistic. I was teasing my friends for liking it, until one of them said "Yeah, Angela, we know it's not real, but Jack Bauer isn't real either." Booyeah.
3. My eye herpes is baaaaaaaaaaack.

White

2007-10-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

Today I caused a major traffic accident. I was walking down the road, minding my own business. There were two vans driving in opposite directions, both drivers had their heads hanging out the window trying to get a better look at me when all of a sudden BAM! They slammed right into each other, really hard. Then both drivers got out and started shouting at each other and within seconds there was a crowd of about 30 people and there was this huge traffic jam. It was almost like a cartoon. And I tried to disappear. I felt kinda bad, but then again, it wasn’t really my fault. It’s not like I was dressed inappropriately or waving at them (I’ve been told I wave flirtatiously)

I wonder what it will be like when I get back to America, and I’m just another white person? And I can walk around town and people won’t fall all over themselves just trying to catch a glimpse of my white skin. I think…it might be…kinda nice.

An angel!?!?

2007-09-30T07:48:00.001-07:00

I rode on public transportation with a friend the other day, mostly ignoring the Arabic around me, as usual. Then I heard my friend start laughing. When we got off, she told me that all the men were having a conversation about me. “is THIS a woman?” “maybe it’s an angel.” “well, it IS Ramadan, it’s possible that she’s an angel.” I think the heat and the fasting are getting to them.

Today

2007-09-29T23:39:00.001-07:00

Today I am going to a museum with my friend. She was supposed to come pick me up 45 minutes ago. I am not dressed yet because I knew she would be late.
Don't be offended if I'm late or not ready on time when I get home. I'm just used to that now. Also, don't be offended if my hair looks ugly. I don't think I've even tried to fix it in the last two years except for maybe when Daniel came here in January. SO I hope I remember how to fix it.
Anyway, I'm going to some museums today. And it's really hot.

Cooking in Paradise

2007-09-26T04:02:00.001-07:00

If you want to eat during Ramadan, you have to cook. because all the restaurants are closed. I have been cooking for some of my friends here. They are highly entertained/scared by my cooking. Tonight we are having lasagna. I wonder what they will think about that? Lasagna is really easy in America and relatively easy here, even though you have to make your own cottage cheese. I took a picture because no matter how many times I do it, I'm still impressed with myself. I thought you might be impressed too.

Here it is! This is before I washed and drained it. Doesn't it look delicious!

And, I'd like to give a special shoutout to Lindsey, my most dedicated reader. She is my buddy and is going to be a bridesmaid in my wedding. Thanks for always reading and commenting. I can't wait to see you soon!

true confession

2007-09-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

I’m supposed to use one of my eye medicines every hour. And it’s rude to do that in public. And I have to look in a mirror to do it. So I don’t usually. And my eye hurts. I know it’s my own fault for not using my medicine enough. Don’t worry, I still use the other two medicines the way I’m supposed to.

Better today

2007-09-21T01:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had to go early to school for a meeting. This meeting was supposed to be about a special two week English course during Ramadan. I got up early and went all the way to the other side of town for this meeting. No one was there when I got there. I called another teacher and she told me instead we would have the meeting on Saturday. Saturday is when the classes are supposed to start. If they start. So I just turned around and came back home. I did get to go break the fast with my friends last night, that was fun. I am cooking for them this week. they are really afraid of my cooking. One time I made homemade pizza for them and they really liked that. They said to just go ahead and make the homemade pizza again because they are afraid of what else I might make. Robin is the one who was good at making homemade pizza. I miss robin!

Today is a day off. I didn’t sleep well last night. I had a lot of crazy dreams. I dreamed that Daniel skipped our wedding so he could go turkey bowling! I was so mad! Then it turned out it wasn’t our wedding, just a wedding shower. But I was still really mad. (does anyone know what turkey bowling is?)

Again!?!?

2007-09-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

I woke up in the middle of the night soooo sick and I have been sick all day. I think as a result of the crazy visit I went on last night (involving grapefruit juice and a giant rat. But that’s a story for another time). I don’t like to be alone when I’m sick, so I ended up going to a friend’s house all day long. I had all kinds of plans today, including breaking the fast tonight with some friends, but I had to cancel everything. Maybe tomorrow. I have a lot of things planned tomorrow, too, but if I’m still sick I won’t be able to do any of them. I cried when I realized I had to cancel on my friends. I have so little time left with them! I just have to trust Him. He doesn’t need me to accomplish his purpose. That’s a hard lesson to learn.

Important Decisions

2007-09-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

Two very important decisions were made this week.

Where is the first place I’ll eat when I get back to America? A Mexican restaurant!

When will Daniel and I get married? December 1^st!

Time is Running Out

2007-09-15T04:05:00.000-07:00

This week I almost finished my responsibilities at school. I say almost because everytime I try to enter my grades, the computer lab is locked or there's no power. I'm going to keep trying. The day I gave my final exams was so stressful that I forgot to announce about the extra classes, so I guess there aren't any. It feels very strange that my time at school is coming to an end.
And strange that my time in this country is coming to an end. I look around my apartment and my room and my neighborhood and I can't believe that I may never be back. I might be. But I don't know.
And I don't know exactly what's next, so that's a little scary. I do have in mind this fellow that I want to marry though. At least I got one thing figured out.
Oh, it's Ramadan now. People were partying on my block all night, and I'm tired today. I have already taken three short naps so far. Time for another.

It's hot

2007-09-14T05:37:00.000-07:00

and I'm thirsty.

These days

2007-09-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

I am nearly finished at school. In class the other day, I told the kids that after their Ramadan break, I wouldn’t be there because I was returning to America. They got these panicked looks and there was an uproar of “but who will teach us!!!!” I said that another teacher would come and that calmed them right down. I still have to give an exam and get all my grades entered into the computer…but I’m almost finished. I might offer some extra optional classes for the kids who don’t want to stay at home all day during ramadan. I haven’t decided yet.

Shopping

2007-09-08T05:05:00.000-07:00

I got to meet up with a friend when I was in Dubai. We had soooo much fun. She thinks I should use these pigs as cake toppers. haha! What do you think?

Disconnect

2007-09-06T04:43:00.001-07:00

This summer when I was so sick, I lost some weight. My students at the university know that I got engaged this summer. They all think these two things are connected--that I lost weight because I fell in love. I don’t really understand that (also, in this culture, you are supposed to gain weight in preparation for marriage). I usually say, “no, I was sick this summer,” and then they always say, “but also, you are in love,” and then I just agree because I know it’s pointless to argue. I have had that exact conversation at least 10 times.

My Students

2007-09-04T05:33:00.000-07:00

While I was gone to Dubai, the person who taught my class had my students write about me in their journals. She sent me some to read, here they are.

I miss Ms. Angela so much because she is a really great person and teacher. We had a wonderful time with her. She taught us many important rules in talking English. She’s very strict in the class but she gives us a free time, too, to have some fun. I hope she can come back because we like her.

I miss Ms. Angela so much because she was a great teacher, she understood us, and guided us. She was very nice and caring and treated us well, she was our leader, we miss her very much and hope that she can be good and come back.

I miss Ms. Angela because she was our communication teacher and she was funny and fun and chearfull. She always was loughing and happy and when we don’t understand something she helps us to do it and she tout us to use the dictionary. And every Wednsday we play fun games and on Thursdays there is the English Club and she is one of the teachers there. So when we have a problem and we don’t find her on Wednsday we go to her on Thursday. I miss Miss Angela.

Go Hogs!

2007-09-01T05:06:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to get back in the swing of things and get used to the heat again. This morning, I woke up and talked to Daniel for about an hour, then I decided I was still tired and I went back to sleep for two more hours. Right now I'm talking to my dear friend Lulu, and she's helping me plan my wedding. Tonight I'm going to visit a friend. I hope the Hogs win today. I love them, but not enough to wake up at 2:00 am to listen to the game. I will get the report from Daniel tomorrow.

SO weird, part 2

2007-08-30T04:48:00.000-07:00

Here in Paradise, when you greet or say goodbye to a friend, you go through a series of hugs and kisses. First, hit the other person’s shoulder (they hit yours at the same time), kiss three times, hug, shake hands, etc. It’s a mixture of those things, the better you like someone, the longer it will last.

In Dubai, I made some new friends. One night when we were leaving and saying our goodbyes, I slapped the new friend on the shoulder. Everyone looked at me like, “what the heck!” And I was thinking, “what the heck! Why didn’t she hit my shoulder? I guess she doesn’t like me!” We just stood there all staring at each other for like a solid minute, then I realized what I had done and quickly apologized. It was pretty funny, and she thought it was funny too, after I explained.

So when I get home and you see me, please come slap me on the shoulder.

I'm going to be so weird

2007-08-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

when I get back to the states. In so many ways. (Part 1)

Since I am not allowed to wear my contacts for a while, I had to get some new glasses made. When I went to the store, I found myself bargaining with the store keeper on the fixed price. I didn’t even think about it, I just started doing it. I got him to go down about $65 and to give me a really nice case for free. When it was over, of course, I did the thank you routine and poured and poured compliments on him. “You are so kind, you have been so kind to me, I will tell ALL my friends, thank you so much for your kindness. I am SO happy, you have made me feel SO happy.” I bet if I tried to do any of that in the states, it wouldn’t go over very well.

Great News!

2007-08-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

I have exciting news! I'm heading back to paradise tomorrow! My eye is safe and I've been released!
My vision is not back to normal, and I am still seeing black spots, but the dangerous part is over!!! I am supposed to see a doctor again when I get back to the states. Until then I am not allowed to wear my contacts and I have to continue my medications.
I am really happy that I get to go back home. I will have a scar on my cornea, but she is really hopeful that my vision will return to what it was. So no permanent damage! Praise Him, Praise Him!
There is more to tell, but I'll save that for an email update I think. Be watching for that soon.

Last night

2007-08-23T06:32:00.000-07:00

I dreamed that Daniel sent me a salad letter. Meaning, he wrote me a letter spelled out in salad. When I opened up the Tupperware container, I thought to myself “Why did he shred the lettuce so tiny, I hate it when he does that,” leading one to believe that, in sleepy town, Daniel is in the habit of sending me salad letters. He wrote, “This is going to have to be short because my lettuce chopper is dirty, and I had to chop all this by hand.” (what in the world is a lettuce chopper?) Then he told me that his parents had put our relationship on probation because I always kept the Tupperware containers instead of washing them and returning them. His mom said that if I would just return the containers, she would let us get married. Then I ate the salad.

Today

2007-08-23T05:31:00.001-07:00

Today, at the mall I went to, there was this booth a fellow had set up. For about 3 bucks, you could get your picture made with a live falcon. I almost did it, just for the joy it would bring to you blog readers out there. But that bird looked kinda scary, so I didn’t. I walked all around the mall and I bought some shampoo. And, I got an ice cream cone.

I think my new medicines are helping. I hope to be back in paradise by this time next week. Of course, I hoped that last week and the week before, too.

The Lord knows the plans he has for me. All the days ordained for me were written in his book before one of them came to be. Also, if I seek Him with all my heart, I will find Him.

The end.

Another week in Dubai

2007-08-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

I went back to the doctor yesterday, and she wants me to stay another week. She is increasing the medicine I’m already using and starting me on two additional medicines. She said that it looks like the deeper level activity that would cause permanent vision loss has calmed down, or at least she hopes so. So that’s a big praise! My vision isn’t back to normal yet, and my eye is still just really irritated and painful. But I am seeing fewer black dots. Another praise! And I bought a giant pair of dark sunglasses. So now I can walk down the road without my hand over my face.

I am doing okay. There is another girl my age who lives here and I have hung out with her some, plus a family I know is here this week, so I got to spend the day with them yesterday. That was really fun.

The fact that I’m using 4 different eye drops/creams/gels is a little confusing and I think my eye is tired. maybe I will turn on a movie and just listen to it.

Cereal

2007-08-17T21:43:00.001-07:00

I have been eating cereal for breakfast everyday. It is awesome. Golden grahams. I had forgot about golden grahams.

This morning I was thinking about those old commercials for that healthy cereal, maybe Total? And they would be like “you have to eat a million bowls of raisin bran to get the fiber or protein or whatever you get in total” and then they would bring out the million bowls of cereal and the guy would look so sad. Those were cool commercials. I was thinking about that this morning because I opted for golden grahams instead of fruit and fiber. I only ate one bowl, not a million. At least I didn’t pick fruit loops.

This post is dedicated to the person who made a sarcastic comment about how spiritual my blogs have been lately. She knows who she is. (love you!)

Booooooring

2007-08-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

I don't have anything to write about because I am bored and therefore this is boooooring. So be forewarned.

1) I need to cut my fingernails. I only anticipated being here a few days, not two weeks, so I didn't pack nail clippers.
2) I guess one nice thing is that I have unlimited time to talk to Daniel. well, you know, he is limited by work and sleep. But I'm not. I'm free as a bird. (one time, Shauna and I set Freebird to play on the jukebox like 8 times in a row at this random mexican restaurant in TX that we INSISTED our friends take us to. the song always makes me think of her).
3) my eyes both hurt.
4) My little brother starts high school soon. And my cousin Kristen will graduate this year. I am oooooooooooold.
5) I miss my friends in Paradise.
6) I am starting to think about what I am going to do when I get home. I mean, other than the getting married thing. Like a job or something. Any ideas?

And here's a special picture. This is my Uncle Woody and my cousins Kristen and Katie. I miss them very much (I thought you might be getting tired of seeing the lovey dovey pictures of me and Daniel. my brother Michael says "if you've seen one, you've seen them all.").

*Photo taken at Connieland. Aunt Connie herself is not in this picture, but I miss her too.

what I'm going to do today

2007-08-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

I don't know. I've already been shopping. I can't really go to the beach because my eyes are real sensitive to light. I could watch tv. I could take some more naps. I could journal and read some more. I could go hang out at the bookstore again. For now, I guess I'll just eat breakfast. Hope you have a lovely day.

Here is another unposed picture of me and Daniel. I like this one a lot, too. You can see my ring a little bit here.

More info about my eye

2007-08-14T07:04:00.000-07:00

The eye doctor said that one of the sores has gone away, but the other one is still pretty bad. I still am having trouble seeing, and I still am seeing black spots, and I am still really really sensitive to light. My eye is still swollen, but not as bad as it was, and it's not as painful as it was. She wants to keep me here for another week so she can watch it and make sure that the sore doesn't move to the center. We hope that if I continue the medicine, it will get better. So we'll see what happens this week!

A Favorite

2007-08-13T01:17:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and Daniel. This is the day we got engaged. I'm looking at him like I think he's the greatest guy in the world (I do), and he's looking like he knows I think he's the greatest guy in the world. I think we're cuuuuute.

Ange in Ephesus

2007-08-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

This is me in Ephesus. I figured I might as well post some pictures since I'm staying at a place with fast internet. I should have brought a camera here.

For those of you

2007-08-08T09:34:00.001-07:00

Who enjoy hearing stories about the weird things I do in my sleep. Last night, I walked out of my room because there was a bunch of noise and I was really sure it was Robin. Then I half woke up once I was out in the hallway and realized I was in a hotel, not my apartment, and it was a big group of men down the hall making the noise, not Robin. So I went back in my room and went back to sleep. I’m really really glad that I didn’t shut the door behind me when I went in the hall, it would have been embarrassing to go down to the lobby in my pajamas.

what's going on with my eye

2007-08-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

I have the Herpes virus in my eye. It turns out that the eye doctor that I went to back in my country did give me the right medicine, but the wrong diagnosis and the wrong dosage. The doctor here said it would have been toxic if I kept using the medicine the way he prescribed it. I don’t know if she meant toxic to my life or eyesight or what, but toxic doesn’t seem like a good thing. I’m using a new medicine now and she wants me to come back in a week to see if it’s working. She hopes that once the virus clears up, my cornea will un-swell and my vision will be back to normal. I hope so too. It’s not a serious problem, she says, as long as I do exactly what she tells me.

She said that Herpes of the eye is just like the kind you get in your mouth. It’s always there, but it flares up due to stress. Also she said that my eyes are really really dry so that didn’t help either. I really hope that this medicine will clear my eye up and I’ll get to go home next Wednesday.

In the meantime, I am having a lovely time while I wait around to go back to the eye doctor. I went to the mall today and I spent several hours browsing the bookstore. I also went to Hallmark (hooray!) and to Starbucks and I drank a cup of coffee for the first time in a long time (welcome back, coffee breath). I am enjoying all the air conditioning and the metered taxis and the non-nile water showers. This hotel isn’t quiet at all, but I’ve managed to sleep an almost unbelievable amount.

The Eye Doctor in Paradise

2007-08-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the eye hospital. They checked my eyes. I promise I am not exaggerating, this is exactly what happened. She held up her hand two feet from my face and said, “how many fingers am I holding up?” “Two.” Then, she added another finger and backed her hand up five feet, “NOW how many?” I kinda felt like I was cheating because I had seen how many fingers there were before she moved her hand. Then she got up and walked across the room and asked me. And that was the whole eye exam, I am not kidding. From this thorough examination, they determined that my vision has not changed. Then I got jabbed in the eye with some dye so they could look at the ulcer. “It doesn’t hurt.” “yes it does” “no it doesn’t.” “YES it does.” He said that yes, it is an ulcer, and no, it doesn’t hurt, and no problem because my vision has not changed, pointing to the chart he had filled out from the eye exam as proof. And he gave me some new medicine. All of this cost me only $5 us dollars. I really miss Dr. Mitchell.

still sick

2007-08-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

I am very sick. Yesterday was the worst day yet. I took three naps yesterday. Robin says I was asking for Jack Bauer in my sleep. I thought that was funny. You'd think I would be asking for Daniel or for my mom, but no, Jack Bauer. Anyway, I hope I feel better soon.

Not Pink Eye

2007-07-31T08:19:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it’s not pink eye. It’s this other eye infection caused by stress. Sorta like a fever blister on your eye. It’s really painful, but my mom called my wonderful eye doctor and he told me 4 different medicines, and one of them was available here! So I’m to start putting these drops in my eyes every hour.

Recently, a nurse friend suggested that my stomach stuff might be the result of stress. I said, “no way, that’s not how my body reacts to stress. I have TMJ, or I get eye infections.” Then, the next morning I woke up with my eye swollen shut.

So I guess I need to learn to chill out before my body completely turns on me.

Guess who has pink eye...

2007-07-30T09:16:00.000-07:00

…ME!!!!

Interesting Statistic

2007-07-27T19:52:00.001-07:00

When I throw up, it tends to be in multiples of five. There are lots more interesting statistics about my sickness, but I will keep those to myself.

bummer

2007-07-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

We were supposed to have a group from the states this week. They were bringing me letters from my wonderful mom, my wonderful fiancé, my wonderful fiance’s wonderful mom, probably from my wonderful bff, and maybe even some from my wonderful siblings or my wonderful sister in law. But the group didn’t get visas, so they cancelled their trip, and now I don’t get any letters. Saaaaad. You should all send me emails to console me.

Now I have to plan my lessons; we’re going to talk about respect tomorrow because apparently my long speeches haven’t gotten through to these kids yet.

Bear Hunting and Barbeques

2007-07-23T02:21:00.000-07:00

Last week, we went to a “barbeque” with some friends here. Of course it’s nothing like a barbeque in the states. They get a sheep and slaughter it right there on the spot, then they cut it up and roast it, and then you eat it. Robin and I were talking about it with another friend and she was curious about barbeques in America. “how exactly do you kill a sheep when you want to eat it?” And we were like, “well, we don’t really eat sheep in America. Actually, we buy most meat at the store.” She was surprised and asked if nobody ever killed their own food. And I said, “well, Daniel goes deer hunting.” She got a really big laugh out of me going hunting with him. She said, “angela, if you ever go bear hunting, be really careful, you should put your food up in the trees or 50 feet from the campsite. I saw that on tv, if you don’t, the bears will hunt YOU.” I thanked her for her advice.

Big Mystery Solved

2007-07-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

I had a student my first semester named Sitalbinat. Since then, sometimes she acted really thrilled to see me and ran to greet me. Other times, she completely ignored me or acted confused when I waved at her. I never could quite figure out why.
So the night before last, I went to a party, and I saw her. She came out and acted excited and greeted me, "Hi Ms. Angela, how are you, do you remember me..." etc etc etc. So I said yes, of course. Then, about ten minutes later, she came outside and acted a little less friendly, but she did acknowledge me when I greeted her. She said, "no I wasn't in your class, that was my sister, Sitalbinat." Then she ran away.
So apparently they are twins and wear matching outfits. Who knew! That makes a lot of sense. But I'm still not completely convinced because I've never actually seen them together.

Junior High Boys

2007-07-18T05:57:00.001-07:00

Being at the secondary school is a whole different experience than the university. The hardest thing is trying to be stern and serious when the kids do funny things. Especially the boys. For example, today in class, I showed my class a short movie on my computer. I have a picture of me and Daniel on my desktop. They all started giggling when they saw the picture, so I told them he was my fiancé. H, my favorite little troublemaker, led the class in a round of applause. “Teacher, he is very very handsome.” Also, the boys think it is hilarious to ask me for water. When I am walking to my class, they will see me and yell, sometimes in English and sometimes in Arabic, “can you bring me some water?” The first time I responded in confusion, and they were highly entertained, so now they do it all the time. The kids that do that aren’t even my students. There are some cultural differences, of course, but 14 year old boys are the same everywhere.

Chaos

2007-07-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

I went to my boss at the university again today to try to make some sense of my assignment for this semester. She wants me to teach a remedial class for girls that failed last semester. Dr. I is acting head of the English department. This is how it went:

Dr. I: Well, the girls aren’t here now, come back at 1 and talk to them about when they are free.

(Ange comes back at 1)

Dr. I: Yes, what do you need? (looking at me like “what do you want NOW?”)

Ange: I came to meet with the girls who will be in my class.

Dr. I: Oh yes, they are in their classroom, maybe.

(Ange goes to classroom and finds two students)

Girl 1: Welcome, please come in.

Ange: Are you the girls who need to take Language Proficiency?

(both girls converse among themselves in Arabic)

Girl 2: Yes.

(Ange attempts to communicate with them in Arabic and they find a schedule suitable, then both girls disappear)

Dr. I: Your students aren’t here because they haven’t paid their fees.

Ange: You mean those girls in the classroom aren’t my students?

Dr. I: No!

Ange: Well they said they were.

Dr. I: Oh, maybe they are. I don’t really know.

Ange: Don’t you have a list or something?

Dr. I: No, we don’t.

Ange: So we have no idea who is supposed to be in my class?

Dr. I: No, sorry.

Ange: Are you sure?

(Dr. I consults with secretary and finds that there is, in fact, a list.) The students in the class are students that failed my class last semester. They are pretty much just going to retake my class. I still don’t know who those two girls were that claimed to be my students.

My School

2007-07-14T00:16:00.000-07:00

This is the university that I teach at.

My Ring

2007-07-13T01:50:00.000-07:00

Here's the long promised picture of my ring. This is the best picture I have. It is really beautiful, didn't Daniel do a good job picking it out? He did it all by himself.

The workshops are over!

2007-07-10T11:33:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of teacher workshops! Hooray! I spent today’s doing some more really important stuff: working some sudoku puzzles and trying to decide the best possible timing for Robin to find a boyfriend. I decided early September, and I even went ahead and wrote that on her calendar, she really appreciated that. Something funny happened at the end. The big boss of the university came and made some closing remarks. Then, she presented all of us with a certificate of completion. They made a really big deal out of it, they announced each person’s name and she took a picture shaking each person’s hand. I thought this was the end of the workshop, so I went ahead and put my certificate in my bag. Then the principal came over and asked for the certificates back. So we had to turn them back in, everyone, not just us. We’re not real sure why. Nobody else seemed to question it though, so I guess it’s normal. Then it started raining and everyone started to panic. “Oh no! We’re trapped! We might as well continue the workshop until it stops raining!” Yes, it only rains like 3 times a year, so rainy season is a really big deal. Anyway, we left and I think most everyone else stayed and waited out the rain. I’m really glad those workshops are over. We were at school for 12 hours today and I am tiiiiiired. I have some really cute pictures to post, but the internet is giving me problems today. I’ll try tomorrow.

By the way, I did get a translation of what they talked about at this workshop, and I will post about that another time.

scratch that

2007-07-09T01:16:00.001-07:00

Okay, they decided that today isn’t a holiday, so we do have teacher workshops today. I had really wanted to celebrate peace today.

Teacher Workshops

2007-07-08T23:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we found out there were mandatory teacher workshops, and we had already missed the first day. I wasn’t real excited about going because the bathroom situation at the high school is not ideal. But we showed up and found that the workshops were at the university, in the fancy conference room, very near to bathrooms. I didn’t get sick while we were there, but it was comforting to know that bathrooms were nearby.

Now the workshop itself was all in Arabic. My Arabic is not such that I could follow along. Instead, I did important things like lesson planning and making to do lists and updating my calendar and counting how many months it would be until Daniel and I get married. I also have this scripture memory system I was working on, and I spent some good time in prayer. I have had a lot of things on my mind lately, and I’ve really been tempted to worry. I’m trying to replace the worry habit with the prayer habit, as suggested by Daniel, and you know, the Good Book. I told robin, “I’m trying this new thing, it’s called obedience.”

We were supposed to have the workshops again today, but they decided to make today a holiday, we just found out. that means we can wash our dishes and clean our house. And finish planning those lessons. Happy holiday! I think we’re celebrating peace?

Another picture

2007-07-07T02:46:00.000-07:00

Here's another picture of me and Daniel. I don't remember this picture being taken, so it's an actual real life non posed moment! If you don't know us, then you can see here real good that I'm real short and he's real tall. We make a 10, as my friends here like to say.

Oh dang, I don't know how to flip the picture around. Trust me though, it's really cute. Is a sideways picture better than no picture at all? I think so.

I am still sick, and I have proof

2007-07-07T02:44:00.000-07:00

Some Americans gather the first Friday of every month for fellowship. This past Friday was 4^th of July themed. Someone brought some EXPENSIVE illegal pork, and I didn’t want any. That’s proof positive that I am still sick. Not that I’m a big pork lover or something, it’s just that I hadn’t seen pork since Christmas, and if you can only eat it twice a year, you might as well. Currently, my roommate is force feeding me a diet consisting of bread, rice, and bananas. Yum.

There are some people who are taking care of me though, and there are some people in the states who are faithful to pray for me to get better. I appreciate that.

today's problems..

2007-07-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday’s problems have been solved. My landlord changed my money for me. He has a bank account, so he can do stuff like that.

Today.

I went to have a meeting with my boss at the university to talk about the time table for the classes I’ll be teaching over there. Both of those classes were canceled for different reasons. We talked about what I would teach instead (she wants me to teach medical terminology a class of 130 students. I don’t prefer that). Then she asked me what days I was free. Our conversation went like this:

Her: So when can you teach?

Me: I can come Monday, Thursday, or Saturday.

Her: So you’re free on Monday and Tuesday?

Me: No, Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. I have the high school on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Her: So Monday and Wednesday?

Me: No. Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Her: So, your fiancé, what does he do?

(pause while we talk about Daniel).

Me: Will you let me know when you get it figured out.

Her: well, I will think about it, and I’ll let you know.

Me: Okay. Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Her: Okay, Tuesday and Wednesday, I’ll call you, inshallah.

Me: Inshallah? Okay. Well if you don’t call me, I’m not going to know, so I won’t come.

I would like to emphasize that this woman has a phd and perfect fluent English. The confusion was due to the fact that she was more interested in talking about Daniel than talking about school. I guess I don’t mind talking about him though. J

Gifts

2007-06-30T02:17:00.000-07:00

I got some really touching gifts from my students that I taught this month. You'll notice that the one plaque doubles as a flower vase, and it even came with a fake flower! These are gifts that I will treasure forever. :)

Money Problems

2007-06-30T01:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (the 29th), my roommate tried to use some of the old money to buy a coke. The guy at the store said "no, yesterday was the last day for this money. but you can just bring me the money tomorrow." I said, "no big deal, he probably has an old calendar and doesn't know it's still June!" Just to be sure, I tried to go to the bank today to trade it out, but it turns out that today is a public holiday. This country would make the last day to use the money a public holiday. After that, I went all over town, and only one store would take old money. So we stocked up on groceries, as much as we could, seeing as how we have a very small fridge. We bought several rolls of toilet paper. Toilet paper is really expensive here. (by the way, when I stayed outside the city, I discovered just how important toilet paper is to me.) I still have about $60 usd worth of old money. yikes.
In other news, I decided to return to the land of the living. I'm still not feeling 100%, but I'm tired of being sick.

new money, old money, and old old money

2007-06-28T08:40:00.003-07:00

We changed currencies a few months ago. Sorta. I say sorta because the old money is still circulating too. However, everyone talks in the old old money, and I have to do my financial reports in new money. 1 new pound=100 dinar=1000 old pounds. It is a little confusing. And starting day after tomorrow, supposedly, the old money is no good anymore. Problem is, I just got paid in old money. I tried to go change it, but the money store was closed. So I went around to all these places trying to pay in old money and get change in new money. This is a frustrating task because sometimes they will give you old money for change. I did get rid of several bills, but I still have a lot more. The silly thing is, I bet the old money will still be accepted for a long time yet. And we are still all talking in old old money. Ah, life in Africa.

me and daniel

2007-06-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

back to school

2007-06-27T10:05:00.001-07:00

Well, school started back yesterday. I wasn’t allowed to go because I was still sick. I did go today even though I’m not quite well. I found out yesterday that I will be teaching at both the high school and the university. So every other day, I will be switching between 13 year olds and 22 year olds. That will be hard.

Robin went to a party tonight, but I didn’t go. My mom said since I was home, I should update this blog. She also told me that I should enter a walmart contest where you can win a free wedding, if you get married in a walmart store. I’m not getting married at walmart.

I miss my brothers and my sister.

It’s hot and dusty today, which gives me a headache.

I’ve been a long time without coffee because of my stomach stuff. Daniel says I should take this opportunity to give up coffee. I don’t want to.

Hope everyone is well.

back to school

2007-06-24T07:08:00.000-07:00

School is unexpectantly starting back this week. School is supposed to start back July 1 and December 1. But it never does. Instead, that’s when the teachers start to make class schedules, the students show up two weeks later, then about three weeks later, it gets going for real. This semester, our vice president decided to tell everyone that we were starting June 23 so that we would actually get going by the second week of July. But we didn’t believe her, and we didn’t plan for it. Then June 22 came and we realized she was serious. So now school is about to start and I am totally unprepared! Oh well, I’m sure the students won’t be there anyway!

Whoops

2007-06-15T03:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so you couldn't see the picture I posted last time? that's a shame because it was really funny. I'm sorry about that.
And I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately. I haven't had the ideal internet situation while I've been out of town. And now I still don't have many pictures. But I will get some from my friend soon.
I will try to write soon, I promise. And why don't you folks email me anymore? My inbox has been looooooonely.

Photo of the Day

2007-05-29T05:18:00.000-07:00

Proposing is a lot of work.

Presents from the States

2007-05-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

Well I’m finally back from my vacation. Daniel brought me some presents from the states. These are the things I got:

letters from my mom, brother, sister, sister-in-law, and bff
dvds of my brother’s wedding. I really really liked watching that.
a webcam. Daniel got it for me. I have so far used it to talk to everyone except him.
a new pink shirt from my mom
some bridal magazines from a friend
some cds of messages from WBC. I really really really was excited about that.
some other nice stuff
a ring. I’m engaged and I have a ring to prove it!!!

I will post some pictures soon…pictures of Ephesus and Istanbul and other exciting stuff (see #8 on the list).

Quote of the day

2007-05-12T23:51:00.000-07:00

"The #1 reason I would come to America is for Angela's wedding. #2 is Walmart. Especially if they're having a sale."
(photo uploader isn't working today)

Super Computer

2007-05-09T05:48:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago I woke up in the middle of throwing my computer onto the floor. I don't know what I had been dreaming, but I woke up as it fell out of my hands and crashed to the ground. So I panicked and woke completely up to see if it would still work. And it did. And it does.
A few months ago, I spilled coffee on the keyboard and that didn't seem to affect it either.
I'm kinda amazed that it still works after those two incidents, not to mention all the dust inside it.
It's a toshiba, if you want one.
(the picture uploader on blogger isn't working, maybe I'll have one for you tomorrow)

Tobes

2007-05-09T00:11:00.000-07:00

This is what married women wear. They take a really long piece of fabric and do all these fancy twists on it, and it ends up looking like this. Young girls dress in whatever they can get away with. One of my American coworkers insists that when I get married, she's going to show up to my wedding wearing a tobe. ha!

"Pretend like it's lipstick!!!"

2007-05-08T00:05:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you can tell in the picture, but this glue stick was totally shriveled up. I was working on an art project but I couldn't finish it, so of course Amanda took a picture...

Photo of the Day

2007-05-06T03:56:00.000-07:00

This is a sign that is on a major road here in the city.

What's going through my head

2007-04-28T03:11:00.000-07:00

I just got home from spending the night at a friend's house. We slept in their yard. That was an interesting experience. It's really been heating up here lately. I only managed to drink 3 liters of water yesterday, and I'm a bit dehydrated. Only two weeks and a few days until Istanbul. Please pray for my Aunt Sue. I made Starbucks coffee this morning. mmmm, it was a real treat. My best friend has been out of town and I haven't heard from her in a week and I miss her. I'm worried about some things I shouldn't be worried about. I read things on the internet and I think Americans can be wimps at times. I like my teammates. I will send out an email update soon, and I will try to make it make a little bit of sense.
And now for a random picture. My friends used to do "Photo of the Day," and I liked it. Would you like that if I did that? I don't think I could be patient with blogger every single day to do that. Never mind, it's not working today. See, I told you I can't be patient with blogger to do that. I'll try to put a picture on that email update.

Free Trip Out...

2007-04-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, some friends had a rabies scare. A dog on their street had rabies, and they had petted it before the symptoms appeared, so their boss ordered them out of country on an emergency medical trip to get shots. Since then, we have all joked about ways to get free trips out for "medical" purposes. And since we often see dead animals, we never run out of jokes. Here is a dead bird we saw. We plan to tell the medical office that we "accidentally" licked it. We even took pictures to document it for them.

Don't think I'm weird...we have to entertain ourselves somehow.

I'm officially...

2007-04-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

A jerk.

Yep, I found my bear. My house girl didn’t steal him.

I keep all my toiletries in a suitcase under my bed. I tore my room apart yesterday and then I realized I forgot to look in my toiletry suitcase. There he was. I don’t know how he got there. I guess I’ve been a little absent minded lately. That’s what happens when it starts to get hot.

Missing!

2007-04-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week a bracelet that my boyfriend gave me came up missing. I really like that bracelet, you know, because it’s pretty. And because it’s from someone special, I like to wear it because it makes me think of him. and it’s really pretty. So after a couple of days of looking, I got real upset and I assumed that the girl who comes to collect money to pick up our trash had stolen it. I hadn’t seen it since she was here, and she used our bathroom, which is where I keep it, so I thought she stole it. Then I cried a lot, then I found it, then I cried some more because I felt like a jerk for thinking badly of her.
Now my teddy bear is missing. Its name is Michael Mae. This bear is really special because my little brother and sister made it together and sent it to me, and when I press its hand, I can hear their sweet voices. After several days of looking, I had the thought that our house girl stole it, but since I was so wrong about the trash girl, I’m trying to just keep looking and not jump to conclusions.
Sorry, I realize that my bracelet and teddy bear probably make for a boring post, but the only stuff going on this week is personal, and I don’t like to get real personal on here. I just wanted to give you something to read. J

Happy Easter!!

2007-04-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

I just got back from camping in the desert. It was wonderful. I can’t remember the last time I really got to see the stars like that. I can’t remember the last time it was that quiet at night. I mean, I like living in the city, but it was nice to be out in the middle of nowhere like that.

It was different from camping in AR, but it was still really really fun. I went with two other girls and a family. In the evening, we roasted hot dogs. We got the fire going by spraying bug spray on the wood since we didn’t have kerosene. Actually, I should say, they got the fire going. Ever since my little incident last May, I’ve been pretty scared of fire. We also played truth or dare. The kids were funny with their truths and dares. “is it true that you have a boyfriend and you’re in looo-o-o-ove?” “who do you like?” ha!

Then this morning we got up and sang and prayed together. It was a really nice Easter morning. “Dear God, Thank you for the chocolate Easter bunny, and I’m going to eat its head first.” (we had some people come in last week and bring easter candy—us girls each got a cadberry egg!)

And now I have an incredibly silly looking tan where my tshirt was. It cooled down at night, but I’d say it was around 115ish while the sun was still up.

I hope you all have the chance to remember that Easter isn’t about new clothes or lost eggs.

You know you've been in paradise too long when...

2007-04-03T06:11:00.000-07:00

Today I saw on the news a report about airlines. They (I don’t know who) graded all the airlines about their service and whether they lost or damaged luggage and whether they got there on time. The newscasters were really slamming this one airline because they were only on-time 66% of the time. my response: “66%! Wow! That’s awesome!”

Anyway, it’s hot here. real hot. We didn’t have water yesterday, but we do today!

A Dusty Day

2007-04-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

It's getting to that time of year again.
Dust. Awesome. This is a picture of a dust storm coming in over the city. It ain't pretty. But sometimes it cools the temp down a little. You know, because it's windy.

school update

2007-03-29T02:24:00.000-07:00

So here’s what’s new with school.

I gave my final exams this week, so now I just have to grade them and average all the grades and stuff, then I’ll be done for the semester.

The tricky thing is, I don’t know when I’ll start back yet. That’s because the school doesn’t know yet whether we’ll have summer school. They haven’t decided yet. If we do, they’ll probably start sometime in april. If not, I might be recruited to help out with the high school’s summer school. But I will just be a helper, so it will be fun.

I also don’t know when the fall semester will start back, or when it will end. That’s because my boss at school wants me to transfer to the high school. I don’t really want to, for a lot of reasons. So if I can get out of that, my next semester should be from around July-October. If I have to go to the high school, it should be around August-November.

It’s silly that I don’t know where or when I’m teaching next. But, this is Africa.

"Do something fun!"

2007-03-29T02:16:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have sent me money at various times with a note that said “use this to do something fun!” Well, I saved all that money, and I’m using that, plus money that I saved, plus some money that a certain special young man gave me, and I’m going on vacation!

In May, I’m going to Turkey with two other friends. We are going to go to the beach, and we are going to go to Ephesus, and we are going to go to Starbucks. We will probably do some other stuff too, but those are the three I’m most excited about.

It will be soooooo fun.

Getting hot again...

2007-03-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

It’s getting to that time of year again. Yesterday was the first really hot day in awhile. I’m talking…the heat caused my feet to swell up and my shoes were too small…I drank five liters of water and was STILL dehydrated…and…the best one: we went to visit a friend, and she insisted that we join her for tea and coffee. We tried to get out of it since we already had sweat pouring down our faces, but we couldn’t. So we sat there sipping that stuff with her for over an hour, and it never cooled down. It was STILL piping hot after over an hour.

A rickshaw driver noted that the sun wasn’t good for us, since we are foreigners, and refused to let us off at the place we wanted. Instead, he drove all the way down the street to a tree and explained that it was better for us to be in the shade. We were like, “thanks man, do you want us to just stand here under the tree for the rest of the day?”

Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come. I think I am a little more prepared to deal with the heat this year though. I learned a lot last year. I hope.

In other, unrelated news, today Bob Marley was my amjad driver. Or at least, he claimed to be.

Fake Valentine's Day

2007-02-28T00:55:00.000-08:00

I finally went back to school yesterday. It was good to be back.

I had valentines for my students and friends, and I decided to pass them out, even though they were two weeks late.

You wouldn’t have believed their responses. I mean, I saw so many faces absolutely light up. They were so pleased and even touched.

I gave one to my boss, too. Can you imagine giving a Disney Princess valentine card to a university department head in America, two weeks late? They might look at you like you were a nut. But no, she was thrilled. How funny.

I really liked getting to do that. The women here are so desperate to feel loved, and it was nice to show them that I love them. It was fun to get to encourage them. That’s what it’s all about, showing people that you love them because of who you follow.

And. On a funny note, one of my friends panicked and ran away to a nearby store to buy valentines for me and Robin. Both of the cards were meant for a husband to give his wife. “For the one I love. this is a day for lovers to express their love…” boy, was that funny and slightly inappropriate.

Why Red Food Coloring is a Thoughtful Birthday Gift

2007-02-24T23:36:00.000-08:00

A lot of the things I own were given to me by former workers here. They were getting ready to go home, cleaned out their stuff, and we got all their leftover stuff. This means that we have more taco seasoning packets than we will ever ever use.

We also have some jars of food coloring.

As you may recall, I was pretty sick on Valentine's Day. I really had it in my head that I was going to make pink heart shaped cookies, with purple sprinkles. They were going to be soooo pretty. But I got sick, so I had to wait until I got well to make them.

So I waited until I was halfway well, and then I made them. Everything was going pretty well until it was time to make the icing. I got out the food coloring and started adding it to the icing. "Hmm, this doesn't look pink. It looks yellow. Maybe I should add some more." And it kept getting yellower and yellower. "This doesn't look right." So I took another look at the food coloring, and it turned out that the brand name was red, not the color. I don't know if you can see in the picture, but in tiny letters at the bottom, it says "saffron yellow."

As you can imagine, this resulted in the ugliest cookies I've ever seen in my life. They tasted fine, but that's not the point. I was too embarrassed to take them anywhere. It was very traumatic.

As I relayed this story to a friend, he said, "What exactly was going through your head when you thought adding more would help?" Good point.

This is finally getting to the point where it's slightly funny. And my roommate gave me a package of red food coloring for my birthday, so maybe I will try again someday.

Here's a picture of me with my birthday flowers. (somebody loves me). Do I look older and wiser? If you think I look older and dumber, please keep that to yourself.

24 and 364/365

2007-02-23T03:22:00.000-08:00

Today is my last day to be 24. I flipped out about that this week. This is the first time I ever recall flipping out about my birthday.

I have a funny story to share, but it's not funny to me yet. You know, one of those disasterous stories. One that's funny to everyone else, but it makes me cry everytime I tell it. You will think it's HILARIOUS. I'll hopefully be able to write it in a few days.

In other news, I drank five glasses of juice yesterday.

women's week problem SOLVED

2007-02-19T00:33:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, my coworker spent a lot of time writing us a skit for women’s week. It didn’t involve the prom or a rap song or any singing or dancing, so I was okay with it. She went to turn it in to our boss, Dr. A, and Dr. A. looked at her like she was crazy. “You can’t be in women’s week. You’re not a student. Only students can be in it. If you want to be in it, you have to submit a written request, but the committee will probably say no.”

So. I don’t know if all this time they were just pulling our leg or what, but we weren’t even allowed to be in women’s week in the first place. And I’m pretty relieved about that.

In other news, even though I was super sick on valentine’s day, I had my best valentine ever. But I didn’t get to pass out valentines or do the things I usually like to do. If I’m well enough to go to school on Tuesday, I’m going to pass out valentines to my students then. They will play along because I’m just a silly American.

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick

2007-02-12T22:29:00.000-08:00

I’m still in bed today, but I’m feeling some better at this particular moment, so I thought I’d post something. Last night, I dreamed all 5 seasons of 24 were happening in my room. Like, Jack Bauer was in my room running around my room with a gun. I said, “please leave me alone so I can sleep,” but they wouldn’t. And I couldn’t go back to sleep. So I made a few phone calls. My brother quoted for me the movie that we used to always rent when we were sick, the Sesame Street movie, Follow that Bird. I really appreciated that.

I talked to my nurse again today and she’s pretty sure that it is malaria. So I’m taking the medicine and hopefully I’ll be better real soon.

I don’t guess I really have anything else to say.

Women's Week, pt 2

2007-02-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all your great suggestions on my act for women’s week. (Unfortunately, I’ll never hope to be able to do the “katie and tommy” routine that RayJ and Alainya perfected.) So I still have nothing. Today we were having a meeting about women’s week, and the same teacher who suggested a skit about the prom said, “Angela, Why don’t you do a rap? you could write a rap about your experiences here at the university and do that!” And she got really excited about that idea. I tried to explain to her that not only am I unwilling to do that, but I am physically incapable of doing that. I started beating on the desk to show her that I do not have any rhythm. She did not care and seemed offended that I wouldn’t do it. “Angela, WHY? Are you SHY? WHY?” Our boss, Dr. A., suggested instead that I write a dramatic poem. Stay tuned to find out how I get to make a fool out of myself in front of thousands of people…

Baa-aa-aa!

2007-02-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

Today I was having an important meeting with some other teachers when we were interrupted by our boss, Dr. A. She said “excuse me, Angela, can you tell me the noise a sheep makes?”

Without even thinking, I gave my best baa-aaa-aaa.

She looked at me like I was an idiot and said, “Not the sound. The word. Is it bleat, b-l-e-e-t?”

“Oh, yes ma’am, except it’s b-l-e-a-t.”

I don’t really know why she needed to know that. But it was soooo funny. I wish you could have seen the look she gave me. I used to think I was a fairly intelligent person before I moved here. Sometimes I think I got sent here just so I could be humbled.

What I did today

2007-01-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

1. showered and dressed
2. spent some time reading and praying
3. fixed breakfast/lunch
4. got high off our stove that leaks gas and has been condemned (we're supposed to get a new one this week)
5. broke the sink. that probably requires a little more explanation, which I may provide later. for now, all you need to know is that at one point water was shooting across the kitchen in three different directions. our landlord came over and taped the nob back on with scotch tape. thaaaaaaaaaanks.
6. attempted to defrost the freezer
7. did I mention I was high on gas fumes?

I just said "I'm tired," and Robin said, "I think that's what happens after you get high." She's not being judgmental though, she's high right now too.

A man came to try to fix our sink, and he asked us to charge his phone for him while he went to buy some parts. It keeps ringing, and I told Robin to answer it, but she won't.

Starring...ME

2007-01-17T05:42:00.000-08:00

Coming in March is Women's Week at the university. The university celebrates women's education here in Paradise every March. The celebration lasts for a whole week, and it culminates in one big night of plays and songs and performances by the students. This year is the 100th anniversary, so it's extra special.

Yesterday when I arrived to school, one of the teachers came running up to me and grabbed my hand and said something about my act for women's week. I wasn't sure what she was talking about.

It turns out that the other teachers got together and decided that I should get 12-15 minutes to put on my own skit. It should be something about America, they said, like the prom. Or I can sing and dance, or whatever I want.

I was like, well, I'm not much of a singer.

And they said it didn't matter.

Then they decided I could ask two of the other American teachers here to be in it with me. I was like thaaaaaaaaanks.

Any suggestions on what I can do?

the Pyramids

2007-01-08T05:31:00.000-08:00

I didn't know this, but there are actually pyramids in lots of places in North Africa. So when my mom and others came to visit, we decided to go take a look.

I didn't actually take any of these pictures. I stole them all from Amanda. She has a fancy camera, and she knows how to use it. Oh, and I got some of these from Robin too.

By the way, I live in the city. This is the middle of the desert. Just so nobody gets flipped out and thinks I live in an actual sandbox or something.

You can ride camels at the pyramids. Everyone had fun doing that.

the Dead of winter

2006-12-28T05:38:00.000-08:00

It’s the dead of winter. I’m talking it is COLD. I go to bed wearing long pants, covered up with a blanket, and I’m still cold. I asked my mom to bring me a sweater from the states. the temperature reading late yesterday afternoon was 78F. that’s cold for the afternoon. I was wishing for a scarf and hat this morning.

I know I haven’t posted in two weeks, and it’s kinda lame to post about how cold I am. but I really think it’s newsworthy. I live in the desert! It’s not supposed to be cold! I woulda moved to China if I wanted to be cold. Not that I miss the 135F days. I don’t miss those days. I will complain again when those days come.

Oh, here’s something really exciting. My mom and my friends arrive tomorrow. I’m glad the weather will be okay for them. I might make them stick their heads in the oven, and blow a blowdryer on them, just so they’ll know what hot season feels like.

My Weird Landlord

2006-12-14T03:13:00.000-08:00

As background info, right now, I have a picture on my computer background of me and marc when we were little.
My landlord doesn’t live at our apartment building, but his office is here. He and all his friends are always over there, and we never see him doing any actual work, we just see them reading the newspaper, drinking tea, etc. and you always hear them screaming with laughter. Anyway, he has been trying to help us get high speed internet. Today he asked me to bring my laptop to his office so he could set up the internet. So I brought my computer over and as soon as he saw the screen, he started giggling. And the other guys did too.

“who are THEY!?!?”
“oh, that’s me and my brother. It was a long time ago.”
“not THAT long ago.”
“yes, a long time ago.”
“but not THAT long ago.”
“okay, not that long ago.”
“well, your brother, what does he do now?” (all of them studying marc intently)
“he is a student. He is studying engineering”
“OOOOOOH. He should come here. Tell him to come here to see me. I am an engineer. He can learn MANY things from me, MANY THINGS.”
“okay.”
“he REALLY needs to come here”
*at this point I noticed one of the guys has pulled up my email program and is reading my emails, not doing ANYTHING to set up the internet. So I took my computer and left.

**disclaimer. actually, my landlord really is a nice guy. he's not creepy at all. I just thought this was funny.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2006-12-14T00:41:00.000-08:00

Robin and I decorated for Christmas last night. We have a hand-me-down Christmas tree, a strand of lights that is half burned out, and 4 ornaments. I'm really thankful that our friend let us borrow this stuff.

This is Robin with the tree stand. It took both of us an entire episode of 24 to figure out how to put it together.

Here's me trying to string popcorn as a decoration. I strung a single kernel of popcorn, and poked myself many many times, then gave up.

This is Robin testing out the lights.

And here it is, before the 4 ornaments made it up. Robin said something about making a tree topper out of toilet paper rolls. I don't know about that. But in the event that it happens, I'll take another picture.

Never underestimate the power of a sweet smile.

2006-12-10T04:42:00.000-08:00

You wouldn’t believe what you can get away with/get for free if you smile sweetly.

When I went on my vacation, my bags were several kilos overweight everytime I checked in (5), and I didn’t have to pay excess baggage fees a single time.

I don’t remember the last time I paid for bananas—my fruit man just gives them to me for free nowadays.

And last weekend, I got a free quilt rack. I was at the market with my friend, and she was shopping for a set of dresser drawers. The man running the stand liked my smile and just gave me a free quilt rack, out of nowhere. Now I don’t actually own any quilts, so I just use it to hang clothes on. It’s so nice.

I don’t really remember this so much in America—but in a place like this, where rules are really more like suggestions, it’s nice to have a nice smile.

the Panda Man

2006-12-05T03:27:00.000-08:00

At the university, there are several amjad drivers that sit outside waiting to take students home. I have one guy that I’m particularly fond of. Here he is. I like to call him the Panda Man because he has panda covers on the head rests. I really like him because he’s a safe driver, he doesn’t hassle me by trying to talk to me, and we have a set price, so I don’t have to fight with him. My teammates all think I have a crush on him, and they tease me all the time, but I don’t! I just know to appreciate a good driver when I find one.

Everything is funner...

2006-12-01T12:08:00.000-08:00

1) when you wear matching shirts

2) when you are a doovie sista.

3) when you give me pink flowers.

and for extra fun:

this is me teaching RayJ and David an awesome trick. as you can see, RayJ was really impressed. pay no attention to how creepy my face looks.

and here's me and alainya pretending to design the new Doovie Sista shirt. actually, we did very little work on the new design.

oh, and a special thanks goes to Joshua's facebook, which is where I got all these pictures.

Pictures to come soon

2006-11-27T04:54:00.000-08:00

I’m going to tell about my vacation soon. But until then, here’s a silly story for you.

Our shower has been clogged for the past couple of weeks. I dreamed that I fixed it by pouring Drano down the drain. The dream seemed really lifelike and I could have sworn that it really happened. But the next day, the shower was still clogged, and half of our brand new bottle of fabric softener was gone. Apparently, I slept walk to the bathroom and poured our fabric softener down the drain. Isn’t that weird?

I'm thankful for...

2006-11-23T03:56:00.000-08:00

Koolaid, my family, the internet, my friends, the desert, my Paradise family, my Paradise friends, air conditioner, the word of God, my trip to Spain, my chacos, my partners in p…

And…

All the people who email me on a regular basis, even though I’m bad at responding! Happy Thanksgiving!

As usual, here's a pic for the family. My sister in law sent me these awesome Thanksgiving decorations.

Almost home

2006-11-20T23:49:00.000-08:00

So I think I had promised to update my blog while I was gone. But here I am, about to get on my last flight, and this is the first time to post. Sorry about that. I've had a really really good time and I'll write all about it soon. But for now, let's take a moment and mourn the loss of my toothpaste.
My favorite toothpaste--a brand new tube, in fact--along with my moisturizer were confiscated at the last airport. I was so so upset. I mean, I had tears in my eyes and I was really close to losing it. I wanted to holler, "Listen, you don't understand. This is from AMERICA. This is my LAST TUBE of my favorite kind. I CAN'T replace this." Luckily, I held myself together. I happened to be on the same flight as one of RayJ's friends, and he patiently followed me around to all the duty free shops in the airport in search of my particular brand of toothpaste. We didn't find it, but at least I didn't start weeping in the airport. That would have been really embarrassing.
Anyway, when I get home, I'll post some pictures and tell you about all the fun I had.

Today...

2006-11-04T03:44:00.000-08:00

I’m leaving today for my trip…and I’d like to share what I’m most excited about. Not smelling bad.

You see, here, I smell bad ALL THE TIME. even when I’m in the shower. It’s not entirely my fault, seeing as how the water from the tap probably comes straight from the river.

So I’m really excited about taking a shower, and smelling good for the first time in nearly a year.

(not to scare away anyone who’s planning on coming to visit me… you’ll smell bad here too).

Oh, and here’s the quote of the week: “You’d better enjoy the summer weather now, because it’s going to be REALLY COLD when you get back from your vacation.” Yeah, sure. I bet it’s going to be REALLY COLD when I get back.

And I haven’t packed anything, so I’d better do that now.

al jo fuul

2006-10-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

“The weather is nice for eating fuul.” (fuul is the beans that everyone eats for breakfast here.) Basically, this means “what a nice day!”

And it’s true. The weather has cooled down to probably right around 100 and it feels sooo great. I had a really hard time paying attention in language school today. I think I have spring fever or something. I was actually cold, can you believe that? Like, I was shivering. It’s amazing how a 20 degree drop in temperature can make me feel like a completely new person. I just feel like my real self again.

I hear that it will be in the 70s in Spain, and I will probably freeze. That’s 50 degrees cooler than I’m used to.

my second home(s)

2006-10-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

Robin and I have a colleague at the university whose family we’ve become pretty close with. I’m going to try to describe this in a way so that it won’t seem creepy or weird. we call him “Baba,” which means “Daddy.” (at his request). The first time we visited his house, he said “This time you are the guest. From now on, this is your home too. We will not invite you again. Just come everytime you want to.” So we’ve been back several times.

Recently he called us and told us that “our eldest brother” was in town (meaning his son) and we needed to come see him. So we went over to meet our eldest brother. “If we had an extra room in this house, you would just move in with us.”

I have a neighbor whose name I don’t know, I just call her Mama.

It blows my mind how hospitable the folks are here. All of the people really are so friendly and so so giving and just want to take you in to be part of their family. It’s so nice.