LOVE

In the midst of a lot of unknowns, and long, tiring days, I have been finding myself engulfed in His peace and presence, completely in love.  Filled with a joy that I can’t explain apart from Him.  Overwhelmed with a deeper love for these new friends and this place I call home.  

I wish you could all come visit.  I really do.  Their hospitality, love for others, and hilarious way of doing things, could keep you smiling for weeks.  I have done a poor job of sharing these stories because time has been hard to find recently, but here are a few tidbits.  Some are funny, some are just very random, but all are things I love about being here.

I love that in Africa, you can pass the police station with 5 people on a piki piki, and get a wave and a big smile.  Reid and Sandy had to go over to the Big Island for the night and I got to hang out with my favorite wazungu.  We needed to get a few important things from my house- like popcorn flavoring and candy- but we didn't have a car.  We decided we could all fit on my piki for the quick 5 minute drive.  We got lots of smiles, but it truthfully wasn't that impressive to them.  I see folks riding their bicycles with a family of 5 hanging on.  We were pretty impressed with ourselves (although the faces in this picture don't show it very well), but we've got nothing on the packing and stacking abilities of our friends.

I love how resourceful you become when living here.   My day guard needed to sweep the other day, but couldn't find a broom.  He went outside, chopped down and tree, gathered some branches, and tied it all together.  Not only did it work great (really better than any broom I've ever given him), but it looked like it was straight out of a Harry Potter movie.  I've been trying this resourceful thing out myself.  Whenever I'm buying laundry soap or any type of food item, I check out the different containers they come in and figure out which one I would most likely reuse.  Baby steps.

I love that even though these people don't have much, they are constantly blessing me with gifts.   Mariam is worried that I'm not eating (which I am- I had blueberry ice cream for dinner) because I don't cook a lot of big meals, so she is constantly making sure I am supplied with rice, bananas, and papaya.  She even will take some of my beans home with her, cook them for me while I'm at work, and have them ready for me when I finish classes.  Another older lady that lives nearby loves to bring me flowers every day.  She overheard me asking a guy who runs a duka nearby where I could buy a tortilla roller.  She didn't' say anything, left and went to her house, and about twenty minutes later, showed up at my house with her tortilla roller and told me I can borrow hers until I was able to get one for myself.  All smiles.  I am so grateful.  My neighbors will see me walking for exercise in the evening, and come bring me coconut water to drink for refreshment.  These examples are 3 of hundreds- seriously.  

I love the random happenings that occur each day.  One morning last week I was playing a vocabulary review game with some of my students, when I heard a ton of noise outside.  Someone had strapped two HUGE speakers on top of his car.  He was trying to get a political point across, but at the time, he was playing music.  I love what music does to people.  I looked out my office and men, women, and kids were all dancing, swaying, or tapping a foot or two- some more than others.  You could tell the women were dying to bust out in dance (myself included), but knew it wouldn’t be appropriate.  The little kids were going crazy.  I went out to take a picture of all the kids dancing, and the music stopped.  Of course.  I got one little kid to dance for me again, but it just isn’t the same as having the whole group breaking it down.

My students and I got back to work, and about 5 minutes later, we heard another ruckus.  We saw kids running towards something, and everyone was looking that direction.  There was a man riding a donkey.  That is very rare here.  I have been told that he is the only person on the entire Island who has a donkey (actually he has two), and he uses them for his transportation.  He told me he was going to bring them back for me to ride with him someday soon.  I'm anxiously awaiting his return!

I LOVE MY STUDENTS!! I LOVE teaching English!  I love my little classroom!  I wasn't sure how I was going to like teaching adults- because all of my experience has been teaching kids up to this point- but I couldn't be happier.  These students truly want to learn English, and have been coming to class and really trying.  Most of them have started coming in the mornings for extra practice, and I have enjoyed getting to know them better in those times outside of class.  They hate pictures, and especially hate smiling for pictures, but I threatened them in order to get this one.

I love time visiting with friends.  There's never really a dull moment when visiting.  The first week I moved in, I was at one of my neighbors house in the evening and there were bugs EVERYWHERE.  I tried to pretend they weren't there, but in the middle of listening to a very serious story about how she lost her baby, one of the bugs went into my mouth and got stuck in my throat.  I tried to stay focused on her story and casually cough it out, but that didn't work.  My eyes started watering and I couldn't talk.  I basically had to motion to her that I needed to leave because I swallowed a bug.  When walking to my house, another neighbor wanted to talk, but I again did some charades, and continued on my way.  I got some water and finally swallowed the thing- good protein.  I could hear all my neighbors dying laughing and re-telling the story over my fence.  You gotta just laugh with them.  I'm glad I can be a source of entertainment for them.

I love special friendships that God has already allowed me to make.  Here is my really good friend, Hamida.  She just returned from a 3 month visit to the bigger Island, and I have really missed her.  We talked almost nightly on the phone while she was away, and I even got to meet up with her when my dad and I were passing through.  But neither of those were the same as having her right down the street.  No funny or crazy story here, just wanted to share one of my special friends God has blessed me with.  There are some friends you just "click" with, and Hamida is one of those friends.   

I love that in 97 degree heat (that's under exaggerating a little), that people here are cold and most of the time wear long pants and long sleeve shirts.  I was leaving my friends house the other night and had already started my piki, when I stopped to say a few more things.  I heard a bunch of little giggles, and I turned around to see the kids warming their hands with the heat from my exhaust pipe.  Yes, I know, probably not very good for them.  It was just for a few minutes :)

I love how willing everyone is to help.  My piki piki had a really flat tire last week (probably from trying to fit 5 people on it).  One of my neighbors is a mechanic, so he came and picked up my piki, walked it 2 miles away to his garage, fixed my tire (which I had punctured), and attempted to bring it back to me.  They weren't able to figure out how to get it started, so he sent one of his friends on a vespa to pick me up and bring me to the garage. They went above and beyond, and out of their way to help me.  One of my guards has been very helpful, as well.  He is a crazy kung-fu master who genuinely loves listening to Justin Bieber.  Don't worry I'm not judging him- I have a bit of Bieber fever myself.  He is a little crazy (mom, not in a he is going to hurt me crazy- just a funny crazy), but he is always willing to do anything I ask.  I had measured out some pieces of wood, and asked him if he could cut the wood for me.  I was planning on making a shelf for my kitchen.  I left for school while he was cutting the wood, but when I returned, he had not only cut the wood, but decided he knew how to put it together better than me.  This is how it turned out.  I really couldn't help but smile.  And take some pictures.  And then totally use it.  Below is the fine craftsmanship of Mohammed.

I love that they include me on cultural activities.  They give me advice on how to dress, how to act, and even teach me to dance.  On Friday, I went to a wedding.  What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, right?  One of my students was getting married and he asked me if I would come.  I convinced Hamida to come with me- just like America, girls like to travel in pairs.  We went to his house first, where he was getting ready, and the room was filled with his family and family friends.  We enjoyed some coffee (ok, I dumped mine into my friend's cup when she finished hers) and some little donut things.  We asked another lady to take our picture and this is how they turned out.  When she first was taking the picture, she had it facing herself.  I almost didn't correct her because I figured it would make a great picture, but then decided to help her out.  Here's the two pics she took.  First one, no heads and a fingertip.  

Second one, a little finger, but not too bad.  She did good.

After we enjoyed some treats and did a little pre-wedding dancing, we headed to the house of the bride.  My student is the one on the right.

They invited us into the room so that I could take pictures for them.  People kept pushing me closer and closer to them so I could get better shots.  Too bad my photography skills are less than average.  It was a cool experience to be inside the room with them, though, and see how the weddings happen here.  The bride is under that kanga that the Imam's hand is on.

They look so sad, but when I asked my friend why they didn't smile, she said that the woman is supposed to be "mourning" leaving her family.  I would not be able to keep a straight face.  I mean, I would be sad about leaving my parents, too, but I think I'd be pretty stoked that I just got a husband.

After the prayers in the bride's house, the bride and groom, as well as special friends (I got included in that for the day), headed back to his house for a photo opportunity and hang out time.  We crammed in the back of a dala dala and snapped a quick pic.

This guy wanted in on the picture taking action, so I smiled and snapped one of him, too.

Back at Khamis' house, they had set up an area for pictures to be taken.  What a cute little couple!  The wedding was very fun, and I got sent away with a HUGE bag of little doughnuts.  I'm going to another wedding this coming Friday, and I think I'm a little better prepared- meaning I practiced my dancing with my neighbor last night.

I love this family!  They have been my family, and have loved me so well.  They are leaving me very soon, but they promise they will come visit since they are only moving one county over for now.  After the wedding on Friday, I got to spend Valentine's Day evening with these awesome kids and my friend, Melisa.  We made homemade heart shaped pizzas (Can't take credit for that- Sandy left the crusts, cheese, and toppings all prepared for us). We ate, watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, Max and I won two rounds of Bananagrams (yes, I still get excited when I beat elementary aged kids in games), and we stayed up way past their bedtime.  

My favorite Valentine card was from my buddy, Griffen.  He and I love to go snorkeling together when I get a chance to go up to the ocean with their family.  We both LOVE the ocean and think God's underwater creation is absolutely beautiful!

My heart is full.  There is so much more I could write, so many more stories I could share, but for tonight, I'll stop here.  As I've read back over these stories, I do realize they are extremely random, but that's what life in Africa is- extremely random.  You never know what's going happen next.  You never know what to expect.  And I love that.  In all the unknowns, I know I can rest in His presence and experience His peace, joy, and love because He is holding my right hand and guiding me every step of the way.