Merry Christmas

Well, we had Christmas with the believers (some of them) on Saturday, the literacy training is finished for another year and we, the three of Ndungu Kebbeh, are leaving for the "big city" tomorrow. Tobaski and Christmas are only a few days apart this year, so we have 2 weeks that the literacy center and health center will be closed. So we are running away from home.

We will be staying at our guesthouse, which is a wonderful facility with separate apartments, air-conditioning, hot water heaters and even satelite television (there's nothing on that you want to watch most of the time, but that's beside the point!). It does not, however, have a land line phone, so guests have no internet access. All this to say that I will not be blogging for the next two weeks (unless I try the restaurant that has wi-fi internet). Yes, we are moving up in the world. For those of you that check the blog regularly, I'll be back with you in January.

So, have a wonderful holiday everyone. I will think of you shoveling your driveways as I sit by the pool or walk on the beach.

Jammin' to the exercise ball- con't

I decided to take pity on all of you and see if I could send you part of the video. I have learned a new skill this morning in the attempt. I'm not sure how it will turn out, but I have captured stills from the video and will post those so you will see a glimpse of jammin' to the exercise ball. Sorry I can't send any of the sound. The drumming on the ball and all the giggles really make the video fun. You'll just have to use your imagination.

Jammin' to the exercise ball

I have been trying to post this video all week, but it has been "update week" for my computer. Every time I've been on-line this week, my computer has been downloading updates. This may not be a problem where you live, but when your FASTEST connection is 28.8, let me tell you, those updates make uploading anything almost impossible. So, I have just checked and nothing is downloading. We shall see what lasts longer, the video upload time or my patience. Here we go...

Okay, this has become a contest of wills. I have fixed and eaten a salad, read a chapter of a book, written a couple of e-mails, been knocked off-line (thus having to start the video upload all over again), but I hate to give in. You never know, it might be that the video only has a few more seconds to go before it's finished...

This is the deal. I am going to go get ready for bed. It's getting late and I'm cold. Okay, it's probably in the 70's in the house, but that 's cold for me. I will leave the video uploading until I'm ready to go to bed and then that's it. Be warned. If I quit, there will be no more video attempts, at least not from Africa.

It's official. I have abdicated. There will be no more video attempts until we have a much faster connection. Sorry everyone. I am going to post this stream-of-consciousness blog and leave you all wondering just what jammin' to the exercise ball could possibly be.

Fun at Aji's house

Once in a while a mother shows up at my house with some of her children in tow. I keep toys on hand for such occasions and sometimes we just have a roaring good time. Yesterday a friend came with her 3 youngest children (actually one of them is the child of her co-wife who died when the child was only about 5 months old-long story). The daughter of the co-wife is named after my sister, Ruth, so we keep in close contact. She's wearing the blue shirt.

My new digital camera arrived this week, so it was fun to have some willing subjects. I have to play with my toys too!

Frogs in the bedroom

Some people have a problem with mice in their house. I don't. I have frogs. Okay, technically, toads. Frogs in the bedroom, frogs in my office, frogs hopping down the hall and frogs thumping around in the closet. I have caught or chased out of my house at least 10 frogs. I think they are gone now. It's cooler outside so they aren't drawn to the cool tile between my back screen door and the wooden door. If you opened the back door you would find a frog pile in the corner between the doors and if you weren't careful, the pile would disperse into the house from there. My poor housekeeper had to keep chasing frogs out every time she opened the back door. She's afraid of them, like most Gambians, so once they were in the house, they were my problem. People were amazed when I tracked them down, caught them by hand and threw them out the door. Here's one of my buddies. I took his picture before I grabbed him and threw him out the door.

Package, anyone?

We really enjoy getting mail. It doesn't happen very often, which is probably why we enjoy it so much. In order for us to receive mail, first of all, someone has to send us something. Second, the U.S. Postal Service has to get it to The Gambia. Third, and this is the sticking point, the people at the Banjul Post Office have to actually sort the mail and put it into our P.O. box. Fourth, Barney or Max have to pick up the mail at the post office and take it back to the mission office. Fifth, someone coming to this side of the river has to remember to bring the mail along to give to us. So, we get mail sometimes and when we do, it's an occasion!

We really enjoy getting packages. Sometimes, however, we find unexpected things in the box!

Check out this package.

It's amazing what fits into one of those new flat rate air mail boxes.

Okay, I confess. The cat didn't arrive in the box, but it sure is cute. The cat is actually a hand-me-down from one of the missionary families who left. Some people get furniture, books or other stuff, I get a cat. Her family was going to moving to Banjul, so I told them that I would take her. She's not so bad as cats go. Don't tell her this, but I'm more of a dog person.