Urban legend on the RVA campus is that whenever the milk goes south, they announce a special treat and give the children chocolate milk to mask the south-ness. I don’t know if it is true, but it is as prevalent as the man with the hook in these parts.

Because of the attack on a boarding school similar to RVA in Pakistan, we are considered a “soft” target and have begun lots of drills in case of attack. We are in a rural area of Kenya, so it is unlikely that anything will happen, but with 500 children here, we need to be extra cautious.

We had a drill like week, and went into a lockdown. A lockdown means when the alarm rings, go to the closest building, and get down and quiet. This was done in Pakistan, and no children were killed.

The kids took it seriously, and everyone cooperated, but later I did hear this line in the cafeteria:

HIM: Were you afraid during the lockdown?
HIM2: I was more afraid of the chocolate milk.

I try to go into the valley once a week to visit a different school in the feeding program and make sure all is going well. The pastor who I usually go with had his cell phone stolen, and so it was hard to make connections with him. When I go, I drive on the most horrible non-roads you can imagine, and nothing has happened.

Yesterday, I was helping someone deliver some furniture, and not 30 steps from my house, there was a large truck in the middle of the road. A Kenyan man waved me through.

That was my first mistake.

While owing to no known prejudice except this: All Kenyans always believe you can get through on any road. I’m sure most of it is due to the fact that most Kenyans don’t drive, so they don’t know how to estimate the way a driver would.

Anyway, the glamorous missionary went into a ditch 30 steps from his home and had to get jacked out. While I was there, everyone I had ever known drove by and their expressions were all identical: you poor stupid guy.

I felt pretty stupid, and while doing no damage except cosmetic to the car, I was pretty bummed by it all. It was one of those “why am I here?” moments that happen every few months or so.

But the next morning, I went for a run. We live in a very hilly area, and I’m from two flat places: Illinois and Texas. Before I came to Africa, I had never run hills.

There is this one course we always run, and I have never been able to run the entire hill. This morning, for the first time, I ran the entire course; I made it to the top. It was such a great feeling.

I would like to say that I learned a high spiritual principle, but the only principle I can think of is that it would be better for me to walk than drive.

Every year, the junior class holds a banquet for the seniors. It is a huge event, with all the junior parents coming in to help build the set, make the food, and light the luminaries that set the pathway while the seniors walk up in their finest clothes and the entire student body cheers them on. It’s a wonderful affair, and the work involved is enormous.

It occurred to me that as much emphasis as we put on the big things in life, it is the things that don’t get the attention that usually have the lasting value. There is a senior here who is the captain of the soccer team, president of his class, and has a 4.0. These are all great accomplishments. He is a genuinely nice kid, and his humbleness and great sense of humor make him liked by all. There are many young ladies interested in him.

But the girl he asked to the banquet has never been asked out before in her life. She is a pretty girl, although she is so insecure that she doesn’t believe it, and that insecurity tends to manifest itself in ways that aren’t always pleasant. But he really thought that she was the one he should ask to the banquet.

I wish you could have seen her face as they walked up past the crowds. They just went as friends, and they both knew it, but she was glowing; it is the only way you could describe her. I looked at some friend’s faces as they looked at her, and I suspect their face mirrored mine; it was hard not getting misty knowing what his gesture had meant to her.

We look at the grades, and the sports, and the size of our houses, but there are other things that really define us. This young man has accomplished many things, and he has a legitimate chance at getting into Harvard. I think he is destined for greatness. But I know, as the years go by, the only thing I will really remember when I think of him is her face.

Your pal,
Steve

Rocking Katie

Two Juice Ben!