Home Again
So, now I’m back at home… the secondary home. I have to say, I’m very glad to be back. Not only can I approach my life here with a new, fresher face, but I also managed to bring a lot of things to make life a little easier over here: instant food like mashed potatoes or Lipton Sides, junk food, and drink mixes and chai tea, not to mention the other 95 lbs. of stuff like that.
In coming back here, I’ve come to realize a lot of things: I love the Otamaari people of Boukombe. Not only do I love the people, but I love the children. There are children everywhere, and they are always smiling and welcoming. I’ve always found children watching me and following me everywhere here, but it wasn’t till my trip home until I found that to be funnyj or strange.
The people themselves share that welcomeness that the children will overwhelm you with. Now that I understand French and a little bit of the local language, Ditamaari, I see that people are constantly open and inviting to any and all strangers, and everyone is welcomed with the kindest of smiles. I don’t know if I really realized that till I went home and saw the blank looks of strangers who were busy looking through me as though I was non-existent. What if you had to say hello to every single person you passed at the mall, or else be considered rude??
While home, I also realized many things that I’ve changed in leaving… the biggest and most difficult has been my diet. It’s weird, but with the way my service here has evolved, before I left for Oklahoma I couldn’t even tell you what I ate back at home. As soon as I landed in the States it all came back to me, and I now realize how much chicken and turkey I ate at home. You could almost say that’s all I ate… except for that Arby’s Corned Beef Reuben, of course. Over here I eat very, very little chicken and absolutely no turkey. A turkey costs about $70-80USD I think, and that would be a lot of meat for me alone. Chickens are about $3USD each, but most don’t even make it to the market, because they are usually used for sacrifices. The prettiest and fattest especially, because the bigger the sacrifice the more it pleases the gods. To see this as wasteful might be fair, but very culturally insensitive. Besides, how many times have you bought something special while counting your pennies, or eaten at a nice restaurant even though it means maxing out your credit card?? That’s the ‘American way’, right? Well, this is ‘Another way’ towards the same thing. Anyway, I finally realized that I’ve been eating nothing but (local style) cheese and pasta or bread, and of course those delicious cakes and cookies born from and eaten by Mother Boredom personified. Boredom is hard to avoid when you live alone, without a television, and without anything else to do in the evenings… other than cook. Readings a good diversion as well, but much less delicious.
Another thing realized in my trip home: So many of the things that I dreamed and drooled for before going home seem less necessary now. It’s almost as though the instant I walked into my parents’ house and had everything at my fingertips, those things no longer seemed necessary, or even wanted in some cases. Some things even seemed ridiculous and embarrassing, so I did a little ‘cleaning of the closet’ while I was at home… let me just say that now would be a good time to go shopping at the Benefit the Blind goodwill store.
It was really nice to be clean for a whole two weeks though. It’s almost ironic, but the day before I got back to Boukombe a water line broke, and so there hasn’t been water for 3 days, and before that I only had the chance to take 1 shower in the 4 days before that because I was still on the road… yes, I’m on dirty day number 5 now. So much for being clean!!! Hopefully it will rain tonight so that I can collect enough water to take a shower tomorrow!
Well, that’s about all I have for now. It was great to see or talk to most of you guys!!! I’ll see or talk to you guys again in December!!! Also, I’d like to send a ‘Bon Arrive!’ to the soon to arrive Grace Marie!!! To the rest of you, a tout a l’heure!!!
Sarah
In coming back here, I’ve come to realize a lot of things: I love the Otamaari people of Boukombe. Not only do I love the people, but I love the children. There are children everywhere, and they are always smiling and welcoming. I’ve always found children watching me and following me everywhere here, but it wasn’t till my trip home until I found that to be funnyj or strange.
The people themselves share that welcomeness that the children will overwhelm you with. Now that I understand French and a little bit of the local language, Ditamaari, I see that people are constantly open and inviting to any and all strangers, and everyone is welcomed with the kindest of smiles. I don’t know if I really realized that till I went home and saw the blank looks of strangers who were busy looking through me as though I was non-existent. What if you had to say hello to every single person you passed at the mall, or else be considered rude??
While home, I also realized many things that I’ve changed in leaving… the biggest and most difficult has been my diet. It’s weird, but with the way my service here has evolved, before I left for Oklahoma I couldn’t even tell you what I ate back at home. As soon as I landed in the States it all came back to me, and I now realize how much chicken and turkey I ate at home. You could almost say that’s all I ate… except for that Arby’s Corned Beef Reuben, of course. Over here I eat very, very little chicken and absolutely no turkey. A turkey costs about $70-80USD I think, and that would be a lot of meat for me alone. Chickens are about $3USD each, but most don’t even make it to the market, because they are usually used for sacrifices. The prettiest and fattest especially, because the bigger the sacrifice the more it pleases the gods. To see this as wasteful might be fair, but very culturally insensitive. Besides, how many times have you bought something special while counting your pennies, or eaten at a nice restaurant even though it means maxing out your credit card?? That’s the ‘American way’, right? Well, this is ‘Another way’ towards the same thing. Anyway, I finally realized that I’ve been eating nothing but (local style) cheese and pasta or bread, and of course those delicious cakes and cookies born from and eaten by Mother Boredom personified. Boredom is hard to avoid when you live alone, without a television, and without anything else to do in the evenings… other than cook. Readings a good diversion as well, but much less delicious.
Another thing realized in my trip home: So many of the things that I dreamed and drooled for before going home seem less necessary now. It’s almost as though the instant I walked into my parents’ house and had everything at my fingertips, those things no longer seemed necessary, or even wanted in some cases. Some things even seemed ridiculous and embarrassing, so I did a little ‘cleaning of the closet’ while I was at home… let me just say that now would be a good time to go shopping at the Benefit the Blind goodwill store.
It was really nice to be clean for a whole two weeks though. It’s almost ironic, but the day before I got back to Boukombe a water line broke, and so there hasn’t been water for 3 days, and before that I only had the chance to take 1 shower in the 4 days before that because I was still on the road… yes, I’m on dirty day number 5 now. So much for being clean!!! Hopefully it will rain tonight so that I can collect enough water to take a shower tomorrow!
Well, that’s about all I have for now. It was great to see or talk to most of you guys!!! I’ll see or talk to you guys again in December!!! Also, I’d like to send a ‘Bon Arrive!’ to the soon to arrive Grace Marie!!! To the rest of you, a tout a l’heure!!!
Sarah
posted by sarah at 8:31 PM
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