One week left...

Hello to everyone in America!
(I had sent an email to Lauren asking her a few questions and these were her replies)

Our 4th of July fiesta was great. Yes our pinata was an American flag.
I felt a little unpatriotic swatting at the American flag on our
Independence Day. We didn't really eat the candy. We left that for the
kids. It was all African candy anyways... so it probably wasn't too
great.

(I asked Lauren if it would be ok to have a small party with family when she got home or would it be too overwhelming)

Finally, I would love to have a party when I get home. I want to get
as much in as possible before I have to head back to Birmingham. Trust
me, any American party will be much less overwhelming than a slow day
in an African village. We feel weird if we get 5 min. alone without at
least 20 eyes staring at us. I am more worried about being lonely than
overwhelmed!

About this week...
It has been a great, busy, full week.
Monday we headed back to the village in the morning. There had been a
baby naming ceremony in Dare last weekend, and there were a
bunch of people in town still. When we walked into our door there was
a group of 9 women and 15 children that followed us in wanting to hear
the stories. They were all from different villages, just in town for
the party. We both were really excited. They listened well, and then
we thought they wanted us to go back to their villages with them to
share. At that point I wasn't feeling so well and didnt think I could
make it on the long walk so i decided to stay behind. They changed
their minds too and told us that we should just stay in Dare cause it
was hot and we would have to be in the sun if we walked (the Africans
expect us to sit on our butts in the shade all day). As the day went
on I really wasn't feeling well, so I laid down and then... I started
throwing up :(. I spent most of the day sick and finally around dinner
time Wesley decided to call Greg (we have a satellite phone out in the
village). He came and picked me up and brought me back to the missionaries house to rest.He dropped Wesley off in another village to spend the night
with Rachel and Rebecca (from the brook hills team).  I was able to
get some Gatoraid and sleep in a real bed that night. My fever went
away, I quit getting sick and in the morning I was able to keep some
food down. I think the germs and lack of sleep just caught up with me,
and I got a 24 hour bug. Most of the day Tuesday, I just rested, read
a cheesy Christian romance novel, and tried to rehydrate. By 4pm that
afternoon I was feeling wonderful. The whole Missionary family took me
back out to the village. We picked up Wesley on the way out too. I was
so thankful for the Missionaries and having a place to come to for resting
and relaxing, cause it is pretty miserable laying in the dirt in 110
degrees with flies swarming around you, throwing up, and trying to sip on hot
water. Honestly I really love the village, but Monday, not so much!
Tuesday evening I was feeling really good though and the rest of the
week was wonderful. Wednesday morning, we found out that someone in
the village had died. It was an old man that we didn't know, but here
funerals are a big deal. They last for at least a week and everyone
comes from out of town to greet the family, give money, and pray to
petition allah to allow the deceased person into heaven. So Dare has been
a hopping place this week. It is sad that the old man died not knowing
Jesus, but there was probably 150 women that we were able to play the
tapes for that were just in town for the funeral. I don't know how
many villages were represented in all the people that came throughout
the week, but it was a lot. God heard your prayers, cause we shared
those tapes non stop this week. Friday, which is usually a slow day
because everyone goes to market, we were bombarded with women coming
to greet us. We didn't leave our yard until almost 1:00. Then around 5
a car pulled up and it was Brittany (the journymen) dropping off Rachel
and Rebecca for a slumber party! I cooked Ranch chicken salad (we got
some mayonnaise packets from town)apple sauce, canned pineapple, and green
beans for dinner.We had a real feast! We stayed up till 10:30 playing Rummy
and eating packaged cookies. We had a lot of fun. It was a good way to end our
last full week in the village.
Today, we all got picked up and after lunch had a surprise waiting for
us. Greg hired a man to bring his camel for us to ride! We each got a
turn riding the camel. Mom, don't worry I got LOTs of pictures and
they are hilarious!
Tonight we had a delicious dinner of sloppy joes, baked beans,
cucumber salad, and fried okra and now everyone is in the living room
watching Indiana Jones. Every Saturday night Greg pulls out the
projector and we watch a movie. So Mom don't worry about me too
much... I still get lots of good food and we get to watch movies.
Tomorrow we will have our last church service, and then Monday we will
head back to the villages. We will have Monday and Tuesday all day,
and then Wednesday, they are coming around to pick all of us up to
pack and get ready to leave. On Thursday, we will leave to go to
M for a final vacation and debriefing. I think we will get to go
swimming in the pool(if there is water in it) and we're
staying in a hotel Thursday night. Friday the Brook Hills team will
make the bus trip to Niamey where we will have Saturday to rest, and then
we leave Sunday morning at 3 am! At least I think that is the plan. I
am looking forward to being home, but I have absolutely enjoyed my
experience here. It is going to be extremely hard to leave both my new
American and African friends. Several of our village friends told us
that they were gonna cry when we left and that it wasn't good that we
are leaving ( I think that's the Hausa way of saying we will be
missed)
I miss you all, and look forward to seeing you really really soon!

--
*Lauren Taylor*
*Jeremiah 6:16 *