Before I left for Africa a friend
and returning SM said to me that, “mission work really is just life in another
country.” I did not really think
much of the comment then, but in the last few months it has come to mind
several times. The truth in that
statement hits me occasionally and I just have to laugh. It is amazing to me how quickly we
adapt and how quickly things become normal. The novelty of something new and different quickly becomes
normal, and what was once foreign becomes so typical.
Now here at Maxwell, we have it
pretty good. I have hot, running
water (as long as I remember to turn on the water heater). I live in a gated and guarded community
about a half an hour from the largest city in East Africa. I eat most of my meals in the school
cafeteria and spend a good portion of my days in my little classroom that is
hardly a three-minute walk from my house.
One thing that constantly puzzles
me about Africa are the apparent contradictions that I see all the time. On the walk to Roungi I will see Land
Rovers and BMWs go flying by me on one side and on the other side of me will be
a little kid in tattered and dirty clothes walking to school. I will see one person in a suit walking
around talking on their I phone and then a few minutes later see an old man
beating his donkey trying to get it to stop. Yes, the beat the donkeys to make them go and to make them
stop. I am yet to figure out how
the donkey knows what it is supposed to do. The one that really gets me is when you pass by the grocery
store and there are chickens wandering around the parking lot or cows just
taking a nap in one of the parking spaces. All of these things, when I first got here were just
astounding to me and I was constantly shocked at some of the things that I saw.
Earlier this week there was an old
man and his donkey walking with a cart full of water I am assuming for his
family. He was struggling to make
it up the hill. The water cart,
the man, and the donkey were all sliding backwards down the hill. I quickly ran over to help him push his
cart up the hill. As I was pushing
and struggling to help him make it to the top of the hill I was thinking about
how easy it is for me to get water.
Here at the school we have water filters built into the sinks and I am able
to fill up my water bottle several times a day and yet within walking distance
of my home this man is struggling to get water home. These are some of the contradictions of Africa.
Yesterday was Friday and we had a half-day
of classes. So after classes
Tanzi, Emily and I walked into Roungi to some of the markets there. These markets are just so great! They are extremely crowded and you
never know what you will find there.
The stands are extremely close together. At the various stands you will find fruits and veggies for
very cheap. Ever wonder what
happens to all the clothes that people donate for kids in other countries? Well, they a lot of them end up in the
markets in Africa. It is so funny
to me to dig through some of these piles and find all kinds of brand name
clothing from the states being sold.
Now in the markets, if you are not
really interested in buying something you better not stop for too long or you
will be attacked. Not
literally. But if you look at one
thing for too long it means you are very interested and the person owning that
particular stand or shop will take that as an encouragement. They will pick up the object and start
talking about how nice it is and how they will give you a good price (which if
you are white is about three times what you should actually pay for it). If it is an article of clothing watch
out! They will try to put it on
you. And if it does not go on
easily, that is not much of a deterrent.
They can make it fit! This can be extremely entertaining, as long as you
are not the one being shoved into a dress.
It struck me again yesterday as we
were riding a crowded Matatu (a form of public transportation in Kenya) back to
the school how funny all of this is.
I have grown pretty accustomed to being stared at. It hardly phases me anymore. It does not surprise me to see animals
in the most random places. Seeing
large spiders and lizards crawling around in my house is normal (although
almost stepping on a tarantula in my room at 5 AM this week did phase me a
bit). My mom e-mailed me again and
reminded me that I need to post. I
really struggled to figure out what to talk about because its just life. I don’t have any amazing stories to
tell right now. I teach and I love
it. These kids make me think and daily they teach me far more than I think I am
able to teach them. But then I
remember what life was like back home and realize that while to me this is just
life, but to my family and friends at home it is still foreign and strange. So this is a little taste of some of my adventures in Kenya.
No comments:
Post a Comment