Monster Project Update 3

Well, I finished it. 

Not particularly well, maybe.  The beginning was killer, the end . . . eh.  But I did it.  And then left to spend the weekend in Lebanon.  And then started packing and stopped coming in to town.  Tomorrow we begin our drive to Georgia.  We'll see how it ends up - by the way things have been going, it may be a while before I hear back from my professor.

Zephan's last day of work is TODAY.

Hallelujah. 

Monster Project Update 2

My paper is due tomorrow, ideally by around 4.  My final draft currently consists of 11 pages.  So . . . 13 pages to go.  Think I can do it?  I'm starting to wonder.

Good News/Bad News

Good news:

• I'm at Coffee Zone drinking the Brazilian and a blueberry muffin.
• My friend Gwen is engaged.
• I bought a new battery for my computer this morning, which means that I no longer have to be attached to a wall in order to do anything.
• I have 18 pages of stuff to turn in for my rough draft today

Bad news:

• I paid $75 more than I was expecting to for the battery because apparently someone used my gift card I got for working ONITA over winter break to buy underarmor and Skittles.
• The 18 pages - it's mostly stuff that other people have written.  But man, is it well-organized.  Hope it's ok with my adviser . . .   Of course, so far he's been thrilled with everything I've done.
• It is unbearably windy outside.

Other news:

• Zephan and I are waiting on the Lord.  Still.  And so, Zephan will be fasting (a modified Daniel fast - complicated) and we'll both be praying a lot over the next few weeks, at least until we hear from PBT about becoming recruits.  And then we'll have to make some decisions about when to move to Dallas.  We'd love for everyone to pray with us especially hard during this time.  If you're up to it, give us a comment/email/text and let us know.  We love knowing that we've got people supporting us :)

Spring Break I

It's spring break.  So far, it's included:

• Coffee Zone - working on a creative writing paper, half of which was lost somehow
• snow
• coffee with Martha
• delicious food with Jeanie in Ashland - all. day. long.
• bargain shopping at the mall with Mary while Zephan and Simon built a chicken coop
• many, many pancakes
• considering the future x100 - some decisions made
• grocery shopping and errands on Zephan's day off

The rest of the week must include:

• finishing the creative writing paper
• writing a 25-page rough draft of my research project (while finishing researching)

 . . . *sigh* . . .

At least it isn't going to be warm and make me want to do fun outdoor things.

Weekend

This weekend I went to visit my mom.  Zephan was working and had to stay behind, so I got some good girl time in with Mom and Grandma. 

The goal for the weekend was to get started on a baby quilt, which is the project that will be absorbing my prepare-for-baby energy for the time being.  This meant that I had to tackle the sewing machine.  My sister gave me one to use for this, and it's probably one of the most intimidating things that I've ever owned.  My mom was much more patient teaching me to use it than she was teaching me how to drive.  I was much less patient at learning to do this than I was learning to drive.  Probably because I spent hours ripping out seams. 

Also, I went to church at Southern Heights, and after the service a group of people prayed for all of the crazy undecidedness that is our lives right now.  It was perfect and encouraging and I can't wait to go back next month.

Quilting

This is something I don't think I've ever imagined myself wanting to do.  A sure sign that pregnancy does weird things to women.

I'm making a baby quilt.  I spent probably two hours at JoAnn's a few days ago selecting the perfect material (in brown and orange and green and blue, in order of prominence) and listening to the employees discuss their dinner plans.  Said material has been washed and ironed and is now waiting to make the journey to see my mom this weekend.  It's going to be a party.

Monster Project Update 1

So my life is all about African literature this semester.  Most of things I've read are pretty depressing and culturally startling, but good for me to read, I think.  Definitely an area I'd recommend delving into.

What I've read:

The Joys of Motherhood - Buchi Emecheta 
Houseboy - Ferdinand Oyono
The Dark Child - Cameron Laye
The Abandoned Boabab - Ken Bugul
Nervous Conditions - Tsitsi Dangarembga
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe


Plus maybe something else that I can't remember.

Anyway, so I'm doing a giant research paper for one of my classes, and I'm writing about Nervous Conditions.  Here's an abstract that I wrote today (kind of needlessly - long story).  So if you want to know what it might possibly be about when I actually write it, read it!  And give me feedback!  Encourage me!  Offer me rewards for working on it!


Here it is:

Intercultural interactions are notoriously sensitive and have been problematic throughout history.  In a world that is becoming increasingly aware of the potential disasters involved in cross-cultural relationships and increasingly bent on preventing them, it is difficult yet constructive to process past events that are poor examples of successful intercultural relationships.  A prominent event on this list of failures is colonization of the Americas, Africa, and Asia by Western powers.   

In this spirit of retrospection, Tsitsi Dangarmbga’s novel Nervous Conditions tackles the enormous problems inherent in colonial societies as they occur in Southern Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe) in the 1960s.  Her narrator and main character Tambu shows readers her black and white world through the eyes of a Shona schoolgirl.  Tambu’s colonial experience doesn’t involve governmental authorities, regulations, and injustice, but missional authorities and regulations.  Through her we see the good and the bad of life on the mission and the enormous complications it presents for those who try to partake of both missional and Shona society.

Dangarembga’s idea that juggling two standards of behavior causes strain in colonized communities, families, and individuals and her connection of these double standards with missional institutions need exploration that examines concrete historical examples of mission organizations acting as colonial forces as well as the missionaries’ points of view. Using my research I hope to create a historical background to interpret the novel and also use the novel to bring light to historical accounts of missionaries and their activities.  How can natives’ negative experiences be reconciled with the good intentions that many missionaries and their supports had?  What cultural and political miscommunications added to already touchy situations?

Intimidating School Things

So today, my delightful Rwandan French professor informed me that after spring break, I will give her a 20-minute presentation in français impeccable about all of the books I've read this semester and the impressions they've given me about African society.

My response to this was:  "Oh, dear."

Her response to this was to laugh real hard and say, "Yes, dear."



Also, she says she's going to find out about the local church services for African refugees for me.  And introduce me to a TA she know who's from Guinea.  Did I say that she's delightful?

Autumnal Activity

We have been doing all kinds of homemaking lately.  Freezing bananas, drying apples, making applesauce, banana bread, spiced pear jam, shampoo . . . and learning all kinds of canning skills.


Thanks to everyone who has given advice, food, tools, and assistance for these projects.  We didn't get pictures of everything, but here are some from the bushel of apples we put away.

What's left?  Well, there's a pumpkin in our laundry room waiting for carving and roasting.