Joy's introduction to Santa Claus

"Who are you leaving me with, mom?"
"No, please, I don't deserve this!"
"It isn't worth the bag of candy!"
"There better be something good in that bag of yours..."

Our Mini Christmas party!

Playing with some friends in our "play area".
All the kids enjoyed our toys
Habsa helps me around the house, and these are her kids, and nieces & nephews.
We frosted Christmas cookies together-the kids loved that!
Swinging outside

Ezra's Christmas Program at School

Ezra & his friend, Joseph-the 2 blondies!

Outside the door to his classroom
One of his teachers, and you can see his classroom in the background.

The Christmas program consisted of each class singing some songs in French-you can see Ezra in the corner holding the post. He DID NOT want to go up there, but was bribed by mom to have cake and juice afterwards...he ended up mouthing the words of the song!

Little Stars Update

I published some pictures of our first few days in "Little Stars". Wow, and whew! That explains in 3 words how it is going! We opened with a bang and after our first day, I think all 3 of us women that work there, looked at each other and thought, "what did we get ourselves into??"
None of us are specifically trained in this area, other than volunteer time, interest and love for kids. Our first day was a bit challenging, the director of the school that we are partnering with gave us his "hardest" kids. I am not sure if it was a challenge to us to see if we would return, or what. We managed to have a fun time and I am pretty sure the kids had a blast. The school sends over one teacher with the kids each time-probably to watch over our curriculum and the kids. She LOVED what we did and kept making comments about the kind of games and crafts we did, and how we interacted with the kids. We hope that we are indirectly doing "teacher training" also. There are a few kids the teachers keep telling us are too stupid to do anything and "just leave them in the corner." Of course, we don't do that. And, I think the teachers are noticing that there is potential in some of the kids to progress.

We finished our first few days each time with a "wow, that went well!" followed by a "whew, I am exhausted!" Not only is working with these kids challenging, but we face other challenges too-trying to talk with them their uneducated, street Arabic dialect, non handicap-accessible rooms, stairs, sand roads, no doors on the kitchen (which is proven to be quite a popular room for the kids, unfortunately), and the art of squatty potties for the kids with physical handicaps.
All in all, though, we are praising the Lord for this opportunity! It is so rewarding for us and we will keep you updated in the future. We have been able to rent some land next door to open up for outdoor activities, we just need to clean it up a bit...hopefully, in the next few weeks we can use it.

Here are some pictures from Little Stars!

We made a Christmas tree for craft time!
We play games like tossing bean bags & limbo...
..to "red light, green light."
Here is our craft room, we decorated picture frames and took a polaroid picture of each child.
Starting the frames with the kids.

Say "cheese!"

I am pretty!

Having fun with the camera!

Our Thanksgiving

Eating a nice meal with our team
Ezra enjoyed painting his arms, but then freaked out a few seconds later

Both kids enjoyed painting turkey placemats for our thanksgiving team dinner

A few pics of our city from downtown

Looking into town and out to the Atlantic Ocean
If you look in the distance beyond town, you can see the outline of the shanty town in the dunes

The largest mosque in downtown.

10 Stories Up

I found it today..that one place where you can go and "get away" from it all. It has taken awhile here, in fact, about 2 years. Those of you who have lived/traveled to another culture know what I am talking about. That place where you can go and reflect, where you don't feel like the tall, blond, foreign-speaking, wealthy woman amid those so different from yourself. Where you aren't constantly being stared at or listened to while you sit down and drink a cup of coffee...which happens to be fascinating if your skin is white. I hope this doesn't sound too cynical or ethnocentric, because I don't mean to be. I just mean that every once in awhile it is nice to not be the focus. There is another reason why it took me awhile to find that place here. Because it is brand new! It is a gorgeous new building that is 10 stories tall, which is the tallest building by far in our city (except I think the Saudi mosque minarets might be a little taller). You can ride an elevator to the top floor and in the mornings it is a coffee shop. Jeremy & I arrived there at around 9:30am and we were told that it wasn't quite open yet, just a few more minutes. So, I guess by "open in the mornings" I actually mean mid-morning by American standards.

There is a great view of the city, which we have never seen. When you live in the desert and there are no mountains or tall buildings, you aren't really sure what the actual city looks like. It was incredible to be able to see different parts of town...the presidential palace, the slums of basra all the way to the ocean and beyond town towards the open desert dunes. It was quiet too, with the hum of the usual city noises; car horns, merchants selling things, donkeys braying (ok, not all cities have that). There was even a balcony where the wind was gently blowing. It was calm, it was peaceful and it was deserted. There was no one there. It was refreshing. And there was new perspective gained. When I was looking at the city from high above, I saw how limited my perspective is when I am in the thick of things. Jeremy pointed to a section of town called "Marche Capital" where it is known to have the worst traffic; it didn't look so bad from 10 stories up. We saw a lot of trees around the city, granted, most of them around the embassies. The people down below scurried about their business...you know, they looked just like people from the top of the Hancock building in Chicago or the Empire State building in New York. Of course, physically they looked different but that isn't what I am talking about. I mean, they were all going about their lives, doing what needed to be done at that moment in time. Worried about their families, working at their jobs, talking to their friends; being human.

It is good to be reminded of humanity. It is good to be reminded to gain new perspective every once in while. It is refreshing to take time out and see things anew. The time looking out on the city from 10 stories up not only gave me some time to "get away" but also made me realize that inner refreshment doesn't need to be 10 stories up, it can be in a quiet place reflecting on the Lord. Do you ever forget that? Are you ever like me and go about your days doing "good" and being busy and forget about that needed inner refreshment? Does the little daily chores sometimes make you feel like you are drowning? Is there a place you can go "10 stories up" and gain new perspective? Believe me, it is well worth it.

Of course, we can't stay 10 stories up forever. I came back down, walked out the door and was again transformed into the tall, blond, white-skinned lady. The traffic looked bad again, the hawkers went to work on me with their merchandise, and it seemed like there was a lot of trash and sand again. However, with a new perspective and some inner peace, I am taking it in stride.
At least for today.

Ezra's Exclamations

'Spiderman' helping mommy with the cupcakes.

After driving by "The Candy Shop" and realizing that is was closed (after I had promised some candy to the kids..oops) Ezra says to me; "Mommy, I wish the candy shop was in Ezra's house."



Don't we all, Ezra, don't we all...

Our Two New Projects have started!!

Talking through strategy and working on the design.

Jeremy and some of his workers at the Trike Workshop

Our new place for "Little Stars".

En Route

Ezra reluctantly trudging back to the car.

Ezra teaches Joy the right way to drink a Pepsi.

Our kids stretching their legs while taking a break from the 6 hour car ride.

Joy looking for some shells/rocks to eat.

Our Trip to Senegal

We swam on average 5 hours a day!!

Ezra & Joy took a swim break to eat some yummy french fries.

Some of our team members

Steph & Ezra playing together

Jeremy & Joy watching the sunset

The Sun setting over the Atlantic ocean.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Why is it looking a lot like Christmas here in North Africa, you ask? Is it the cold, damp nights that have descended upon the Sahara desert? Is it the hint of tinsel and Christmas tree ornaments already making their way int0 the seasonal section of the stores? Is it posters put up in the mall about when Santa will arrive for pictures? Nope, although I am sure that some of you are already experiencing that!

Although we are having cooler days and nights here than the summertime highs, there are no snowflakes falling or blustery winds! And, for better or worse (I can't decide which is better) Christmas consumerism and obsession does not hit this country where only foreigners celebrate the holiday. The closest we have ever had to "jolly old saint nick" is....well....hmmm.....I know there must be some sort of comparison here, but I can't think of it off the top of my head. Anyone reading this blog who has been or lived here, please help me come up with it! So, you ask again, "please tell me why you counted the days until Christmas yesterday" (which I actually did, do you know we ONLY have 67 more days).

Well, we received a package yesterday. One of our teammates gave us a package slip. We were excited, because receiving packages here is a little like college. Remember that? The slip you received from grandma with banana bread and cookies that came just after your not-so-hot chemistry test..that didn't actually happen to ME, but to my roommate once. Anyways. So, we went to the post office to pick up our package and realized it was from our church in FL. I opened it up in the car on the way home. This was too exciting to wait the whole 10 minutes to our house. Inside were a whole bunch of wrapped Christmas presents!! WOW!!! Now, you are thinking EXACTLY the same thing I was thinking-who in their right mind is really that organized to have gathered presents, wrapped them, and sent them to Africa MONTHS before Christmas. Then, I saw a letter and realized that our pastor's wife had sent us their Christmas newsletter and family picture. WHAT?? "They've already written their newsletter and taken their family picture!!!!", I thought. Seriously?! That is what I secretly thought too, although I am sure they are reading this blog, so I will be careful not to write how truly crazy and type A I thought they were.

So, I read their newsletter and think to myself, "Hmm, some of this information seems older than a year-I thought their kids were older than that. I just saw them this summer!" I looked at their family picture and noticed it said merrily "Christmas 2006". One of the gifts was unwrapped and it a baby rattle for a 3m old. I thought to myself, "well, it is a little too young for Joy, but it is the thought that counts." Now, it took me a few more minutes than it has probably taken you to figure out what happened. I turned over the box to look at the stamps and realize that the customs receipt and stamp in the corner say Dec 2006. This package was mailed last year!! 11 months later. No explanations, no reasons, except that we think it sat in a post office in a neighboring country for awhile.

My first two reactions were to laugh and say "whew". The laugh is because every day I find a situation where I am able to mutter, "TIA-This is Africa" and the arrival of this package certainly fits. The "whew" is because NO ONE actually is crazy enough to send something that early and be that organized...my whole worldview is back to normal again and I know I am not required to start worrying about Christmas newsletters and family pictures yet!

However, it did get me thinking about Christmas. Only 67 more days....maybe if I start worrying about it now instead of December, you will get a Christmas newsletter actually around Christmas! It also made me realize that in the following weeks (can I say weeks now, or do I need to still say months) nothing much will change here. There is no holiday to mark the celebration of the birth of our saviour here, no churches to begin singing Christmas hymns like "what child is this" or "hark the herald angels sing, glory to our newborn king", nothing to announce the arrival of our messiah; the one who has cleansed us from all unrighteousness. I guess that isn't completely true-there will be at least one house singing "Away in the Manger" here in the North African desert. Can I start now?

Sayings of a 3 yr old!

Me: "Ezra, why are you waiting in the carport?"
Ezra: " I am waiting for daddy to come back." (from work)
Me: "Why?"
Ezra: "I am going to go byebye in the car with daddy and buy french fries, a haircut and orange."
Me: "french fries, haircut and orange-just those 3?"
Ezra: "um, yep-frenchfries, haircut and orange."

Aah, to be 3.
____

On Potty Training:

After a whole day of wearing only underwear and making it to the potty MOST of the time, at bath time when Jeremy came home from work, I told Ezra to tell daddy about going in the potty. His response (with a huge smile and animation):

"Daddy, I went poopoo in my pants!!!"

________

After story time, when I tucked him into bed

ME: "Goodnight Ezra, I love you."

Ezra: "Goodnight honey, I love you bugger."

Hot, Humid and Ramadan-Welcome Home!

We have made it back home...after 36 hour transit starting in Chicago and ending here in our city. Everytime we travel, we ask ourselves "why?" And by "why", I mean "why are we traveling this far, this long, with a 1 yr old and a 3 yr old?" I consider both Jeremy and I to be fairly intelligent people. But everytime we travel I question that assumption. No one in their right minds would travel with so young of kids for so long of a trip. The "why" question continues into the first week of arriving back. We arrived to our house about 5am local time and found out that we were having electricity issues so that no ACs worked and the power kept going off. It is hot season now and Ramadan which basically means everyone is hot and grumpy. Those first couple of days I also was hot and grumpy. Now I am just hot! Our first week has gone by quickly trying to settle back in. Settling means fixing things here. We are now feeling settled and ready to resume our normal lives here.

Yesterday I asked Jeremy if he was happy to be back. He responded with some insights into why living in Africa is so unique and why living here is a blessing:
When we left Chicago we had MAJOR luggage issues at the counter. It is a big, long story which basically came down to 3 things: One, we were overweight on our luggage weight allowance (not our fault, we were given faulty information from our friendly Delta phone service) and we had excess baggage (things for the trike and Little Stars). Secondly, we had to pay for all of it down to the last dollar. Third, there was absolutely nothing they could do-that was the rule. It was a very frustrating hour or so of arguing in which we lost to the rule handbook that is floating around somewhere at Delta headquarters which no one can produce to actually show us the rule and prove there are no exceptions. You ask, what does this have to do with living in Africa?? Well, when we arrived here, we didn't receive one bag. After a few days we received a phone call (actually they called and hung up so Jeremy would call the airport back using HIS cell phone minutes instead of their minutes) that our bag had arrived and we could come and pick it up! Yeah! Jeremy went to the airport 3 or 4 times before we could actually get it-why? Well, even though it was the middle of the day and the man had JUST called, no one knew anything about it! It was hot, they were fasting, and everyone seemed confused that Jeremy had been called. When he finally received his bag, he just points to it and they vaguely look for ID or some sort of baggage sticker and hand him his bag-just like that. So simple. No rules. No times of day. No idea when a good time to go to the airport is. Just come. Talk. Joke. And maybe you will get your bag today. If not today, ok, then, inshallah (hopefully), tomorrow. Simplicity. Easygoingness. No rule handbook, no levels of bureacracy, no complications.
What else is a blessing? Being yourself. In the U.S. there are so many standards that are impossible to live up to-what to look like, what to wear, your job, your income level, your house, your stuff. We are bombarded with how inadequate we are and how to make yourself look better, feel better, better job, more money, more more more, better better better.... Here, in Africa. You are you. Be happy, be confident. No impossible expectations of who you should be or look like. God made you the way you are. There is something natural about that thought.
Another blessing about being here is time. You have time. Time to talk with someone, time to just hang out. Schedules aren't overloaded and too busy. There is very little multi-tasking. If your phone rings, you stop what you are doing-even if you are selling something, and talk to that person. If someone comes to visit, they are welcomed in. You are never too busy to see someone. I forget to implement this in my life at times and sometimes I am irritated by it, but, overall it is a blessing.

So, are we happy to be back? Yes. And sometimes No. I have already had some down moments and tears. And we will. But, there is something fun about Africa. Something different. Something wild. Something carefree and natural. Something to embrace and love.

In spite of the face Ezra is making here, he actually LOVED riding the train at our family vacation with Jeremy's parents!

Mommy & me enjoying the waterpark!

The two of us with Steph's parents, Sandy & Jim

Our beautiful family-the best shot we could get with a 1yr old and 3 yrd old!

Here is Ezra as the ring bearer-too bad he never made it down the isle!!

The rehearsal diner was a tropical theme for the wedding!!

What have WE been up to?????

WOW, I just logged on our blog for the first time in ages...actually since May 9!! I can't believe it has been that long since I added anything to our blog. I have a dozen of excuses for you, but won't bore you with the details!! Here is what is happening in the Clark family!

June: we left hot North Africa to come to hot FL. My (Steph) brother was married. It was a crazy week just coming from Africa, but it was also fun to be able to see all of my family. Ezra was the ring bearer and didn't even make it down the isle, totally broke down when he saw all the people. (See above)

July: We spent a month in Wheaton, IL with Jeremy's parents and had a great time! Ezra loves hanging out with his Nana & Baba and he had a lot of fun with two of his neighborhood friends, Tate & Caleb. We were able to travel and visit some churches on the weekends and we had a great time at a BBQ in Wheaton with friends.

August: We came back down to Fl to help out my mom who is going through chemotherapy right now. She is 2/3rds of the way done with her treatments. We are so glad to be able to help out a little and be around Nana & Pops. Both kids are enjoying the endless opportunities to swim here in FL. VBS out at LifeQuest was a highlight for Ezra, he is still singing the songs he learned. We also were able to see some good friends at our BBQ here.

We will be in the States until Sept 12 and then we travel back to North Africa. I will try to update you more often the next few weeks and tell some fun stories...sorry for not updating sooner!!

Love is in the air, along with a lot of sand!

It happened last week, I was invited to my first wedding here in North Africa. I was excited, although sceptical, about attending. Weddings here are all night deals. And, for anyone who knows anything about me, I am NOT a night owl. When the sun goes down, so does my energy level. Obviously now you know that it is I, Steph, who is writing this blog. So, I drank some coffee about 5pm and geared up for a late night. I was determined to try to leave by midnight. Often, these parties can last until 4 or 5am. I was determined, but also knew that one doesn't leave until it is socially acceptable. We arrived at the house of the bride to find somewhere between 30-40 women lounging around in their bright mulaffas, chatting and waiting for the bride. It was 10pm, the bride was finishing preparing herself and had told friends earlier that she would make her appearance around 9pm. So, we were all waiting...10:30, 11, 11:15. Around 11:30 we heard cars honking and loud voices and everyone started to get excited. The bride was coming!! This being my first wedding, I had no idea what to expect. Now, in this culture, there is usually 2 parties in the traditional wedding-one for the groom and one for the bride. Everyone started whispering and standing up to see the bride come in. Here she came!! Wait a second, she is totally covered and we can't see any part of her, not her face, not her hands, not her feet...she is being led by her friends and family. They whisk her into the back room, where I am informed that her closest friends can take a peak at her face, jewlery and henna (a kind of temporary tatoo). All of her preparation took days and even weeks for some of it. And, according to local custom, she is not allowed to show herself to the public during the wedding. So, there she was..I was bummed. All this waiting, all this anticipation for a cultural experience and it seemed like nothing more than sitting in a waiting room or airport lounge. I told my friend that unless something big was going to happen, I would probably leave soon. We were told that the groom would come, see her in the back room for a moment and then everyone would leave for the party in another part of town. All of the sudden, the mother of the bride was motioning for me and my friend to come to the back room. We fought our way through the crowd of women all standing by the back door, hoping to be invited in. We were able to see the bride and take pictures for them, since they had no camera. It was an amazing privilege to be able to be invited into the inner circle, even if it was only for our cameras and a brief moment. She was so beautiful and happy. I went home excited, although tired. The next morning, as I rubbed my sleepy eyes, drank my coffee to get that jolt of energy and played with my kids, I realized how blessed I am to be a part of something so different from my culture, to experience these events and see other traditions around the world.

Trip To Dakar

Last week we took a trip to Dakar to pick up some things for the gym. Here is our trip in pictures- enjoy!

We stopped for camels...

We stopped for roadside picnics and sometimes just to let Ezra run...

We swam a lot once we got there...

Sometimes the kids were happy...

Sometimes they were not...

But, all that swimming made us all tired!

We ate lots of good food...

And overall, we had a great trip!