Married Life

I am now married. Getting used to the idea that people will now address me as Mrs. Schaff has taken some time but it is growing on me. It feels to me that the first few weeks of married life is like being in a cocoon wrapped up in the silence of togetherness and creating a new life away from the world. I am enjoying this, but more I am looking forward to the joint that will come forth. Who we will be and what we will do ....

Wedding logistics

Today it dawned on me that engagement is similar to pregnancy. It's a time to let the change that is about to take place in your life sink in. As more and more people hear the news it becomes more and more real. It's a feeling that I wasn't expecting. Happy and nervous at the same time.

There are also so many little things to do. Everyone expects things like flowers and cake and whatnot. I haven't gotten to those details yet. I'm talking to people about when they will come, where they will stay, where are Ulrich and I going to live? I've spent the last day and a half updating my address book (which is itself a major project). This afternoon I am going to look at reception sites. It all seems like a movie.

Getting married

Lent has always been an important time for both Ulrich and I. We each have used the season to rededicate themselves to faith and to grow in their walk with God. This year, as we had grown close we decided to share it with each other. For lent we decided that Ulrich would come over to my house every morning to work-out and do a morning devotion. To remember Passover and the bitterness of Jesus’ death, we started every meal with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. We had a plan to watch the sun rise on Easter morning as a celebration of Jesus’ victory over death.

The night before Easter, Ulrich left late about 11pm after watching Bio-dome with my and my little brother Scott. I was exhausted. But as I looked at my apartment, I thought to myself, "Jesus is raising from the dead tomorrow. After all this, you can't go to bed with a dirty house." So like Passover, I cleaned every speck and corner of my apartment. In cleaning out the refrigerator, I placed all the leftover matzo and bitter herbs on a white plate and covered with a cloth. I then put the ingredients for leaven bread in my bread-maker and jumped in the shower. I was so determined to make everything new. That night, I laid in bed waiting for Easter to come. It was like Christmas. I was so excited to greet the morning.

Meanwhile, Ulrich was home stumbling around in the dark trying to prepare a loaf of bread. A number of people had partied there the night before so he didn't get much sleep. But he didn't care. He was so excited that the moment he had planned so carefully was about to happen. In fact, he had purchased the ring back in January and was brimming that this bright morning he would give it to me.

It was still dark when he showed up at my house. Everything was white. I had placed white flowers and linens on all the tables and the smell of fresh bread filled the house. I was sleeping in the guest room on white sheets when he woke me up, "He has risen."

I jumped up, "He has risen indeed, hallelujah!" "We have to finish lent before the sun rises"

We hurried to the park in North Davis. It was chilly and he had brought a blanket to wrap me in. We sat on a bench facing the Eastern sky. The sun had not yet come up but the birds were already starting to make noises. He read the story of the burial and as he read we ate the last of the bitter herbs and matzo. We prayed.

The sun began to rise. The birds grew louder. There were more birds than we've ever seen there before. Ulrich began to read the story of the resurrection. We prayed. A hummingbird began to buzz around the bush in front of them. It was so beautiful. The whole of creation was thanking God that morning. Ulrich put his arm around I and began to pray about their relationship. It was deeper than any prayer he had prayed at that point. When he finished praying, we sat quietly for a while. The hummingbird came up close, about a foot from their face. I was mystified. It was as if the bird were smiling at us.

Not a few seconds later was Ulrich on his knee with the box in his hand. He opened it and pulled out a gorgeous ring. "Sara, your Dad said it would be ok if I asked, will you marry me?"



I was in complete shock, "Are you doing this? RIGHT NOW???"

I fell forward off the bench as he placed the ring on my finger. "Of course I will."

Laying on the couch

I'm not feeling well and I guess it gives me time to poke around on the internet and catch up on things like blogging. Spring is on the move in Davis. Flowers are starting to come out and the trees are starting to bud. Coming from Michigan, this feels so early yet I welcome it as spring is one of my favorite times of year.

A bunch of normal, ordinary days

Life has been more normal and ordinary than it ever has. Life in Northern California reminds me of "Everyone is free to wear sunscreen" It has been a period of great rejuvenation. My daily routine involves riding my bike to work, working, doing something at church and or hanging out in the evening. See, like I said, normal ordinary days. I've never had days like these so for me they aren't so ordinary but I am enjoying it.

A new day

So its been awhile so let me catch you all up. I've moved to Davis, CA to start a brand new adventure. This one proves to be a little softer. I got here and my first impression was -- is this pleasantville? I half expected to run into the Beavers.

My job here has taken some adjustment as it is a new position and both me and the organization are trying to figure it out.

I joined a church -- Davis Lutheran -- which has kept me pretty busy and allowed me to get plugged into the community.

I'm settling into my new place and starting to feel at home here. It's a new page and a new day.

Solar Eclipse

I get to mark one more thing off the list of things to do before you die. I watched a solar eclipse of the sun yesterday. It was a 98% eclipse, you needed to be about 100 miles north to get the full thing. However, it was still incredibly cool.

People here are still pretty traditional so they had to warn everyone ahead of time on the radio about what it was and why it was happening. Still, several people were either afriad or performed religious ceremonies.

I went with some people from work to the beach. I drew in the sand what was happening for some of the kids that came by.

At its most complete stage, all that was visible of the sun was a little sliver at the very bottom. Still this tiny tiny sliver, was enough to still make it impossible to look at without dark sun glasses. I was quite astonished how bright 2% of the suns rays are.

I took a picture for you all:

Here's what food aid looks like 

These dudes love this guys 

Here's the tour bus, loaded with groupies and music 

Groupies 

Notice the green dudes... 

International Woman's Day

To all the women out there, happy international woman's day. Here, the day was well celebrated at my job. All the women wore white to work. It was very beautiful to see. We additionally had a party at the end of the day. A guest speaker came to speak about civil law - birth, marraige and death. It was interesting for me to hear what Benin law and culture is regarding these life milestones.

Counting the votes

Cotonou was very quiet yesterday. Silently waiting for the elections to pass turning out a new president. The country was braced in case of violence. There was none. It was quieter than it has ever been since I've been here.

The polling stations closed late last night. I live next one of the mayor of Cotonou's Office (one of the candidates) All his people showed up about 12:30 or 1am to party the close of the election and the campaigning. It was the only noise I heard all day.

It will probably be a while before they figure out the winner. If in this election a single candidate was able to take more than 50% of the vote. He or she will be declared president. If not, the two top candidates will have a run-off vote in 2 weeks.

My guess is that we will have a run off vote.

The problem has been that the budget for elections was reduced and they didn't have enough voting cards or other supplies for voting stations. On top of that there was record voter turn out. As such, many people didn't get to vote.

Here's an article with more details.

Article about elections

Here's an article that describes well the situation here in Benin. Still working on getting pics

Elections coming....

Campaigns are in full tilt. In a day or so I will post a few pictures about how colorful it is getting. People dancing in the streets, music on buses all over the city, horns and all sorts of calamity.

The dynamics are very interesting. There are 26 candidates about 5 leaders. One of the leading candidates, Yayi Boni is a "Santos" coming out of nowhere and rushing to the lead. He has totally upset the apple cart. All the others have run at least 4 times and according to the way things have gone in the past, there is a pecking order -- this guy has never run before and has risen to the top.

A former director of several prominate banks, he preaches fiscal responsability and running the country like a business. A Ross Perot of sorts. He comes from the North, as have the last few presidents, which is a mark against him. People here vote from people from their region. So, this guy has a mountain to climb in reaching the southern vote -- but from what I see, he's getting the job done.

Among the other candidates are two sets of brothers from two prominate families. Each of them (and family members) have long served in the government. They are Kennedies and Bushes if you will. Same old same old, so people are tired of them. However, they feel that now that the current president is stepping down, they have paid their dues and it is their time.

On top of that, Benin has an age limit for presidency (not a bad idea). So one of the guys, if he doesn't get in this time won't be able to run again.

Another leading candidate is one of the richest men in Benin, who served as minister of finance, without taking salary -- to help the country. People know, however, that he is likely to use presidency to cut deals, etc etc.

Finally, there is a woman who preaches not feminism, but women's rights. Her platform of course is it's time for a woman to be president. She has, rightly, a large part of the female vote.

So that's Benin presidential trail 2006. Elections are this coming weekend. Pictures are to follow.

Hard at work 

Presidential campaign billboard - It will Change! Vote Yayi Boni 

The close of another ordinary day in Benin 

Boys will be boys