adventures

We've settled into Merced, but a nasty little virus has taken turns torturing Justin, and now me. I'll spare you the details, but it's pretty incapacitating, though relatively short-lived. Juma hasn't been bothered by it (knock on wood), and we haven't spread anything to Lance's kids, whom Juma plays with every day.

Other than that, we've had a couple adventures. One is swimming lessons for Juma. This for the kid who cries, or at least panics, every time he has to take bath. He just cannot stand to get his head, especially his face, wet. And swimming lessons involve actually going under water. The teacher, the same one who taught Juma's Aunt Andria many years ago, is nice enough to take it easy on him, but push him just enough.

Our other adventure began when Justin read in the local paper that the city bus rides are to be free of charge, to help keep down smog levels. Feeling all environmentally friendly, we decided to take the bus to the farmer's market downtown. It was a great idea, except that Rick (Juma's grandpa) had to ride in a wheelchair; Justin is still in his walking boot for his bum ankle, and Juma is five and really good at complaining. Oh, and it was about 90 degrees by 10am. The bus stop was only a few blocks away, though, so we made it all right.

The bus ride itself took us on a 30 minute tour of Merced ("And on your right, you'll see the really crappy Walmart; avoid it at all costs...There's the high school where Justin played some pretty great practical jokes; ask him about it sometime...Don't miss the Merced Mall on your left; dubbed the Most Pathetic Mall by people who grew up here...").

The farmer's market featured some great local fruits and vegetables, and we loaded up on white peaches, pluots (combo of plums and apricots), tomatoes, nectarines, and plums. Then we had to wait until the next bus would come by...30 minutes later. We spend the time at a nearby cafe, drinking cold drinks and chatting. We almost missed the bus as it came by again, but the driver was nice enough to stop for us.

So our 15 minutes at the farmer's market took up all morning, and with the heat, we were drained the rest of the day. But, hey, we saved on gas.

california

We just spent two days driving, with a night in Nevada, to end up in California. This will be our base for the next few weeks as we prepare to go to Tanzania once again.

Juma is used to driving by now, especially since he had his Leapster and mini-DVD player with no restrictions on how many times he could watch Toy Story in a row. I think he set a new world record. When Juma complained in the car, we explained patiently that when we were kids we did NOT stop halfway, did NOT have DVDs and the only games we had to play were the Alphabet Game and the License Plate Game. So quit complaining!

Merced is, as always, hot, but air-conditioned. We have access to a swimming pool, and Juma is starting swimming lessons with his cousins. Yesterday, he willingly got in the water, and even put his head completely under. This is amazing considering his last swimming lessons he never actually set foot in the pool. Great job, Juma!

birthday pictures

My mom, Kelly, and I tested our skills with Juma's Spiderman cake.



Juma played happily with cousins and second cousins.





My cousin Jon and my brother Rus delighted the kids with a spontaneous Max puppet show.





And Juma was in the same place as all his Wilson cousins, for the first time in 2 1/2 years, and the last time in at least a year. (For this picutre, Gwen was asleep inside, and two second cousins are in there too.)



Thanks to everyone who joined us for Juma's birthday! Juma says thanks for all the presents.

Happy Birthday, Juma!

Five years, our little man, and loved every one of them.

newborn




6 months




2 years



3 years



4 years




5 years, with attitude

deathly hallows

I arrived at 12:01am Saturday, to hear the jubilant cheers of other Harry Potter zealots celebrating the first sales of the seventh book. Andria, humoring me, waited in line with me, around the corner of the building. Thirty-five minutes later, I had my thick, orange copy in my arm. After driving home and enduring some gentle teasing from Justin about my devotion to the boy hero, I started to read.

I read, without getting tired until 5:30am, slept a bit, then read every second I got (and I got a lot of them) until 11pm Saturday.

I won't say anything more to spare you from spoilers. But as soon as you finish, let me know, so we can talk about it!

dragons

Juma: Dragons are real, you know.

Sarah: Are they? How do you know?

Juma: Because.

Sarah: I thought they were just pretend. Is there any evidence that dragons are real? Where do they live?

Juma: They live in Africa.

Sarah: Really? I've been to Africa, but I've never seen any dragons.

Juma: They're really hard to see.

Sarah: Are they invisible?

Juma: No. They just have camouflage. Really good camouflage.

Sarah: Oh! But what do they eat?

Juma: pause Elephants.

Sarah: Wow. Let's talk about that some more. What evidence so we have that they are real, and what evidence do we have that they are pretend?

Juma: They're real! Uh-huh, they are!

Sarah: Hmm. Well, I've never seen one in a science book. How come scientists haven't seen them?

Juma: Camouflage.

Sarah: But if scientists thought they were really real, I bet they'd try really hard to find one, so they could take pictures and study them.

Juma: They live far, far away in Africa.

Sarah: So do giraffes and lions and hippos, but we've seen all those.

Juma: They hide real good. In the grass. They have lots of little green spikes that come out all over, looks like grass.

Sarah: Then how come we haven't seen any dragon bones, like we do for dinosaurs, mammoths, horses?

Juma: They sink way down, down, down into the ground.

Sarah: Oh? How come the dinosaur fossils didn't sink way down?

Juma: The dragon bones are really, really heavy.

Sarah: If the bones are so heavy, how do they fly and walk?

Juma: Well, they're kind of heavy, and kind of light.

Sarah: I see. You know where I've seen dragons? In books of pretend stories.

Juma: trying to please me They're just pretend.

Sarah: People talk about them in make-believe, and that's okay! It's really fun to believe in make-belief stuff, and tell stories about them. Dragons are cool in stories!

Juma: They're real.

Sarah: Well, we don't have evidence that they are. And we do have evidence that they aren't. Do you know what evidence we have that they aren't?

Juma: shakes head

Sarah: Well, lots of people all over the world have stories about dragons. But in those stories, the dragons are always different. In China, in Africa, in Europe, always different. Even the dragon you told me about, it's different. That tells me the dragons are in people's imaginations. 'Cause horses? In all the stories that have horses, they're always the same. They look like the horses we know about in real life.

Juma: slight dismayed But they're real.

Sarah: It's okay to think about dragons, honey. They're fun, aren't they?

The next day, Juma was having a conversation about dinosaurs with his cousins. He turned to me.

Juma: to Sarah, earnestly Wait, how do we know dinosaurs are real?

Sarah: Because we can see their bones.

Juma: satisfied Oh, right. Right. Dinosaurs are real.

sneaking

Juma: Mom, I'm good at sneaking candy.

Sarah: You were sneaking candy behind my back?

Juma: Not your back! I was sneaking it behind my back.

the amazing new super hero

Sarah: Juma, finish up your lunch.

Juma: No!

Sarah: Are you hungry?

Juma: No!

Sarah: Please finish. Then we can go play with your cousins at Grandma's house.

Juma: I don't want to!

Sarah: I think you're tired.

Juma: No, I'm not!

Sarah: I think you should be a superhero: Contrary Man. Yep, that's your super power, to be contrary.

Juma: I am not!

hp

My name is Sarah, and I'm a Harry Potter addict. I bought tickets to see the 12:30am show, and Justin's long-suffering enough to come along with me.

Now I feel a little lame, but that's okay. I'll go to bed happy.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Eight years and counting.

fireworks

Justin and I drove up to Park City to see the firework show up there. By putting down a couple blankets, we reserved a great spot on some nice, green grass a couple hours before the show was to start. After a dinner with the slowest service ever, we found the spot again and settled down for the show. The fireworks were big, loud, and colorful, exactly as they should be, but nothing memorably out of the ordinary for a fireworks show. Unfortunately, though, a large light was several yards in front of us, but we just blocked it out by laying back and holding a blanket up a ways to limit our range of vision.

As I contentedly snuggled up to Justin's shoulder, screams suddenly broke the normal chatter of the people surrounding us. In a panic I started to sit up, thinking that somehow, some sparks had fallen and ignited a blanket in front of us. I saw the group of people in front of us were grabbing their blankets, and in that split second I was watching, a heavy spray of water splashed against my face.

Sprinklers.

Sprinklers had turned on, apparently on their normal nighttime schedule.

Now the Park City fireworks show will be memorable for me.

kids these days

playing dinosaurs with cousin Xander

Juma: It's the Cretaceous period.
Xander: Yeah, I'll be T-rex.
Juma: T-rex didn't live in the Cretaceous period!
Xander: Yes, he did!
Sarah: What dinosaur are you, Juma?
Juma: Um, what's it called? Oh, a horned meat eater.
Sarah: Oh, a ceratosaur.
Juma: Yep.


watching a "prehistoric beasts" show, Silurian Period

Ammon: The water is so green!
Juma: Yeah, from all the allergies in the water.
Sarah: Algae?
Juma: Yeah, algae.

10-year reunion

This last weekend, when I was in Laughlin, my high school class had their 10-year reunion. The old student body president called my mom looking for an update on me, and I guess she lied ;), because he was impressed about what I've been doing the past 10 years. He asked me to write up a little blurb for them to read about me. This is the blurb they read (I'm assuming they read it):

......

Sarah Wilson Beckham, MVHS 1997

You may remember Sarah Wilson, now Sarah Beckham, as That One Girl on the Drumline, or as One of Those Kids Who Took Too Many AP Classes. Or perhaps you remember her as One of Those Rare Girls Who Managed to Hang out with Kartson Carr Without Drooling Over Him. What you probably do not remember about Sarah is that she always had a passion for Africa. Ever since she was too young to remember, she wanted to trek to Africa and learn Swahili.

As a junior in college, her opportunity finally came to go to Tanzania, on the East African coast, with a study abroad program. Armed with two semesters of Swahili language courses and some anthropology, she arrived on the tropical island of Zanzibar, 30 miles off the coast of Tanzania. She was majoring in International Development, and hoped to study how village women made money in the informal economy. But fate had a different path for Sarah. Two weeks after arrival, she found herself sick with body aches, fatigue, and a high fever. She had malaria. Her husband of only five weeks, Justin, took her to a Russian-trained Zanzibari doctor, who treated her with some drugs. The drugs did not cure her malaria, though, and she tried treatment after treatment. Finally, after five weeks, five rounds of drugs, a dozen malaria tests, two nights in a hospital, four different medical clinics, and some crazy drug-induced dreams, Sarah overcame the resistant strain of the parasite.

Instead of doing the sensible thing of just flying home, Sarah stayed in Zanzibar. Inspired by her harrowing experience with malaria and the local health care system, Sarah decided to focus her attention on public health issues in Africa. The rest of that semester in Tanzania, she studied peoples’ experiences with malaria, a preventable and treatable disease that kills at least one million children every year worldwide. Sarah went back to Tanzania again two years later, in 2001, this time leading a group of college students. Three years later, in 2004, she returned once again, bringing her two-year old son along (he got malaria, but Sarah knew how to treat it properly this time).

In 2005, Sarah began a graduate school program at Yale in public health and African Studies. For her summer internship in 2006, she returned to Tanzania to study maternal anemia in a high-poverty area where 50% of infant deaths are related to anemia. She is currently drafting a paper for publication that gives recommendations on how to improve the situation there. This fall, she will once again travel to Tanzania with her husband and now five-year old son, to do research on how poverty, illiteracy, and local culture affect access to medicine for people living with HIV/AIDS. She will graduate with a joint master’s degree in 2009, and hopes to work to improve public health interventions by making them better fit the local political, social, and economic context.

She has never gotten malaria again.

laughlin

For the weekend, we drove down to Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona with Matt and Andria. Matt, of the Matt Lewis Band, had two solo shows there in Bullhead, so we made a mini-vacation out of it. We enjoyed an afternoon jet skiing and lounging on the Colorado River, giant breakfast buffets, swimming, Matt's shows, and some responsible gambling.

We figure if you set a limit--$10 or $20--and only gamble with that and whatever earnings you get, it's just some entertainment like any other. If you're itching to gamble more after that original limit is gone, it's time to leave the casino floor. Justin had an intense round of bingo, competeing with some fierce 80-year-old women who have 10 bingo sheets at a time. Later, he won $110 on a slot machine. I'm not much into gambling--I've taken too many statistics classes, I guess, to believe I might actually win--but I couldn't leave Nevada without trying something. So with $20 that Justin had won the night before, I headed to the roulette table with Matt and his friend, Johnny, while Justin kept Juma from "underage loitering in a casino." I lost all $20 in four spins, less than 5 minutes, and wasn't too pleased. Especially since Johnny won $93 on the same four rounds. Oh well. At least I know I don't have the gambling bug.

More fun for me was the jet skiing on the river. We spent an hour convinving Juma to come with me on the ski. He finally did, but cried the whole time, even though I didn't got over about 15 miles an hour. If you go any slower than that, the river controls you, rather than you controlling the ski. Juma just cried and cried, saying, "I wanted to give Daddy a goodbye hug! I didn't get Baba a hug! That's why I'm crying!" As if we were leaving forever. He gave Justin a big hug when we got back to the shore, five minutes later.