We spent the past 3 months in Africa and certain things became very normal for us. These weren’t the norms for the whole time that we spent in Africa but a lot of these are the norm for the “bush”.
1. You are thankful for a bed… even if it is twin size and you have to share it with one of your teammates.
2. You are thankful for toilet paper, running water, and a “normal” toilet… instead of a squatty potty.
3. When going to the market to get chicken, your choices are: “do you want a dead or an alive chicken” and to make your decision your response is: “which is cheaper” .. an alive one… “do we have time to kill a chicken today?”
4. You wash your clothes by hand and hang them to dry.
5. You learn to eat with your hands… even rice!
6. You are continuously asked if you are bathing. Showering is no longer a normal activity… it is an event. When you bathe it is a bucket shower and you have never felt dirtier… the water from your hair is black. You have dirt caked on your skin.
7. You hike a mountain to get internet.
8. Your snot is black from all the dirt you breath in.
9. You are treated like a celebrity just because you are American.
10. You ride around crammed in the back of a pick-up truck or “buckey” as they call it.
Like I said, the past 3 months we spent in Africa. It was a great few months! Now we have jumped time zones (13 hours ahead of EST) and will be in Asia the next 4 months. This month, we are in the Philippines on the island of Mindanao. We are working with 4 other teams and are partnered with Kids International Ministry (KIM). We have a lot of different ministry opportunities that we are all excited about!
