My new normal

Sometimes I catch myself, or a teammate, doing something that seems totally normal. But then I realize that it is actually not normal, it is quite strange. After seven months of living in third world countries, here is my new normal….

 

Bathrooms 

• Flushing the toilet with a bucket of water.
• Throwing toilet paper in the trash can instead of flushing it.
• Always carrying t.p. with you because there's never any in public restrooms.
• If there is t.p. in public restrooms, it's usually outside the stall.
• Squatty potties.

  
  (This squatty from Malaysia seems nice after experiencing African squatties). 

• Taking ice cold showers.
• Taking bucket showers. 
• Never knowing whether or not the water is going to even be on.
• Sharing a single bathroom with dozens of other people. Being able to use one of the three bathrooms in my parents house whenever I need to go is a luxury I really look forward to. 
• Your teammates make a big fuss over you any time you shower and put on a clean shirt and some mascara. 

Sleeping

• Sharing a 10×10 bedroom with three other women and our packs seems like nice accommodations, at least we have beds! 
• Sleeping under mosquito nets, usually waking up wrapped up in it.

  
  (Our sleeping quarters this month in Rwanda). 

• Constantly sleeping with an eye mask and ear plugs.
• Having to make the decision between comfort (sleeping with the window open) and safety (sleeping with the window closed) every night. 
• Being woken up at the crack of dawn by a rooster right outside our window. 

Food 

• Killing a chicken behind the house. Said chicken being served for dinner. 
• Beans, rice, cabbage and plantains seems like an amazing meal, although I'd never eat any of that at home. 
• Eating Indian food with your hands. Sometimes forgetting and eating any and all foods with your hands. 
• Being able to buy fresh fruits and vegetables on the side of the road for dirt cheap. Bananas are about four cents here and avocados 8 cents. 
• American junk food staples are Pringles, Oreos, and peanut butter. You can pretty much find them anywhere. 
• The tea is never just plain. There's always milk or sugar or ginger or something weird in it. 
• My favorite snack is chapati.
• Spending your off day taking two different, crowded local buses to the nearest city just to eat Western food. 

  
  (Me, Erica, our translator Rose, and Helena, eating Western food in Kigali)

Church 

• Getting out of a 2.5 hour church service and thinking "Wow, church was short today." Last Sunday we were in church for close to eight hours. 
• Wearing earplugs to church because it's so loud. My teammate Helena has even started making and wearing her own discreet, handmade earplugs: chewed up gum wrapped in toilet paper. 
• Seeing a chicken or a goat or a stray dog stroll through the service. 
• Going to church four or five days in a row. 
• The pastor shouting "Hallelujah" and the congregation shouting back "Amen" hundreds of times during the service. 
• Getting up in front of a church to preach the Gospel.

  
  (Me preaching this month in Kabuga, Rwanda, at a conference hosted by our home church, Victory Church). 
   

• Accidentally attempting to pay with the wrong currency. 
• Knowing absolutely nothing that's going on in American pop culture. 
• People staring at us everywhere we go. Feeling a bit like a celebrity because people run up to us just for the chance to touch to hug us or take our photo.
• Checking for wifi immediately when entering any restaurant, mall, gas station, etc. 

  (Snagging wifi outside a Pizza Hut in Tegucigalpa, Honduras). 

• Taking off your shoes before going in a house or store or church. 
• Riding in a 20+ year old van for four to eight hours a day.
• Words that used to seem "churchy" or "creepy" to me are now a part of everyday conversation: prophecy, preference, inheritance, anointing, testimony, authority, intercession, convictions, harvest, flesh and spiritual warfare. 
• Any crumb left out will be immediately surrounded by ants. 

  

• Washing dishes and clothes by hand. I miss modern appliances! 
• Never having ANY alone time or quiet time. 
• Every night after dinner you sit down with your closest friends and give each other feedback for the day. I'm probably going to miss having at least six people give me compliments every single day after the Race. 
• Being expected to wear traditional clothing. 
  
  (My teammate Helena and I with Pastor John after a Rwandan wedding).