2 Year Reflections

In a couple short months, I will be celebrating two years here in Mali. I'm sure that much of the learning and change has happened below the conscious surface, but lately I've been thinking a lot about these things. So, I've decided to jot them down—partly for fun and your reading pleasure, partly to remember, and partly to process. In a stream-of-conscience order, I present the ways I've changed, the things I've learned, and other random reflections: (something like the fortune-cookies of my life at present)

FOOD: "Bones are our friends." Why you ask? Because meat sticks to bones. Organs float on their own, fat is attached to skin, and blood vessels are found in fat. If you prefer not to eat any of these things, bones become your friend.

FOOD: In the world of food textures, crunchy is really not a bad option. Sure, ligaments, bones, and cartilage are crunchy, but that is as bad as it gets. Other things, much grosser things, are mushy, or slimy, or stringy.

FASHION: Wearing the same pants and t-shirt you've worn for the last four evening? Yes, totally acceptable. (As long as you won't be seeing the same group of American colleagues on any of those three nights.)

FASHION: Sandals with dress pants/khakis? OF COURSE!

SOCIAL: Your best friend cannot sit with his wife in church nor can he hold her hand in public, but you are welcome to do both (with her…not your own).

CULTURE: We often talk about cultural differences as "seeing things DIFFERENTLY." I'm beginning to wonder if it is not "seeing DIFFERENT things." At times, there seems to be that much of a gulf in understanding. AND…unfortunately, it is easy to trample all over the things you do not see.

FOOD: I've eaten more than my weight in peanuts in the past two years.

FAITH/SOCIAL: For whatever reason, it is extremely easy to slip into a mode of thinking that you are the one making sacrifices and enduring hardships. You stagger away with shame, humility, and profound gratitude when the Lord allows you see the sacrifice your friends make for you.

SOCIAL: Once you figure out how to quell the feelings of awkwardness, sitting in silence with a friend becomes more enjoyable than a lengthy and easy conversation with a stranger.

ME: I desperately want to have rhythm, but I don't. Africans do, and it almost feels contagious. However, I'm afraid that at 27 years of age, it is too late to develop said ability—contagious or not.

MORE TO COME…