away for the holidays

Probably more than half of the people who read this blog already know this, but I'm in Utah with Juma for the New Year. The plan was for all of us to come, but Justin decided at the last minute to stay home so he could study his brains out for his up-and-coming comprehensive oral exams. (Hi, Justin!)

Here in Utah, we're splitting our time between my parents house and Andria's (Justin's sister) house. Mostly, we've been hanging out. Juma's enjoyed playing with his cousins, Ammon and Ethan, all of them four years old. They don't get to see each other much, but they get along really well (for the most part--they are four).

We were a little worried about Juma and Ammon playing together again, because they haven't seen each other for two years. When they saw each other for the first time again, they were a little wary and shy. Then Ammon's mom, Jody, and I got to talking, and about two minutes later we realized Juma and Ammon had run off and were playing contentedly in the basement.

christmas pictures

Turns out we didn't take many Christmas pictures (a grand total of eight), but did take a few videos (six). (Grandparents: I'll make a DVD of videos from the year to give to you.)

In this picture, you can see Juma's new Buzz Lightyear, his new Cars bedding, and his love for Spiderman manifest in his pajamas. (His obsession with Spiderman started when he was barely two and saw two seconds of a Spiderman commercial. He's never seen any movies or cartoons of Spiderman.)


Here you can see his new bunk bed. The first day he had it, every ten minutes he would declare that he's tired and climb into the top bunk for a little "nap." Now the top bunk is his favorite spot to play, and the bottom is a "cave" or "jail" as needed.

a most beloved buzz lightyear

We survived Christmas. What an exhausting day that can be. But it was fun. Juma enjoyed opening presents and being completely surprised to see a brand new bunk bed in his room. His favorite new toy is a Buzz Lightyear with buttons that work (read: make way too much noise) and a "real" laser.

This morning he woke up and said, "I had two dreams. One was about bowling [we keep up the Beal/Beckham tradition of going bowling on Christmas day]. The other was about Buzz. All, all, all my toys were Buzz Lightyear. That was cool."

It was strange to be away from family on Christmas. When I called my family, and my mom said that Ethan and Anna (my brother Randall's children) were coming over later, I felt a pang of sadness, and thought, "I want to come over later." But I will come over on Friday!

Luckily, we have some good friends here, the same family that invited us over for Thanksgiving. We went to church with them to see their kids in their nativity pageant, and then they had us over for Christmas Eve dinner. Then they took mercy on our bowling tradition and came out with is, and we went over to their house afterwards. So we almost had family. Christmas, like Thanksgiving, is one of those holidays better celebrated in groups.

christmas gift!

christmas adam

This year has been the best, I think, for watching Juma experience Christmas. Each year so far has had its fun, but this year Juma is really old enough to anticipate and enjoy it.

It's also sparked a little greediness in him that he didn't have a month ago. Those few weeks ago we were in a Walgreen's getting something-or-other, and Juma saw a action figure, a "motorcycle guy with a helmet." He picked up that toy in its box like it were a precious jewel, and said with great awe and wonder, "I'd really like to have one of these some day." It made me heart glad that he didn't say, "Mom, can I have this? Mom, let's get this. I have to have this now!" and start bawling and screaming right there in the aisle, like I probably did to my mom when I was four. Instead, he just expressed his conviction that that motorcycle guy would enrich his life. But the answer I gave changed things for the rest of the month: "Maybe for Christmas."

A week or so later, we went to Toys-R-Us to get a toy for his classmate's birthday. Juma was as excited as, well, a kid in a toy store. "Look at that! Look at that! Oh, look, Thomas! Wow! Cars! Oh, I want that. Mom, can I have that?" It was never demanding or whining, just excitement. The next time we went, I was actually shopping for him, doing my best to hide things under my coat in the cart (it worked). But this time, he was more demanding. He finally realized that his expressions of excitement could translate into a present under the tree.

I had come to Toys-R-Us this time with the express task of buying Juma's deepest wish: "the whole set of Cars: Lighting McQueen, Mater, and Dinoco [the King]." And then I learned about parents' Christmas nightmare:

Sold Out

At four stores. I even checked twice at the same store. No luck.

The one thing my son specifically asked for, repeatedly, and apparently every other boy wanted it too. Duh! Why didn't I shop earlier? Why didn't I ask him earlier what he wanted?

It's useless now. I got him his second-most wanted toy. I think he'll be happy anyway. It probably won't be a big deal, but I still feel that pang that I as a parent have failed him in that small way.

I've tried to focus him away from the gift-getting, too, to the pleasure of gift-giving. He's extremely proud when he can write "from Juma" on any gift, even ones not from him. And when he delivered homemade cookies (that he helped make) to our stairwell neighbors, he only wanted to deliver more.

Either way, I can see that Christmas is magical for him, and that is very satisfying to watch.

another hit in my harry potter addiction

JK Rowling has given a Christmas gift a little early this year. She has revealed the title of Harry Potter 7 on her website. Check it out if you want to confirm for yourself that this isn't a rumor, like Harry Potter and the Pillar of Scourge was. But you have to work for it a little. For clues, go here.

The title of Book 7 is

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Intriguing.

She hasn't finished writing it yet, though, and there is no release date as of yet.

Okay, my Happy Potter addiction is fed for a while. Please return to your regularly scheduled Internet surfing.

a blog entry in real time

Sarah: What should we write on our blog today?

Juma: Nothing.

Sarah: [type, type, type]

Juma: Don't write anything! Don't write anything!

Sarah: Just a second. [type]

Juma: Juma! You wrote Juma! What [about] Juma?

Sarah: [typing]

Juma: [pretending to read] Juma was in a fish. Juma was in a fish. Juma Juma was in a fish. Don't write it over and over again. Don't write it over and over again.

Sarah: Every time you say it, I'm going to write it.

Juma: Don't. Cha-chaa! You don't even know how to spell cha-chaa.

finished!

I finished my finals. I just have to drop off a copy of my last paper on campus.

Of course, I have several academic projects I need to work on now, because I never had time for them during the semester.

It never ends.

"I won't miss you"

Today is Juma's last day of school before the holiday break, so the teachers invited the parents to come for singing time and lunch. Juma enjoyed having me there with him, and showered me with hugs, kisses, and cuddles. During lunch, he wanted me to let him know exactly when I would be leaving, "because I want to give you a big hug and a kiss." When I was leaving, he did so, and then told me, "I won't miss you!" during the afternoon.

Now, that's not something a parent would normally want to hear from a child, but it was comforting to know that Juma is adjusted enough to school that he thoroughly enjoys it--and doesn't even complain about nap time. When I pick him up these days, it's not "Mommy! Let's go home!" Instead it's, "Mommy! Can I stay and play some more?"

We'll see what three week of vacation does to his adjustment. And to our sanity, since outside play time is very restricted in Connecticut winters.

Speaking of insanity, I'm working on my last final. Just a few more hours...

Nemo's send off

Juma's fish Nemo held on for about a week, but died on Saturday. Since I had already mistaken Nemo for dead previously (how stupid can I be to not try poking the thing with a net before telling my 4-year old his pet died?), Juma had already gone through the grieving process, and was not upset when the fish did actually die. Instead, he was ready to "take Nemo back to the ocean, where he comes from."

Justin and Juma took him to New Haven's Long Wharf docks a replica of the Amistad on Long Island Sound. (The Amistad trial took place in New Haven.)


There they said goodbye and plopped him into the ocean. Justin said, "We'll always remember you." Juma still wants to get another betta and name him Nemo, but we'll wait until after our holiday travels.

phaa-shew: thoughts on finals

Feel free to skip this is you don't give a dang about Sarah's academic career. Here's the short version: I'm in the middle of finals.

I just finished the academic's version of a marathon: I wrote a twenty-page research paper (okay, it was 19 1/2) in 5 hours. My brain is hurting. My body is worn out, and I'm a little shaky. (But that probably has more to do with the fact that I ate a string cheese for lunch, and breakfast? Hmmm. Can't connect the memory cells, which probably means I didn't have any. Oh, wait, an English muffin. Phew. Now the public health side of me doesn't have to feel too guilty.)

I wouldn't recommend the marathon paper-writing, or the string-cheese-for-lunch, for that matter. But, hey, I was just sitting down to write after 3 straight hours of organizing notes. I also wouldn't recommend waiting to decide on a research paper topic until exactly one week before it's due, and that only because you have to give a presentation on your topic the next day.

So I read-read-read half the weekend (every second except for the seconds I was hanging out with Juma), took notes-notes-notes, and then wrote-wrote-wrote. Leaving myself five hours was stupid, but that's what it came down to, so that's what I had to work with.

But for their part, it wasn't fair to the professors to make the final paper due the first day of reading week, two days after the last class got over, just so they can travel during reading week and finals week. But that's the privilege of a professor, isn't it? Deciding due dates. Oh, the power!

Aside from the hurried writing schedule, this paper was actually good for me to write. This class it's for is about the disciplines that study Africa. What does Africa mean to the discipline, and what does the discipline mean to Africa. Okay, a little abstract. But it got me thinking a lot about a problem that has been plaguing me every since I got over my fourth bout with malaria back in 1999. That fateful month that launched me on my career path.

Those little parasites got me interested in public health and anthropology, and, specifically, using both of them to improve the lives of people. But the two disciplines have a rather awkward relationship, one being quantitative and self-assured in its "objectivity," the other being qualitative and denying the existence of "objectivity" except as a construct people find useful to think with. The illegitimate child of the two disciplines is applied medical anthropology, a discipline trying to cater to both parent disciplines as well as international donors and the people it's trying to help. So it's kind of split and confused, trying to prove itself, being accused of "selling out," and who knows if it's actually doing any good.

That's what I wrote about. And I didn't get a chance to even read through the whole thing, so I hope it's coherent and not riddled with typos (thank goodness for spell check). The best part is I sent the email at exactly 4:59pm, one minute before it was due. How cool is that?

winter hike at sleeping giant state park

christmas is coming

Our tree is up! This is the first time since 2002 we've had a tree in our own house. It's also the first time since then we'll be in our own home for Christmas.


We got the tree at a nursery that allows "cut your own," but we opted for the pre-cut variety. Juma enjoyed putting on his ornaments and discovering Justin's many ornaments, which Juma had never seen before since we never had a tree. His favorite ornaments are "robot guy [C-3PO], firetruck, bulldozer, and Tigger. And the polar bear holding a soda on a snowboard."

a day at home

Juma's been having a fever now and then over the past few days, but it's been pretty low and hasn't interfered with him playing or going to school. But this morning he woke up with a temperature of 102 degrees, so we kept him home. He's been on antibiotics since Sunday night, because he's had a cough that isn't clearing up.

Luckily since we're students our schedules are flexible enough to switch off taking care of him. Justin's off to class this morning, so I'm home; this afternoon I've got class, so Justin'll be home. But that does mean we have to miss out on some homework time. I've got a short presentation to give at 1:30, and I didn't even pick a topic until yesterday. I have to then turn that short presentation into a 20-page paper by Monday. While still attending the rest of my classes, taking care of a sick kid (he'll have to stay home until he's fever-free for 24 hours), attending meetings, working, yadda yadda.

At least this is the last week of classes. Next week is reading week, and I have 6 papers due between Monday and Friday. The next week is finals week, but at least I'll be done before then. That's especially important since Juma's school is closed during finals week.

juma's running commentary

"I love Christmas lights!
I love everything
I lo--ovve everything
I looooveee everything
Even my parents!"
_____________

"I had a dream last night."

What was it about?

"I don't remember...There was a big, big dog. As big as a house. It was even bigger than you, Mom!"
_____________

Let's go to IKEA.

"No, I don't want to."

Did you have a bad day at school?

"No."

Did you have a happy day?

"No."

Are you having a contrary day?

"No, I didn't."

You don't know what contrary means, do you?

"I don't want to."

this picture looks familiar

This picture of Juma with two of his friends reminds me of a picture from my toddler-hood, with me and my older siblings all lined up in the front of the TV. Except there were four of us.

the (un)death of Nemo

Juma's long time fish friend, Nemo, a member of the Beckham household for two years, died today, Wednesday. Freeing him from his confined tupperware dish we bought him in, we gave this blue-and-black Siamese fighting fish a filtered tank, a plant, and a name. The then two-and-a-half -year-old Juma enthusiastically named his first pet Nemo; it was the only fish name Juma had ever heard. Within two days, clever Nemo learned to dance near the surface to request food. He didn't stink, bark, shed, scratch, mess up the floor, mark his territory, cause allergies, or try to sleep on our faces in the middle of the night. He was a good pet.


After his bath tonight, we told Juma that his pet beta had died. He first denied that Nemo was dead, insisting he was only resting. But reality set in, and Juma became angry. When we said he could get another pet if he wanted, he countered that "Another pet will just die too! I don't like pets. They just die." I tried to explain that even though death and missing his pet is sad, those two years we did have with Nemo were fun and happy, so it was worth it.

Next, Juma wanted to keep Nemo anyway, but explained the his body needs to return to the earth. With some crying and talking, he decided he wanted to take Nemo to the ocean, "back where he came from," say goodbye, then go to the pet store and get another one just like him and name him Nemo too.

[crying] "I want to get another fish, okay? 'Cause I like fishes. One just like Nemo."

Thursday morning Update:

Nemo: I'm not dead yet! I want to go for a walk. I'm soo happy!

Woops--Nemo's not dead. But I'm pretty sure he's really close. He's been lying on the bottom of the tank lethargically for several days, moving only rarely, and not dancing for food anymore. We discovered he wasn't dead when, in preparation to take Nemo to the beach for a funeral, Justin tried to get the fish out of the tank with a net. Juma was all ready to say goodbye and wanted to take him to the ocean anyway, but we told him we'd better wait, since putting him in the cold salt water would kill him.

overheard in the playground

Do you guys want to play with me?

Sure. What do you want to play?

Sea animals. But you have to be a carnivore. Because I'm a carnivore, I'm a shark, and if you're not, I'll eat you. So you better be a carnivore. Either a shark or a killer whale.

I'll be a killer whale.

Okay, we'll both be killer whales. Let's swim!

____

Juma: Guys, guys, come here, I want to show you something.

What?

Juma: I have...soccer shoes! See? They have cleats to hold on to, um, to hold on to, the, um, ground.

_____

Juma: You have to exercise a lot. And eat sports candy [fruits and veggies].

Friend: Yeah. To be healthy.

Juma: Then you'll be big and strong. See, feel my muscles.

Friend: Wow, you're strong. Feel my muscles.

children's museum

For a Saturday afternoon outing, we took Juma to the local children's museum, where they have, among other things, a room designed after the room in Good Night Moon.

Juma played in the music room.


And in the math /puzzles room.

at the park

We went to a park the other day for the apartment Turkey Bowl.

on whining and sleeping in

Saturday morning, Justin's turn:

Juma wakes up at 6:30 and calls out "Dad!" from his bedroom. Justin tells him he can get out of bed, turn on the light, and play quietly in his room until 7.

He does so.

At 7, he calls Justin again. Justin tells him, "Okay, go pee, then get dressed."

He does so. He walks up to Justin and says, "I didn't even whine!"

Sarah sleeps in.


Sunday morning, Sarah's turn:

Juma wakes up at 7:15 and calls out "Mom!" I call from the living room couch, where I slept because I was coughing all night, "Okay, go pee, then get dressed."

Juma starts to whine and continues whining for an hour. "I don't want to get dressed! I don't like to get dressed! I need help! Come with me! I don't know if the shirt is backwards! I hate putting on my pants!" Finally, after 8, he gets dressed and acts like nothing happened.

Justin tries to sleep in.

happy thanksgiving!

It's a little weird to be so far away from any family, since I'm used to having Thanksgiving with about 40 relatives, but this is our fourth year like this. We're getting together with two other couples and their kids we've known for three years, which makes this the biggest Thanksgiving we've had in New Haven.

Sarah: I'm thankful for family, friends, life, and this beautiful world.

Juma: I'm thankful for my friends.

Justin: [still sleeping]

HPAA

Hi, my name is Sarah, and I'm a Harry Potter Addict. (Everyone: Hi, Sarah.)

How else would I know that the trailer for movie 5 is out? Check it out at the Happy Feet movie page (or by going to see Happy Feet in the theater).

But don't get your hopes up. The movie doesn't come out until July.

And in case you are wondering, release date and title have not been announced for Book 7. But stores are beginning to advertise it all the same...

old enough? definitive version

So, Sarah wrote about a conversation we had in the car today and completely mis-remembered everything with her own truthiness version that put me in a bad light. I'll forgive her this time, but I have to set the record straight with the "true" version (no truthiness involved, I promise). :)

Justin: Juma, when are you going to be old enough to do cool stuff with me like go paintballing?

Juma: When I'm seven.

Sarah: What? No way, seven?

Justin: I was that young when I got my first BB gun.

Sarah: I don't believe you--we'll call your Mom when we get home.

Justin: You call her and she'll say I was 15 just to make herself look like a better Mom!

Sarah: Seven's way too young.

Juma: Okay, nine.

Sarah: He's way too young, he'll cry when he gets hit by the paintball.

Justin: It doesn't hurt very much, Juma. Don't worry, you just have to make noises like, "Arrrrggghhh!" when it hits you. [Notice, please, that I said nothing of being a "man" or being "manly." Way too cliche.]

Juma: Arrrrgggggghhhhh!

Sarah: It still hurts.

Juma: Have you ever played paintball, Mom?

Sarah [sheepishly]: No.

Juma: Dad, have you ever played?

Justin: Yes.

Juma: Did it hurt?

Justin: Not very much.

Juma: See mom, you are a genius!

Either Juma was being sarcastic or he thinks genius means someone who pretends to know something she couldn't possibly know firsthand....

Now you can read Sarah's version. Keep in mind that anyone that spells it bee-bee gun automatically loses all credibility. Even if she edits her post to show things like this or this.

Memory is something I'm spending a lot of time on lately--it is a big part of the upcoming orals section of my PhD. I'm becoming more and more convinced that memory is more "created" than "recorded." (And yes, I create just as much as Sarah does.)

Do any of you have conversations that one person remembers totally differently than the other?

old enough?

Driving along old Boston Post Road today, Juma and Justin discussed paint ball guns. Juma announced that he'd be old enough to have a paint ball gun when he's seven. This playful conversation ensued:

Sarah: Seven? I don't think so.

Juma: Yes! Seven!

Justin: Seven's old enough, isn't it?

Sarah: Noooo. Seven year olds aren't even old enough to not cry when the paint ball hits.

Justin: Well, he'll learn to take it like a man. Juma, when you get hit, you can't cry. You just say, all manly, Arrggh!

Sarah: He can learn to be a man when he's older and the paint ball hits.

Juma: Okay, fine, nine. I can when I'm nine. I promise! When I'm nine, okay?

Justin: I had a bee-bee gun when I was seven.

Sarah: Oh, bull.

Justin: I'm pretty sure it was seven.

Sarah: I'm asking your mother.

Justin: Whatever. Juma, it doesn't hurt even hurt.

Sarah: Doesn't hurt? It leaves welts. Anything that leaves welts hurts.

Justin: It doesn't hurt.

Sarah: Juma, it hurts.

Juma: Dad, does it hurt?

Justin: No.

Juma: Mom, you are a genius!

We bust out laughing and because we expected Juma to say, "Mom, you are a liar." Turns out Juma got the word genius from an audio CD of Toy Story. Woody tells Buzz, "The window! Buzz, you are a genius." Juma's also been quoting, "You are a sad, strange little man."

know-it-all

I know everything in the world.

No, you don't.

Yes, I do.

No, you don't.

Yes, I do.

What's 10+12?

That's the only thing I don't know. It's...uh,...15 million!

willkommen

Juma's cousin, Ammon, and my sister, Jody, arrived in Utah from Germany on Thursday night. Willkommen! It's amazing how close and how far away they can be at the same time. I think Germany might actually be as close to us as Utah is. When we head out to Utah after Christmas, Juma will be able to play with both Ammon and Ethan, both cousins within 7 weeks of his age. Juma really wants to go to Chuck-e-Cheese's with them. What do you say, Jody and Randall? (Just avoid the pizza at all costs. It tastes worse than a shoe sole dipped in rotten tomatoes. I would think.)

I think this is the most recent picture we have of Juma and Ammon together, and it's two years old. The most recent one we have of all three of the stooges, Juma, Ethan, Ammon, is from their first Christmas when they were infants. (Is that true?)

toys

Juma had to get creative with toys in Zanzibar last summer. We brought only a couple toys with us, such as this glow stick, above. In the lower picture, he's playing with a thrown-out piece of electronic equipment, I think. He was pretending it was a remote control (not that there was a TV). And of course the soccer ball was the most favorite toy for Juma and all his friends. And any adult men walking by.

chores, and forever

Yesterday: Juma asked if he can go outside to play. I said, "Sure, but sweep under the table first." Then I gave him my "I'm just teasing" smile. He responded with a smile that showed he knew I was teasing. He then went to the broom closet, pulled out the broom and dust pan, and started sweeping. And he actually did it right. That is, a pile of garbage and dust bunnies actually made it into the garbage can, rather than just getting pushed around.

Today: He sat on the toilet, counting. He counted all the way to 100, while a little help from me for the tens (fifty, sixty, etc). He then said, "I'm done. That's all the counting." I explained how he can go further. He got to 110. "That's it. That's all the counting," he said. I told him it's possible to count forever.

"Forever? Forever?"
"Yes, forever."
"Like all day? Like all day and all night?"

guitar

Last night before bed, Juma pulled out his "guitar," a racquetball racquet, and serenaded us. Strumming away on the strings, he sang about a chair, a forehead, and an acorn. He has a musical preference for "fast music," rap, hip hop, and hard rock. These songs took on a 4-year-old's version of hard rock.

"I have a chair, oh yeah, oh yeah.
It is for sitting on, oh yeah, oh yeah.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah!"

"There once was an acorn, oh yeah
It fell on the ground, oh yeah
It was so happy that it---"

He was at a loss for words on what an acorn on the ground could do when happy. I suggested that maybe it could grow into a tree. But he disagreed; an acorn that's not buried can't grow into a tree.

This morning he brought the guitar out again, and asked, "Mom, when I grow up, will you buy me a guitar? I really want a guitar." I told him that perhaps when we are in Utah, he could play a little on Grandpa's guitar, and see how he likes playing a real guitar.

"But I already know everything about playing guitar. I already know. I saw it on TV." He then proceeded to play some more, asking me to sing along the ABCs. Jamming away, he took a quick break in the middle of playing to mime tuning a string.

as time goes by

You know how you think of people as a certain age, frozen in time, but they just keep on aging, defying all doesn't-the-world-revolve-around-me-ness? Like how I still think of Aunt April as 33 and Aunt Danelle as 27. I don't really know why those ages froze in my mind. Maybe it was the first time I asked how old they were, and then I lost track. Now I'm 27.

And how my sister Melissa is 12 in my mind, because that's how old she was when I moved out. But now she's married and has a baby. Andria is 15, and Cameron 17, the ages when I first met them (I think). Nephew Isaac is 5, and his little brother Xander is 3 (they're actually 7 and 5).

Then there's how people feel an age, when their real age may be something entirely different. I'm been trying to pinpoint what age I feel, and I can't do it. I've tried determining my internal age before, and I couldn't do it then either. What does that mean? I'm not in touch with myself? Or I haven't reached my internal age yet?

look alike contest

My sister Melissa recently commented that Juma looks like Eric Lloyd, the kid from The Santa Clause movies. And Juma's teachers at school volunteered that he looks like Haley Joel Osment, famous for that movie that disturbed the wits out of me, The Sixth Sense.

So I'm taking a poll among all ya'll. (No, they don't say all ya'll in Connecticut, but I have a good friend from North Carolina. And she might say it. And my mom and my other good friend are from Texas. And I'm sure they don't say it. But they are from Texas. So that's my excuse.)

Which is it? Haley or Eric? (Or submit another name.) Not great pictures, I know, but you can find more through a google search.

Post your vote in comments. If you post using the "anonymously" option, just sign with your name in the comments box. Unless you want to post anonymously.

elections? what's elections?

No, I won't get into a political post, since I figure our political views clash with, oh, 90% of our readers. So I'll just leave that be.

But around dinner time we did turn on the TV to see how the House, Senate, and Connecticut races were going. That was unusual for Juma, because we rarely watch TV, and we generally do not let Juma watch TV during the week. (We "save up" his restricted TV-time for Saturday and Sunday morning cartoons, so we can sleep in a little. It doesn't really count, but it saves our sanity.)

Juma quickly got bored with political analysts, and asked Justin to change the channel. So instead of keeping up with the tight races, I heard Juma's running commentary on a monster truck rally.

Juma: Whoa! He fell over! Is he hurt? Dad, is he hurt?
Justin: No, he's fine.
Sarah: Gives Justin a look that says, Why are you letting him watch this stuff?
Juma: jumping up and down in excitement Wow! A pirate one! A pirate truck! It's a real pirate one, Mom! Look, he has a pirate flag! He's a real pirate. He is!
Juma notices Justin is holding the remote control
Juma: Don't change the channel. Stop. I want to watch this.
Justin: I'm just holding it, Juma, I'm not pushing the button.
Juma: Okay. Don't change it. I want to watch the trucks. (says trucks in a manly voice)

All right, so I probably made up half of that dialogue. But you get the idea. Lieberman-Lamont Senate race; Rell-de Stefano govenor race, whatever. We've got monster trucks!

learning new words. sort of.

Sarah: Juma, you get to have pizza twice today! Once at home, once at your friend's party.
Juma: No, I get to have pizza thrice.
Sarah: Thrice?
Juma: That means three times.

Juma: I have four favorite ice creams. No five.
Sarah: What are they?
Juma: Green apple. Chocolate. Vanilla. And I can't remember.
Sarah: What about mint chocolate?
Juma: Oh, yeah, that's my fifth favorite. Fifth? Does that mean five?
Sarah: Yes. What's your fourth favorite?
Juma: I don't know.

travel plans

We've bought tickets to visit family in Utah the week after Christmas. It'll be fun to see everyone again, and it will be interesting to have Christmas "alone" for the first time. We have some friends out here in CT, though, so we won't be too lonely.

Friends and extended family: If you will be in Utah end of December/beginning of January, do let us know. We'd love to meet up. Contact us for exact dates.

Halloween

First off, happy (late) birthday to Cameron K, who shares his birthday with Halloween.

The weather was perfect for trick-or-treating: cool, but not so cold that kids had to wear coats over their costumes. Juma loved going door-to-door, and we hit maybe 30 doors this year before he got tired. That's up from 5 last year.

Just like last year and the year before, Juma was a dinosaur. And he wanted the jack-o-lantern to have a scary face...even though it scared Juma.










"I want Halloween to be every, every day."

telephone

Juma found his long-lost, annoyingly loud play cell phone in the deepest recesses of the Couch Which Engulfs Everything, and had a "conversation" with his cousin, Xander. Juma asked Xander what he was doing, and heard that Xander experienced an earthquake "yesterday" out there in Hawaii, but that he slept through it. (Juma got his cousins mixed up. It was Isaac that slept through it, wasn't it?)

Funny thing is, Juma can remember he has a cousin named Xander who lives in Hawaii, but I bet he wouldn't recognize him if he saw him. It's been a couple years since we saw him. Neither Juma or Xander were talking then, so I can't imagine they've ever had an actual conversation.

Juma also had a conversation with his friend, Eden, who moved away this summer. When it was dinner time, I asked Juma to tell Eden we're eating now. "Oh, Eden? We're eating now, so I'll just set the phone down next to my dinner. Okay, bye."

playing in the leaves

We went out one evening to teach Juma how to play in the fall leaves.

fall finally fell

The cold, crisp, windy fall weather finally hit New Haven in mid-October. The maple leaves are the first to change to fantastic oranges and reds. Whenever I pass a maple at this time of year, I stop to stare at its fleeting beauty, and peak through the bright, warm colors to the cool brilliance of the blue sky behind. I think how wonderfully beautiful our world can be. It always reminds me of my dad, whose favorite season is fall, and who once told me his favorite color is the blue of the sky when peaking through the fall leaves in Connecticut in October. And I think about how amazing my dad is. Only he would think to have such a cool favorite color.

(Click on pictures to see larger versions.)

TV

We're not much into TV, and generally avoid watching any dramas that would pull us in week after week. You know the type: Lost, Alias, etc.

But on a tip from the Valenzuelas, I picked up the first DVD of the show Prison Break. It sat there on top of our TV for days, and finally the day before it was due, we pulled it out. And watched all 4 episodes in one sitting. Stayed up until 1am. The next day, I took the DVD back, and picked up the next two DVDs. We watched 4 episodes each over the next two nights. And there are still 10 episodes to go. Guess I won't be getting much sleep over the weekend either.

Thanks a lot, Valenzuelas. Some friends you are. ;-)

in anticipation

I checked Juma out of school to take him to the doctor for a follow-up visit. When I announced he'd need to get some "needle shots," he freaked out. The prospect of skipping nap time and hanging out with Mom all afternoon was ruined by the fear of the immunizations. I tried to explain what shots are for (he already knows about germs, killer T-cells and white blood cells), but a health science lesson doesn't really help when you know a nurse is going to stick you with needles.

He calmed down in the doctor's office, and we happily read a story until the nurse came in with 3 syringes (flu, DTaP, polio). Juma started bawling in anticipation. He's hated the doctor since he was tiny, crying as soon as he recognizes a white coat or a doctor's office. I held his wrist in the shot arm, and he asked to squeeze my hand to deal with the pain.

As he cried and struggled, the nurse poked the first one in.

And Juma started laughing. It was one of those strange laugh-cries, where I couldn't tell which it was. By the time the nurse poked him with the third one, he was definitely laughing.

He thought it was so hilarious that he was so worried about the shots hurting, but then they barely hurt at all. All the build up of fear was for just 3 tiny little pricks, and he laughed all the way out of the door.

craft time

Justin and Juma pulled out the little bottles of German window paints to paint a picture. One of the bottles was clogged so Justin squeezed and squeezed really hard to to get the paint out. But he squeezed so hard that the top popped off.

From the other room, I heard Juma start to bawl, so I ran in to see what was going on. He was splattered with generous amounts of paint all over his face, shirt, arms, and pants. It was also splattered on Justin, the floor, the chair, and the table.

Although Juma was crying, it was a funny site. I would have loved to take a picture, but I thought my duty as his mother would be to help clean him off, rather than embarrass him with the camera. So now we won't have the visual memorial of his little accident, but we also won't have him teasing-complaining to me for years to come, "Mom, you remember that time I was covered in paint, and all you did was take a picture? What kind of Mom are you anyway?"

Juma's 3 things...

Juma's "3 things that..." (with help from Mom and Dad)

3 smells that I love:
-banana bread
-jambas
-hot chocolate

3 smells that I hate:
-bathrooms
-BO
-dirty clothes

3 jobs that I have had in my life:
-kid
-line leader in preschool
-cleaner-up after myself

3 shows that I could watch over and over:
-Blues Clues
-Lazy Town
-Dora the Explorer

3 fond memories:
-flying on airplanes
-being picked up from school early
-playing soccer in Stone Town

3 jobs I would love to have:
-race car driver
-astronaut
-athlete

3 places I have lived:
-Zanzibar
-Utah
-Connecticut

3 things I like to do:
-play outside
-watch TV
-play with Mom or Dad

3 of my favorite foods:
-heart shaped pb & j sandwiches
-pizza
-sweet and sour chicken

3 places I would like to be right now:
-outside playing
-sports store
-athletic event

3 websites I have visited:
-Sesame Street games
-Blues Clues games
-National Geographic kids

3 things that make me cry:
-bathtime
-having to play alone
-not getting a treat before breakfast

3 friends that I am tagging (to post (or email) their “3 things that…”):
-Xander W
-Ammon K
-Eden V

3 things...

I've seen this kind of thing floating around the internet, so I thought I'd try it.

Sarah's "3 things that..."

3 smells that I love:
-mom’s freshly baked bread
-the air after a rain
-Zanzibari spices (cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, cloves mixed)

3 smells that I hate:
-body odor
-latrines
-silly putty

3 jobs that I have had in my life:
-Zuka Juice (now Jamba Juice) “team member”
-teaching assistant
-research assistant

3 movies that I could watch over and over:
-While You Were Sleeping
-Maverick
-Three Amigos

3 fond memories:
-my wedding
-taking two hours to say family prayer because we’re all just enjoying each other’s company
-arriving back in Zanzibar

3 jobs I would love to have:
-travel writer
-director of HIV/AIDS prevention/education organization in Africa
-food critic (just so I could eat all that great food for free)

3 places I have lived:
-Zanzibar
-Utah
-Connecticut

3 things I like to do:
-read
-explore downtowns of cities
-scuba dive

3 of my favorite foods:
-fresh fruits
-steak
-good European bread with good European cheese

3 places I would like to be right now:
-beach
-mountains
-snuggled up with Juma and Justin, “telling about our day” talking about random things and laughing

3 websites I visit daily:
-this blog
-my email accounts
-google

3 things that make me cry:
-movies that address the hardest aspects of life
-thinking about making my mom cry
-seeing Juma having a hard time

3 friends that I am tagging (to post their “3 things that…”):
-Natalie V
-Laura F
-Andria B

it's thursday

and we haven't posted since Monday, and yet I can't think of a thing to post. I'm at school trying to get work done, but it's not happening because of this amazing thing called the Internet. I still have a cold, and can't breathe through my nose, which is practically the worst state my body can be in because I hate-hate-hate breathing through my mouth.

But, yes, malaria and childbirth and lots of things are worse.

Thankfully, Juma and Justin have been spared the virus (so far).

My laptop had been out of commission since we got home from Zanzibar, but Justin ordered a new part and installed it himself, and now I have my cute, light, silver little laptop back and I'm so happy that we don't have to take turns on the other computer. Thanks, Justin.

wow

Once in a while the little squirt says something that makes all four years of sacrifice completely worth it:

"Goodnight, bud, have a good sleep. I love you." [kiss on the cheek]

[giving me a huge hug and a wet smacker]

"I love you too, Dad--so much that it fills the whole Earth."

slacker mom

I just took a online quiz called "Are you a slacker mom?" (designed after the hilarious book Confessions of a Slacker Mom ?) and my results:

Smarty Pants Mom

I really was hoping for Slacker Mom, because the author of the book makes it sound so great. I guess I got smarty pants because I listed I have a Master's degree (there was no option for pursing MA) and I like to read to de-stress. And eat chocolate. And eat yummy food. And do yoga. And spend way too much time online when I'm supposed to be writing a midterm paper but I feel terrible because I have a nasty cold and when will it all end?

Stone Town, Zanzibar

When we arrived in Zanzibar in June, we stayed in a guesthouse in a part of Zanzibar town called Stone Town, or the mji mkongwe, the Old City. Juma reunited with some friends he had met in 2004, and they played in the streets and courtyards of the 200-year old city.

things that go bump in the night

Happy Friday the 13th--in October. Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Is it a full moon too?

Last night the house was full of noises. Before bed time, Juma heard the upstairs neighbor stomp around, and asked "What was that? Was it a ghost?"

Then at 1am, the neighbor started stomping around again, stomp, stomp, stomp!
And I have a cold, so I was going cough, cough, cough!
And Juma had to use the bathroom, so he was going, Mom, Mom, Mom!
And a mouse found its way under the couch, and was going nibble, nibble, nibble.
And a police siren stopped a car on the street, going Wee-ooo, wee-ooo, wee-ooo.

And we couldn't sleep.

clothing

Every few months we find that Juma is growing out of all his clothes, and we head down to a consignment store to buy some used, but nice, clothing for him. Justin and I generally each pick out a few shirts and pants, then switch piles to veto any of the other's picks. (I just couldn't do camouflage pants.) Then we hand the pile to Juma so he can express what he really likes, and he definitely has a personality in clothing preferences.

These are some things he likes best:

Sports! Football jerseys, basketball tank-tops (anything sleeveless, really, which sometimes looks a little white trash), basketball shorts.

More sports! Any non-jersey T-shirt that has a picture of some sport activity on it. Snowboards (which Juma claimed was ice-skating), monster trucks (you can dispute whether this is a sport or not), race cars, basketballs.

Animals. Tree frogs, snakes, geckos. Dinosaurs. Rhinos. Sharks. Anything creepy, crawly.

Favorite color for shirts: orange. But blues and dark reds figure prominently in his wardrobe, because that's what companies make for boys.

Just in case anyone was wondering about his gender identity...

white rapper

do we have a little eminem?


or just a little M&M?

jumaggft7ttyytt 7777 beckham benjamin

richie rich, the dinosaur, and aquaphobia

Juma walked around the house collecting spare change, saying, "I'm getting richer, richer, richer! This kid is rich, rich, rich."
__________________

Juma and his neighborhood friend pretend to be dinosaurs in the last light of the evening.

_________________

I took Juma to his third swimming lesson this morning. Still no kid in the water. But I persuaded somebody else's stubborn 4-year old to get in. The head swim director said, "We've got to get you on the payroll!" Now if only someone actually on the payroll can get Juma to get in.

sunset

I was sitting at the dining table, eating homemade beef and barley soup leftovers for the fifth time this week, reading a homework book, Epic Journeys of Freedom, when Justin tapped on the living room window from outside. "Come see the sunset!" In a flurry, I slipped on some flipflops, even though I had socks on, because shoes would have taken too long; grabbed my favorite Canada jacket Natalie gave me, got one arm in; snatched the camera off the shelf, and ran down the stairs to the courtyard.

Because I hurried, I got these two shots. The views were much better in real life.

Within the time it took to take 2 good shots about about 4 bad ones, the sky had already changed:


It's the world a gorgeous place to be in?

physical

I've had to pull Juma out of school two days this week to go to the doctor for his school physical. The doctors checked out all the normal stuff, how are his gross motor skills, his fine motor skills, can you understand his speech, does he eat well, etc. Check his eyes, mouth, ears (ear tubes still in), nose. Juma was very cooperative and generally happy about the whole thing, except for the part where he had to show first the nurse practitioner-in-training and then the doctor his bottom to see if his eczema is clearing up. He's old enough to be a bit embarrassed about such things.

The next day we had to come back for an eye exam (passed with flying colors!) and to give a blood sample and--gasp!--a urine sample. Juma was pretty weirded out by that whole thing. He was quite brave about the blood sample, until the nurse told us she needed not a finger prick but a full needle-in-the-elbow sample. It took me and two nurses to hold him down and get the blood, the poor thing.

He got sympathetic looks from everyone in the health center as he left, sniffling, and holding his "wounded" arm out at an angle for at least an hour afterward. "If I move it, it will hurt!" He kept his sleeve rolled up and the bandaid on until bathtime, when the bandaid fell off. He was really concerned until he saw the needle poke: "Hey, it's really small!" he said happily, and forgot about the whole thing.

do the voices in my head bother you?

Juma snuggled up in bed with us at 7:30 this morning and announced, "I had a dream!" He then went into a convoluted explanation about "a really deep ocean and a map and we were in Germany and the map showed where New Haven is and Mom you were there! And you jumped into the ocean. It was really deep."

"Really?" I said, "because I had a dream about scuba diving in the ocean. Did I scuba in your dream?"

"No. Just jumped in." He continued, "There was an ocean in my dream. Mom, do you remember my dream?"

"No," I told him, "it was your dream."

"But you were in it!" he exclaimed.

I tried to explain about dreams and memories, and how it's only inside your own head, but he kept insisting, "You were in it. It was real. I'm right. I'm right this time!"

for Malia

This is Juma with his namesake. On the left is Juma's son Ibrahim.


Our happy little Swahili family.

Beckham, footballer

I picked up Juma from school yesterday to have his teacher tell me that they played soccer--"and Juma sure can play!" she said. "He played goalie. And he blocked every single shot!"

Okay, so what boy with the name Beckham can spend months in Africa (or anywhere outside the US, for that matter) and not learn to play soccer?

But he's in preschool for crying out loud, and those poor little 3 and 4 year old classmates of his just wanted to kick the ball and make a goal. And we have our little Beckham there blocking every last one of them. Denied!

He takes sports seriously. A couple weeks ago, his teacher told us he was playing defense in basketball, knocking shots down away from the rim. So maybe he'll be great at sports. But if he has this much of a competitive streak at age 4...

stories from the archive

How about another post about our summer?

The first leg of the journey brought us to Amsterdam, where we spent some time in the city. Since we'd just had an overnight flight over the Atlantic, Justin and I were dead tired, but Juma was ready for adventure, having slept the whole flight. So our number one goal was to find someplace where we could take turns resting and entertaining Juma. We'd already done a canal boat tour in 2004 (with the same Must Sleep imperative), and didn't want to again, but we stopped and took pictures near a canal anyway.

We settled on a park in the city center. It was full of people looking for a little leisure time, picnicking, biking, strolling. Justin cozied down under a tree and fell asleep, and Juma and I walked toward a pond and watched some geese and ducks dunking for bits of bread. Juma, having been anticipating our summer-long trip to Pemba, exclaimed, "This is the best trip ever!"

bad apple

Looking for a snack, Juma pulled an apple out of the refrigerator crisper and declared he wanted "one of these."

"Well, we already have two apples on the counter, I'll just cut a slice from one of those for you. No need to get out a new one when we haven't finished these apples, " I told him.
"But this isn't an apple," he answered, holding up the apple in his hand.
"Yes it is. We picked it just a couple weeks ago, remember?"
"But this is red and green."
"So is this one," I said, holding up one from the counter.
"But this isn't an apple! This is juicier and sweeter!" he explained.
"Oh, honey, that just means it's a good apple," I concluded, wondering if we've fed him nothing but mushy, grainy apples his whole life.

Later, when I recounted the conversation to Justin, Juma grumpily interjected at the end, "It's not an apple! Hmph!"

early fall in New England

school

I can tell I'm enmeshed in the semester again when I can't think of anything to post other than work and school. And no one wants to hear about randomized control trials and capacity development and new social movements theory.

Oh, wait, I don't even want to.

But Juma's school is fun. Yesterday Juma and a friend dug up a "dog bone" treasure, and today a butterfly is working its way out of a chrysallis. This morning we drew coconut and banana trees in pastels, fashioned a map to his school out of pegs, and read about apple picking at a local orchard. And he gets two snack times, lunch, and a nap time. I'm jealous!

He's having a little trouble adjusting to full time, though. He has plenty of fun while at school and never acts out, but he hates nap time (because he doesn't nap), and sometimes just can't stand to wait until 4:30 or 5 for pick up time. Every morning he wants to discuss, "Okay, when are you picking me up today? Before second snack time? Can't you come before nap time? Or how about when we're having second outside-play-time?"

Yesterday I picked him up during second outside-play-time, and he actually jumped up and down for joy and said, Yippee! But then he wanted to stay and play for another half hour. So we did. Playing at his school is way more interesting than playing at our house, where I can't help but start thinking about the laundry, the dishes, the homework hiding in my backpack.

another post

Should I really post when I haven't got anything to say?

happy...

Ramadan, (late) Rosh Hoshanah, and (late) first day of fall, and Juma's first swimming lesson!

Strangely enough, all four days fell on the same day this year.

Okay, so Juma's first swimming lesson isn't exactly a big deal, but it did take twenty minutes just to get him to put his feet in the water. And I just had to celebrate that achievement for our hyper-aquaphobic kid. You'd think that living 15 minutes from the Atlantic and, in the summer, 15 mintues from the pleasant, beautiful Indian Ocean, we'd have a swimmer, but no. This kid cries every time he has to take a bath. Every time. Daily.

teaching

You can probably guess which class I'm TAing this semester by the books on the sidebar.

It's called "State, Society and Culture in the Modern Middle East." Although I know next to nothing about the history of the Middle East, I am really looking forward to learning about it along with my students.

The only thing that worries me is how to keep a room full of very opinionated students from each others' throats when the discussion inevitably turns to root causes of the current quagmire in that region.

At least there will be lively debate, right?

my own little victory dance

Juma: "Where's Hamden?"

Me: "Up north--you know, where the pet store and the toy store and Walmart are."

"What's Walnut?"

"Not Walnut, Walmart."

"What's Walmart?"

Whereupon I do a little victory dance and think about how proud our friend and fellow Walmart-boycotter Natalie V. would be to hear that my little boy no longer remembers shopping at the evil empire.

And then I swerve and remember that I'm driving a car and really shouldn't be dancing and driving.

red-eye flights

I just spend a very quick two days in Utah visiting my parents; celebrating my Grandpa Wilson's 90th birthday; giving a lecture at my alma mater; enjoying a Matt Lewis band concert and their newest cd; eating some actual, good Mexican food with Justin's siblings; hanging out with 4 of my 6 siblings and their spouses and children; and meeting my newest niece, Mariah, and nephew, Max.

And all that in less than 48 hours. Despite the whirlwind schedule, the two red-eye flights, the rain and snow (in Utah in September!), missing Juma and Justin, and coming home to find Justin sick as a dog and Juma still in his pajamas at 10am, I had a great weekend.

When I came in through the kitchen door, Juma ran in from the living room and jumped up and down in excitement and did a little victory dance to have his mom back before giving me a big arm-and-leg hug.

It's rather strange to be hanging out in my parents' house one night, and to be 3000 miles away the next morning. It's amazing what cars, trains, and planes have done to our society. My friend in Pemba felt like she was so far away from her mom, and only got to visit her on some weekends. And guess how far away she was? About 2 miles. And since the bus fare was about 20 cents, she probably walked the distance most of the time. I think this friend has never been more than 10 miles from her home.

matt's new cd

I just got the new Matt Lewis Band CD in the mail today and have to say, "Wow, my brother-in-law can rock!" I know I could have scored a free copy from Matt or Andria, but it's always nice to help out a band trying to break into the market.

If you're at all curious, click here to check it out:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/mattlewisband2

You can listen to a few of the songs online to see if it's the kind of stuff you like to listen to.

Hurry up, though, before you end up like this guy:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30646
(Warning: naughty word in link)

Schlaflos in Muenchen podcaster, Annik Rubens, was recently horrified to learn that most people stop trying out new music at age 35. That means I only have five years left....

According to her, I've already passed the tongue-piercing age (23), but still have nine years before I start turning my nose up at new kinds of food (39).

exercise

For exercise and de-stressing this semester I decided to take a couple gym classes, yoga and West African dance. Yoga was just what I look for in yoga--calm, restorative, relaxing, non-competitive, but also challenging.

West African dance was active, aerobic, and fun. Just for the warm-up, the teacher, a man from Guinea, started us right in on a full-blown workout. It was like aerobics and stretching, but with a fast-paced, West African flair. It was a lot of fun, and it felt so good I thought I could run a mile afterward. The teacher's ten-year old son supplied the live drum accompaniment.

West African dance is way more interesting to me than Zanzibari dance, which is very calm and rarely expressive.

did you miss me?

Juma had his first full-length school day yesterday. I left him there at about 8:30am in the company of his new favorite teacher, John, and got back to pick him up at 4:40pm. Half of the kids had already been picked up, so I was a little worried Juma might have been desperately waiting for me to show up.

When he saw me, he had a huge smile on his face and came to give me a big hug. His teacher said he had a good day. On the way home, I asked him, "Were you waiting a long time for me to come?"

"Well," he explained, "the teachers said that mommies and daddies will come at different times today to pick up their kids." Phew, they had prepped him so he wouldn't wonder where his mom was if Simon and Aloni and Eliana had already gone home with their parents.
"Did you miss us while you were at school?" I asked.
He thought for a second. "No," was his answer.
"Not even a little bit?"
He smiled.

pick your own

I took Juma out to a nearby town where an orchard offers pick-your-own fruit. We got apples, pears, peaches, and 8 pounds of raspberries, and the chance to show Juma where fruit actually comes from. Juma helped by adding a total of 20 raspberries to his bucket, then claiming the entire, full bucket was his alone to eat, because, well, it was his bucket.

In the car ride home, he snacked on a few raspberries, and reported, "We picked good raspberries. I mean, these are really good." Then he suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream and started flailing his arms and legs. Since I was driving 65 on the freeway, there wasn't much I could do, but it sounded like he was scared. I tried to get out of him what was wrong between his crying and kicking, and it turns out it was just a little ("medium-sized") spider on his shoe.

on Pemba

Since I didn't get to post nearly as much as I would have liked while we were in Pemba, I'm going to try to post now and then about some of the experiences we had, and throw in some pictures as well. So here's the story of the day:

The day we went scuba diving, we boated out to a island called Misali. To get there, we hopped on a local bus (daladala) the diving company had rented for the day, and arrived at the mini-port about 20 minutes away in a village called Wesha. The problem with ports in Pemba is that most of the coast is choked by mangrove forests, and when the tide is out, the coast is nothing but muddy tidal flats. So our departure was delayed because the tide was so low that the boat sat on the mud, stranded. When it was time to board, we grabbed our gear and waded waist-deep in the murky, salty water to the boat.


At Misali, Juma and I got off and set about exploring the island while the rest of the group did their first dive. The thick, green forest soon surrounded us as we set off to find Turtle Beach.
We soon realized the path didn't get many visitors, because cobwebs stretched across from one side to the other, suprising us in the face a few times. Juma made me walk in front to bear the brunt of the web attacks. Juma cried pretty much the whole stroll, scared of cobwebs, spiders, and walking. At one point we had to crouch down almost to my knees to go under a spider web, and another time I actually totally ruined a web before I realized it and brushed the spider off of my clothes. Not having learned my lesson, I walked my forehead straight into a large spider's web--the same kind of spider we had in our back yard (in the picture), though not as big as that one, thankfully. (Do click on the picture to see a larger version and experience the enormity of the thing. The big one died about a week after I took this picture, and the little one from the left took over its web. Within about 6 weeks, it grew to be almost as big as the one on the right.)


Instead of making it to Turtle Beach, we took a detour to a sacred cave. There are three such caves on Misali, and they are said to be inhabited by jinn (rendered genie in English, but don't think Aladdin) or spirits.
These spirits can help diviner-healers treat illness, when given the proper treatment of sacrifices and gifts. I can see how people would associate ghosts with the caves; they're kind of creepy, and they probably make ooooing and whooooing sounds if there is wind. A sign asks tourists like us to respectfully stay out of the cave, as healers still use them. Though I think I would have needed a climbing rope to get down into it had I wanted to anyway.