Little Known Facts about Little Ol' Me

During college, I spent a summer in the heart of Central Africa...miles away from "civilization."

On market days, our small group of missionaries would walk the paths of the market while hundreds of black faces stared at us. The "white" foreigners were a novelty. I felt like I was walking through the pages of National Geographic (okay...I just dated myself).

While there, I aquired a jigger in my big toe. I didn't want to have it removed because I really wanted to bring it home to show my family. But the missionaries insisted on the excision. For those of you with strong stomachs... http://www.jigger-ahadi.org/jiggers.html

One of my fondest memories is when I attended my first Swahili church service. Our college hymn (which I sang about 252 times in 4 years of choir tours) was "How Great Thou Art." During that first African worship service they sang that hymn at the top of their lungs. It was glorious! I couldn't understand a word of the service but I could join in on that song. Yes, goosebumps and tears! And a little bit of homesickness.

A few days later, I was sitting amongst a group of children who were wearing nothing but rags. I wished I could talk with them, make them laugh, ask them questions. It was torture not to be able to communicate with them. So I borrowed an African harp someone had nearby and I plucked out the melody of "How Great Thou Art." Their eyes, faces and bodies just lit up and they giggled like crazy! More goosebumps!!! We couldn't communicate with words but music was universal. I will never forget that moment. Before I left, a man from the village had made me a harp to bring home. I've searched the net and can't find a single picture that even comes close to it.

A few years later, the entire missionary complex was destroyed by civil war.

Okay...let's see who really reads these things all the way to the end. Another little known fact about me is...I once walked straight into a strip club in downtown Baltimore (don't ask!).