Three for Thursday (well, it was when I wrote this)

I dropped the ball last Friday—no Five for Friday. Sorry about that. We’re running so ragged right now that I think I’ll just post when I can. Hitting on Fridays is going to be too tough. Here are a few cool snapshots for you.

--Empty houses. A normal year at RVA features families in every single domicile on campus. Our first year this place was so packed that they put us down in the rat house. Fortunately, no one has to live there this year because there is ample housing. Unfortunately, ample housing means that we are understaffed. On my walk home from school, there are four empty houses within view, and it’s a bit discouraging to think of the warm bodies who should be/could be helping out while living in those homes. Pray for us and the staff who are here.

--Hanging out a bus window. This might sound like something our students would do, but no, it was me last night. Wednesday is our day to travel to Nairobi for sports competition. At one of the police checkpoints, the metal, spiked barriers were so tight together that our bus driver clipped one of them. We were unsure whether the tire was punctured or not, so every few minutes or so, I stuck my whole torso out the window and looked back at the right rear tire to see if we were okay. We were. But I got a lot of stares from the Kenyans roadside. (And we won our JV girls basketball game with a furious fourth quarter—35-17)

--Creative writing class. My new prep for this term is Creative Writing. My first big project was to write a One-Act Play. The students did fine with the assignment, although one girl wrote about the murder outside of a McDonald’s. The young woman who was murdered? A waitress at McDonald’s. Hold on a second. McDonald’s doesn’t have waitresses. Well, you know that and I know that, but many of our MK’s here at RVA have been to so few McDonald’s in their lives that they don’t understand the basic format of a fast-food joint. An interesting reminder of the kind of kids I’m dealing with here.

Five for Friday (I should be in bed)

Today I’m going to focus on the top five movies I’ve seen in the past few months. Since our selection of “new” movies at the Nairobi movie theaters is limited, some of these are ones that we’ve had to sent to us from the U.S. or that we’ve borrowed from other missionaries.

5—Batman: The Dark Knight. This one barely made my list. It was so supremely dark and deadly that I felt like it was one drop of blood shy of an R rating. The story was strong and the action great, but it just lacked the redemptive qualities that I loved about the first Bale-Batman pic.
4—Once. This is more like a 90 minute music video than a movie. Simple plot is carried along by unique and good-not-great music which gives it an irresistible quality that you wouldn’t expect to see in a successful film. The 20 seconds of credits at the end symbolizes the simplicity of this piano-guitar laced flick.
3—Hancock. I could’ve done without some of the cussing early on, but once it got past the ‘Hancock is a tortured soul” part of the plot, the movie really soared. Homeless guy with superpowers who is just looking for love. Romance, special effects, superheroes (yes, there are more than one!), and the smug Jason Bateman—nice combination.
2—Lars and the Real Girl. My #2 movie has a sex doll for a leading lady. Got your attention? This premise is supremely odd, but the writing and the acting is otherworldly. Asks thought-provoking questions about what it means to be a man and to love, but it lets you laugh at the crazy concept while you’re thinking. An unexpected gem.
1—Juno. This movie felt like what would happen if Napoleon Dynamite ever grew up. It made me laugh and cry. I loved the music. This is an odd flick to have in your “Top 10 All-Time” but it’s there. (And Dwight Shrute’s lines early in the movie didn’t hurt it either—“It ain’t no Etch-a-sketch. That’s one doodle that can’t be undid, home skillet.”)

Honorable Mention: Wall-E. An existentialist robot spewing environmental conservation to children? Even Pixar’s trash turns to gold.

Five for Friday (almost)

For this Five for Friday, I’ll cover the TV shows my wife and I watch. Of course, we don’t actually watch TV on TV—we watch recorded shows burned from DVD recorders in the US or bought seasons of shows that we or our friends here in Kijabe own. (And we don’t watch all these shows at once…I think it would be a full-time job to keep up on five shows simultaneously.)

5—Amazing Race. A fun reality show about what happens when different cultures, travel, family stress, and a lack of sleep combine—which are things we can relate to as missionaries and parents of toddlers.
4—Friday Night Lights. This show is all about high school, football, God, and romance. Some of my favorite things. (Not necessarily in that order though.)
3—Survivor. Although we faithfully watched this show in the U.S., we’ve lost track a bit. I think we watched the spring of 2006 season in June and July. I’m still waiting for them to do an Arctic Survivor, change things up a bit.
2—Lost. This might be #1 on Heather’s list, but it’s #2 and falling on mine. Why? Well, I love the idea of having a dozen or so main characters to highlight, but when they add 8 and kill off 2 each season, it’s a little too much to keep up with. But until we know what the Dharma Initiative is, I’ll probably keep watching.
1—The Office. You probably knew this one would be on top. (“That’s what she said.”)

Long distance calls

Many readers of this blog know Jessica from San Diego. Well, Jessica is settling in just fine here at RVA. She's been here two weeks and has sat through two months of meetings (seemingly), and she's figured out what "extra" responsbilities she'll have besides being a dorm mom to 20 ninth and tenth grade girls. And today is the day. Arrival day. And if you can imagine what feelings she's going through as she meets this huge group of girls (half of them new to the school themselves!) whom she'll be living and loving and battling and enjoying and growing with this year...Intense. Pray for her.

And I know that many of you who read this have prayed. You see, back in March, I posted the dozen-plus needs our school had for the start of this school year. Well, you prayed and Jessica prayed and well, God told Jessica to come. And now she here she is, along with about a dozen other new family units to serve at RVA for this school year. We'll be stretched thin for the fall term but should be at 100% by January. Thanks for your prayers. God sure is faithful, isn't he?

One funny story from Jessica. She hasn't gotten her Kenyan cell phone working yet, so she's still using her old San Diego one for the time being. One night, around 2 am, she gets a call on her phone. Startled by a call at this hour, worried that it might be some kind of family emergency but hoping it's not just someone who couldn't translate the time difference between our countries, she answered. On the other end?

Domino's Pizza doing a little quality assurance. Wondering if Jessica was happy with the service provided her recently.

Trust me. We are not happy with Domino's service to Africa. But if they'd be happy enough to set up a chain in Kijabe, Jessica, her twenty dorm girls, and especially myself would be very, very pleased.