Chef Juma

Juma decided to help Justin cook the other day. Reportedly, he made noodles, more noodles, bagel cheese, and more bagel cheese.

what's up with Sarah now?

(This post may be PG-13; reader discretion is advised.)

Today is the last day of working (a lot) on my job. I'll continue to work, but at very limited hours, something like two to five a week. I've been working at CIRA for almost a year (see link to the right).

When I first started here, I did transcriptions of life history interviews of women here in New Haven who had histories of drug use and sex work (pejoratively known as prostitutes). I've also done a large literature review on the topic (female drug-using sex workers). This population is interesting to my boss because these women are at double risk for HIV (and sometimes triple risk, if they also have drug-using and/or unfaithful partners).

I have learned a whole lot of stuff I'd have never learned otherwise about the subcultures where drug use and other high-risk behaviors are common. I've learned that these populations can rarely be "blamed" for their behavior. Yes, everyone makes their own decisions. But there are also enormous external pressures (from society, economics, culture, etc.), interpersonal pressures (e.g experiencing abuse from a relative or partner) and internal factors (e.g. mental impairment, depression) that affect people's abilities to make decisions, and especially, the range of choices available to them. Sometimes alcohol/drug use is the best of bad choices in a highly-constrained life, for example. Not that is doesn't hurt lives; it certainly can.

It all reminds me of the exceedingly privileged life I have had. Not only have I escaped physical, emotional, and sexual abuse (amazingly, considering the rates at which these occur in the US); escaped major injury and non-violent trauma; been raised with a loving family, and formed a new loving family; I've also been able to graduate from college (less than 1% of the world manages this), and now go to graduate school. Just like I can't blame drug-using sex workers for their hard lives, I can't laud my own abilities in accomplishing all that I have in my cushioned life. So much must be attributed to my society, culture, and those who have supported me in my dreams and endeavors (thanks, by the way).

Orientation starts Monday and school starts on Wednesday. This first semester will be very busy; I'm not sure yet excactly how busy, but every student I've talked to says it's pretty crazy. Most of the subjects will be new to me, such as biostatistics, epidemiology, toxicology. It's all a little more math and science than I'm used to--I prefer the qualitative side of research--but it'll be a good background to have.

school update

Juma did better on his second day of school. He cried for only a couple minutes, and didn't have an accident in his pants this time.

His feelings are a bit back-and-forth about it. He especially enjoys having a lunch box, a basketball-shaped ice pack, and a nalgene bottle for his milk. It makes him feel like a big boy to carry a lunch box around (see picture below). He's also happy about riding the bike down to school (he sits on the back of one of our bikes in a child seat), but when it's time to say goodbye to Mama or Baba, school is suddenly too scary. And I don't blame him; we did leave him with almost complete strangers on the first day. (We had visited the school before.)

Maybe tomorrow's school day will warm him up to it--they're having pizza for lunch. After that, Juma will have a week-and-a-half off, then start up 5-day school.

Juma's first day of school

Here are some cute pictures of Juma's first day of school.



We took Juma to his first day of preschool this morning. He's never been in formal childcare or school before, so it was an adjustment.


He was excited to go, but he cried for about ten minutes after we left. Watching a man prune the bushes out the window somehow distracted him enough to stop cyring, and he was fine the rest of the morning.



When we picked him after lunch, he smiled shyly, but happily, and gave me a big hug.



He had wet his pants and hadn't told anyone, but it was a good morning other than that. He goes back on Wednesday.

funny things Juma said

Juma said:

When putting on soccer shorts: "Soccer is my favorite sport!" (Aunt Andria will be proud.)

When trying to snatch Justin's credit card away from him: "Here's the rule: no pushing kids when they're trying to get credit cards."

When I was trying to convince him he's old enough to help clean up his room, I said, "You're not going to grow up thinking only women do housework!" He replied, "Yes, I'm am!"

When Justin came out of the shower one day (I was at work already), he discovered Juma laughing hysterically. Turns out Juma had poured himself his own glass of milk (found a used cup in his bedroom, opened the fridge, pulled the gallon of milk out of the fridge, poured it into a cup with minimal spillage, replaced the cap, and returned the gallon to the fridge, closed the fridge), and was so pleased with himself that he could do it, that he laughed himself into hysterics.

Out of the blue, "What is 'people'?" And 'persons'?"
I tried to explain, and pointed out that he is a person.
"No, I'm not a people! I'm a boy!"

is it still camping if we slept on an air mattress?

We just got back from a short camping trip in eastern Connecticut, near the border with Rhode Island. We were near a lake, so we enjoyed swimming, canoeing, and fishing (not that we caught anything, though I did get nibbled multiple times by some sun fish).

Our friends the Wests invited us, so we were in good company for the weekend. It was Juma's very first camping trip (no, Tanzania does not count), and he loved it. He was also very happy to be back to his house.

He starts school tomorrow--yikes! That means I better get to bed so I can wake up to take him.

birthdays

Birthday season has started in both the Beckham and Wilson families.

So...

Aug 17 Happy Birthday Cameron (sorry it's a little late!)
Aug 20 Happy Birthday Aidan
Aug 22 Happy Birthday Andria
Aug 23 Happy Birthday Ashli
Aug 29 Happy Birthday Ethan
Aug 31 Happy Birthday me ;)

And if I got someone's wrong, I'm going to be kicking myself.

blueberries for Juma

Juma and I went to a farm/orchard to pick blueberries this morning. Juma got his own little bucket to plunk, plunk! blueberries into and he had a great time.

It reminded me of the book Blueberries for Sal, except that Juma wasn't eating the blueberries out of the bucket, and there were no bears.

He was determined to make blueberry muffins when we got home (even though I had to run to work), and even more determined that his blueberries make it into the batter. So we dropped all his (20) blueberries into the batter and cooked them up.

I don't know how they turned out, since I popped them into the oven then ran to work. Maybe Justin and Juma can report.

Next: blueberry pancakes for breakfast and blueberry cheesecake for dessert. Mmm, mmm.

Juma makes major scientific breakthrough!

Juma: (to himself) They don't fall off!
Sarah: What don't fall off?
Juma: My feet don't fall off when I run!

News flash: calculator becomes an excavator

Juma saw me using a calculator for work and asked Justin if he could also play with an "affigator...a cacrilator ...cacridator ...caclidator ...elebator...excavator ...cakilator ...that thing that Mama's playing with!"

silly cousins

Rylee and Juma enjoyed some time together in California while they listened to Grandpa and Grandma tell stories from their childhoods.

great memory

Juma watched an episode of Blue's Clues yesterday. A cat lives next door to Blue, and loves to perform magic tricks. Last night Juma was reciting the magic words from the episode, "Hocus Pocus Crocus!"

"Oh, yeah," I said, "the cat did some magic tricks. What is that cat's name again?" None of us could remember. It was one of those times where you know it's going to bug you until you can remember. But it didn't; I forgot all about it.

Apparently it did bug Juma all night, because when Juma woke up this morning, the first thing he said to Justin was, "On Blue's Clues, the cat's name is Periwinkle!" Now how in the world did he remember a word like Periwinkle!?!

Right now, Justin's refreshing Juma's Swahili skills. It's great to hear that little tiny voice say, "Samaki; mbwa; mpira; ndiyo; chupi!" (fish; dog; ball; yes; underwear!)

thoughts on August & birthdays

It feels like we just stepped into August, but school is already creeping up on us. I was suprised to hear that Grandma Beckham (Vicki/Mom) started school today! As they say in Zanzibar, Pole sana (That's too bad/I'm sorry/I sympathize).

Juma will go to three days of school the week of the 22nd as a summer fun "warm up" for five day school, which starts after Labor Day. We start school on my birthday, yippee. At least I won't have to do homework that day. If I remember right, this is the 4th or 5th time school started on my birthday. And, of course, Justin's birthday was always during finals week when we were undergrads.

As for Juma's birthday--we've never been home. We were in California for his 1st and 3rd and in Zanzibar for his 2nd. His 4th will probably be in Zanzibar too.

Bo knows

In a whirlwird five minutes, Juma and Justin played every sport Juma knew how to play (until he lost interest). They played badmitton, golf, soccer, football, basketball, fencing, and volleyball. The hadn't made it to baseball yet when Juma had to try sprinting--to the bathroom.

Juma even tried Olympic diving, off the couch, to get a good bonk on the head. (He's fine.) Really, he was trying his skills at wide receiver (he even learned how to pronounce it) while on the couch, and the cushion gave way under him.

That very same cushion is now supporting his had as he sleeps, an hour before bedtime, exhausted from all that playing.

making progress

Juma is making good progress with his golf game and his intimidating faces. He carried his plastic "iron" around the entire city today taking swings at everything from aluminum cans to pigeons.

Click here or click on the picture above to see a video of Juma's new skill.

hole in one

We got Juma his first set of golf clubs. They're about 2 1/2 feet long and very flimsy plastic. I say they'll last about two weeks before they are all broken. But he loves them. It comes with a golf bag and six golf balls, too. He has a driver, a putter, and a iron.

Juma: Mama, you be the driver. I'll be the i-run.
Mama: The iron?
Juma: Yeah, the i-run. Golf with me!

It's been took hot and muggy to play outside, so we've been sticking with a miniature golf course in the living room. He hasn't quite got the swing down. He does more of a baseball type swing, and misses the ball 75% of the time. Though I think there a good number of dents in our wood floor by now.

"are we home in connecticut?"

We're back in Connecticut after a long day of driving, flying, and driving some more. Juma asked several times on the flight, "Are we in Connecticut yet?" It's funny to hear his little voice pronounce Connecticut.

When we were landing in New York City, Juma and I looked out the window and played "I spy." It went something like this:

Sarah: I spy with my little eye something blue.
Juma: Where?
Sarah: Over there, on the wing.
Juma: Oh, yeah! I see it. Okay, I spy with my little eye something...a tree! Over there. Do you see it, Mommy?

We had a great time visiting with the Beckhams in California. Juma and his cousin Rylee got along great (most of the time), and we loved getting to know everyone better. Thanks for letting us come stay!

more birthday pictures

Birthday guests (Justin's extended family)

Juma devouring a cupcake on his birthday.