Boiled Peanuts

So, everytime I move I learn a different cuisine. I may still be in the same country, but the food preferences change. Southerners like sweet tea (and by sweet I mean VERY sweet). They like fried chicken and greens. I found out something else they like - boiled peanuts. Kenyon and I saw signs all over the road advertising places where one can buy boiled peanuts. Kenyon said, "what's a boiled peanut? That doesn't even sound good." I didn't know what it was.

My friend Sarah here said her family once took a road trip and stopped to ask. Her dad got out and asked the man, "What's a boiled peanut?" The man replied in a heavy southern drawl, "A boiled peanut is a boiled peanut." Well, duh!

This weekend I tried my first (and likely my last) boiled peanut. We were at the Woolly Worm festival - more about that later - and Lori got very excited and said, "ah, boiled peanuts! Have you ever had one?" No. She bought a cup full. They really are peanuts, like the kind you eat at a baseball game. They take salt water and boil it, then they dump salty peanuts in to the salt water and let them soften. You open the shell and eat the salty, soft peanut. Some people love them. I am not one of those people. One peanut and I felt like all the moisture in my mouth was sucked right out from all the salt. So, if you've never heard of a boiled peanut...now you don't have to ask.

Heartbreaking

As many of you know, I just returned from a trip to Kenya and Uganda. It was my first visit to those countries. My purpose was to observe the work we are doing there. I'd read the plans, the proposals, the legal government documents, and some of our reports to our government donor. None of that prepared me for what I was going to see. It is completely different to see the faces, to meet the people, and to be involved in the activities on the ground. Though I like my job and feel that I have incredible influence over helping those affected by the AIDS crisis - my job is still a desk job. I still only get to visit the sights from time to time. I'm just glad I get to visit at all and tell the story of what I see.

This was my favorite picture from the trip. It isn't because it has exquisite composition, because it doesn't. I took it looking over someone's shoulder trying to capture a moment. This is my favorite picture because of what it represents - God's love.

The woman in blue, the one who is a living skeleton, she is suffering with AIDS. Her husband died of this terrible disease sometime in the last two years (it's hard to know for sure because we were working through translators). She was literally on her death bed. She was in so much pain. She has reached the point where she has lost all appetite. We were looking at someone who was facing the end of her life. What a tragedy! The real tragedy is it could have all been prevented. AIDS is a preventable disease. Even after the infection, her life could have been preserved. We don't have a cure for AIDS, but we do have treatment that extends the life of those who have access. The woman in this picture lives in rural Uganda. The nearest clinic that administers treatment is miles away. At this point she can't even be transported to the clinic due to her ailing condition. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that she has four children who are soon to be orphaned. Four young children! I looked at them and could cry. Even now I look at the pictures I took of them and my heart breaks. Because of the stigma related to AIDS her family doesn't want to care for her or the children. What will become of them?

So, you are probably wondering - why do you like this picture? How does it represent God's love? See the woman behind the woman in blue. The one with her arms wrapped around her in an embrace. That woman in pink is one of our youth educators. Prior to volunteering with our program the two were strangers. One of the requirements we ask of volunteers is that they participate in compassionate care activities with those suffering with the disease. The educators are mentoring youth and they are to bring the youth along as an incentive for them to make healthy and wise sexual choices. It seems to be working because our participants are reporting fewer sexual partners, delayed sexual debut, and decisions to adhere to secondary abstinence behaviors. This volunteer in our program comes daily to wash the other woman's mat, to feed her and her children. The day we visited, she had two youth with her helping collect water and such. In the midst of the sorrow, I saw something of beauty. I saw God's love being lived out in a tangible way. The God I serve loves like that. He doesn't discriminate because we make bad choices that had deadly consequences. He loves us even with our short comings. He cares about our needs - food, shelter, companionship. I serve a God who cares about individual lives and to me, the woman in pink is His representative. To me, that is a thing of beauty.

Small town inconveniences...

Kenyon and I are attempting to make our new town home. This isn't a big place, it probably wouldn't be more than a blip on a map if the college wasn't here. What does that mean? There isn't much to do, stores close early, and all the conveniences of "big city life" are gone. Our town doesn't have a mall, Target, Barnes & Noble or their equivalent. There is a Wal-mart, an Old Navy, and a JCPenney. One of the things folks do on a Friday night is plan car loads of people to caravan to the bigger city of Hickory approximately an hour away. Before moving here I was looking at the area on a map and thought Hickory couldn't be much, it sounded like a hick town. It probably is a hick town, but it has an Olive Garden, a mall, a Target, and so many other stores, restaurants and shops that we are missing. I never thought I would caravan with others to Hickory to eat at Olive Garden, visit the mall, the Barnes & Noble and think it was a great night out. My, my, my how my world has changed!

The other thing is that everything in our town closes down so early. Kenyon has been in shock that the city is almost completely shut down by 9 or 10pm. Every now and then you can find some things open next to the college, but otherwise there are no options.

This week we tried to open a bank account. You would be amazed at how inconvenient the process was. I'll spare you the details, but it took us three days and I took at least 3 hours off work to get it done. Ugh!

On the upside, so you don't think it is all bad, the scenery is amazing. The trees changed colors this week and I cannot describe to you the beauty. Kenyon said, "it looks like a watercolor painting" and it does. There has only been one murder in our town on record, it was in 2005 - I mean on record ever! The people are friendly. The lifestyle is more relaxed. It is very family oriented. The weather has also been wonderful - very pleasant.

Maybe someday we won't even think about all the small town inconveniences, but for now it is still an adjustment.

HOME

I have been traveling sub-Sahara Africa for the last few weeks. It was my first trip to this part of the world. The scenery was beautiful! Anyone who knows me very well, knows that I love, love, love to travel. Travel has been a part of my life for so many years. I often make the joke that if you add up the number of hours I've spent in an airport in my lifetime, it would easily add up to a year or two of my life. For some that would be a nightmare, but I wear it as a badge of honor.

Though I love the work and my love for travel has not wained - I did miss my husband. Until now I never thought about what I left behind. I was just living in the moment of the trip and what I was seeing and doing at the present time. It was very hard to leave Kenyon. We had been apart for three weeks because of the move and then less than a week later I got on a plane to another part of the world. I've not really experienced the feeling of being torn before; wanting to be in two places at once. It was just never a concern. So, I had a great trip, but I really enjoyed coming home. My first night back, I put my head on his chest and he had his arms around me and I thought, "Home. It's so nice to be home."

Daily commute

I wanted to share with you my daily drive to work - look at the traffic I fight. What an urban jungle!