let them eat cake

Well, guess who got malaria?

Yep, those pesky little mosquitoes got me. But don't worry I'm all better now. A few pills and I was good to go! Getting malaria here is like getting the flu in America. It's kinda no big deal. Carolyn told me she's had it 7 times in the 8 months she's lived here!

So Saturday we had a birthday party here at Susana Homes for Emmanuel. Who's Emmanuel you ask? I have no idea. Apparantly people are fascinated with this orphanage (this kind of nice care for kids is a super rare thing in Nigeria), so they come by not only to give stuff, but just to tour it and be amazed. And then some, like Emmanuel, have their birthday parties here. Chi has tried to explain it to us confused Americans by comparing Susana Homes to Disney World. She says they're kind of equivalent here. HA. Funny stuff.

But nobody really minds the fascination because it means more attention and positive light. And let me tell you, this birthday party was awesome. There was cake. There was dancing. There was cake. There were games. There was cake. There was lunch. There was cake. There were goody bags. Did I mention there was cake? (me and my team mates have kinda gone nuts over here for dessert since Nigerians never eat anything sweet. we were talking about the possibility of cake ALL week...) Oh yes, there was cake. SO much cake. They had this giant Pooh Bear cake which was practically two and a half cakes and then a whole other one that they didn't even cut into! And only a third of the Pooh cake was eaten.... guess who got to keep all of the cake leftovers? :) We've been eating cake like 24/7 now. I'll probably be 20 pounds heavier by the time I get home. I have to say though, Nigerian cake is different then American cake. It's kinda like a dry pound cake-- it's not fluffy and moist. And then their icing is really dry. Or they use fondint- that stuff is really popular here. But I'm not complaining or anything..... but if someone wants to get me a welcome home cake.... I don't think I'd be too upset ;)

So, can I please tell you how amazing the kids are here? I am so blown away bythem. Last year at Amani, since it was a baby cottage, I didn't really get a chance to see how older kids function in an orphanage setting day in and day out. Let me tell you, these kids work ridiculously hard. It would break your heart to see how much they serve the younger kids. They're always helping getting kids dressed, getting meals ready, consoling crying babies. They are so great. I seriously don't think most American kids would work this hard. One of my team mates, Jasmine, came up with a great idea to have a devotional/girls group with the older girls a couple of times a week. So starting last week we've been meeting with them. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays we meet with the oldest girls, the Angel Cakes: Anna, Osi, Miracle, Inhechi, Christy, Eunice, and Happiness. And then on Tuesdays and Thursdays we meet with the younger, but not youngest, girls, the Strawberry Girls: Confidence, Evidence, Becky, Glory, and Aduku. They are all so sweet and so excited about spending this time with us. They ask so many questions! Gosh, I love them so much!

I can't believe we have less than thee weeks left here. I know time's gonna fly and I'm kinda dragging my feet. Part of me is excited about going home. About seeing faces I miss, eating foods I like, having a HOT shower. But most of me is just trying not to think about how much I'm going to miss it here.

Pictures from Africa!

grettings from the white with the pointy nose

Endawo everyone! Ha, that's some terribly spelled Igbo that is some sort of welcome everyone says here. Actually, me and my team members say it to the Nigerians we meet, but we're not really sure what it means... is that bad?

So, I'm not longer at Susana Homes. I decided to come home early...
Ha, just kidding. Me and my team took a little "vacation" and are staying at Carolyn and Emeka Offune's house for the weekend. It's so great to see some familiar faces and just to get a little break from the intensity of the orphanage for a bit. Today they are taking us to a birthday party which I am so excited. Me and some of my team members are quietly praying that there will be some birthday cake, cuz we could really go for some dessert! They don't really eat dessert here. I'm so excited about seeing more of Nigeria while we're here because really the compound is kinda isolated "out in the bush", so we haven't seen much at all.

Okay, so God is amazing. He is always protecting us. Always. From sickness, from insane Africa driving, from anything and everything that could be harmful. I'm constantly thanking Him for all of His protection He's shown me while I've been here. The most recent protection that I've seen: fire. Ha, so a few days ago I was laying on the couch in the living room, reading, when all of a sudden I heard yelling and then saw some very tall frames. I heard "water!" so I immediately ran to grab a bucket of water. By the time I got out of the house with the bucket, the flames were huge! We're talking bonfire size. Impressed? They guys we working outside on the bookshelves when the jug of lacquer they had caught on fire. Oppsie! Everything was absolutely fine. Nobody got burned and amazingly nothing caught on fire, not even the big bookshelf that was only a few feet away from the flames. Praise God! It was actually pretty funny. I guess that's what I get for coming to Africa with a bunch of college kids ;)

So did I tell y'all I learned how to strap a baby on my back African style? I am truly becoming Nigerian. One of the workers at the orphanage, "Nk", took us for a tour outside the compound and showed us around the village. I bet we walked at least 5 miles... with a baby on our backs. Whew, it was quite the hike. Among the people we visited, we made a special trip to see the oldest man in the village, Brother Roland, who is supposed to be 90ish years old. He's probably the cutest old man I've ever seen. We were also taken to the "captain" of the village who owns a poultry farm and a catfish farm. I cannot brag enough about the hospitality of the people here. In America, normally when we go to someones house, the visitors bring a gift right? Wine, a side dish, bread, whatever, we bring something. Well here, when you visit someone, they give you a gift. The Captain gave us a huge bag of eggs and one of the ladies we met gave all of us "mineral water", otherwise known as soda, which is a huge expense for her family. It is so overwhelming to be met with such kindness.

It is so beautiful here. The jungle is beautiful, but the people are even more beautiful. I fall in love with the kids more and more everyday. In fact, as I'm sitting in the Offune's beautiful house, enjoying fast internet and good friends, I can't help but miss the kids a little. Ha even though it's only been less than 12 hours since I've seen them. What the heck am I gonna do when I leave for real?! Hmmm... I'm not sure.

ps- please pray for one of my team members, David. He's not feeling very well and I'd hate for yet another one of us to be sick

Look! INTERNET!

INTERNET! We've got it!
Yes, it's dial up,
Yes, it takes 5 minutes to load a page,
Yes, the power could die any second and most likely will in the middle of this blog,
BUT, we still have internet!

So, Nigeria is wonderful.
Here are some of the things I've accomplished so far:

-successfully gotten sick from steamed greens
-had my hair cornrowed Nigerian style
-been called "the white with the pointy nose" (HA!)
-eaten 5 termites

The kids here are so great. They have really awesome names. Here are some: God's Power, God's Time, Evidence, Confidence (those are two of my favorite girls), Marvelous, etc. They gave me a Nigerian name: Comfort. Ha, so you can call me Comfort now.

I've made so many new friends. One is named Andra, but everyone calls her Tweet.
Tweet is a leech.
Every where I go, she is there. She's such a pistol though. She never obeys. Finally "Mama Chi" had it the other day. Do you know what Tweet's punishment for consistently not brushing her hair was? Having her head shaved. So now my Tweet is bald. Ha, she's such a goof.

You should see the lizards here. They are every where. The ones that sneak into the house are normal American-lizard size. But the ones outside are huge. They're at least a foot long and are normally half orange and half blue. The ants here are African sized too: about an inch long! And the termites are that big too! After it rains, the termites swarm during the early morning, then fall to the ground. You should see how big their wings are-- they look like butterflies. Hundreds of them were one the porch yesterday morning. Perfect for... frying! Ha, it's so funny to see kids and adults hungrily snatching up a pile of bugs for snack. Yesterday I ate five. Impressed?

I'm gonna try to get pictures up sometime soon.

goodbye!

T-minus 6 hours 

I can't believe I'm finally leaving. It's crazy. I've pretty much been planning this trip since August. It's funny how it feels like time is so slow, but then all of a sudden, when you look back you realize what a gallop life is!

So goodbye Mom. 

Goodbye Dad. 

Goodbye friends. 

Goodbye Mexican food. 

Goodbye air conditioning. 

Goodbye hot water. 

Goodbye electricity. 

Goodbye YOU! 

I'll see ya soon!