As I just wrote to a friend in the States, it's...

...Very busy and interesting time here--working on grant proposals hoping to bring in outside support for the school, gearing up for a regional sports tournament for our students next week, and bracing ourselves for the world Islamic conference the week after--5,000 visitors arriving for 2-5 days. Oh, yes, and teaching. At least we don't have to deal with snow (though at least one embassy is taking a snow day during the conference because our geographically small city will be one major traffic jam, what with road closings and increased security).

Hot Off the Press

My musical play, "A Christmas Carol Card Collection," has just been "released" on DVD!

The play, very loosely based on Dicken's similarly titled book, tells the story of Ben Scrooge, President and CEO of Bleak Publishing House. He stumbles across a box of old Christmas cards. Reviewing these "posts of Christmases past" causes him to mentally revisit key points of his life. Each card leads to the performance of a skit or song (by our elementary and middle school students), re-enacting an instance when Ben chose greed over good.

When he finally understands from the cards that he can be reconciled to God through Jesus, he repents and determines that all of his "posts of Christmases future" will declare the good news he has finally grasped.

The script is laced with humor (even a guest appearance by Laurel and Hardy), Christmas carols, other Christmas songs, and one song by me that sets the stage (so to speak) for the story. Two of our high school students filmed the December world premier and edited it into one presentation. I haven't even had a chance to review the whole thing yet, but I'm mighty pleased to have this record of our performance. (Sorry, I'm not taking orders--there are only 9 copies in existence.)

The Rain in Senegal Falls Mainly in the Summer

We had a thunderstorm last night--quite unusual for February! I'm told the thunder was so loud that children took refuge in their parents' beds. Though the head of my bed is directly beneath a window, I slept through it all, waking only later to enjoy an owl hooting in the trees just outside my bedroom. I didn't even realize it had rained until I left my apartment. For once, Dakar smells fresh and clean!