Anne

A very windy Day!

I told you I would probably ramble about meeting Anne for at least three days! It was very strange have a total stranger sitting in a place of honor at my table. Someone who up to just a year ago, lived a vastly different lifestyle and could not imagine how someone like me lived. She envisioned America as a country with nothing but big, tall buildings everywhere. Was she suprised to land in Claremore, Oklahoma where we have lots of green, open spaces and not-so-tall buildings. She said Claremore was a good size town, not too big, not too little. I told her we were pretty proud of it too! A place big enough to get the things you need but small enough that where ever your kids go, there is always someone you know!

Thinking back to Easter dinner, I wonder how odd it was for Anne also. She grew up in a mud hut. Sleeping and eating on the ground. I had her sitting in a nice brick house, sitting at a table with table linens and flowers on the table, eating off my good dishes. Eating foods that were very foreign to her. We had ham, they don't eat much meat. We had spinach salad, they don't eat greens. Their diet mostly consists of milk in various forms. They are just now beginning to grow crops like maize and rice. We eat way too much sugar. She did eat my tropical cake and said it was good! We are planning to invite her over some sunday afternoon and have her show me how to cook a meal like she would eat at home. She was really excited about this! I am too, it will be fun to make a traditional Maasai meal.

My husband asked her what was the most astounding, fascinating thing she found when she first came to America. I figured it would be the internet or television or something technological. Well, kind of.....it was a machine, a vending machine! She laughed when she described putting money into it and it having just what you wanted to eat or drink. If you decided that it didn't have what you wanted, you also pushed a button and your money came back out! That was most fascinating! A machine that held food for you! There are also machines that you put money in to do your laundry! Such luxuries we have in America!

I can truly say that meeting Anne has changed my outlook. I'm so glad that God placed this young woman in my path!