Here’s some post from my journal this past week. Tomorrow we leave for the bush until Friday, so things are about to go up a notch! Please continue to pray for our team & the Turkana people. There’s a ton in my journal, so I just posted the highlights (sorry if it’s a little scattered). It’s a lot, so I bolded the funniest stuff if you only have time to skim.
I think this from my journal best describes my first day:
When Eric drove me to Peter’s today, I had this feeling of manliness. The sun was setting and I was embarking into the unknown. But after waking the whole camp in search of a trash can for my tissues from my prescription nasal sprays to only discover they don’t have trash cans or toilets or even tissues, I was reminded that I grew up on a golf course!
Day 1:
As I sit here sweating my butt off after going to try and poop to discover a hole in the ground in an aluminum shed with no toilet paper, I can’t help but wonder, “What have I gotten myself into?” It finally hit me as we were pulling into Lodwar airport that this summer was going to be a little different than life in suburbia. I don’t know what put off that vibe. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the rural setting, or maybe it was the fact that the airport was a strip of asphalt in the middle of the desert! For real our driver picked us up right off the plane
…I will say there’s nothing like eating goat as they chop it up behind you with a machete…First night, I’m thinking they’re probably taking us to stay with American missionaries that live right beside each other. Not even close! I get dropped off with a Turkana family around 5 and haven’t seen Kyle or Michael (other interns) since about 2 PM. The family barely speaks English…Me and Peter (who I’m staying with) took a walk into the market, & I’ve never felt like such a celebrity. Little kids kept coming up wanting to touch my hand or pet my arm & leg hair. I even let a few pet my beard which was pretty funny…It’s definitely true the Turkana women do all the work. Peter’s wife cooked, cleaned, brought water to me to wash my hands, & even still managed to find time to throw her shoes at the kids and goats when they misbehaved. Kenyan women seem to have something about throwing their shoes. It’s pretty funny! But the whole time Peter just sat there chilling right next to me. He wouldn’t even let me get up; instead, he’d have his wife bring me anything I needed from inside…Oh yeah, we slept on mats on the ground outside!
Day 2:
Bathing consists of going into what looks like a port-a-potty shed with a small bucket of water, bar of soap, & their community shower shoes (didn’t expect them to have those!) It wasn’t too bad, but it’s a little strange to squat down & splash your butt & legs. Speaking of squatting, I attempted to poop today but got stage fright on the way down & postponed it for another day. After bathing I did like every other Turkana & hung my toiletry bag on the latrine door & brushed my teeth, sprayed my nasal sprays, & put on sunscreen & bug spray. Just kidding—not on my part—but their hygiene is a little different, so they all stare at me as I go through my morning routine. They don’t need sunscreen or bugspray because their skin is so dark & tough, and they just brush their teeth with a stick that soaks up fluoride from their water supply. The sunscreen/bugspray thing is working out for them, but not so much on the teeth brushing. Most people’s teeth are really orange or brown (found out it’s actually from too much fluoride)…One of the goats this morning got into a bag of brown sugar & ate the plastic bag. Paulinna (Peter’s wife) grabbed its hind leg & beat the crap out of it with a stick. Peter even backhanded one at dinner for getting near the food…Sammy (our language teacher) came by and quizzed me on my Turkana & told me I would be “Turkana Master” in one week. People must usually be pretty bad because I’m nowhere close to being good…I’m not really sure what people do for work. I ask a man at Bible Study his job, & he said he didn’t have a job anymore. That baffled me until he ask me my job & I told him I didn’t have one. Touche my friend, touché…I saw Kyle and Michael at Bible Study and it seemed like we were all at the same point—completely lost & in over our heads! I’m pretty sure Gene’s (our host missionary) teaching method is the old “throw em’ in the deep end & they’ll figure out how to swim” philosophy…We got Turkana names too—Mountain (Kyle), Tree (Michael), & Cold (Me). Not really sure what that means…Michael cowboyed up and took the first poop out of the three of us, a success I might add…Somehow at the church I’m staying at they get cable for television. I really have no idea how but I got to watch Kenya Broadcasting Channel (KBC). And of course I got to watch what every American in Kenya misses the most—WWE Raw! And apparently, some people are pretty ticked that John Cena’s the champ! I wasn’t too interested, but it’s pretty cool they can watch wrestling in the middle of the African desert.
Day 3: Rain is a Good Thing!
About midway through the night I woke up thinking a goat was drooling on my face. I was surprised to learn that it was raining because it hardly ever rains. We eventually had to move inside…Today was a really awesome day. I broke the poop barrier & squatted & did my business before bathing this morning—great success! The blue toilet paper was surprisingly soft & left no mess…Sammy came to visit this morning. He reminds me of the naked Indian guide from Wayne’s World 2. Not because he’s naked or Indian but because he always appears out of nowhere. Yesterday he was sitting behind when I was talking to the kid’s at Peter’s, this morning he was there when I got out of the bath, & this afternoon he was sitting next to me when I woke up from a nap—very, very sneaky
…A little more about Gene. Could be the name but he reminds me of Gene Hackman meets Crocodile Dundee. When we got to his house the first day he didn’t say where we were going; he just told us to pack for 3 days & laughed & said we would probably be sleeping on the ground. He got pretty ticked at a guy at the “Lodwar Airport” who tried to sell his son Abraham a Turkana-English Bible. Direct quote from Gene: “If you ever pick on my son again, I’ll make sure no one I know ever buys from you!” And the guys looked pretty terrified…After language class today, we got to play with the kids Michael is staying with. They were crazy & kept wanting to climb all over us. They were pretty fun to mess with & kept wanting to wear my hat & sunglasses. When we got back to Peter’s, it was good to see all of the kids. They always make me smile. It’s funny to hear a ton of little African kids yelling, “How are you?” Probably about as funny as hearing me say “itemokono,” which means yes…The kids love to see their pictures on my camera or “recording device” as one guy called it…
I told Sammy about them hitting their goats and he thought it was hilarious, so he told me how to say “beat the goat” which has been my catchphrase so far. All the Turkana think its really funny whenever I say it & wave my shoe at the goats…My purpose here is to love these people as God loves them & receive their love & learn their way of life. It’s pretty awesome! I’m constantly hot, dirty, confused; but I know that I’m loved and God wants me here. And even though I’m excited to go back to Gene’s tomorrow, I’m sad that I will be leaving my new friends. I hope to see them later this summer! They have welcomed me like family…It’s raining tonight, so I have to sleep inside. Never thought I say this, but I think I’d rather sleep outside!
Day 4: We found our home!
After breakfast we went to church which lasted 3 hours! It’s basically a lot singing clapping & dancing & even one lady going “ayeeyeeyeee!” I got it all on video!
Gene came & we gave him a hard time for abandoning us the past few days…Even at church women are breastfeeding. It’s like wherever I go, some lady has her breast out with a kid’s mouth on the end of it. I kid you not, the one girl at Peter’s had a kid feeding on there more than not feeding—how much do kids eat? We gave a quick intro of ourselves at church & I’m realizing how quickly I’m learning the language…Morris got up to do the offering which was awkward because they put the bucket up front, so you have to walk up to tithe. They also give basically a second sermon on tithing & even count the money there & write it on the board. Even still Gene said the were way below 10%. One guy joked that they are probably low-balling to get people to give more money…Our actual home looks like a mansion compared to what we’ve been living in. 3 bedrooms, 2 ½ bathrooms, kitchen, living room—my world just got turned upside down. Yesterday I was pooping in a hole in a shed and sleeping on the ground & now this! I would probably still sleep outside because it’s cooler but Gene said the mosquitos are too bad…We discussed after dinner how the Turkana are manipulatively generous. Their generosity is due to pride in that they can give. They carry themselves with some sense of arrogance based on the fact that they helped someone, & they generally only help people that they know can help them in return. They may not have much money, but they have animals and they have status levels based on the number of animals they own. We talked about how they don’t completely understand what love is. But I’m not sure we do either. And I don’t think they were manipulating me the past few days; I feel like they really took me in & loved me. But I can see the sense of pride involved too so I don’t know.
Can't wait to post about these next few days!
Peace
No comments:
Post a Comment