A phrase that our host introduced us to upon arrival is tia, this is africa. He said this would be especially helpful to remember throughout our time here, so here are some of the reasons why that might be!
- there’s toilet paper maybe 6 days out of the week!! I’m glad I brought baby wipes.
- there are spiders as big as your HEAD!! I have used a broom on multiple occasions as of it were a hammer to kill these spiders.
- it’s 107 degrees sunday and 62 monday. there’s nothing like feeling as if it’s too hot to breathe one day and then layering up in the only two jackets you brought the next day.
- how about walking 8 miles in that sweet African heat!!
- you might walk into the room to find a tarantula on your pillow.
- sometimes the power runs out before the end of the month, so we live without it until budget allows us to buy more. that means when the sun goes down at 6, everything is done in pitch black. showers, dishes, laundry, you name it! but don’t worry! we still have water! (when the tank isn’t empty at least)
- your feet are brown 100% of the time.
- sugarcane as an afternoon snack!! if you don’t know what that is, just imagine eating sweet, soggy wood & you get the general idea
- feeling goose bumps for the first time in weeks
- the curtains for the toilets and the showers are totally see-through!!
- sometimes you wake up with a scorpion next to your bed…
- my glasses never staying on my face because i’m sweating so much
- the power &/or water randomly goes out, so sometimes you’re left with shampoo in your hair and no water to get it out! (thankful for friends who will steal some drinking water to help rinse it out)
- crickets in your bed!
- napkins & tissues? hand soap or hand towels? never heard of them.
- sometimes your tire falls off while driving down the road and you wait on the side of the road for six hours.
- I wonder how many ants I’ve accidentally eaten??
- an ice block is the best thing in the entire world
- hand washing my clothes & never knowing if all the soap is out
- instead of a car with its lights on driving behind you to pull you over, a man scanning you from way ahead will stand in the middle of the road and hope you don’t hit him.
- sometimes you name a baby boy on a home visit!
- there’s always the occasional mice in the kitchen.
- pb & j’s all day every day! I think i’m somewhere around 72 for the whole time we were there.
- our drivers crank the heat at any temp below 80
- huge fires across fields are completely normal!
- pro tip! wash your underwear & socks in the shower with bar soap! then you have a never ending supply!! then hang them to dry on your bed so the goats don’t have an opportunity to eat them on the fence outside.
- make sure you shut your windows unless you want the monkeys to ransack your house…
- sometimes you wake up with a bird in your room at 4:00 am, chirping and ready to start the day!
- holding babies with bare butts is not a rare occasion! I’m not mad about it unless I get pooped on, which has happened before.
- a personal favorite: driving down the road to church and seeing giraffes
- the gas station being out of gas
- leaky floors, all the time
- using one shower for 15 girls because our other two showers refuse to drain after pulling all the hair out
- waking up with 34 new mosquito bites
Even though this list sounds absolutely crazy, I wouldn’t have had the same experience without them. At some point I’ll look back and miss my red, dirty feet. I’ll laugh about the monkeys messing up our room & the gas station not having any gas. I’ll be extra thankful the next time I have the luxury of using a kleenex or napkin. I’m thankful for the opportunities the Lord gave us to praise & glorify Him throughout all the craziness, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
all my love, Kate
