Observations | Talent Show, Boring Sunday, Track and Field Day

MY OFFICE – I really need to get a belt on Tuesday.

Sure, it kinda sucks that I’m not eating as well here as I used to eat at home. But then again, I definitely ate too much at home, and that’s just not happening here. Now, after two months of the Africa Diet (a.k.a. STARVATION), I now will be forced to pick up a smaller black belt in Nairobi on Tuesday.

Eat your heart out, Jared.

Three Observations:

1. A true talent… Saturday night went wonderfully. After the huge success that was our introduction video (that will soon be posted on this blog), Elvin and I were able to keep the Talent Show moving flawlessly through the night. While we had nothing planned besides the intro video and an ending slideshow of pictures taken in the year, we did a pretty good job of coming up with segways between acts on the spot.
   
   For example, after a few girls went onstage and did a step-dance, we shook in onto the stage ourselves, leading into the next act. A girl sang an original song, and I encouraged Elvin to sing “I believe I can fly” in front of everyone. One of my guys displayed his talent for sticking coins covered in sticky-tack onto a basketball (I know, how is that a talent?) and I went on a pun-spree, including such classics as “I coin’t believe he did that” and “I wish he would have changed his mind about that act…”
   
   I was exhausted by the end of the night. Being that energetic for that long just wore me down. We headed back to the dorms and peacefully finished out the night. The guys, in general, seemed way too exhausted to get into any trouble, so it was an easy hour on duty.


2. sunday Sunday SUNDAY… was very boring. And uneventful. The best parts were
   
   a) sleeping in
   b) taking a nap
   c) talking to one of my favorite people in the world on the phone
   
   Everything else was… weak. But it was ok, because I’d need an easy day in preparation for…


3. Track and field day. Yes, the day I’d been waiting for! No class! I got to sleep in a couple hours this morning, and then after a quick worship, we began the first of 10 track and field activities, the 5K run.
   
   Right off the bat, the one was set for an incredibly stressful day. We informed the runners that they’d be doing 9 laps around Maxwell’s circle road. That equals about 5k. Well, when you do 9 laps, of course, you have to pass the beginning/end spot 10 times. Well, after one girl passed 9 times, she was informed by Brittany*, a student who thinks she’s staff, that the girl was done running. She stopped.
   
   Come to find out that she still has one lap to go… Another girl had passed her when she finally realized we weren’t shouting to her to “you’re done,” but “one more.” She was a solid minute ahead of the 2nd place girl, but ended up getting 2nd place herself for stopping.
   
   So up comes Ms. Vigilante, Brittany*, to tell me how I screwed up the race for her. I’ve had run-ins with this girl before, telling me how I’m supposed to do things, so I was ready. I barked to her about how she shouldn’t have messed it up for her, and how it was really her fault. Her response was a muffled scream and a look that, if looks could kill, would leave me 4 feet deep in sulfuric acid.
   
   The rest of the day wasn’t that bad, but nonetheless, was very tiring. I was in the sun the whole day, so I came out red and exhausted. But all in all, a pretty fun and entertaining day.

Ok, well I have to be on duty tonight. Will write more soon.

-cw

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent... or presumed innocent.