11 Things that are weird* about life right now.
. . . And 11 evidences that you can get used to anything.
*weird: a relative term, used in this instance mostly as a result of culture and very close community
1. I cuddle with almost all 50 pounds of my belongings at night because my mattress is the only available space for storage.
2. I use a mosquito net 30% because of malarial mosquitoes, 30% for flies, 30% because of cockroaches and spiders, and 10% because it makes one feel like a princess.
3. When you come upon a “shower”, it’s usually a confusing combination of buckets and holes you will troubleshoot how to use. There may or may not be water present.
4. My brothers and sisters on my team have intermittently had roles as my best friend, my greatest frustration, my preacher, my pastor, my mom, my conscience, my alarm clock, my inspiration, my reminder list, my mirror, and my reality check (eg. “Jenna, yes, he overcharged you because you’re white but it was actually only $1. Let it go.”) People are versatile.
5. In the past month I’ve eaten peanut butter on apples, crackers, bread, oatmeal, carrots, cookies, bananas, leftovers, and 3 other types of bread. Peanut butter is also versatile.
6. I grocery shopped in the dark. Truly, I used a flashlight to find the right aisles. This is power rationing at its finest.
7. The most important part about bathing is if you are cleaner (not necessarily clean) afterward then you were before. Temperature, privacy, surroundings, soap, and water quantity are secondary.
8. There are 5 females on our team. I’m pretty sure I can correctly sort all of our underwear to its rightful owner.
9. When I meet someone new, I will not be surprised if in the first 2 minutes of meeting, they (age dependently) climb on me, play with my hair, yell mazungu [“white person”] in my face, ask for my email, ask me to take them to the USA, or ask if I need a taxi.
10. When I’m in transit, this means I am sharing leg sweat, touched by humans on 2-3 sides, and bracing myself for bumps so my tailbone doesn’t fracture. Oh, and we may or may not be sitting on seats.
11. The sweating is rather constant. I’m pretty much wet or at least with a layer of moisture all the time. As I sleep, when I walk, when I think, as I sit, as I bathe, as I dry off from bathing. The best part is when I’m cooking and realize what I thought were the flies landing on me is actually my own beads of sweat trickling down. I’m not sure if that’s a win or a bummer.
These things are funny and sometimes frustrating as we live them, and I’m sure they will be funny stories after the race. I’ll testify now though, while I’m in the moment, that weird is not equal to bad. None of these have at all detracted from the fullness of life. In fact, when put next to the amount of God’s love and glory I see every day, and the way the Lord is sanctifying me, the permanent dirt in my toenails basically ceases to exist.
I also want to point out that life is great here. We have lights, a stove, a faucet, beds, and even a COUCH!! Not to mention our adopted family of 4. These things do not go unnoticed.
P.S. The photo with this post is during a mouse hunt we had in the living room. We were unsuccessful. Now every morning we find a piece of produce that has been victimized.
