All these things

greetings from Ikotos, Sudan!!

hopefully my computer will arrive today and i can post some more detailed blogs. we have come to Ikotos where they have constant Internet so i am going to take advantage of it. jeff has gone to the Ugandan border to pick up Barbara and Michele (our two partner staffs) and hopefully an electrician so we can hook up our compound to a generator. i say, let's think big. Nuclear power plant!! no one would care here. There are tons of mountains here we could call Yucca! call Pete Dominici! I want to talk to him!!

Seriously, though. All is well. things are a little hard...EVERYTHING takes a lot of effort these days (cooking, bathing, washing clothes). but the people are so helpful, we are continuing to learn some Arabic (at least Sudanese Arabic) and I will begin teaching english and math to some of the adults in the community that work with us. so exciting. we went to a school on monday in a village called Lobira. the school has about 110 students and the seriously, meet under a tree. so unreal. they work on pieces of chalkboards and they are really smart kids. most can speak english. i got to teach a math class (i know, chuckle..me teaching math! - but let's be honest...i can add and subtract) and by the end of the day, the kids could subtract by borrowing and carrying! it was awesome. things are progressing nicely. today i am meeting with the county education director to get a new blackboard for this school and hopefully to get some money for the teachers. none of them are getting paid yet...but they still come to teach. pretty cool.

some more highlights:

-i have "adopted" a VERY small malnourished baby i found in the hospital. his mother was killed by the co-wife of the father and he and his 2 siblings have been left at the hospital by a neighbor (they are all sick). so i talked to a nun and hired a babysitter to feed and bathe and play with him. $10 a month. can you believe that!! this baby is so sad though. his spine is very rubbery and his hair is turning white and he is SO thin. they say he is 2, but looks like he is about 9 months. i couldn't stand to be at the hospital. what an awful sight. i cannot even imagine having a child here in those conditions.
-i had a jane goodall moment the other day. thrilling, really. these brat boys in the village kidnapped a baby monkey from his family and tried to sell him to me. they had it tied on a string and were twirling it aroud. i was pissed. so i got the monkey and told the boys they were very bad (in Arabic ;)) and that i would send them to the police if they did it again. then jeff told them they would get AIDS. so we took the monkey in the car (he slept on my lap) and released him about an hour away in a place where other monkeys are always seen and where there are not many people. i was so relieved to get him to safety.
-a man was shot by his brother in the village we were in tuesday. we carried him an hour and a half to the hospital (the smell - the roads - it was terrible...he was in so much pain - the bullet broke his femur) where there isn't even an operating theater. not sure what they will be able to do for him.
-the food here is not the best. lots of goat still. and the cook keeps getting drunk and forgetting to cook. you can never be too thin, right?? but i am eating lots of granola bars (best damn food in the world these days) and coming up with creative meals to make with fire and one pot. so hard core.
-a man was killed by the LRA on the way to Juba a few days ago. they have been having a non-stop funeral for THREE days now! incredible. singing and dancing and lots of beer i think.
-jeff and i went to church on saturday night with all the children from the school nearby. it was so beautiful. dark inside, only lit by candles. the children sang and played drums and danced for over an hour. i have no idea what they said, but i loved being there. two little baby girls fell asleep in our laps. it was way past their bed time.
-we taught a ton of kids the love of frisbee the other day. they are awesome at it. we are planning to form an ultimate team asap! the kids here are fantastic. and have some of the best names. i am now "Elisabetta" since my middle names is Elizabeth and Stacey is not a "Christian" name. so funny.
-can't take communion here, either. Catholic churches everywhere don't like the Presbyterians, apparently. If i were Anglican, i could take...but i go to an Anglican church and they let me take...if A=B and B=C, why does A not = C??? weird :) I'm ok with it though. The parish priest here is the BEST and he assured me that God still loves me...maybe just a little less. KIDDING...ha ha.

this past week has been pretty eye opening. basically, life here for normal people is hard. life for me is inconvenient, but no where close to what they have to live in...i can come home anytime i want. they have NO other option but to live this way. hard to get my head around. and my attitude is sucking. little things are frustrating me (like the cook getting drunk and having no food to eat) but i seriously need to get over this crap and count my blessings. i am SO blessed and we live in an amazing country. it's hard not to be grateful here...please pray for patience and perspective. it's running thin.

we'll try to write again soon...not sure when the internet at our place will be up...things here take a while and the duct tape just doesn't seem to work!

lots of love from jeff and stacey