Observations | Worships, SLT, and the new Hendrix

BOYS’ DEAN’S OFFICE – Talent Show might suck on Saturday night, but the introduction will definitely rock the house.

Even though Elvin and I have known that we were going to be emceeing the Maxwell Academy talent show tomorrow night for quite some time now, we had hardly given preparations for it any thought. With my teaching this week and his surprise Africa slideshow he was working on, we hadn’t any time to write script or set up jokes. However, after suffering through talent show auditions on Thursday night, we realized that if this show wasn’t going to suck, it was going to be up to us.

So for about an hour that night and for a lot of Friday afternoon, we filmed the introduction to the show, the only part that would really matter. The show is to begin with Shalom and Elvin hosting, but after Shalom chokes on some food, Elvin’s forced to literally run out of the auditorium, looking for his co-host. He flies out the back of the room, just as the projector turns on, showing his running up the stairs, down the road, out of Maxwell, and into Rongai.

There, he walks up and down the street with an “I Need A Host” cardboard sign, trying to convince anyone to help him out. Meanwhile, the camera switches to me, walking around the other side of town with my “Will Host 4 Food” sign. We both walk around town for a while with our billboards, until we bump into each other, realize that we’re exactly what the other needs, and run back to the school.

The last thing the students will see on the video is us running into the building… and all of a sudden, we come down the stairs and show up, wearing the exact same things as before, still hanging onto our signs! We’re expecting it to have a really great reaction and to be a very memorable scene from the year.

However, what I’ll always remember is the actual going into Rongai and filming. I shot Elvin from across the street, holding up his “I Need A Host” sign, and almost dropped the camera, laughing so hard, when some schoolchildren, fresh out of class for the day, came up to the sign. “’I… nee… need a… host [like it rhymes with “cost”.].’ What’s a host?”

It was even worse when they came to me, reading “Will… host… number 4… foo… food…” I struggled to keep a straight face and continued to hold out my sign to the Matatu drivers zipping by.

So while the actual talent show itself might prove to be a complete disaster, we can take pride in the fact that one part of it will be brilliant. Now, onto what we’re going to do in between acts…

Three Observations:

1. “I wanna go back to Union again, the college where worships aren’t unbearable…” When I was in academy, I really didn’t look to much towards Sabbath. “Yay, no classes” or “Finally, I can get away from the cafeteria” were pretty much the only two praises I could lift up on our day of worship.
   
   However, at Union, I really developed a love and appreciation for Sabbath. It’s an incredible blessing that God’s given us, and I looked forward to the end of the week throughout the entire week. Still, to this day, whenever I think about Vespers at CVC, church at Allon Chapel, and that feeling of peace so present on Saturday, I smile and look forward to getting back to Lincoln.
   
   Quite the opposite feeling I have here at Maxwell. While this school is “incredibly spiritual” by its own perception, I can hardly stand attending worship services here. Friday night, for example, was yet another “rotating Vespers,” where students signed up for groups that go to different stations across campus. No one takes it seriously; it’s really just a chance to walk around hyper with your friends or to hit on that girl from class. A complete waste of time.
   
   Then on Sabbath, after a thrilling song service where the up-front leaders don’t actually sing, we split off into small groups to study a Sabbath lesson, which always involves race and how one group feels persecuted by another. Also, there’s more talking out of place and less paying attention to God. Everyone heads back to the church to half-pay attention to whatever the speaker is saying, and then Sabbath is over (or at least that seems to be the general campus mindset).
   
   This seems to be my only real complaint about being gone. I’m not being spoon-fed as much good, solid Christianity here as I was at UC. In a way, it’s great, because I’m forced to connect myself to God, more than ever. However, it’d still be wonderful to have back something I truly love so much.
   
   Oh well, not too much longer, only 240ish more days. That’s only like 35 more Sabbaths here… awww, man…


2. THE SLT IS BACK! That’s right boys and girl, there’s been another social-life slaughtering, and it looks to be the Social-Life Terminator again.
   
   This time, the SLT was reportedly on duty on Sabbath when Harold*, arguably the cockiest of all Seniors, tried to leave the dorm with white tennis shoes instead of dress shoes. SLT focused in on this fashion faux paus and tried to stop the student. Harold* insisted that the shoes were “dress shoes,” and left the dorm, leaving the SLT dumbstruck.
   
   Minutes later, after Sabbath School, SLT again detected high levels of insubordination coming from the white-shoed criminal and headed over to again “persuade” the delinquent to change shoes. Yet again, the offender refused, this time heading to the principal for support on his footwear choice. The principal, amazingly enough, agreed with Harold* that the shoes weren’t that bad, but still advised the young one to change before SLT (version 1.0) asploded.
   
   However, Harold* refused, and SLT had had enough. His programmed patience wasn’t strong enough to handle this, and he knew how to “take care of business.” He marched to the cafeteria and informed Harold* that for his 3 insubordinations, he’d be dorm-bound for a week. The young one insisted that he wouldn’t be on, but SLT stood his ground, and hours later, after another “spirited discussion,” Harold* was confined to Tegler Hall. Another victory for SLT.
   
   Now, if SLT could just protect Sarah Connor from her evil 80s hair…


3. May my musical renaissance begin. One of my favorite things about being in academy was my unceasing involvement in music. Whether it was choir, select choir, piano, saxophone, band, or creating tunes with the buttons on the phone, I was constantly involved in one melody or another.
   
   However, I dropped out of piano after my sophomore year (because of a girl), didn’t continue with saxophone after a senior year without a band program, and was too chicken to try out for Unionaires after I left Enterprise. It’s been a strange couple of years without having music involve any of my time.
   
   Well, not anymore. Since I’ve gotten to Africa, I’ve been practicing the piano a few times a week, trying to re-learn how to read music with the help of Chris Rice’s “Go light your world.” Today, for the first time in a couple years, I picked up a saxophone and began to play it, surprising myself with how not-as-bad-as-I-thought-I’d-be I was. My voice still works, and I plan on making a run as a tenor at UC when I return in a few months. But my biggest goal for the year is to learn to play the guitar, and it seems like I’m in the right place to do just that.
   
   There are probably 10 or 15 students in my dorm that know how to play, 3 times as many as I originally suspected, and they’ve all volunteered to help me learn chords so I can play guitar. While it’s going to be a bit difficult, I was encouraged by one of my guys that he played every day for a month and ended up learning pretty much everything he needed to. I only know one-and-a-half chords right now, but once I develop blisters and callas on my fingers, it all goes downhill. No problem.
   
   Keep my new goal in your prayers, and I’ll keep the blog updated on the progress of the new Eric Clapton.

Ok, it’s getting late, and I need to get ready for Talent Show. Wish me luck!

-cw

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