Green Is My Favorite Color

Lately I've been thinking about the color green. Green happens to be my favorite color because of trees and nature and such. I also happen to have a pretty awesome car known as Green Machine. But neither of these are the reason that green has been on my mind. I've been pondering green because it's the color of jealousy. Let me explain . . .

I am now in my fourth year working at ALA. I am yet to receive any major media attention highlighting how awesome I am. The best I've gotten is a cameo in a student's campaign video to be student govt treasurer. Hannah, on the other hand, has been here four months, and she is already creating her own little media empire.

About a month ago, you go to the CNN African Voices page, and bang! there is Hannah's face staring at you! CNN was doing a video on ALA asking "How do you build a network of leaders?" and, as the perfect still-frame to represent the answer to that question, they chose to show Hannah in deep discussion with a student :) Check out the video below:


(Note: go to about 6 minutes to see Hannah's star performance :)

But it doesn't stop there! A couple weeks later, Hannah gets VIP front row tickets to see Janet Jackson, and then gets to go do a little meet-and-greet with Janet after the show. Apparently Hannah and Janet are BFFs now, and a photo will be up on Janet's website soon.

So I've been asking myself, what is it about Hannah that makes her instant media sensation? Is it her charisma and charm? Her stunning good looks? I don't know exactly what it was that caught the eye of CNN and Janet Jackson, but I know that my eye was caught as we crossed paths for just three days in a Ugandan refugee camp, and I soon found myself writing this girl and inviting her down to South Africa. So I guess I can't blame them :)

David's "To-do" List

David and I are different in a lot of ways but his "to-do" list says it all. In many bright colors, David has a program on his computer that organizes his to do list into twenty different categories. Color-coded and organized, I even have my own personal pink tab! :) I'll never forget the day David asked me how I normally keep organized. I smiled and said, "I create to-do lists in my head."

If you ask any of my old roommates, they might just let you know that I'm not exactly the most organized person you'll ever meet. But, in great David fashion, he's rubbing off on me. I just created a color-coded I-calender with ten different tabs on my new MacBook. :)

I know, ladies back home, you're probably thinking, "Hannah, trying to be organized, really?"

I'm trying!

Adventure Golf

After spending all our time teaching and trying to be mature around high school students, sometimes it's fun to pretend we're back in high school ourselves :) So on our date nights, we find ourselves walking through the mall holding hands or going to the drive-in movie theater. We also each have a competitive streak, so we've faced off at the bowling alley and the arcade. (We're not going to discuss what happened at the basketball free throw game at the arcade, but suffice to say that David's professional basketball career is not progressing all that quickly.) But so far, the most epic showdown has been at Adventure Golf. Not putt-putt golf like in the States, where you hit a ball across a small green into a whole. No, this is a whole other ball game, with bridges, tunnels, caves, and holes long enough that I'm tired just walking to the end of it. And there's not 1 but 3 courses at Brightwater Commons, just waiting for us. Hannah and I each bring different skills to course - I'm a bit better at the long shots, while she is the master at the short-distance putts. In our first face-off, I pulled off a victory with my male ego nicely inflated. But we immediately hit the second course, and this time Hannah took the lead, coming at two shots ahead as we went into the final hole. Then tragedy struck, and the ball refused to obey Hannah's wishes on the last hole, allowing me to sneak out a win. Good times all around, and certainly a place we will be going back to. And in true David style, I have created a spreadsheet to track how we do on each of the courses through time - yes, I'm a dork :)

Beginnings

David has a way of freaking me out.  Our relationship has been defined by what I like to call "David's crazy questions."  He sits me down, orders me coffee, and then pops bold questions that usually make me need to call a girlfriend as soon as possible.  How do you feel about moving to Africa?  What do you think about taking PEC with me?  How about working at ALA?  Last Tuesday he proposed creating a blog together.  I know, I know, its not quite as crazy as moving to Africa, but still, its significant.  So here we are, David and Hannah, actually together on the same continent, blogging together.

It's funny how things work out.  It was just about a year ago that David and I started writing emails back and forth.  I had definitely "noticed" him in Uganda and found it odd just how much we had in common.  I guess I never thought that we would actually keep in touch after that trip.  I still remember getting his first email about "church recommendations in Colorado" for one of his ALA students.  Being a girl, my friend Beth and I analyzed what the email meant over a long skype call.  Beth told me, "Hannah, he didn't write ME an email and I actually live in Colorado."   That email followed many...and here I am now..actually in Africa..working at the same school...sitting next to this handsome fellow.  

God works in crazy ways.