Our Anniversary!

November 26, 2006... One of the most joyful days of our lives! We tied the knot in Carlsbad, CA, in the presence of family and friends... a beautiful service and a fabulous reception... we only wish the festivities could have gone on for hours, days, forever!

We've had our ups and downs, even in just two years; That's to be expected with a cross-cultural marriage, when we moved 21 times in our first 12 months! But, we have adapted and softened, and grown to cherish each other even more than on that romantic day in 2006. So, in a way, the "festivities" have continued on... and will!

Thank you to all our family and friends that have supported and encouraged us during these past 2 years. We eagerly look forward to the years ahead and all that God has in store for us!

Photos: We went to an Ethiopian restaurant to celebrate- the food was a bit hot, but the atmosphere was great! We had a bit of fun trying to take a photo of ourselves... Eddy started it- surprised?? : )

The "Four Bridges" Half Marathon

As we said in our last update- we completed the long-trained-for 13.1 miles on Saturday... whew! While we never dreamed of starting a running regime prior to our arrival, once here, it proved to be one activity that was "normal" for us. It helped us to stay fit in a rather sedentary life-style, calmed our stress and bonded us closer together. We plan on continuing with the running and are shooting for a full marathon later next year... Insha Allah! ** Which would mean training in the spring/summer- the "hot" season here... um... so we'll see how that goes!

Pictures: The pre-race photo: Chelsie, Mike, Eddy and Jess around 6:15 am at Mike's House, the start of our race... Heading off into the dark... After water stop #1, back at Mike's house, 6 miles into it... Arriving & departing water stop #2 along the Nile at mile 9... Crossing the "finish line", made out of toilet paper courtesy of Mike's wife, Suzanne... The team post-race, feeling and looking good! : )

NVA Sports and A Nile Adventure

Basketball season is almost over... Lucky for our U11 girls team, the powers-that-be scheduled another game for them this weekend, bringing them up to a 3-game season- wow! They're beyond excited... The U11 boys will also finish up this weekend with a final round-robin tournament. It's been a fun season and we have all learned a lot!
In the meantime, Eddy quickly formed a soccer team for a U11 pre-season tournament. Armed with one 30 min practice, the NVA crocs came in fighting, with their new Brazilian coach and took home 2nd place out of 7 teams! It was their first time making into the finals... Yay Crocs!

Soccer try-outs will be this week... at some point... It looks like Eddy and I will be the coaches for the U11 teams. The season starts right after Christmas break and as soon as Jess figures out how to coach a sport she last officially played when she was seven.

We were invited by some friends for a speed boat trip up the Nile to a sand bar for a picnic... we jumped at the opportunity! It was a wonderfully relaxing time of snacking, reading, napping and swimming.

Jess' News: I just finished a seminar on Health and Development... It focused mainly on redefining relief and development, the pros and cons of each, when they should be implemented and how to implement a self-sustaining development plan into a community. Should be helpful for the future... Eddy will get my notes as he was handling all our school committments!

Visas: We are in the process of getting exit/re-entry visas for our trip in early December. We realize how much we take for granted just being able to get on a plane when we want to go somewhere. Here, for foreigners and nationals alike, you must have permission from the government to leave... and it always takes longer and requires more effort than originally anticipated. Insha Allah, we will have them tomorrow!

Half-Marathon: We did it!! Exhausted from having to get up before the crack of dawn to keep up with the training, we opted to complete our run before the official race date (in December sometime...). We managed to convice two of our friends (Mike and Chelsie) to run too, creating a nice, safe foursome jogging through the streets and over the bridges of this bustling city. It was actually quite enjoyable- save for Eddy's nagging knee pain and Jess' side stitch lasting the final 3 miles. Mike's wife, Suzanne met us along the route with water- at mile 6 and 9, and fashioned a finish line out of toilet paper! We celebrated our finish with a brunch and a LONG nap. And best yet- we feel pretty good today!
Photos: Us... The U11 girls team... Me strongly encouraging the girls at Half-time... The U11 boys soccer team... Eddy consoling the boys after their one loss... Picnic on the Nile... Nile life...

Fall Festival Festivities

Well it was a huge success! Fortunate to have a warmer autumn night, we would guess some 250 people crammed onto the NVA school campus for games, bake sales, pictures, t-shirts and so much more... Eddy and Jeff took on the "Soak the Teacher" Booth with charisma and good cheer, leading the events in popularity, by far. The onlookers never seemed to tire of watching 30 gallons of water gush down on the guys anxiously waiting below. I perused the crowd taking snap shots, greeting families and entertaining the masses with my lil' ukulele. It was a pleasant night, spending time with kids and their families.

Basketball: Under 11 girls play tomorrow! Photos and videos to be posted- you must take part in the hilarity and chaos!

Visa/Taxes: In order to leave the country, we are in the process of deciphering/declaring our taxes for our non-income gaining year...so we can pay taxes on what we should have earned... Does that seem odd to anyone else?Half-Marathon: We tackled our 10 mile run on Friday- a huge success! After some fairly miserable runs the week leading up to it, we were wary. But with our intentional slow pace came smooth sailing all the way through... right up until we stopped and had to hobble in on our lactic acid filled limbs... Note to selves: drink water on the run.

Soccer: Eddy will be taking a Under 11 team to a tournament this next week. It's pre-season just for the fun of it. We'll have to start try-outs this next week or so...

Photos: Pretty self-explanatory... : )

Soak The Teachers

As a preview for upcoming events, the school did a trial run of the "Soak The Teacher" Booth on Eddy this morning at School Line-Up. All the classes form lines, usually go over announcements and then are dismissed to their rooms. Today, however, there was a little entertainment... Coach Eddy experiencing the full force of the home-made "soaker"... priceless. It was a bit chilly... poor guy!Photos: The pre-event excitement, Teachers explaining the "soaker" to the students... The basketball is tossed up... A perfect hit... Down comes the water... *note the paper Eddy is holding in the beginning frames... : )

Women's & Fishing Retreats

Last weekend was packed full... I got to attend a retreat for women held south of the city at a farm owned by one of our students. It was a large, well maintained fenced farm with ostriches, antelope and assorted random large birds located right on the Nile. Some 50 women gathered for a few days of relaxing, wearing casual western clothes (yikes, I haven't seen that much skin in a LONG time!) and sharing. It was a wonderful weekend- so many like minded people encouraging each other in their endeavors.

Whilst I was away, Eddy busied himself with a rousing game of Risk one night and fishing on the Nile the next day. Unable to find worms, Eddy sought the advice of locals who told him to use the trimmings off beef. After visiting the butcher and armed with borrowed poles, three of them made their way to the western banks of the Nile to test out their luck. It was a long, rather uneventful day of NO fish.

Half-Marathon: We both had to run alone as the other was MIA... and we both agreed that running alone was a dreadfully lonely experience.

Basketball: The season is winding down, our 2nd and last Under 11 girls game and the Under 14 tournie is next week. Phew, except that the soccer season starts in January, pretty much the day we step off the plane from our mini-furlough in December... so try-outs will be held in the next few weeks... Insha Allah!

Mini-Furlough: We will be heading to Florida for some R & R in the beginning of December. Leaving this place takes a little more effort than just hopping on a plane. We have to apply for an exit/re-entry visa and show proof of taxation for our business "Eddy Ice Creem". More offices, bureaucracy and red tape... But we have found favor so far and grace has been poured out in abundance. Insha Allah these tasks will get done quickly!

FUNdraiser Day: Our school is putting on a "fair" of sorts to raise funds (didn't know we needed it...) this Friday. There will be the usual booth-type games for kids to play with an assortment of well-loved favorites like: The Bean Bag Toss, Fishing Hole, Ping Pong Ball Race, Hole in One... There will be some sort of stage area where Eddy and I will entertain people with our musical talents- little ukulele interludes and jambe solos- irrisistible! But the highlight will surely be.... drum roll please... the Soak The Teacher Booth! As we are in a Muslim country, only the male teachers are at risk for this event. And as we all know, teaching tends to be a female dominated vocation... Our school has only three male teachers: Coach Eddy, Coach Jeff and our computer teacher Johannes. Johannes got out of it by being "too techy". Which leaves the the infamous coaching duo!! Coach Eddy will be demonstrating the full scope of this homemade bucket-dumping contraption tomorrow at the start of school. He's thrilled.

Photos: Some ladies enjoying the cookout at the Nile during the womens retreat... a wall in the farm compound... The Basketball Under 14 boys catch a ride to the game- 12 boys in an Amjud (hold 5 normally, and these are not small boys by any means!)... Coach Jess and Coach Stef pre-game talk... Coach Eddy talks with a parent...

Finally the visa!!

And it came, feels like Christmas... something that we were waiting for a long time... The Visa was issued!!! Sure all the wait wasn't easy and the time wasn't given to us on the visa but, God is faithful!!!
Now we can travel East to start the Ice "CREEM" shop and see how we are going to do all of this!
Yesterday we had a great time with the basketball teams. The girls won the first game 20 to 14. The guys, unfortunately got "killed" by the giants in the other team... 54 to 11. ...ouch... But they run and run and run!!! It was a much better presentation than last week, even with a loss.

We are getting ready to got to the States for a little time away from here. on December 7th we are going to Florida for a month. Jessica's parents are planning to come and visit for a week. Than with some supporters/mentors we are going to Washington DC and North Carolina. Than we will be back for another week in Florida. The school here resumes on Jan 11.

The school schedulle is filling up out time quite a bit. With the basketball season, we have practices 2 times a week and games, sometimes 3 games/week. Arabic classes on Mon and Wed, and team meeting on Mon late afternoon. Another meeting on Thurs about the people group. We praise the Lord for the car and health. Normally we get home around 6pm and go to bed at 8pm... long days but rewarding!!
We are so glad to be doing what we are doing now. Bring the Xtian influence to the kids lifes is great and we always try to tell them bible histories... David and Goliath, Jonah, 40 years in the desert and so on. so much fun!!!
Jessica is going to a womans retreat this weekend and we as "single for the weekend" guys are planning to play some Risk (one American, one German, one British and the Brazilian). May be we will go fishing on the Nile too, this are just plans.

Pictures. The women around here and the Market close to our home.

Night Life: Picnic in the Park

We had planned on a quiet supper at our flat to pray and talk, but were invited to an impromptu picnic by some friends. Excited to introduce our visitors from the states, we eagerly accepted the invite and started packing for the feast at the park.

There are numerous parks spread throughout the city- some developed with entrance fees and carnival-style rides (correction: VERY sketchy looking rides... um, safety checks??), while others are little patches of grass with a few benches scattered about. While on the whole they all look a bit rundown and uninviting, at night, these places are "hot spots" crawling with people- families with kids, blankets of friends, men, women, children, all sprawled out across the ground until all hours of the night.

We met at a rather developed park, with a ridiculous amount of life-risking kiddy rides, where parents would stuff their kids in frighteningly old _________ (Fill in the blank with any form of transport: planes/boats/cars, etc) without a second thought. We opted to steer clear of said rides and joined the countless number of families gathered on the grass. After spreading out some sheets, we lounged about, enjoying the cool night air and munching on typical American potluck food: potato salad, pasta salad, egg/tuna salad sandwiches, watermelon and cookies. It was a wonderfully pleasant night of connecting with friends.

Half-Marathon Update: We ran 9 miles on Friday... it was hot, we were tired and our legs felt like millstones. Otherwise it was a GREAT time! (note sarcasm) We are, however, enjoying being in "better shape", but our schedules and the mileage are beginning to wear on us... We're trying to hang in there!

Visa Update: Jess' passport was dropped off at the visa office yesterday. While the official said it would be ready in sa'a'een(2 hours); Eddy decided to forgo the wait and check back today. InshaAllah!

Photos: Our crew at the park... A close up of the tastey eats at our picnic... Us, a relaxing night with friends... Eddy, Mike and Peter... Uncle Eddy had little Hudson, Mike's 1 year old, during the eating time-- nothing like wet jeans covered with partially chewed food...

Favor & Friends

For all those who have been faithfully praying and believing in faith-- on Thursday we got Jess' passport out of the security office!! This is a virtual miracle and a blessing from God! Masha Allah!!

After being told it would be an easy 4-day process to get a visa as a dependent/wife back in August, now almost 3 months later, we are still awaiting the visa to be issued. BUT, clearing the security office is the most difficult step. We will now go back to the visa office to have the visa/resident permit issued, a 5 day, relatively painless process (Insha Allah!). Following that, we will need to get an exit/re-entry permit for both of us to travel in/out of the country... whew! Thank you for your prayers and faith!!We have 2 friends visiting from the states and were able to join up with them yesterday for a small tour and supper. It was wonderful being able to be with people from "home" and Eddy and I were so encouraged. We took them to our favorite little local dive and enjoyed a typical meal while chatting about life here in the land of sand. It was a bit surreal to be sitting in those dusty plastic chairs in our crazy little African city-- with them! How good fellowship is! We will be seeing them again tonight for supper at our house... looks like we'll be needing to clean up a bit!

Photos: Eddy, Gary and Peter at our favorite little dive, eating traditional local food- beans, bread, meat and no silverware... Eddy at a typical ducan (shop) where we would buy foods like flour, sugar, tomato paste... Watermelons are in season- you can pick one up for about $2...

Girls Defeated, Boys Victorious

Our school crowd was almost deafening as the whistle blew at the basketball tip-off. The munchkin-like Under 11 girls chaotically ran around the seemingly HUGE basketball gym, completely overwhelmed by the court, the noise, the players- everything! Chaos was what we expected, and that it was! Most of our girls have never actually seen the game played, let alone participated in it. Many, overly excited and nervous about playing, forgot EVERYTHING I taught. Dribbling seemed a foreign concept, and many opted to just grab the ball and "Heisman" style charge through the crowd and run for the basket... so much easier than having to bounce that large and cumbersome ball around!

I had decided ahead of time that I would not yell or become frustrated with the girls- some of them are only 9 years old! Instead, before the game I explained our top 3 goals: 1.) Have fun! 2.) Listen to Coach. 3.) Play fair. While I never got frustrated (how could I when I was laughing most of the time?), I did end up yelling- "Defense! (or) Offense!", as many times they would run by asking, "Where's our basket? Which way am I going? What do I do?"... good times!

We managed to make a couple of baskets- and several times found our "man" to defend and blocked some shots. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to secure a victory and we were defeated, 4-16. You really couldn't have guessed the outcome by the look on the girls' faces though, most aglow with smiles, as shrieks of, "That was SO much fun!!" filled the gym.

The boys played right after and played well. Coach Eddy had the same goals in mind with his team- Have fun and good sportsmanship. They were beyond victorious, shutting our rivals out completely for a 26-0 win... Well done Under 11 boys!

Jess' Passport: We will go today to try and "retrieve" my passport/visa. This continues to be a critical situation as I cannot travel/leave/return without it... Pray!!!

Friends In Town: We are fortunate enough to have some friends visiting from the states- Gary and Peter. While we haven't actually met up with them yet, I did randomly see them speaking at a church that I just happened to be walking by yesterday... cool! We will be meeting up with them this weekend.

Photos: While I had hoped to have some documentation of our games, Eddy and I both had to referee the games... sorry, more photos next time! Here are some of our Under 11 players at a fourth grade "party"...

Hit the Books!

Well, in the "figure of speech" way that is... As the librarian here at NVA, I have the opportunity to run reading programs that inspire the children to read! Yay! Last year the theme was "Hop into Reading" with frogs leaping off the pages of parent letters and reading log sheets. This year I went with "Start an Adventure, Read a Book", with sketches of overweight cartoon hikers marching the perimeters of the pages. With weekly goals and prizes, I've managed to capture the attention of K-6 with a whopping 70% participation... amazing what a little bouncy ball or sucker can do! Unfortunately, the 7th and 8th graders aren't as easily won over. It's only 3 weeks long, and we're finishing up our second week... the class with the most participation wins a party hosted by me and Coach Eddy... Yay for reading!

We are well into our 6 month here and are deep into culture adjustment. On the whole we are doing well, but we have noticed an increase in fatigue and impatience! People warned us that exhaustion sets in fast and sleeping the usual 8 hours just doesn't cut it the first year. With language adjustments, culture differences, climate adaptation, relational nuances- we must allow ourselves time to process and change. It is not an easy task and we can feel the stress and pressure not only mentally, but physically and spiritually as well.

We have been considering taking a brief "break" over Christmas, school has time off for the holidays and family has frequent flyer miles. With the encouragement from some long termers here who recommend leaving the country every 6 months or so, we feel it would be a great time to get some R&R before entering the new year and the next semester here at NVA. The trick is my passport- which is still in security.

Please pray that the passport is released and the visa issued so that we can freely travel both inside and outside the country!! Without this I cannot leave... and if returned to me without a visa, I cannot return!

Photos: The Library- Start an Adventure, Read a Book! with class particiation thermometeres (we hadn't started yet)... A few old classics that are on our shelves...

NVA Crocs defeated in Basketball

Let me start off by saying that the school we work at, considering our surroundings, is amazing! We have more than we need, really, but when it comes to practicing for our basketball season, we do lack a few things- like a court, or one with regulation height rims. That being said, we crammed the girls and boys into various vehicles and sped our way across town to our rival school, which happens to be the most expensive school in the nation; with multiple courts with multiple regulation height rims... The NVA crocodiles, while excited to play, were, you could say, a bit overwhelmed...

Unfortunately, the nerves and intimidation got to them, and the boys and girls team both lost their first game of the season. But they played hard and they played fair. We know now what we need to work on and have the fire in our bellies to propel us into the competition.

And while we may not have won on the scoreboard, we for sure beat the competition in the cheering section and support. Parents, friends, teachers, classmates filled the look-out deck and hollered with each one of our 3 or 4 baskets... Go Crocs!!!

Pictures: Coach Jess with the Under 14 girls at warm-up... Sending the team out on the court... Coach Jeff and Coach Eddy at half time... Coach Eddy giving some direction to the team... Last quarter push...