Some CIU Memories...

Construction

Darkness has fallen. I am slinking around like a vagabond in a field populated by large metal monsters of magnificent machinery. I scramble up into one, and then another. Sometimes crawling into the cab and pretending to operate the controls, sometimes sitting aloft upon the great neck of the excavator. There are people across the field and I can hear them talking. Suddenly one of them spots one of us and we'd be in his sights assuming he had a gun. I hear a cry of "Nasara!" and the quick response "Nasara!"  then a stream of French comes wafting across the field. The man is asking us what we are doing. What are we doing?

Visitors from Foreign Parts?

Here I am having lunch at the cafeteria with some friends. It might seem like a regular occurrence on a normal sunny Saturday, but look closer. Our group consists of five people - three ladies and two gentlemen. The women are clad in flowing attire with faces covered. Only their eyes would be showing if they weren't hidden by dark shades. The two accompanying gentlemen are dressed in blue with flowing cream-colored turbans wrapped around their faces hiding all but their eyes which are also shaded with sunglasses. Do these people belong here or do they come from Somewhere Else? Methinks the latter.

Fishing for Fish
I feel a little funny tramping through West 1 with my brother and thirteen-year-old sister, but we are with Scott, so it's perfectly okay. I do feel much braver with him in front of me in this hall of guys. We are going fishing. We stop by his room and get the fishing pole and tackle box. We tramp gleefully down the hall and out the other end, and head for the pond behind the Prayers Towers. It is a beautiful day. We take turns with the pole, even Abby. She gets a nibble but doesn't reel anything in. "Fish are attracted to me!" she says. "Not only the fish," this from Scott. Oh Great Scott! He tangled the line in a weed. I'm the first to offer to step in and untangle it. I'm not sure he likes the idea, but I plunge in before he can stop me. Minutes later I'm back at the shore and he's hauling me out. I was succesful, but now I'm soaked. We head back, completely fishless, but in good spirits.