(written Friday, April 27thJ
Yesterday we kicked our weekend of craziness off to a great start. This weekend, we had a play performance, a Jr./Sr. banquet, and a recital on the schedule.
The high school girls and Sam have been working on a small play since January. I’ve
been going to the past several practices to observe and give them tips.
Finally, last night they performed the play. I must say, it was the best I had
ever seen them do it! Even after seeing it at practice several times, I was
entertained. They did a great job getting into character and even threw in a
little improv. I could go on and on, but I’ll just say, it was great!
Come to find out,
the play was just part of the evening. When the ladies went into the kitchen to
get dessert ready, they brought out two cakes and started singing “Happy
Birthday.” Apparently, they were putting on an early birthday party for me and
Sam. (Sam’s birthday is the 8th of
May and mine in the 27th.) I will admit that I had my suspicions. No
one actually gave it away, but there were several hints. For instance, C was in the kitchen on Thursday night at about 11:00 making something. That was
highly suspect, considering C's usually in bed by that time. Rachel also
called on Thursday night, asking Sam for her giraffe (a gift that Rachel bought
to give to Sam, but that Sam was holding onto). And then last night, one of the
little girls walked into the living room at the Loeschers’ where Sam and I were
sitting and said, “Miss Rachelle, don’t go into the kitchen or the office!
Mommy says don’t go in there!” I just said okay, but I was smiling on the
inside. Although I had a pretty idea of what was going to happen, Sam was
absolutely clueless. We were spoiled royally. Rachel made a cake for both me
and Sam—carrot cake for me and Black Forest for Sam. (They were delicious!) And
the gifts—wow! I got all kinds of souvenirs from the artisan market. I can’t
wait to bring them all home
Truthfully,
the birthday party was just the beginning of the evening. Sam and I decided to
break out the games after we opened gifts. We began with a rousing game of
spoons. It was definitely the most intense game I’ve ever played. At one point,
one of the men lunged over the table and rolled on his head in order to get a
spoon. He was successful in the attempt, and I don’t think any of us will ever
forget that sight! We then moved on to Apples to Apples and ended by playing
sardines in the dark. We all had such a great time. The boys didn’t want me and
Sam to leave, but since it was about 11:00, we had to head back home.
The night wasn’t over yet, though. The climax was still to come. When we got home,
Sam headed to her room and turned on her light. When I walked past her room, I
noticed something on the ground right in front of her room. I stopped to
examine it, and realized it was a scorpion! (This was only the second scorpion
I’ve seen since I’ve been here.) Somehow, Sam managed to avoid it while going
into her room in the dark. Well, C was already in bed, and I knew that Sam
wouldn’t kill the scorpion. The responsibility fell to me. I quickly headed to
my room and grabbed two shoes (the ones that are good for killing cockroaches).
I worked up my courage and squashed that scorpion flat. Not to be graphic, but
juices squirted everywhere—it was disgusting! From the amount of body fluid the
creature lost, I was pretty sure it was dead, but Sam made me hit it again just
in case. And then, I had to clean it up. I think that was even worse than
killing it in the first place. I tried a couple times to sweep it into a dust
pan, but kept chickening out. I kept chanting to myself—“I am bigger than the
scorpion. I am bigger than the scorpion.” Finally, I felt strong enough to clean
it up. Just another African experience I can check off my list.
