Drougerias. A different one on every corner all offering hundreds of medications and each with its own freezer case of popsicles. Some also offer “fotocopias”, because why not meet your printing and pharmacy needs at a one-stop-shop?
Motos. Motorcycles everywhere. Why walk through the small town where everything is reachable within 15 minutes when you could ride your motorcycle instead?
Hombres. The men here let you know what they want. If you have legs and lips (and I’m guessing skin color might be involved) you will receive cat calls walking down the street. If you make it 5 minutes without one, you earn a point.
Jugo. There are fresh fruit stands all over the streets. Walking home, I can impulsively buy a pineapple and bargain it down to $0.66 USD. However, the “fruta” everywhere is seldom consumed in its raw form. Because every home owns a blender and its just as easy to peel, slice, de-core, blend with water, strain, repeat, and add cups full of sugar for EVERY MEAL.
Famoso. “I heard there were North Americans in town!” said the one English speaking high school boy who ran into us on the street. “I saw you on the Facebook page for the elementary school! Who are you??” asked a woman in the bakery.
Contacto Físico. No reason for alarm if a man has his arm around another man’s wife. Everyone kisses on the cheek—they are just saying hello. Strangers on the street stick their hand out to shake in passing.
Agua. Running water is available in shifts throughout sectors of the town—two days a week to each home. It is not safe to drink, only for bathing. Its collected in a large trash can and you get a bucketful to “shower” yourself. There are oftentimes little larvae swimming in the water and you have to close your eyes, pour it over your head, and pretend they are not there.
Mucho Calor. Sweat, sweat, and more sweat. Do not expect to ever feel clean. And when it gets below 80 degrees late at night or early in the mornings, expect all the locals to be wearing jackets and telling you it is cold.
Sin dormir. Staying up late, waking up early, the Colombians do not seem to sleep. I will give them credit for knowing the power of siesta. But one day, there was a party in our house at 4:30am. That was rough.
Hospitalidad. My Colombian padre Wilson brought me breakfast in bed on off-day. He refills our trashcan of water everyday. They have even begun to sneak into the room and wash our clothes. No complaints here!
El carro. Cars park in the house. It is not safe to leave your car or motorcycle on the street. Each home has its set of barn-like doors and a ramp leading inside. And that’s where you park.
Enfermo del carro. When riding in a vehicle, dramamine is required. Their roads are completely made of potholes or around twists and turns through the mountains. Car sickness is not a ‘maybe’.
Frito. All of the food is fried. Like Paula Dean with her butter, the Colombians like their skillets with oil. Empanadas. Fried yucca (a common root similar to a potato). Fried corn cakes. Fried plantains.
Manicures y pedicures. If your nails look ratchet, you will have to fix that. Most likely with flowers and polka dots and some intricate design. I asked for French tip but that is boring, I was told.
La playa. At the beach, all the women wear see-through dresses over their bikinis into the ocean. Also, everyone takes full-on showers in that little dinky side of the bathroom stall…except the dirty Americans.
La iglesia. Church is not a Sunday morning thing. Well, it is, but the “big service” is Sunday night. And Thursday night. And Saturday night. And church meeting on Monday. Prayer meeting on Friday. And small groups Tuesday nights. Just to be safe, you could probably show up the other days too.
Facebook. Everyone has Facebook. The average number of Colombian friend requests per day is greater than or equal to 5.
Hector. There is an older boy who knows we do not speak Spanish yet comes and sits with us everyday and continues to ask us questions everyday while we say “No comprendo” everyday. He Facebook chats all of us, everyday, “Hola”, 10 times.
Valeria. There is a nine year old little girl who calls me her best friend. Yesterday, she reposted a Facebook advertisement (yes, I know she is 9… EVERYONE has Facebook) with our picture on a coffee cup. To make it even better, the post’s location was “watching Disney Channel Latin America”.
So many interactions, so many sights, so many habits of this culture are WEIRD—but that is my definition. For them, this is normal.
In all of my abnormal psychology classes, they teach that cultural norms are one of the most important criteria to consider when diagnosing patients. I see now with my own two eyes why that is true. The whole city of Planeta Rica does not have obsessive compulsive disorder, but they do all mop the sidewalks outside their homes every morning. Colombian men do not have hypersexual disorder, but they are overt and eager in expressing their feelings toward women. The city doesn’t have insomnia, they just work early before it gets too hot and work late when it is cooler again. Not right, not wrong, just different.
I am going to let you in on a top World Race secret. We do odd things to make us feel more at home. We all have our vices, and I have a confession. I downloaded and watched this season of The Bachelor. I’m not ashamed! In the last episode, Ben’s pastor was on the show on standby to “perform a ceremony”. He preached a sermon at his church addressing his presence on the show and the kickback he received from it (See below). Watching his message really convicted me.
Self-righteousness is an overlooked Christian faux pas. Romans 14 in the ESV begins with the heading ‘Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another’. Verses 2-6 are as follows:
“One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.”
Ethnocentrism is a sin. Our way in the good ole US of A is not superior. Nor has Colombia got it “right”. My way is not “more right” than that of my ministry team. Their way is not superior to mine. Each holds its own significance in relation to the Lord. All created in His image. All subject to His judgment. Not each others.
With the Lord, there is no judgment when the Pastor goes on a dating reality TV show, someone parks their car inside their house, or a team member has a different opinion on how we should teach our English class. Differences are what make us unique. Differences in opinion, differences in lifestyle, differences in our approaches to reach the world for Christ. Not right, not wrong, just different.
This is what Jesus came to establish as the ‘New Normal’. Where LOVE is all that is absolute truth. Love and the Word of God. Everything else is for Him to decide.
2016-04-03 Bachelor from Warsaw Community Church on Vimeo.
