Rolling around in the Nigerien sand

I have to apologize to my daughters in advance. Je vais etre un grand-pere terrible. I was left in charge of the nursery kids in the Sunday School here in Madaoua. My co-worker and I had a box of lego blocks and three cute little Nigerien children. I proceeded to hype up one particular kid (pictured here with the blogger) with running little tractors over him, holding blocks in the air just beyond his reach, feigning tears when his swinging lego wire hit my hand and letting him tackle me in the sand. At least the Nigerien women were grateful for my looking after him while they worshipped.

It is a great experience being here. We were fascinated earlier in the day as we followed the throngs of local residents down to the dry river bed where they worshipped Allah en masse. The Hausa King arrived by Land Rover and his sons informally paraded on horseback. We observed all of this from a distance, standing by a pair of armed guards who interpreted the events for us.

Later today we will travel to Galmi, a nearby town, where we will stage a New Year's Eve party for hospital workers there. I am still enjoying the warmth of Niger's climate very much.

Love and prayers.

This flight tonight

Arrived in Niamey, Niger on Friday afternoon. The weather here is wonderfully warm! I know it is the cool season, with norms of 28 degrees and I love it. Very interesting to see the differences in this culture and the one back home. Great to see the Schmidt family and be entertained by them. We are all doing fine. Thanks for your support; more later.

I guess I'll have the foie gras

Made it to Paris where the weather is so cold. Especially when you packed only clothes suitable for Africa. Chilling ascent up le tour Eiffel, cool watching the crazy traffic circumnavigating Arc de Triomphe, nifty seeing the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa and sampling cuisine francais. Getting used to the time zone for Niger. Keep praying.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Leaving on a Jet Plane

"All my bags are packed, it's early morn. The taxi's waiting, he's blowing his horn; already I'm so lonesome I could cry..."

Well, not really. But, I am ready to board the big plane for the big international trip. Too keyed up to sleep right now, but there should be plenty of opportunity for that on this flight tonight.

Hard to say good-bye to family, but my absence is only for a short time. It is going to be a fantastic experience. Thank you all for helping to make it possible for me.

Christmas Eve Dinner Menu

Kudos to my culinary kid, the Nutrition College student, for preparing a fabulous dinner for her family on Christmas Eve. The four course menu was, as follows:

Spinach and persimmon salad with lemon-honey vinaigrette dressing (delicious!)

Sweet potato soup, with the lovely thick broth ladled over portions of light sour cream and cranberry jelly (awesome!)

Homemade ricotta-filled ravioli with mushroom cream sauce (superb, and quite filling)

Mint chocolate tofu cheesecake with whipped topping as an absolutely deadly dessert

Pomegranate and blueberry juice spiked with diet 7-Up as our delightful beverage

The only problem with the feast was that all the other partakers made me wait an extra hour for dessert, as they were "full" from the first three courses. Understandable, but oh so unfair. Actually, I survived somehow and the anticipation only enhanced my taste buds.

Now, who said vegetarian cuisine was boring?

Itinerary, or "Tracking the dude through Paris and Africa"

Hello; thanks for visiting my blog. Thanks for your interest in my trip to Niger (and possibly for your interest in my pointless occasional NFL ramblings).

Here we go: Leave Saskatoon Boxing Day at 11:40; get to Paris via Toronto at 8:15 AM December 27. Follow fellow team members past le Tour Eiffel, l'Arc de Triomphe, l'avenu des Champs-Elysees, Notre-Dame et Musee de Louvre, for two days while we adjust to the time zone 8 hours ahead of CST.

Leave Paris at 11:10 AM December 29 and arrive at Niamey, capitol of Niger, at 4:40 that same day. The next day we travel 5 hours east to Madaoua with the Schmidt family. On New Year's Eve we visit a local church and assist with singing and Sunday School. We then travel to the nearby Galmi mission hospital where we help stage at New Year's party for 40 staff and their families.

On New Year's Day, there will be no College Bowl games in Niger, but we do get to visit the Centre for Malnourished Children where we will distribute gift packages, including knitted hats and wraps. We will also start our first soccer camp with help from Peace Corps volunteers.

On January 2 we hold a day camp for 100 local children. Activities include songs, games, drama and crafts and a story told by local teachers. The second soccer camp follows later in the afternoon. We will distribute gift bags from Emmanuel Baptist Church kids, including stickers, gum, crayons and note pads.

The next couple of days we will spend with the Schmidt family in and around Madaoua. They will show us around the community and district where they live. We will be able to enjoy the sand cliffs, giraffe sitting photo ops and camel rides.

On Friday January 5 we return to Niamey. The next day we set up for the Spiritual Life Conference where we will be arranging teaching sessions and group activities for children of SIM workers who are attending sessions at the conference.

From Sunday to Wednesday we teach and encourage the approximately 65 children (ages ranging from preschool to teens) from 8:00 AM to 12:30 and again from 3:30 to 6:00 and the teens from 7 to 9 each evening. Our sessions include worship, drama, stories, crafts, games and workshops in art, drama and music. Special thanks to my sweetheart, Mrs. L, for helping me to fine tune my craft ideas.

On January 11 we clean up, pack and debrief. The next day we do some sightseeing in Niamey. At midnight on Friday we depart on our flight to Paris, and connect with Air Canada for Toronto. The team is scheduled to arrive back in Saskatoon at midnight on Saturday January 13, after a long layover in Toronto.

There it is; stay tuned for more. Thank you for your support and please keep praying for us.

Move over, Golden Boy

It finally happened. No, not someone breaking the NFL record for touchdowns in single season. That record was only a year old. Yes, the scoring record that was exceeded this past Sunday evening was for most points in a single season. It has stood since 1960. 1960? Wow, that's 46 years! I really can't believe that no one else has come close to breaking Paul Hornung's scoring record of 176 points.

In the years and decades after the 1960 season, even with the advent of the now omnipresent soccer style kicker (thank you, Pete Gogolak and Charlie Gogolak for pioneering this kicking style in the NFL and AFL [and for helping to bring about the merger]), no kicker had come any closer than 12 points to the Golden Boy's record. The only season that came closer was last year when the previous single season touchdown record was set.

Likely the reason for the scoring record lasting so long was that Hornung combined scoring touchdowns with his kicking prowess. In 1960 he scored 15 touchdowns, kicked 15 field goals and added 41 extra points (sadly, no rouges are included in this total). No other player since has had the multiple skills of kicking, running and pass receiving (with the possible exception of George Blanda who combined kicking and quarterbacking duties for my beloved Oakland Raiders in the late 60s and early 70s, more than 10 years after he "retired" from the NFL).

Hornung's record is even more remarkable as it was achieved in only 12 games, not the current 16-game seasons that began in the 70s. The new record this season is also impressive as it came in the first 14 games. Hats off to you, LT.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go ...

The morning after my arriving back in Saskatoon, and during a blizzard, our team packs many bags destined for Niger. Lap top computers, food supplies, crafts, mosquito tents, soccer balls, soccer jerseys, games and french books are crammed into 12 large duffel bags and then weighed to ensure staying within the 44 pound limit.

The packing session is followed by a pizza supper for the team members and their significant others. It was (and is) so neat to have people praying for us. It will be tough to say good-bye to family members on Boxing Day, but the two and a half weeks will likely go fast for everyone.

I am greatly moved by yet several additional generous donations on my behalf. I was also blessed to receive the benefit of other surplus donations to this missions trip. I remember talking to our leader in late August about financial support for our venture and we concluded that God would supply our needs. Thank you to God and thank you to each of you beautiful people who have sacrificed in your own financial situation to help me with this missions trip. I know God will bless you.

Only a week from now!

Losing Lamar

I was greatly saddened last night to learn of the death of Lamar Hunt. Why grieve over the passing of a billionaire? Because Lamar was more than a rich man; he was a visionary. When, at the age of 26, he could not get the NFL to allow him to acquire an NFL expansion franchise, he started his own football league, the AFL. His foresight was uncanny. His AFL creation was not of the fly-by-night variety such as baseball's Federal League, football's AAFC, WFL and USFL, basketball's ABA and hockey's WHA. His new league was built to last. Rather than going bust after a few years, the creation of the AFL changed sports history in a way not seen since the creation of baseball's American League just after the turn of the 20th century.

Lamar was also instrumental in bringing about the historic merger of the NFL and AFL to stop the pricey bidding war that threatened to collapse both leagues. The result of all this, among other factors, was the ascendancy of professional football as the most popular sport in America. We can thank Lamar Hunt for bringing about not only the successful big business of the NFL, but also the great excitement of following NFL football. One of my joys in following the NFL is to hearken back to the history of the early days of the AFL and the following merger to piece together in my mind the development of our present game, in all its sheer exciting action.

With the advent of the NFL in 1920, the establishment of the fledgling AFL forty years later and our present superb game carrying on just over 40 years later, Hunt's involvement in the somewhat historical symmetry (again, in my mind) of the development of the world's greatest sport, is intriguing. We football fanatics owe a huge debt of gratitude to Lamar Hunt. Not only did he shake the foundations of the new national pastime, but he also helped name the greatest sports spectacle, the Super Bowl, after his young daughter remarked that the ball she was bouncing off the roof of their house was a "super ball".

Lamar, we will miss you, but your legacy lives on and your outstanding contribution will be remembered by me every time I watch exciting AFC action. Thank you for helping make all of us football heads' lives even more enjoyable.

A Fortnight To Go

I can't believe the date of departure for Niger is coming in two weeks. My team is busy making final travel arrangements, packing, preparing lessons for teaching SIM workers' kids in Niamey and making early Christmas plans with their respective families. Connie and I will be traveling from Calgary to Saskatoon on December 15. I will help the rest of the team that Saturday with packing duffel bags full of French books, maps in French, personal items like toothbrushes, toys and other items for the Schmidt family to use in their ministry in Madaoua. I am anticipating being with my family at our daughters' suite in Saskatoon for Christmas and being driven to the airport early on Boxing Day. Thank you all for your generous support for me for this trip and for praying for me. I am excited about being used by God to help others on this trip to Africa.

Aiming for French West Africa

Ever since late August 2006 (actually, ever since May 2006 and February 2005, the dates of two dramas staged as fundraisers for a missions trip), I have been hoping to participate in a trip to Niger. After my formal acceptance with the mission SIM, and the purchase of return airfare to Niamey, I am preparing to go. This is so exciting! It is a lifetime dream come true for me, to make a cross-cultural trip as part of a mission. I appreciate all the skillful work that our team leader, Mrs. S, is doing on our behalf. With a group effort, we will be ready to go by the departure date, Boxing Day. Thank you to those who have generously made donations on my behalf. It is much appreciated! Please pray for me for the remainder of my support and for good health. Thanks again!

First Night in Cowtown

Interesting experiences one has when one flies, busses and drives all in the same day, and survives a 20-minute violent hailstorm, followed by extreme flooding in a strange city that one will soon call home. Up early to fly WestJet to Calgary with my second daughter who helps me find my way to the city transit, including the C-train. Then bombing around town in a borrowed Sebring and hauling a new lawn mower to our new house on the hill. After picking up a new PT Cruiser, we dine at Olive Garden, leisurely. After that all **** broke loose.

Calmly sitting in the new (previously owned) Cruiser in the Marlborough Mall parking lot, it begins to rain. And then hail. I have been around for quite awhile and witnessed quite a few hail storms in my time, but I don't recall seeing it hail for 20 minutes straight. The poor Cruiser (affectionately christened "Mikey" by my daughter, after a favourite English footie star). I was sure the car would be severely dented. Once the hail subsided, leaving "snowbanks" around the parking lot, we attempted to leave. It was quite a challenge to find some higher ground in the ocean that surrounded us. Eventually we forded several streets and made it to yet other malls in search of mattresses for that night's sleep in the new (previously owned) house on the mountain.

It takes several stops and some persuasion, but we finally procure sufficient cash to haul away two beauties, a foam and a futon. The second mattress is actually partially draped over our heads as we drive away from United Furniture Warehouse, who took pity on two tired travellers by allowing us to take the mattresses for cash, even when their system was down because of the storm. Following some quick shopping for blankets in another furnishings store after closing, we were finally ready for bed in the house on K2. Whew! What a day in Cowtown!

A Most Unusual Birthday

I turned 51 yesterday. The day was mostly uneventful, with my sleeping most of the morning, to catch up somewhat due to my sleeping disorder(s). After a superb dim sum late lunch with my family, where my proletarian daughter and I mostly slumped in our seats from fatigue, I returned home only to fall asleep while watching NFL Network (No surprise there). I then rose to the occasion to trek off to my evening drama rehearsal for the Masked Cow Skeptics' upcoming performance of Bridge to Terabithia. After swatting mosquitoes and then freezing in the chilled air of our outdoor practice, the birthday boy picked up the said proletarian, fatigue and all, and returned home to resume celebrating. I was forced to close my eyes and was led to the dining table where I discovered my other proletarian daughter's superb cake creation. With a little coaching, I soon realized that it was a boyhood dream come true - a Bohemian Waxwing in cake form. "Bohemian?", you ask. Well, yes, this particular 50-something had recently visited Jerry's Food Emporium where he had used the pseudonym "Bohemian W.", while ordering his food. A most unusual birthday.