Looking back

I've never been water skiing. But I watched  few videos on YouTube of people doing a poor job of it. And what I saw of their experience reminds me a lot of living in Africa-- which I've been doing for a little over a year now. Here's the process, from the observer's perspective:



1) You get ready. Water skis, swimsuit, life jacket, boat.

2) You get in the water.

3) The boat starts moving and, if you're still holding the tow line, you start moving too.

4) You get slapped in the face with water. Lots of water.

5) Eventually it gets too difficult (splits, tangled skis, too much water in the air you're breathing) and you let go.

6) Rinse, repeat.

But the interesting thing is that as a person learns to water ski, they quit getting slapped in the face with waves. Instead they ride on top of the waves and enjoy success through perseverance and honed coordination.

Twenty minutes later it was pouring rain

Here's what being in Africa is like:

1) You get ready: support, supplies, tickets, packing.

2) You arrive.

3) Life doesn't wait for you to be ready to move... it's already going and you get to join in.

4) You get (figuratively, I hope) slapped in the face by a new reality and expections.

5) Eventually something gets too difficult and tears result... or bouts of frustration and anger.

6) Rinse, repeat.

And just like learning to water ski, the longer you stick at it, the easier things become. Things like shopping and making phone calls used to seem incredibly challenging and now they're just another part of life:

Through perseverance and practice I'm riding on the waves. Here are just a few things I've learned about during the last year.

-- Language: this is a biggie, and I'll never stop learning language. Today I learned the word for handkerchief. Sometimes I have people tell me I know their language really well. Other times I have friends apologize for me, saying, "oh, she's just learning."
-- Living skills: I've revisited this in moving to a new house. I'm no longer close to a market and I'm having to learn a whole new set of shops nearby for buying things. A lot of what I do here is like I would in America, but some things are drastically different. Things take a little more time, and are sometimes incredibly frustrating.
 -- Teaching. I've done some English teaching before, but never in a context where my students only practiced speaking in class. I've never had a class of 34 students before. Teaching English as a foreign language is actually quite different from teaching it in an English speaking country. Don't get me wrong, I totally enjoy it. Teaching energizes me and wears me out at the same time. But it's another thing that I've had to figure out and learn to stay on top of the waves.

Each of these things has slapped me in the face at times, but I'm learning to keep my head above water. And I'm sure I'll take an epic fall or two still. But it's been neat to see where the ride takes me.