Never been too good at that romance thing. Actually took my wife to Schindler’s List on Valentine’s Day once. But with age comes wisdom, and you add a big dollop of that holy missionary stuff, you really start to have the goods.

RVA has a senior banquet every year. The juniors do it in honor of the seniors. They write a play, build a set, perform it for them and cook all the food. The only people allowed are the seniors, the juniors, and the sponsors of each class. For some reason this year, Nancy and I were invited.

One of the important rituals here at RVA is making a big deal about how you ask someone to banquet. The kids go to amazing lengths to ask; so much so that the administration of the school has had to set times when you can start asking, and make some rules on what you can and cannot do.

Nancy made it clear that she was expecting to be asked, and that I shouldn’t presume. That made me a little nervous, although Katie let me know that if momma said no, she would go with me. That took the pressure off, but I was DETERMINED to make an impression.

I had to take someone into town that week, and maybe the one thing you can get cheaper in Kenya is flowers. I bought 100 roses and spent less than $12. I would bring them home, and when Nancy came in, wow would she get a surprise.

She DID get a surprise. The school encourages us to hire local people to work in our homes, and so I had asked Teresa to arrange the flowers. She got the ten bundles and stacked them neatly on the table. So, when we got home, we had the fun of cutting the bottom off 100 roses. But that wasn’t the worst part.

It is a very guy thing to buy his wife 100 roses. It is NOT a guy thing to ask the question, “Where would you PUT 100 roses?” It turned out there wasn’t a good answer to that question, and the answer wasn’t romantic.

I did go down on one knee and ask my bride to go with me. And she said yes. But she had to help me back up off the floor.

Maybe I don’t have the goods just yet. 

About the week before the banquet, it occurred to me that I only owned one suit and I had not worn it since the CNN thing. When I tried it on, I realized that I needed to lose about twenty pounds in five days, and that was my BEST option. The day came, and I realized that if I huffed and puffed like the big bad wolf, I could manage to put the pants on. Later, Lamaze breathing techniques became the key to the five-hour event. I believe the phrase that would come to mind is putting 20 bags of manure in a 15 pound bag.

Romance: I’ve got it COVERED.

Ben came down with malaria, which was really scary. We have been here ten years and none of us have gotten malaria before. Malaria is fairly easily treatable, but the only way they know for sure you have it is if they can do blood work while you are running high fever. Since he was running a 104 fever, the malaria showed up. He had felt sick for awhile, but the meds we used when we went to the coast virtually ensure that you won’t get it, so the doctors initially ruled it out. He was one sick boy for about a week, but he is back to his old self, and we are so grateful for that.

I don’t know what your politics are, but it was pretty amazing to be in Kenya during the swearing in of the new president. Nancy and the twins were watching the swearing in, and Katie asked if she could get out the American flags. So during the swearing in, the three of them sat on the couch and waved American flags.

Ben asked me, “Dad, did you know there has never been a black president before today?”

Whatever your politics, it is good to break out ceilings.

I was visiting with a headmaster this week, and he told me that it was so dry that Kenya was in danger of having the third consecutive crop failure. It is hard to know what to say to someone in that situation; you can tell that many of the children are only eating lunch now, because there is no food at home.

I told him I would pray.

He told me that was the best thing I could do.

Your pal,
Steve