Well, after being in Africa for 3 months, I’ve started to get used to things a certain way. Some of the things I have gotten so used to that I might try and incorporate into my life even outside Africa are…
* I’ll say “take care” & “sorry, sorry” whenever anyone else trips, falls, steps on thorns, etc.
* I’ll secure my house at home with walls covered in shards of glass or a thorn bush fence.
* I will get a keyboard to play diddily’s in church during introductions and good words in a sermon.
* I’m going to get myself a beating stick to use on misbehaving animals & children.
* I’m going to put up signs on everything I have that is NOT for sale.
* I will dig a hole in my yard to put all of the trash. Then I will burn it from time to time.
* I will buy a 13-seater van and pack about 30 people in it and drive them around town for cheap.
* I will grow coffee beans and export them all so that I can only drink instant coffee.
* I will only serve meat covered with bones and fat.
* I will whistle instead of saying “excuse me”.
* I will ride a bicycle with at least one more person and 300 lbs of supplies on it.
* I will brush my teeth with a stick.
* I will add a “Mzungu tax” to any sort of service or goods that I’ll sell.
* I will tell people that the longest way to places is the shortcut.
* I will no longer be using toilet paper and I will dig a 4″ wide hole in the ground for bathroom purposes.
I’m sure if you’ve been to Africa, you will probably find this list amusing. It’s all things that you get used to, but at first catches you off guard. I enjoyed my time in Africa, but just wanted to capture the funny side of living there. :0)
We are now in India, living in the north-western Himalayas. It is very cold and the food doesn’t sit with me well. :0( But it is beautiful here and we are able to go to individual homes and have “church” with them. We will mostly do home visits and also youth services and church.
