Mid-day to mid-day

This is a tentative run down of what a 24 hour period might look like for us. Sorry that smells, sounds, and colors don't transfer well over the internet! Monday Around 12:30pm I write Zach to see if he is available to have lunch! He replies with “Yes!” and we meander around the corner to eat “tuwo” (a ball of starch) and some “soup” (sauce) with our hands from “Madam Calabar’s” restaurant. Madam Calabar goes to the Lutheran church we attend. We greet her, and the youth that work there who also attend our church. 1:00pm We head back to the office, greeting everyone again in Hausa as we did when we went out. Yes, our families are still fine, our work is still all glory to God, our home is as far as we know still fine. 1:30pm Christy heads home from the office after catching up on email, texts with the guys in Kice, and printing some materials for going to the village tomorrow. 1:45pm She walks in the door and gathers the materials needed for doing the activities she brainstormed on the way home to do with the children who will arrive in an hour or so. Zach is again in fullswing at the office answering questions about a report that was written by a colleague before returning to entering the wordlist collected on the last survey. 2:00pm Christy has now turned her attention to dinner. She wants to do as much as she can before the neighborhood children come.

3:00pm Zach’s plan for the afternoon now has to include a meeting on strategy for survey in Nigeria as they try to reach the needs of the many languages in this country. Following that meeting he will meet with various team members to discuss their goals. Christy welcomes the children as they arrive at the house with giggles and eager minds. 3:30pm Christy plays Twister with some children while others play Bingo, and then she transitions them to identifying vowel clusters in the story book she’s reading. Zach is walking through the various brainstorming ideas his team has had over the past weeks, and guiding them in strategy development. He gives them all assignments for their meeting next week where they will make concrete best practices documents for future surveyors. 4:30pm The children just finished making sugar cookies from a recipe they read and followed themselves , and Christy asks them what time it will be in 10 minutes. She is met with blank stares. Oh, dear, we must learn how to tell time! Another lesson commences. Zach is rounding up his meeting and packing his bags. Before he gets to the door, an urgent request comes from a friend to wait for him at the office so Zach can help him to scan a document for a job interview. 5:00pm The children’s attention is broken from their cookies and time and they sprint toward the door to greet Uncle Zaka. They take his bags and carry them into the house happily. 5:15pm We snack on cookies, get hugs, and send the children home. 5:30pm Christy begins to make dinner and Zach reads the current read-alound book we are working on. Then he cuts the onions, and we talk about our days. 7:00pm Dinner is ready and a friend stop in. Thankfully Christy learned to “prepare for the angels” when in Cameroon. 8:45pm Zach walks our friend to the gate of our compound, and Christy takes the dishes into the kitchen. 9:15pm We sleep. Tuesday 5:45am Zach goes running, and Christy keeps sleeping. 6:30am Zach comes home and Christy is heating water for baths and getting out the Bibles for devotions. Maybe we’ll even have time for a quick breakfast! 7:50am all morning activities are rounding up and we head out the door to the office. We probably catch a taxi because by now we are running late. 8:00am We arrive at the office, set up the projector quickly to lead morning worship. 8:35am We’ve praised, prayed with our co-workers, and Christy gets ready to go to Kiceland for a meeting with the teachers. Zach and his team are reviewing the Scripture Engagement survey he wrote following fieldwork. They hope to have it ready for an outside consultant this week.

9:00am Christy is waiting for the car to fill up so she can head to the village. There are already 3 people in the back seat of the Toyota corolla, and 4 is the minimum. 9:15am The fourth has come and Christy and the other 5 passengers are on their way! She drops and gets another taxi going to the town Jebbu Bassa. 10:25am They arrive at JB, and Christy heads to the office. Jokes then devotions ensues, and they commence the debriefing on the last youth training and teacher training, learning new literacy methods and activities. 12:30pm The teachers are tired and need a break. Zach too has to take a break so he can regain focus. Zach goes to the local restaurant, and food is brought for the teachers by the local restaurant. We both eat tuwo with our hands and “soup.”

You want some? Thanks for joining us!