We hadn’t planned on writing weekly letters, but there always seems to be so much to mention. If you are sick of getting these, please let us know, and I will be glad to remove you from the list.

I’ve been having problems sleeping for several years now, almost to the day we found out bad news in the pregnancy. Moving to Africa made it worst; I would go to sleep at the normal time, and wake up two hours later, unable to sleep for several hours. So we made the decision to go to the doctor.

The hospital is a short walk from here, which is nice since most of us don’t have cars. (In fact, we haven’t been in a car in a month) When I arrived, I was given a form, which asked:

• What tribe are you from?
• Have you alerted your chief to your condition?
• Have you used any tribal remedies?

After a short time, the nurse did the usual; blood pressure, temperature, and weight. My blood pressure was good, no temp, and I have lost twenty pounds since I have been in Africa. All wonder news, so I went to see the doctor. He is a graduate of Rice and Baylor, and a friend of a friend, which is always nice. His diagnosis: `Some people have trouble sleeping; take these for a month.’ And it has seemed to work, which is a glorious thing.

We had a Titchie Field Day and Open House last week. The fifth graders all wrote plays. Without exception, the little girls plays dealt with homes and families, and the little boys plays all had some sort of mayhem in it. They were assigned topics like `How the frog got its ribbit’ You might be amazed about how blood and guts figured into that; I know I was.

We went back to the waterfall this week, but this time with the dorm boys. Nan decided that she needed to be talking with woman for awhile, and opted out of our excursion. On the way, we saw a monkey, and we passed a herd of goats on the way back. After we got to the first falls, the climbing was going to get tougher, so 4 guys elected to stay behind, and I was elected to stay with them.

It was then that I had a `Holy Cow, I’m in Africa’ moment. I was sitting on a rock, resting my eyes, while the four of them removed their shirts and pants to play in the frigid water. Then they began to reenact Titanic. It would begin with `Not even God can sink this ship.’ Then the ships would be destroyed, with much wailing and gnashing of teeth. I sat on the rock and thought `Two months ago, I was in Texas, and now there are three Koreans reenacting a movie they have never seen in the middle of an African forest.’

On the way back, there was a little gully, and the begging began. `Can we slide down it? Just once?’ Without a female perspective, it was hard to say no. So eight fully clothed ten-year-old boys went sloshing down, getting totally soaked and filthy in the process. They had a great time, and I am sure Nan will think hard the next time she feels she needs to have an outing away from the men.

As we walked on, we saw a tree on fire. It is common for people to make charcoal in the area. The problem is that every tree that comes down means that the water supply suffers. But if you make $200 dollars a year, you don’t think about the long term. You think about right now. And that is the issue in Africa: how can you look to the future when getting through the day is so hard? In the states, when you are newly married, you cut out some things to save money so you can buy your first house. Short term sacrifice equals long-term gain. But when you start with nothing, how do you cut back?

YOP

Steve