Koebbe.com

On our trip to Uganda there was a British fellow named Steve who filmed a documentary on our work at the orphanage in Lukaya. He's done a couple other documentaries on some of the children and the organization itself. The video shows our progress on our building project and us with the children.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=wwwhopedccorg to visit the site with video options.

The video we are in is in two parts called "Real Africa at HDCC Uganda part 1" (or 2). You have to scroll down a bit to find them.

And here is a link to our group page for Uganda photos. You'll find my photos in 4 folders near the bottom, if you're interested. All you need to do is enter the password: "cccc"

http://hpsmuganda.shutterfly.com/action/

.::enjoy::.
--------------

I've heard I needed some photos of animals we saw on our safari, so here goes, though they're not very good. The first image is of a baboon, 2.5 seconds before he hurled his sickly little monkey butt up to my bus window, grabbed the ledge, hissed at me with demon eyes and started pulling himself up to grab my food. I screamed like a 3rd grade girl and quickly shut the window, laughing hysterically. Hence why I didn't include this photo at first....

They were married last Saturday in Juarez, surrounded by friends and family. God bless you both in your new life together!

It was interesting to visit the El Paso/Juarez area, primarily because I had never been south of the border. Seeing the mountains that Cormac McCarthy imagined to be on fire when he got the idea to write The Road was pretty sweet... especially since it was followed by a discussion of The Road with Quijote and the dirty hippie.

The food was great, the hospitality was warm, the wedding was lovely, though I had to have Fernando explain some of the traditions to me. Such as the lasso. That was a new one to me, but was apparently a tradition older than using wedding rings. Basically, they had the couple kneel and they lashed them together with a lasso. When I first heard about it, I was hoping some cowboy would burst into the church and toss a lasso around both of them from the aisle while they struggled to get away, but that didn't happen.

Also, I loved the fact that they said each other's vows to one another in the native language of the other person. Behold, the foundations of a bilingual household.

Now, there is the subject of the reception. It was insane. I'm not going to sugar coat it. Three words: Surprise Mariachi Band. I think that pretty much sums it up.

In all, I wish both of you the best.

Now, Quijote, you just need to convince her to let you have a Corgi, and you'll be all set. Just remember the mantra: Cutest. Dog. EVER. ;)

There is a student in our Junior High group that I have known now for almost two years. He is a student that does not get a lot of attention. He has a physical defect that makes socializing a bit difficult. He has a lot of pent up attitude and anger towards his family and others, and treats other people in a harsh light at times. Each week he brings a Rubiks Cube to youth group and plays alone in the corner. I feel bad for this kid, but at least he is coming and trying to be a part of a community.

When he texted me a couple weeks ago about youth group, I was excited that he was making the effort to be involved. I had no idea who it was at first, so when I found out it was him, I quickly saved his phone number in my phone so I could contact him again at a later point.

So, last week, when I saw that he left a voicemail on my phone, I was very intrigued. Maybe he needs someone to talk to, maybe he wants a friend, maybe he's having trouble at home, maybe he can trust me to walk with him. When I finally got to check my voicemail, I was anxious - maybe this is the moment of break through. He's finally being social and reaching out for help.

1 New Message:

"Oh, uh, Mark, uh yeah, uh, I just saw a chicken at Blockbuster. I ran and scared it. I was just calling everyone I knew to tell them about the chicken. Uh, that's all. Uh, okay."

No goodbye, just a chicken. No life change, just a chicken. At Blockbuster.

Oh, I see.

Getting ready to start in the next 20 minutes.

Looks like I'm in for another day of writing for eight solid hours.

Pray now.

More later.

The new year is passed. The semester has begun. And already, I am swallowed whole by my work. I am not only running projects in the lab, but I am the full-blown lab manager this semester.

On top of that, I've begun work on my prelim examinations. I thought I would be able to finish them this semester, but the work is so sprawling that I will have to take the exams the first few weeks of the Fall 2008 semester.

Eastern Washington is drowning in snow right now. And I do mean drowning.

Oh, and we got a dog. We'll post pictures of him up at some point on one of our blogs or facebook pages.

That's about it. Beyond that, I don't have much else to say. I'm spending all my time and energy on my work right now (and driving back and forth from home and work). Blog posts are now on a "whenever I feel like it" basis. Don't be surprised by lengthy lulls.

The thesis is finished, the presentation is ready (and sounds very good, according to my advisor), and the clock is ticking.

Not long now.

The wife will be coming up to witness the defense. I'm glad she'll be there to see it.

Just a note to those who have my phone number - to anyone who thinks it would be nice to give me a call on Friday morning to wish me luck - DON'T. I will be so deep in preparation that I won't have the patience for a ringing phone. Plus, if I forget to turn it off, that would be bad. And don't call the wife, either (just in case she forgets to shut her phone off). Leave us be until this process is finished. If you like, you can call to well-wish on Thursday night, or wait to call us until after the defense is over (it will begin at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time and end at approximately 11:00 a.m. Pacific time, or 10:30 to 1:00 p.m. Central time).

Until then, I'm going to practice the talk once a day and reread as much as I can stand.

It will feel so good to have this done.

This post is for Joe. He likes to read blogs. So I figure I'd try to post something, though these photos came from his computer. Thanks for getting me up on one ski, Joe. You're an inspiration to us all, Papa K.

It was announced this morning that this adorable kitten has won the Nobel Prize based on his work with nuclear disarmament, climate change, multilateral negotiation in international politics, and giving the promise of a hopeful future to all people worldwide.

While the adorable kitten's worldwide recognition may seem premature to some analysts, they are forgetting HOW FREAKING CUTE IS HE??? OH MY GOSH I JUST WANT TO CUDDLE HIM FOR E-V-E-R!!!

What? Guantanamo Bay still open, Afghanistan still in shambles (let's not mention Iraq), nuclear capabilities in Iran, a continued oppressive dictatorship in Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea, and an unsubtle push from the US executive branch against liberalization of trade with our allies and economic competitors possibly heralding in a new Smoot-Hawley era?
BUT LOOK AT THE KITTEN!!!

The adorable kitten could not be reached for comment as it had recently left the country to appeal for the IOC moving the 2016 Olympics from Rio to the sunbeam in the den.

(I'm just not even going to list the amount of hard working politicians, economists, social activists, diplomats, who got robbed this year.)

Edit 9:15 AM:
Greg Mankiw is better at this than I am. But then again, he's also a Harvard Professor, and I'm a third year grad student at a Midwestern public university so... that's to be expected. See his take on the Nobel here. Also yet another part in the continuing blog cat-fight that is Mankiw/Krugman.

The last test is today.  But I'm not finished yet.  The paper has been extended to Friday.  It needs a lot of work still, according to my advisor.