Watch the Walk

Sitting in the silence while food cooks Sometimes it's hard to maintain relationships over the phone. Especially with islanders who are used to the 30 second call to connect. Those calls normally go like this: Person A: Hi! How are you? Person B: Good, and you? How are your people? Person A: They're good, I'm good. What's the news? Person B: Nothing new, it's all the same. How's your health? Person A: It's good. Well, I was just calling to say hi. Person B: Ok, thanks. Have a good day! Person A: You too. And that's it. So it's easy enough to call people, but it's hard to stay connected with everything that's going on in their lives. Talk of hopes and dreams, babies and marriages, disappointments and hurts, those are all hard to talk about over the phone. So when we stopped visiting for awhile due to COVID-19 concerns, relationships took a bit of a hit. We continued to call, to maintain the care in relationships, but so muc...

I started to write this post a couple of weeks ago, but, as life goes, never finished it. And then they finally announced cases of COVID-19, so it seemed irrelevant. But hey, you get to enjoy a snippet of island life... after the fact. Our international borders closed on March 23rd, but the first case wasn't announced until April 30th. Even after unofficial reports started coming about cases, it still took awhile for the government to announce cases. But without further ado, as of late April, you could find many people on the streets still declaring boldly that we were a nation without COVID-19. But why? We closed our borders and we're isolated from the world: This seems reasonable. First, they implemented mandatory quarantine in a government facility for those coming from specific countries, then they closed flights from countries with more than 10 cases of the virus, and then they finally stopped all international passenger flights. So it seems like a group of islands co...

 ... or debate. Or something. Our local English curriculum has three levels, with the third level requiring a much higher level of communication than the first two. So a locally-run program recently decided to add a "Level 2+" class between levels 2 and 3 so students are better prepared to get the most they can out of Level 3. For several years now, we've included a group skit as part of the final exam for Level 3 English classes. So how can you add an extra portion to the Level 2+ exam? The answer they decided on: ENGLISH DEBATES! Well, I'm familiar with formal debating-- you have teams, you research your topic, prepare your arguments, and when the time comes, you defend your ideas with logic, fervor, and respect for the other side. (okay okay, I'm not talking about political debates, I'm talking debate club or academic debates) So on Sunday we were invited to observe and help grade the first ever English debates on this island. It was intense, ...

A road becomes a river I love a good rainy day. There's something peaceful about being inside while listening to the rain, or walking in the rain with an umbrella as the water rushes around you. Here on Clove Island it's rainy season right now, that season where the clouds close in for days at a time (a welcome break from the broiling sun), bringing rainstorms, thunder and lightning. The rain has a way of changing things though. Societal obligations change when it's raining. It's not uncommon for someone to call and say that the rain has "closed them in" so they won't make it to whatever had been planned for a particular hour. Classes continue, but sometimes the timing of a rainstorm can cause half the class to skip or be late. Social visits are timed around the rain. And sometimes people get stuck places. The visitor that was just dropping by will instead stay for a couple of hours, eating with you, taking a nap, and just waiting for...

The farmer tore up the receipt and threw it on the ground. Sheo dug into his backpack, pulled out a fold of bills, and took the biggest bill out of the wad. He forced it into the farmer's hand, declaring loudly for all to hear, "Let the record stand that I have never stolen anything and I have never cheated anyone!" He stormed off, still fuming as he strode down the trail. What was it all about? We wanted to visit the island's only lake. And the farmers had decided that we needed to pay 5 euros each to visit. Five euros? To walk up the path all the farmers take to go to their fields and sit by the lake? And wait, they're only charging the white people? We suggested an alternate price that was more in keeping with local customs. They laughed, "That's what students pay!" Interesting that now they're saying that students pay, when before they said it was only white people who had to pay. We went up next to the lake and discus...

I don't often go to the beach. Sometimes it's just too much work to get there and back when all I want to do is avoid the world. But my cousin was visiting and a beach day seemed appropriate.  I stretched out in the sun, reading a book with not a care in the world. A shadow fell across my face. I looked up at a young teenage boy who evidently wanted to speak with me. But he only wanted to speak French, no matter how many times I asked him to switch to the island language. He had only one speed-- fast-- and only one grammar style-- bad. Why did we have to talk, anyway? I had a book and was trying to get some sun. He had a soccer ball and was wanting to play soccer. Oh. Duh. He wants to play soccer. And I'm in the middle of the beach. Sigh. So I moved. They set up their goalposts and started their game. I resigned myself to sitting in the shade again. And such is life here. The beach isn't mine, it's ours. And the sooner I realize that, the faster I move f...

A little boy who will grow up One teenager entered my house, followed by eight young boys, aged 7-10. They had a happy energy as they swarmed the table and requested water.  "We heard there was a fight after the soccer game, so we went to go beat up some people from M-town." "See my weapon? I was trying to hit the other boys with it." One eight year-old grinned as he hefted the solid metal bar in his hand. I told him to give the weapon to me, setting it outside the door and informing him he could retrieve it when he left. Lemur! But then I wanted to talk with the boys about it a bit. I first addressed the weapon-wielder: "Look at your heart, my friend. You want to hit people with an iron bar because of a soccer game? If you hate other people, how can you say that you love God, who made them? Be careful, hating is easy, but Jesus says to love our enemies, not just our friends." He looked a little abashed. His friends giggled a little that ...