Hazardous Journeys

Manhood from Hazardous Journeys on Vimeo.

All the videos in this set are beautiful (very visually stunning, and have a wonderful messege) but this one is stunning.

It is the third, so watch all three!

Thalia's Facts of Life

Working in childcare means that half the adults you meet seem to be expecting (dads don't tend to come to drop off or pick up - unless expentant Mum is labouring or is recently become unexpecting).

The kids are all always excited about their new babies. Which is really sweet. But then their friends get excited and declare that they too are having a new baby soon.

Whether they are or not.

But you can never tell. We've had mums get to 7 months before they were really showing.

Anyways, when I came into the room, Thalia ran up to me. "My Mummy's having a baby!" she told me excitedly.

"That's great!" I said.

"Yeah! She went into the toilet, and now she's having a baby!"

Sam Gets Asked for ID

I don't drink much. I occasionally buy a small bottle of Pink, and have that while I read a dodgy romance novel (they're terrible sober, but delicious when slightly intoxicated).

I borrowed a novel from the library, and went to buy a bottle of champers from Woolworths.

I got asked for ID.

I offered my working with children's check. "You only need it if you're over 18. Otherwise, you ARE a child," I explained.

It was not accepted.

So on Monday, I went to Coles. Same thing. I was getting annoyed. I mean, sure, there are few things more obnoxious than intoxicated teenages, but I'm 27, getting only 250mL of alcohol, and drinking at home.

I guess that even though my eggs may be screaming out that they are fast reaching their use-by date, my face is still going strong.

So I went home, and got out the one type of ID I have. My passport. And went to Dan Murphy's, which meant I didn't need to cross the road, like I would have for Coles.

The guy serving looked about 14. He didn't ask me for ID.

Guess he understands my pain.

I alway knew I'd have Asian children...

but I kinda assumed they would be girls.

Instead, I've got 2 sons.

Isaac (at work) calls me Mumma, and cries when I leave the room. He also spends half his time running up to me and the other half running away from me. That said, he is 18 months

But my other Asian son is from church. And he is a little older than 18 months.

Vincent is my oldest child, but definitely not the most mature. In fact, he spent most of my first ever care group lesson trying to distract me and cracking jokes. And calling me Mummy.

But he made up for it. The lesson was on how Proverbs 31 is relevant for the whole church. And one of the verses we talked about was, "Her children rise up and call her blessed."

At which he stood up, and then katowed to me, shouted out "Blessed!"

Now to expand my family... who knows? Maybe I'll even get a girl?

Sam Is An Artist

As most of you know, I'm planning on going back to Uganda at least once this year. I will be working with orphans and street children, which is something I am quite passionate about.

In order to raise funds for this trip, I've been busily making some beautiful paintings. Here are some that are available for sale.









I'll likely be posting more in the near future.
All paintings are $20, and go towards my plane fare and other expences. To put it in perspective, flights were a little less than $2000 last time, and staying cost another $650. Immunisations cost over $1000, but I don't need them again. I'm expecting my next trip to cost between $4000-$5000, as I will be going for longer and there will be other expenses.

As of writing this post (18.01.12) I have raised $280 in about 2 weeks! Praise God!

Sam Gets Spammed

As most of you would know, I got spammed a while back. I picked it up within minutes - it turns out emailing the Chinese Embassy about their human rights abuses has more benefits than just letting them know that there is an international presence watching over the way they treat their citizens.

I got a lot of emails back about it - mostly people letting me know that someone had hacked into my account, but a few people wanted to know what the photos were of. My sister opened it, thinking it was pictures of my trip, and then sent to everyone an email saying that I was a big fat meanie for not mass emailing everyone that I got spammed. Silly me. I thought one spam email was enough.

Anyway, the funniest email I got in reply was from Kushbu - who asked me why the heck I was sending her photos, given that she's blind. Which made me laugh a bit. Guess those spammers can't get us all!

Kallie and the Homeless Dude

Kallie was standing near the train station, and this homeless dude came up to her, pressed 50c into her hand, and said, “It won’t buy you much, but you can have it.”

That’s right, Kallie got GIVEN money by a homeless guy!

She did try to give it back, but he rejected it and laughed.

The funny thing is, she and Stephen had seen him the night before, and he was begging, and asked them for change so he could buy a pie. Stephen isn’t the fondest of giving money to beggars, so he offered to give them some of Kallie’s groceries. But in the end they gave him enough money to buy his pie and… a million dollars.



Okay, it was a million dollar tract.

The guy thought it was the BEST. He thought it was one of the most hilarious things he’s ever seen. Kal’s not sure if he can read it, but he’s now apparently going around showing all his friends. So Stephen’s managed to get a homeless guy to witness to all his friends.

And to give Kal his spare change.

Got my Nails Done

So, a while ago, I got my nails done. It makes you feel pretty, and I needed it. You see, in Uganda I had boys literally throwing themselves at me and declaring their undying love. I got hit on more in one day than I would have pretty much in the rest of my life put together. And back in my teenage days, I got hit on a fair bit.

And I cam back here. One of my friends at work (who's half African) pointed out that while African guys will always compliment, Aussie guys make you work for their compliments.

I laughed. "I've got it worse. I mostly hang out with Chinese boys. They won't even tell you when you look good... Only when you don't!"

Hence the nails.

Sam looks pretty now!

Most Common African Conversation

Hey, Hi, Mzungu, can I walk with you?

Um, Sure.

Mzungu, what is your name?

My name's Sam.

Sam? That is a BOY'S name.

Well, in Mzungu countries, it is a girl's name too.

So, Mzungu, Sam. I want to be your friend. So you can give me your phone number, and I will phone you, and we will have lunch tomorrow.

I don't have a phone.

But... how do your friends find you?

They know where I am.

But, what if they want to SPEAK to you.

Then they have to wait.

You should get a phone.

I'm only in Uganda for 3 weeks. I'm not getting a phone.

Hmm. I know! I will give you MY number, and then you can phone me, and then we can have lunch tomorrow.

Well, you can give me your phone number, but I won't phone it, because I don't have a phone.

You could borrow someone else's phone to phone me.

That's not going to happen.

You know, Mzungu, Sam, you are very beautiful. Are you single, or are you married.

I'm single. I'm also not looking, because I'm only here for 3 weeks.

But... every girl wants to get married!

I would like to have the option of knowing a guy for more than three weeks before marriage. He might not want the same things as what I want. Besides (with the aim of messing with minds) what do I need a boy for?

Children.

I'll just adopt.

But... mzungu...

Oh, here's the (school, compound, etc). See you later!

Quote of the Day

At my staff meeting appraisal, we were talking about how there will now be a staff pack because some staff (and lots of relievers) are dressing inappropriately.

My statement:

Modesty: I'm got it covered.