Pandemic Board Game

I had heard of cooperative board games but didn't really understand what that meant until I actually played one. The concept of all players being on one team so that everyone was working together and all would win or all would lose as one seemed rather cheesy. I mean, let's all be honest, what's the fun in not getting to beat anybody else? It sounded like a modern twist on the old Ungame (board game in which you talk about your feelings and there is no winner or loser).

Well, let me tell you, there is a lot of fun to be had in Pandemic! Sara and Julie, two friends from Hope College were here visiting over the weekend, and Julie brought the game with her. We played six rounds of it all in one day, just because it was very fun, and we were determined to win. Finally, on the sixth round we got it. I think if we won too easily, it wouldn't be as much fun, since in a game with four players, you should only win about 1/4 of the time (I know, I know, that's not how it really works, but if all players were equal and luck distributed evenly, that's how it should pan out). Having a cooperative game that is a true challenge made us all put our heads together and try to plan moves out for each player in advance in hopes that we might win. Guess what? It was really fun!

Should you be interested in aforementioned game, it appears that the cheapest place to buy it is on Amazon: Pandemic on Amazon

I highly recommend it!

On this date...

November 25 is one month before Christmas, is sometimes Thanksgiving day and is always Thanksgiving week, at least, and is a memorable day for us - the anniversary of The Flood and Jerod's birthday!

Way back in 2011, we had a week to remember. We had recently returned from vacation, and I returned with cases of both malaria and dengue fever. Just in case one mosquito-borne illness wasn't enough, I picked up two. I've never been so exhausted in my life! I missed an entire week of work because I was lying on my couch either asleep or acutely miserable most of that time.

Our amazing friend Holly was living next door to us at the time, and I remember one day she came over for dinner. I had mustered the energy to attempt to cook, but halfway through I told her, "I think I need to sit down." I guess I looked like I was going to fall over right then and there, because she ran and got me a chair and made the rest of the meal herself while I sat there. I don't think I managed to eat anything.

Thursday of that week was Thanksgiving, and I left the house for the first time that evening, and ate my first food of the week at Thanksgiving dinner. And then on November 25, we awoke to rain on Friday morning, and then THIS is what happened: http://www.amsandeen.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html

To keep things exciting, that very night we had visitors from America arrive for a visit, too! Just in case being doubly sick, a flooded house, and a big holiday weren't enough, how about two guests coming? Of course the runway in town was flooded, too, so they had to fly into a city several hours away and we didn't know how or when they'd actually be arriving in town, and they had no way to contact us...

On November 25, 2014, we had another "visitor" arrive - Jerod! He wasn't due until mid-December, but he wanted to arrive early, and I certainly wasn't opposed to the idea. Because he was born on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we skipped last year's celebration. It seemed a bit much to try to put on a big dinner on our first day home from the hospital. We were certainly very thankful for our healthy little boy, though. We were also very thankful for a house that wasn't flooded, and not being sick with malaria or dengue fever!

Flowers from our backyard (former backyard, that is)

I was looking through a folder of pictures on my computer when I came across the flower pictures below, which I took in 2011. This fabulous plant was located in our very own backyard in Musoma. I was fascinated by how the flower grew downwards and spread out as it matured, starting at the top and moving downwards over time. It was about 18 inches long (.5 meter) when fully in bloom. Isn't it beautiful? A friend (who used to live in this house) called it an ornamental banana plant, I believe. The leaves certainly resemble the leaves of a banana plant. They grew to be about 10-12 feet tall - our own tropical jungle!

First and Second Thessalonicans and the Epistle of Jacob

When doing translation work, I am dealing with several languages at once - Ikizu and/or Zanaki, Swahili, English, and Greek. It's easy to keep them all straight except when it comes to names. For example, sometimes if I am writing in English after having been reading Swahili, I will accidentally type "Yesu" instead of "Jesus." I always catch myself right away, and it's not a big deal.

However, the other day I wrote 1 Thessalonicans. It looked wrong, but I couldn't figure out what was wrong about it for a moment. I mean, Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus is called Ephesians, and his letter to the church in Rome is called Romans, his letter to the church in Thessalonica should be called Thessalonicans, right?

Wrong. You forget that this is English we're dealing with! The equivalent of Thessalonicans is what the people of Thessalonica are called in Ikizu, Zanaki, Swahili, Greek, and most other languages around the world (having not done a scientific study of it, I can't give a percentage of that), but oh no, not English. I looked up everything I could think of online that might be enlightening as to why good old English decided to drop a consonant out of the name, but alas, I came up with nothing. Nobody wants to admit the slip-up happened! In all fairness, it probably happened in the Latin Vulgate and good old King James carried the new name over. But as to why it has never been added back in, well, I should write Tyndale and Zondervan and complain!

 And as if that weren't enough to put poor English speakers over the edge, have you ever thought about the name James? Want to know what the name James is in Greek, Swahili, Ikizu, and Zanaki, and many other (sane) languages around the world? Jacob. Oh yes, Jacob.

In Greek, meaning the original New Testament, the name is Iacobus. The name came from Hebrew, where it was Yaaqov (think Yakov, which, if you say it aloud, is easy to hear is nigh about Yacob. Then you have to remember that English likes to turn Y into J). But, all that to say that Iacobus somehow because Iacomus in Latin, and then, English took that and ran far, far away with it. To keep things interesting, English decided that in the Old Testament we could keep Jacob, based on the Hebrew name, but that in the New Testament, we should have James.

If you want to see other "Jacob" names that have ended up in other languages that also got tweaked out by Latin, here's a little sampling: Jaime, Giacomo, Seamus, Hamish, Jack, and Diego.

As for me, if I ever accidentally refer to the Epistle of Jacob, forgive me. I was probably calling it that in Swahili earlier that day. If, however, I start talking about the epistle of Seamus, just send me on a vacation to Ireland, because clearly I need it!

*To be perfectly clear, I want to make sure everyone knows that I still fully believe in the inerrancy of Scripture and the accuracy of these translations!

Child Labor

In the fall in Pennsylvania, even kids have to work!

Freezing Fall Fun at Vale Wood Farms

In the corn box

I asked Zarya if I could take a picture of her having fun (she really loved this corn box, probably because it was semi-indoors and therefore less freezing), and she agreed, but said, "I'm not going to smile, okay?" I waited a little while, but she was determined to not smile for the picture. Crazy toddler! Anyway, her favorite thing was covering her legs in corn. Other kids were making corn snow angels and filling and dumping buckets; it was good fun for a range of ages. Jerod, however, was not allowed in the corn box, because he'd just try to eat the corn, I'm quite sure! The one problem of all of this corn play was when I helped her take off her shoes and socks later at home, corn fell out all over the kitchen floor. And it didn't end there; when she went to the bathroom, more corn came pattering out from inner layers. It was kind of like sand at the beach, except at least your hands feel clean after playing in it!

Brr!

Jerod had a slightly less exciting day. Not being able to walk is a serious hindrance to having fun. He liked about half of the hayride... His highlight was the chickens. I don't know why, but he burst out laughing when he saw them. Also, of course, he liked his picnic lunch. He's a happy eater!

As for me, my highlight was visiting with my friend Shannon! Second place has to go to the coconut ice cream we brought home with us. Yum!

Brownies in the Bathroom

I am not sure at what point one crosses the line between being reasonable and being ridiculous, but the other day I made brownies in the bathroom. Bathrooms are often associated with brown things, but brownies aren't the usual topic.

Jerod was asleep, and I was concerned that the noise of the electric mixer would wake him up. His room is almost directly above where I would normally do my Saturday afternoon baking. I was experimenting with whipping the butter, sugar, and eggs for an extended time after reading about something similar on a baking blog, so the mixer needed to run for quite a while.

We generally try to avoid getting too near the obnoxious end of things, such as refusing to flush toilets, talk, move, or breathe when a baby is napping. But two baby-free hours on a Saturday afternoon is pretty precious, and I was willing to be a little ridiculous!

Oh, and regarding the end result: I think it improved the brownies to do some extra whipping. It also made them larger, because of adding so much extra air to the batter. I ended up with an extra pan of them, in fact; it increased their volume that much. How obnoxious to have an extra pan of brownies...