- you crave a cold shower at least 3 times a day
- you have breakfast for dinner more than real dinner items because you are confounded as to what to actually eat.
- you get a day off of school to celebrate the end of Ramadan, since 94% of the population is Muslim, rather than a day off of school for Labor Day, since unemployment is about 50% here. (interestingly enough, I guess this shows that Africa has some democratic tendencies)
- you get your butt kicked in soccer 11-0 your first game (yep...11-0!)
- the temp in your living quarters is almost constantly a thick 86.5 degrees
- you have power for 8 hours straight and you think in your head, "Wow, we've had power for quite awhile now" ...but you dare not say anything for fear that it might jinx it or something
- maeve is constantly sweating and loves bath time
- a fan pointed on you is a necessity for falling asleep
- every person you see on the street you semi-recognize you feel the need to greet, as greetings are of utmost importance here...and if you do it right (which we don't because we don't know Wolof or French that well), - you will go through the series of questions beginning with how you are, followed by how your wife is, followed by how your family is doing.
- your kids feel like celebrities when you take them in a stroller ride, as everybody smiles at them and the little kids want to come up and just touch their hand.
- it takes your wife 3 hours to make a normal meal that would otherwise take 45 minutes...and you think to yourself, "is this really worth it?" ...and eating out 7 nights a week sounds like a very wise use of time and money.
- you sweat profusely while putting on kids clothes with those stupid little buttons and you all of a sudden don't care how cute they look, you would prefer a metal snap-on one just so you wouldn't have to sweat so much while doing simple tasks.
- you go to the store and anything Western, such as peanut butter or American cereals costs 3 times as much as what you would pay in the States...even though peanuts is one commodity they produce here. (this doesn't make sense to me)
-...and #1...you are all of a sudden the minority...and many of the ways things are commonly done here are foreign to you...and there's a certain sense of exploration and fun about that on good days and a certain sense of despair and frustration on all the other days.
well...here's to living for a day of adventure over despair! I hope you can do the same!
kyle
2 comments:
Does this mean Faith isn't making cherry pie strips or coffeecakes? ;)
Hope y'all are doing great!
I've read your "14" several times now! Pray you are finding ways to grit through the difficult annoying things and that those little girls are keeping Mom and Dad entertained!!!
Post a Comment