Watch the Walk

This one I did get a picture of They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes the moment passes too quickly and words are all that's left. Today's post features the "pictures I wish I'd gotten." How to ride a bicycle: one day while riding in a taxi I came upon a young man on a bicycle. Now the fact that he was on a bicycle wasn't all that unusual. Nor the fact that he was standing on the seat. But instead of coasting along gently, he was being towed by... no, you probably won't guess... a motorbike, and at a rather break-neck speed too. I was too slow to get a picture of it, but I'm sure your imagination can see how it happened anyway. Rice isn't just for weddings. The other day a lady came up to me and some friends and started pelting us with uncooked rice. At first I thought maybe it was a way to scare off evil spirits. But no, it seems that she was just a little crazy. King of the mountain: On the way to my team leaders' hous...

(I was looking back through my drafts folder and came upon this post. This was written in January 2016. Reading it brought back some great memories for me, so I hope you enjoy it.)  First mango of the season I remember a family camping trip when I was young. It ended with several inches of water in the tent, at which point we decided to pack up our things and move indoors. That was the only time we ever abandoned a camping situation. As we packed up the sopping wet canvas tent, sorted through mushy bread, and tried to salvage some not-quite-soaked-through firewood, my siblings and I (led by Mom) were singing Count Your Blessings. Well, after complaining about the cold here, I feel as if I should give you all a list of the blessings I've encountered here in another part of Africa. 1) Borrowed items: I've been blessed with countless sweaters, a nice coat, slipper socks, and gloves as people take pity on my shivering self. 2) Hot drinks: I never stopped drinking hot coffee on Clo...

Even though I've been living on Clove Island for awhile now, there are still some cultural differences I find funny. It's not that they're completely unexpected, because I know that people think that way, but when I consider them in light of American norms, well, it's just not the same. Like, for instance, the issue of body weight. I was recently told "you should gain some weight before you go home so that your family isn't worried about you coming back here." Implication: fat is good and healthy. Skinny is worrisome. So if your family is worried about your health, they'll want to see that you're gaining weight, not losing it. On a related topic, rice is food. If you haven't had rice in the day, you really haven't eaten, you've only snacked. And an islander portion of rice could feed several American families for a day. No kidding. So what's a great meal? A heaping plate/bowl/pot of rice, topped with some sauce or slow-cooked veggie...

My classes do a "graduation" In America expectations are that everyone will graduate high school with only one senior year. Here on Clove Island, expectations are different. Once in high school, each year of school is labeled by the number of years left. The last grade is called “last”, and at the end of the year you have to take a big national exam. Many students will take this final exam several times before passing. After exams finish they announce what day the results will be released. On the appointed day, most radios on the island are tuned to the proper frequency to listen as name after name is read of those who passed. Some pass with high honors, some with honors, some only pass. And then there are those who are allowed to try again with the oral version of the exam. But if your name isn’t read, you’ll have to try again next year. There’s no graduation ceremony. No Pomp and Circumstance with robes and hats and diploma covers for the end of high school. Nope. So what d...

Wedding season is in full swing here. Still. It seems like it never ends. And my neighbors have even started to comment on it. "It's just money, money money. Every night we're giving away $25 and staying up until after midnight. And then we work the next morning." "Maybe when the wedding season is over, I'll be able to study English." "When wedding season is over we should get together and talk again." It seems, the higher in society you are, the more weddings you're invited to and the fancier those weddings tend to be. Some weddings you'll give about $1.50 and that's it, but other weddings are the "high roller" ones and you have to dig deep in your wallet or risk being embarrassed. Wedding favors. We pay the couple, they reward us. Speaking of embarrassed, here's a bit of a funny story for you: weddings consist of multiple events, but there's one climactic event where the bride and groom appear together a...

It's essentially the ends of the earth, the island that I live on. Although you can reach it by plane, the process of getting from home in America to home in Africa is a several-day, several-plane and often several-problems/delays sort of affair. To be fair, the problems normally occur only on the last leg of the journey-- getting from the international airport to my island. Other Africa-based flights are fairly predictable and rarely cause problems. But the islands where I live are plagued by airline issues. -- the government regulates different airlines differently -- airlines refuse to pay taxes or landing fees until they're forcibly grounded -- strikes occur when either government employees or airline employees aren't paid -- maintenance can't be fully done on the islands, so sometimes a plane is out of country for a month at a time, limiting the possible number of flights -- the government doesn't have its own plane, so airline planes are chartered at the last ...

When I think about wedding problems in the US, there are a couple of platitudes that come to mind, "at the end of the day, at least you'll be married." And the second encouraging phrase you often hear is "Nobody will notice. And if they do, they'll forget soon enough anyway." Here on Clove Island it's not so simple. For a lot of people, they're actually already married before the wedding. The big parties and fanfare really is just that-- for some weddings, the bride and groom have been married for several years already. And do people forget what goes wrong? Nope. Everything involved with weddings is recorded: what you donate towards the wedding is written down so they can reciprocate with your wedding. If you come cook at a wedding, then they'll come cook at your family's wedding. But heaven forbid that you should not have enough food at your wedding for all the people who come to help cook it. Or should you fail to... ... give a special gues...