One chapter comes to a close...

We've been back in the states for about 2 weeks now and continue to organize pictures, pass out souvenirs, and reflect on all that we experienced. It seemed appropriate to conclude our blog with some of our favorite quotes and experiences of the trip. We hope you find them as entertaining as we did.

While standing in line at security in Minneapolis, a very helpful airport employee approached Greg and asked, "Sir, would you like a wheel chair?"

How to tell if you are at a nice restaurant, according Eliza (5 y/o): "There is a toilet seat, toilet paper, and soap!"

Chako's favorite joke, told to us outside of Church following the service one Sunday:
"Three men die and go to Hell, an American, a Frenchman, and a Nigerien.  They ask the telephone operator if they can make a call home to warn their families about the terrible conditions and change their ways so at least they will go to Heaven.  The American places his call and tearfully tells his family to be good because Hell is horrible.  At the end of the call, the telephone operator says, "That will be $5 for the call." The American pays him and moves on.  Next the Frenchman calls home and gives his family a similar message. When the call is over, the telephone operator again says, "That will be $5 for the call." The Frenchman pays him and moves on. Lastly, the Nigerien makes the call and tearfully warns his family to change their ways so they can go to Heaven.  After he hangs up, the telephone operator says, "That will be 10 cents." The Nigerien man replies, "Do you think because I am Nigerien, I don't have enough money to pay the full price?" "No," the telephone operator replies, "I'm asking for 10 cents because you were placing a local call."

Upon meeting Gretchen, a resident from Iowa who was going to be working with Susan for the month of February, Chako asked, "So, how do you like...Hell?" Gretchen wasn't sure how to respond.  She didn't really get the joke. (Truth be told, she wasn't there at it's telling.)

Sometimes talking to a 15 month old/parrot of three languages is a great source of entertainment.  For example: "What's my name? (Michelle)" "Shell!" "What's my name? (Kristina)" "Butt!" and "Dursies?" (said while looking at Kristina's chest) roughly translated is "Lunch?" And then there was the random outburst of "Geez!" by Dr. Carey while driving and probably witnessing some type of traffic infraction or accident that was repeated over and over and over again followed by a chorus of giggles. :)

I know you have all been waiting with bated breath to discover what this large structure is that Greg is claiming for his own.  We have 3 winners: Tom, Jeanne, and my sister Allie!  Congratulations!  It's a termite hill.

While talking with one of our new friends and learning his life story he told us about going to school, playing soccer then learning about driving and taking care of cars.  After telling us about his first job as a mechanic he told us, "Then I wanted a wife, so I got one." Hmmmm, finding a spouse in Africa kind of sounds like shopping.  I wonder if they have catalogs ;)

At one of the dinners we had, Chako said to Kristina, "So, tell me about your shuga." "Shuga? (confused expression)" "You know shuga, dun da dun da dun dun, oh honey, honey." (In case you don't get the reference, he was asking about her husband Jason through the popular oldie.)

"I think we're stuck." ~Jeremy after we're loaded into the car ready to head back into the city after watching the sun set over the dunes.

Good thing we were being followed by a village of children, willing to give us a little push.

When Greg returned from his trip to Danja, he wanted to hear all about our experiences in the city while he was away. We talked about the clinics and hospitals and the people we met, and how everywhere we went it seemed we were on display in some way.  Dr. Carey made a comment about how some Tuareg men were oogling (roughly translated as staring inappropriately at) Kristina and I as we walked out of a government building. To which Greg replied, "Well did you put your arms around them and say, sorry boys these are my wives?!"

We truly had an amazing time, and while this chapter is coming to a close, I have a feeling there are many more African adventures in store for us in the years to come. We'll carry the experiences we had, the skills we learned, and the people we met with us what ever the future holds. I hope you've enjoyed reading our stories as much as we enjoyed sharing them.

Au revior and Sai wani lokoci!