Desert Gills

 Here's T with her two sisters at the Memorial service... we are very thankful for her safe arrival home yesterday.  E had cracked me up on Sunday by prefacing a story with, "A long time ago - when Mommy was still here..."

  With T not coming back until tomorrow, I was feeling melancholic this evening like it wasn't the most exciting Easter ever.  But Ir commented before bed, "Easter is my favorite holiday!"  E then piped up to say, "Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday!"  Go figure.   I attribute their happiness to our very supportive community here.  We have had tons of help from our G neighbors through these 2.5 weeks - in meals, baby-sitting, work coverage, etc - and also fun easter activities like egg hunts and potlucks that I did very little to organize.  So I am grateful for all the excellent community support we have received.

E & Ir had a great time at the homeschool conference held at our compound for folks from across the nation.

Some Hausa friends taught me a saying, "Lundi, ko Nasarawa suke ji tsoronka." which means "Oh Monday, even the Westerners fear you." As well as being a fascinating glimpse of Hausa conceptions of Westerner, its also worth noting that the word here for westerner (and there are others), 'Nasarawa' is derived from Nazareth.  Westerners are thought of in the Hausa mindset as all being Nazirites, or followers of the Man from Nazareth.