Catching up on posts from Malakal....

March 23, 2013

How does one begin to describe the differences between even housekeeping in Malakal and in the United States?  For one thing in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle, area we have glass windows and we do not have the kind of dust that this part of Africa has.  We have running water and carpets, generally.  This means vacuuming.  I am not aware of people feeling a particular need to wash walls frequently because they simply do not become so dirty, from dust blowing in through the mesh in the window frames….the floors here are covered in bat dung (poop) which I personally have never encountered in the states, although that of course does not mean it isn’t there.  Fortunately for the most part my two rooms here at the guesthouse are not so much the victims of the bat poop. 

I washed some dishes this morning and discovered a gravelly residue at the bottom of the metal bowls.  I realized it must be from the water I used to wash them.  Rarely find that situation in the states.  There is a piece of broken glass over the hall sink that shines up quite nicely with water and a piece of newspaper.  I am no longer accustomed to looking at myself in a full length mirror before leaving home….

March 20, 2013

Today, walking to the school in the morning, I had a Palm Sunday surprise.  There was an African man riding on a donkey.  People usually don’t ride the donkeys around here.  I found myself thinking, this is much more like Jesus on the donkey than the usual blond, blue eyed, missionary pictures of Jesus on a donkey!  It was liking seeing the Triumphal Entry in person!  It was quite an amazing way to begin the descent into Holy Week!

I found out tonight that people other than Americans can play the lottery, and that sometimes they win and it changes their lives!  This was news to me!

March 19, 2013

We have trees on the guesthouse compound that are growing what appear to be squashes.  I am puzzled by this as I thought that squashes grew on vines that grew near to the earth, hugging mother nature in their quest for survival and size. 

I don’t think I have mentioned before what I have learned about “mother universities” and offshoots.  This may happen in the United States and I was simply not aware of it….well established universities that lend their name to smaller institutions so that the smaller school does the educating but a student graduates in the name of the established school, thus having a more prestigious diploma, I suppose.  This has been fascinating to learn about.  

March 16, 2013

I think it bears repeating how time consuming life is in a country without running water or power 24/7.  While not trivial of course to those involved, a week without water and/or power is not the same as living without it day in and day out.  EVERYTHING takes more effort, time, and energy.  And I don’t even have to haul the water myself!  I can see why women and girl children who must bring water and fuel for cooking by hand and by carrying on their very strong neck and heads have so much time consumed each day that they are unable to participate in education.

Noted yesterday:  there do not appear to be pet dogs here, only snarling predators running in packs.  They are downright scary.  In contrast, the lines of sheep are always orderly and obedient.  One right after the other, like a congregation in its pews.  This is not an insult, Christians are often referred to as sheep.  Indeed I have heard before that sheep bite, but I feel much safer around the sheep than the dogs here in Malakal.

March 14, 2013

I forgot to mention in the March 13 post that another thing that varies from country to country is the quality of, say, construction.  Constructing houses can be quiet cheap relatively speaking if one cuts corners.  There are quality cement fixtures that are not going to crumble upon the slightest provocation and there are cement fixtures that use primarily plaster in order to save money, they can actually be dangerous.     

March 13, 2013

Back in Malakal and back teaching at the college today.  I had my first session with the juniors today teaching Apologetics.  Once again my American accent is a challenge….one of the seniors told them during the breakfast break that in about two weeks God will open their hearing so that they can understand meJ.

I suggested to someone today that glass in the windows of buildings in Malakal might help keep the dust out.  I was told that it is cheaper not to use glass and that is why folks changed to mesh wire….with metal security shutters over them.  These are in two forms, the first is a metal form that has a design and lets much of the mesh flow free in order to have air come into the building.  The second is a metal shutter that is solid and closes over the mesh and metal.  I just realized as I looked at my security frame here at the guest house in Malakal that even if a potential thief was to break through the mesh in this room the metal design is fitted over the mesh; at my former home near the college there were just wide expanses of mesh which meant that all a person had to do was cut through it to gain access to my veranda.  Hmmmmmmm.

When I was in the Philippines four years ago I learned that really only high rise office buildings use glass there.  Perhaps they have air conditioning available to them during the sweltering days of summer.  The other structures may have wooden shutters and mesh in order to control air flow and this seems to manage cooling the homes fairly well.  The disadvantage to glass windows is being stuck in a glass house when the power goes off, although I suppose in a house the windows would open whereas in many office buildings windows do not open and a person is at the mercy of climate control.

The issue for me is that the dust is a real problem.  It is everywhere and one cannot keep ahead of it.  I did bring two dustpans with each their own small broom back from Addis Ababa, and they should arrive soon. 

It was very good to be with all of my students again today.  My students that I have had for three years, and the ones that I have had now for one day.  Does anyone know of a child’s version of C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity?  That book is excellent in cutting down arguments against Christianity, and it is absolutely steeped in Western Civilization.  I don’t want to translate the whole darn thing into simpler terms and language…am hoping someone else has already done that!

I have learned another lesson, rather the hard way.  That is that dental care does vary from place to place (meaning country to country and continent to continent).  It seems that some of the dental work I had done in China may need to be replaced whereas the work that has been done in Africa appears to be fine.  As the dentist in Nairobi said, “sometimes going cheap isn’t the best.”  Yes well in my defense I didn’t know about all this in China….

Blessings,

Debbie