I have had a complaint from my reader that I have not been writing on my blog. Maybe it's because I have been sick. Maybe it's been all the writing I have to do for my courses. I don't know. Just haven't had a lot of time.

Zoe, my baby, came home from 9 months living in Firenze [Florence], Italy. She had a very good time and is currently trying to figure out how to get back. We're just enjoying having her home. Although, I wish she would not try to drive my car like it's a Ferrari.

I had friends over Friday night to crop. We cropped indeed. I got quite a few pages done. I am hopeful that I will finish volume 3 of our trip to SE Asia this summer. Also, it was just fun to hang out with my friends. Zoe made an Italian meal for us. It was very good. Carrie came over Saturday for dinner and more cropping.

Now for the final push for the end of the semester.

Flu

I've been home with the flu for about a week now. I told myself I wasn't going to have the flu, but here I am with a glass of water and a box of tissues.

Water. It's really tasty stuff. It's been my beverage of choice, especially when everything was tasting funky. But, water. It just has a wonderful, lovely taste. The more you drink, the more you want.

My glass is empty. Gotta go.

I commemorated Super Tuesday by voting the primary. I had decided to cast my ballot for Obama after reading about his view on immigration and listening to Michelle give a speech on CSPAN. I like Hillary very much. I think she's been badly treated by the press and anyone who doesn't approve of a First Lady who speaks her mind.

On Tuesday I felt I was making a considered decision based on facts. I bellied up to the booth to fill in the circle with the felt tipped pen. Then let it ride into the ballot box. Then, for some reason, I got choked up. I had not anticipated this vote would cause me to tear up, but it did. I was born the year that Rosa Parks took her seat on the bus. I grew up with civil rights and my life has been very different as a result. Yet, who knew when the day would come when I would get to vote for an African American candidate?

Tearing up was probably the most appropriate thing to do.

T.

3:10 to Yuma's Cinematographer

Phedon Papamichael.

Academy Awards

All I have to say is that Russell Crowe, Christian Bale and the "Yuma" cinematographer were robbed. Let's put Denzel Washington on that list, too. Different film, great performance.

I'm Going to Ghana!

I'm going to Ghana! Late last year, Jessica and Alayna asked me if I would like to be part of their 5 year project to bring the curriculum at the Academy of Hope up to National Standards. They sited several reasons why I would be useful ending with "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're older."

The Academy of Hope is the school for the children who live at the Village of Hope, an orphanage, in Fetteh, Ghana. The elders at the church of Christ in Tema oversee the work of the orphanage. Different groups in the US send doctors, dentists, builders, et al, to support the work with their skills. Jessica and Alayna went last summer for a couple of weeks to work on mathematics and found that the other content areas are also in need of some work. Notably science. Children in Ghana do not study science until the fourth grade. At that time they learn how to tend their gardens and chickens. Jessica and Alayna were able to obtain a telescope and held beginning astronomy lessons outside, under the moon and stars.

Another area of need is English language instruction. Ghana is a country with many languages. Many, many, many languages! Since it is a former British colony, English has become the unifying language of the land. Children come to the Village of Hope speaking one of the Ghanaian languages, but have to learn English so they can do their lessons in school. I have long been a proponent of teaching children to read in their mother tongue, then English. However, at Hope Academy, that is a luxury that cannot be accommodated. The teachers do not speak all the languages of their students and can only teach them in English.

There is a lot to learn before I go, where I know I will learn even more. I just pray that I can leave them with some new methods to use with the children that will help. I have seen photos of the children and look forward to meeting them. Especially Winnie. More on her later.

I have a lot of planning to do with Jessica. We will "meet" with Alayna via Skype as she has already arrived to spend several months at the Village of Hope. Pray for her work, our preparation and our fund raising efforts.

New Year

The Feast of the Epiphany is here and time to take down the boughs of holly and other assorted stuff that has been fun to look at the past few weeks. I will remove all the bits and bobs, but will keep the big tree up in the corner because it is heavy and we have a hard time finding the connection plugs. I purchased some bird ornaments to put on it that look like they will do for the rest of the year.
La Bufana arrives on her Testa Rosa broom. She brings giocchi e dulce to all the good bimbi in Italia. After her arrival, everyone goes back to work. I get a few more days until I start slogging away at the University. This is my last semester of coursework. I will have to take one last class in the summer session, but it will be the last. In the fall I look forward to writing my proposal and taking comps.
Outside of school, I've been asked to help with an education mission to Ghana. Because of the last class, I may not get to go with the team, but I will help them out with the work they plan to do in May. It's also been assumed that I will help get a scrapbooking group started at church as an outreach/encouragement project. Those who have assumed know me and I look forward to being part of the fun.
It will be a busy year.