Becoming one of the ladies

 From the beginning, we have felt very welcomed and accepted by the students and their families. One of the women's favorite things to do is hang out in the afternoons and drink tea and coffee together. So this week my new teammate Kathy hosted a Ladies Tea at her house.

From my years in Yabus I remembered that ladies love having their toe nails painted so I brought a little bag of nail polish. When the ladies were finished drinking their tea and coffee, I took turns going around the circle painting ladies' nails the color of their choice.

Then yesterday I was invited to one of the lady's homes for coffee. Most of the student wives came too. I've noticed that many of them can't remember my name because it's so strange and new for them. So yesterday I suggested they pick a new name for me - one they can remember. So they each wrote their name of choice on a piece of paper, folded it, and put it in a pile. I got to pick one and that was my name. So I would like to introduce myself to you: My name is Nyadeng. My name means rain. I asked them if they named me Rain because I arrived during the rainy season and one of the ladies said, they named me Rain because Rain is a blessing and I brought the rain/blessings when I arrived. :) So sweet. So now I'm Nyadeng. Some of you might think I have an identity crisis since I was also given the name Yasmiin while we were in Khartoum, but it's not confusing for me. I LOVE that they've given me a Dinka name. To me this means they've accepted me as one of them, one of their sisters, and for that I'm overwhelmingly thankful!