Today's post is brought to you by my dear friend Amanda, who pointed out that for more than a week, you all have had to read about dead bodies each time you check for updates. And that's just not pleasant. Thanks to Amanda, you will read something new today! It's not much, but at least it's not dead bodies, right?
Hot Season is here. Soooooo-oh-oh-oh here. Here, and awful. Those of you in the Midwest or even just slightly above the equator may have trouble conceptualizing what 108 degrees Fahrenheit feels like. Let me try to paint you a picture: As I passed the threshold from my classroom to the outdoor courtyard, a wall of the hottest, stickiest humid heat knocked me in my chest, in a way that first sucked all the air out of my lungs and then made it impossible to inhale. It felt like drowning--the only logical way to get oxygen is to breathe, but you really don't want to inhale because you only have the option to breathe water. Okay, so like that, only with thick, filmy, hot air instead of water.
Better yet, just preheat the oven to 114 degrees (that's the forecast for tomorrow) and then stick your head in and take a breath or two. Or don't. Because isn't that how Sylvia Plath died or something?
Oh. One last picture-painting attempt: today during my 8th grade class, a drop of sweat rolled down the back of my knee. The. Back. Of. My. Knee. I have never sweated from there in my entire life. Good to know Africa is bringing out a new side of me.
Highlight of the Week: I held Parent-Teacher Conferences last night. One Mom told me in Serbian that I'm her kid's favorite teacher. The interpreter goes, "She says you are Vladimir's...how you say?...fohvreet?" I love international schools.
1 week ago
Oh, my goodness! The first time I preached in Africa, the sweat was pouring down the back of my knees and puddling into my shoes. I had no idea what it was! I had never, ever before experienced something like that! And not only does the sweat pour out of places you did not know had sweat glands, you begin to smell odors that you never knew could come out of human beings! Only in Africa - dear, dear Africa. Oh, how I miss Africa!
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On behalf of your obsessive readers, thank you for changing the subject. :) I'm thinking the intense hot is probably just as foreign to a Minnesotan in Africa as the intense cold would be to an African in MN. :) The kind of cold that freezes your eyelashes and inside of your nose and numbs every body part... it's pretty much like that this week.
ReplyDeleteOh, and J just keeps on loving on you from afar, calling most dark-haired women "Mami". :) Love, and miss you!! I'll write a proper Facebook update message this weekend hopefully.
And congrats on being the favorite teacher. You will always be remembered by that sweet girl and her family for the love you pour into her life. And by the rest of your students and their families too, I'm sure. :)
I remember landing in Ghana and having the air sucked out of my lungs once we were on the hot tarmac. Surreal, isn't it? I'd never experienced that before. By the time you come home it'll probably be in the high 70's - you'll probably get chilled!
ReplyDeleteAnd why am I not surprised by the "favorite teacher" thing? You've always had a way of loving on kids that allows them to feel the love of Jesus. Enjoy those precious students!
I remember building a brick house in Uganda.... when we were working on the interior walls it was like a brick oven baking us..... stay alive out there!
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