We sat "hidden" in his office as he called and told Brenda that he needed something from her car ASAP. She didn't understand why it was so urgent, but eventually made her way to the church. As she walked into his office, she began to understand all of it! Enjoy her surprise :)
Monday, March 4, 2013
SURPRISE!
Well, most of you probably know now that Trey got to travel home with me. I was so incredibly blessed to have him to travel with me. 30+ hours of travel at 8 months preggers, not fun. But much easier with my hubby beside me. The change in travel plans happened so quickly, but we decided to surprise Trey's mom. We had wanted to surprise both his parents, but really needed his dad in on the surprise to get it perfect. Everyone was really in on the surprise - my family, our friends, anyone we talked to helped us keep it a surprise. We first landed in DC and spent time with our friend Samantha, which was much needed. Then we boarded a plane the next morning for Panama City. Our friend Jake picked us up from the airport and helped to transport us (and all our luggage!) to Trey's parents house. We thought if his mom was there, perfect surprise. If not, we'll just have to go find her. Well, she wasn't there so we left our luggage and headed for the church (since it was a Sunday). Well, she wasn't at church either, BUT Trey's dad was and he could help us hunt her down.
We sat "hidden" in his office as he called and told Brenda that he needed something from her car ASAP. She didn't understand why it was so urgent, but eventually made her way to the church. As she walked into his office, she began to understand all of it! Enjoy her surprise :)
We sat "hidden" in his office as he called and told Brenda that he needed something from her car ASAP. She didn't understand why it was so urgent, but eventually made her way to the church. As she walked into his office, she began to understand all of it! Enjoy her surprise :)
pregnancy: west africa vs. america
A lot of what we've learned over the past year is about differences in culture. I mean, we all know there are different cultures out there, but until you live in another culture you cannot fully grasp the differences. Obviously, I've been pregnant for almost a full 9 months now and that has consumed much of my time and energy. Most of that time was spent living in Africa and also not really "showing" my pregnancy. The last little bit has been spent in the southern USA and clearly showing my pregnancy. There are many differences in these cultures, but I wanted to share with you a little about the different views on pregnancy. Now, understand, these things are not true for all of Africa, but at least the country we were in :)
When I first found out I was pregnant we had been in Africa for 2 weeks. In America we are careful to share about a pregnancy before 12 weeks since the miscarriage rate is high. We, of course, shared with our family and friends back home and also those we were close with overseas. In trying to figure out when is appropriate to talk about pregnancy in our new home, I found out that it's never really appropriate, especially when you're not showing. There are a lot of superstitions in Africa and many people believe that if you talk about the baby before it's born something could happen to them. Because of that I went into "careful" mode... being careful about who I told and how I told them.
Once I finally started showing, around 6 months pregnant, very few people would say things to me. I remember the time someone actually said something to me about being pregnant. We were flying back from Burkina Faso and we had packed full a suitcase with canned foods & bags of chips that we couldn't get at home. Because of that, our suitcase got stopped at a security check. We ran to open the bag for them so they could see we didn't have anything bad in there. The suitcase was packed so full that I had to sit on it to close it. The security guy said, "Yes, momma, you and your baby close that!" I just laughed because finally someone said something about me being pregnant. After that, it was rare. Again, even though I'm showing, something could happen to the baby. The people who talked about it the most were those who have been around Americans & other expats a lot. And then, they would ask how the baby is moving and that they are praying she is healthy.
Toward the end of my time there I was getting bigger (naturally) and my favorite saying became, "We will pray for twins." Yes, many in the market, at check points on the road, and really just anyone who didn't know me would tell me they are praying for twins. When we would tell them we are only having one, they would laugh and say again they will pray for twins. One guy even told me he would be praying for triplets! That became my favorite. We have all the technological advances to know that we're only having one baby, but the culture there says twins are better, therefore, that is what they will pray for!
Upon landing in America, I was bombarded with pregnancy comments. Nothing terribly bad, but when you've rarely heard anything about it for the last 7 months, to have almost everyone you pass comment on it is a little overwhelming. The flight attendants went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable. A pregnant woman in Africa would not let up on her daily chores to be more comfortable, so comfort wasn't necessarily a question I heard there. The first store we went in at the airport, a guy told us his horror story of his girlfriend giving birth. Why, thank you sir, just what I wanted to hear. And now I get the dreaded, "You're about to pop!" or "What are you having?" and "Do you have a name picked out?" Now, I know I'm not in Africa anymore, but I can tell you they wouldn't be asking me what I'm having, just continue to say they're praying for twins and praying for a safe delivery. And they definitely would not be asking about a name. We told some ladies that we had a name picked out before we left and they were shocked. Their children have a naming ceremony 8 days after they are born. Before that, there is no name. They might have ideas of a name, but nothing set in stone. This goes back to the idea of something might happen to the baby if we give them a name. Also, naming is much different. Most people have several names and they all have meanings behind them. Our poor child's name means "candle maker," but for us, we like the name and that's what matters.
After leaving overseas for 7 months, I'm still amazed at cultural differences. Things happen to me daily in America that I think, that would never happen in West Africa. And vice-versa. I love learning about these differences, and adding a pregnancy to the mix just made it more fun. I'm sure having a newborn will bring a lot more cultural differences that I'll be able to share!
When I first found out I was pregnant we had been in Africa for 2 weeks. In America we are careful to share about a pregnancy before 12 weeks since the miscarriage rate is high. We, of course, shared with our family and friends back home and also those we were close with overseas. In trying to figure out when is appropriate to talk about pregnancy in our new home, I found out that it's never really appropriate, especially when you're not showing. There are a lot of superstitions in Africa and many people believe that if you talk about the baby before it's born something could happen to them. Because of that I went into "careful" mode... being careful about who I told and how I told them.
Once I finally started showing, around 6 months pregnant, very few people would say things to me. I remember the time someone actually said something to me about being pregnant. We were flying back from Burkina Faso and we had packed full a suitcase with canned foods & bags of chips that we couldn't get at home. Because of that, our suitcase got stopped at a security check. We ran to open the bag for them so they could see we didn't have anything bad in there. The suitcase was packed so full that I had to sit on it to close it. The security guy said, "Yes, momma, you and your baby close that!" I just laughed because finally someone said something about me being pregnant. After that, it was rare. Again, even though I'm showing, something could happen to the baby. The people who talked about it the most were those who have been around Americans & other expats a lot. And then, they would ask how the baby is moving and that they are praying she is healthy.
Toward the end of my time there I was getting bigger (naturally) and my favorite saying became, "We will pray for twins." Yes, many in the market, at check points on the road, and really just anyone who didn't know me would tell me they are praying for twins. When we would tell them we are only having one, they would laugh and say again they will pray for twins. One guy even told me he would be praying for triplets! That became my favorite. We have all the technological advances to know that we're only having one baby, but the culture there says twins are better, therefore, that is what they will pray for!
Upon landing in America, I was bombarded with pregnancy comments. Nothing terribly bad, but when you've rarely heard anything about it for the last 7 months, to have almost everyone you pass comment on it is a little overwhelming. The flight attendants went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable. A pregnant woman in Africa would not let up on her daily chores to be more comfortable, so comfort wasn't necessarily a question I heard there. The first store we went in at the airport, a guy told us his horror story of his girlfriend giving birth. Why, thank you sir, just what I wanted to hear. And now I get the dreaded, "You're about to pop!" or "What are you having?" and "Do you have a name picked out?" Now, I know I'm not in Africa anymore, but I can tell you they wouldn't be asking me what I'm having, just continue to say they're praying for twins and praying for a safe delivery. And they definitely would not be asking about a name. We told some ladies that we had a name picked out before we left and they were shocked. Their children have a naming ceremony 8 days after they are born. Before that, there is no name. They might have ideas of a name, but nothing set in stone. This goes back to the idea of something might happen to the baby if we give them a name. Also, naming is much different. Most people have several names and they all have meanings behind them. Our poor child's name means "candle maker," but for us, we like the name and that's what matters.
After leaving overseas for 7 months, I'm still amazed at cultural differences. Things happen to me daily in America that I think, that would never happen in West Africa. And vice-versa. I love learning about these differences, and adding a pregnancy to the mix just made it more fun. I'm sure having a newborn will bring a lot more cultural differences that I'll be able to share!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
visit to west africa
Better late than never... Trey's dad (Carl) and our friend Dustin were able to come visit us and experience a little bit of our lives in West Africa. I want to share the time with some pictures, but I'm going to have Trey's dad share a post about his favorite stories while there. I think it would be better to hear from him first hand than hear the stories from me :) They brought us all sorts of goodies for the baby & for us to enjoy (like bacon!). Cairo enjoyed us opening all of these American treats. her favorite was the ping pong balls. I think she enjoyed them more than Trey did! Later in the week they had the opportunity to have a "snowball" fight with students at a local international school. I'm pretty sure the adults had more fun than the kiddos.
cairo - a.k.a. super dog
We LOVE dogs. We're dog people. I had 1 dog in my childhood and always wanted more. Trey had several dogs in his childhood, but always wanted a big dog. When Trey was in college he got Nala, a sweet German Shepherd. She was a surprise to his parents, but quickly won them over. When I moved to Birmingham I adopted Maddie from the humane society. She's a cuddle bug with overact paws and not always the brightest, but she'll make you laugh. We had both of them as puppies and watched them grow up. We love playing and interacting with them. We knew it would not be long for us to get a dog in Africa.
So we got Cairo - another German Shepherd who seems to be the perfect mix of our previous 2 dogs. The first couple of days she wasn't too sure about us. We could tell she had probably been beaten. We got her to liven up and start playing, only to find she has super powers. Cairo can fly. I personally have never seen a dog do this until Cairo. She jumps, with all fours and no hesitation. Who cares if she lands on her head, at least it was fun!
So we got Cairo - another German Shepherd who seems to be the perfect mix of our previous 2 dogs. The first couple of days she wasn't too sure about us. We could tell she had probably been beaten. We got her to liven up and start playing, only to find she has super powers. Cairo can fly. I personally have never seen a dog do this until Cairo. She jumps, with all fours and no hesitation. Who cares if she lands on her head, at least it was fun!
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