Wednesday, October 18, 2006

A few random things

1) The other day, there was a rainbow in the sky. My host asked me to come escort a guest (whom I didn’t know) and I didn’t want to go. But because I did, I saw the entire rainbow in the sky from end to end.

2) I am really struggling with food right now. There are several things that I am getting really tired of and I just can’t eat them, so I don’t eat enough. Other days, the things I eat just aren’t good. Yesterday, for breakfast I had tea and white bread, with a few peanuts. For lunch I had white bread again, with a little bit of peanut butter and jelly. When I got home in the afternoon, I had tea and white bread again. So all I had eaten all day was white bread. No wonder I didn’t have any energy today. It seems like every little thing reminds me of some food from home that I miss and restaurants that I never go to. It’s funny sometimes how you miss things that you don’t even like. When our church was fasting from certain things at Lent this year, including meat, I found myself craving hot dogs. I don’t even like hot dogs. Still, I’m struggling with food and it can be a real frustration. I’ve never been one not to eat, but yesterday and today, I just couldn’t eat any more of what I had.
Around here, almost everyone grows beans. Some people eat beans until they get so sick of them and they just sacrifice to buy meat one day. My family likes meat. Graciously they don’t cook it so much because I don’t like it. I would give so much to eat beans every day, but I never get them. It’s just ironic to me. I think we don’t cook them because we save them and just cook them with githeri, a mixture of beans and maize. It’s a common dish to serve workers. I don’t know for sure, but that’s my best guess for why we don’t eat them, ever.
Partly I just miss the variety of food that I eat at home. I miss having lots of vegetables. I miss having fruit, even though I live in a place where there are delicious tropical fruits. They’re just not available in the village. I miss being able to choose what to eat. I miss being able to cook quickly on the stove. 30 minutes max versus 2 hours minimum. I miss having leftovers to reheat quickly.

3) I think I’m just getting to the frustrated stage of cultural adjustment. I know it’s normal and that I’ll get over it, but I don’t like feeling this way and it makes me feel like it will be a long time until I get home again. It also makes me wonder if I really could live here long term, except that I know it would be very different in my own household.

4) My parents are coming on Saturday. I’m really excited about that, although a little worried about finding time to actually spend with them by myself. I know that I want that and so do they, but it will be a challenge. There are many people who are VERY excited to see them and it will be difficult to find time just to talk. Please pray for wisdom for me to see what they need and also to plan well so that we all stay sane. We’re also planning to visit the Masai Mara, which should be fun and will also give us some time just to relax and be together.

Well, dinner is ready. Tonight it’s one I’m excited about. Hurray.

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