I have a social life!

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back my social life! After an extended absence, featuring several instances of lesson planning on Friday nights and various weeks of going only to work and straight home, I'm pleased to announce that my extroversion has made a long-awaited appearance!

All joking aside, I spent Friday afternoon at the home of a lovely American coworker. She's been inviting me over since August, and we finally got around to it! Mrs. C is married to a Nigerian and has two delightful young boys. It was so wonderful to spend the afternoon and evening in the midst of a family. We had lunch - some delicious Nigerian rice and plantain and chicken - and the boys kept bringing me balloons to blow up for them. It brought me so much rest to talk about adapting to culture and staying in touch with family and making long-term decisions that affect everything.

Saturday morning Jan and I made our way to another friend's home. Their daughter is currently at Wheaton (my alma mater) but spent Christmas visiting her parents, who work for the U.S. Embassy. They made us brunch (Waffles and fruit? Sign me up!) and then we spent a delightful afternoon at their pool, chatting and catching up on everything Wheaton.

It was so refreshing to speak with someone who feels such a deep love for all that Wheaton is, as opposed to some of the disillusioned, jaded Wheaton "survivors" I spent the last year talking with. I share this young woman's appreciation for the ways Wheaton has shaped us as individuals and helped us grow, and it felt something like closure for me to reminisce on my Wheaton experience, reflecting on the positive, instead of the negative. The sunshine and 92 degree weather only sweetened the conversation. (Don't worry, Mom, I wore sunscreen!)

This morning was church, and though Sunday mornings look a lot different than it did in August, what with the absence of an official pastor, I know that God is still present in our continually-changing community.
I give thanks today for the blessing of a church family: people who noted my absence and welcomed me back, people who nodded with understanding when I said that leaving home this time was infinitely more difficult than in August, people who asked eagerly if I will return next fall because they want me to come back. People want me to come back. I am wanted here.
As difficult as it is to leave behind the familiar and come back for another 6 months in this place that is not home, it is easier knowing that my presence is desired, and that people will miss me when I leave (and come June 18, I will leave).

On that note, I have not decided yet if I will return for a second year. Some days I lean one way and some days I lean another. Making an objective decision is impossible--emotions are implicitly involved--so prayer is my method. I am praying that God will reveal His plan to me. You may agree with me in that prayer, but I will ask that you do not pray that I will come home (or, conversely, that I will stay).
I'm serving a holy God in a place that makes me uncomfortable, and I'm finding joy and fulfillment in that obedience. Obedience, then, is my primary objective. If obedience means Nigeria, America, or the Galapagos Islands, I will follow where He leads. Pray, please, that I will be obedient, whatever that means for my future trajectory. Thank you for praying. It is sustaining me in this Hot Season.

Give me an antonym for subtle... 'cause that's what this shout-out is

Someone asked me today who my heroes are. I didn't even have to voice a pensive "hmm..." I knew so quickly and with so much certainty. (One who speaks in cliches might add 'beyond a shadow of a doubt' but I'm no longer such a one.)

These folks are my heroes. They are my 3 best friends, my kindred spirits, my might-as-well-be-blood-they-know-me-so-well sisters.
And their husbands, on New Year's Eve (best night of 2009).
Meet L, T&C, A&K. When we were silly high school girls, we gave ourselves the acronym CALM. (I voted for CLAM, personally...) Now we're [mostly] grown-up, some with husbands, one with a baby, all with careers. The Constant, of course, throughout the last 5 years has been our God, who has kept us knitted together against time, distance, and change.

I could go on an on about how crazy successful these women are. I could tell you about graduating college in 2 years, graduating cum laude, graduating Ivy League, weddings, nursing school, medical school, first apartments, first houses, India, Haiti, Switzerland, Maine, Minnesota, and the 16-month-old heart-stealer named J. I could tell you all that. Or I could simply tell you how lucky I am to call them my friends. Yeah, let's stick to that. It's less obvious.

I just want you to know that I have the best friends in the world. Underscore on the "God has blessed me richly" part.

As if it wasn't obvious already, I really love and miss these women.

Christmas Music in October

While I usually keep to a strict No-Christmas-Music-Until-Thanksgiving policy, I feel it is a greater sacrilege that I'm seeing 95 F in October and missing Fall completely. Besides, I'm on a different continent...I'm playing by different rules here. My current soundtrack is Sara Groves' Christmas album. Don't hate.

I'll post something poignant and introspective later this weekend. Which is not to say I've already written something and am delaying in posting it to build suspense...those are just the standards I'm setting for the post-yet-to-be-written. Let's catch up on a few pieces of news first:

I'm almost legally allowed to work in Nigeria. Almost. The process of converting my visitor's visa to a temporary work permit is really complicated, involving a copy of a copy of a copy of a form that got printed off the internet at some point a long time ago. Anyways, the Nigerian government now holds copies of my passport, vaccination records, teaching contract, and college diploma (!) and we're pretty sure they're going to let me stay. :) But more importantly, they're going to let me travel at Christmas and reenter this beautiful nation to which I'm slowly losing my heart.

I went to the FIFA World Cup U17 match between Brazil and Switzerland tonight. I don't know how Nigeria got the bid, but the tournament is being played at the National Stadium (which is across the street from our compound). The teams are practicing on the American School's practice fields, so FIFA gave them a whole section of VIP tickets for the tournament. The teachers that go to my church invited me to tag along, and I'm not one for turning down a chance to be an annoying sports fan. :)
For my first soccer match, it was pretty cool. Let's just forget about the moment when I realized that U17 means the players are under 17 years of age. Nope, 17 does not mean the number of teams in the league, Mag; way to make the connection. Anyways, so the match wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it was, but I met some new people and made some new friends.

Speaking of which, the friendships are coming--slowly, but they're forming. My counterpart at the American School, M, is in her early thirties and hails from Wisconsin. She has offered to help me plan Literature curriculum and even borrow her lesson plans for next semester; this is a huge relief and another answer to prayer. She's a Green Bay Packer fan and easy to talk to. I'm going over to her apartment after church tomorrow to help her dye her hair. Yep, female bonding at its best. :)

I also got a chance to talk with our new neighbor, L, who just graduated from college on the East Coast in May. He's Nigerian-American, and has returned to Nigeria for a few weeks to visit Rachel's sons. We talked for a while last night over tea and it was just really good to talk to someone my own age with a Boston accent and an understanding of American culture. We commiserated about graduating, moving on with our lives, and living far away from home. It was really encouraging and was exactly what I needed.

For those of you faithfully praying for my health, I appreciate it very much. I can breathe through my nose again, which really is a bigger deal than it needs to be. I've just never been so grateful for my health.



Countdown: In 6 weeks + 24 hours, I'm going to be on a plane home. Get excited.