Never a dull moment

FYI: This blog is a series of anecdotes from the past 2.5 weeks. I hope you find them as interesting/amusing as I do.

I dyed my hair red with henna last week! It’s called “jabi”, bought for 50 CFA (10 cents) in the market, you add water and it looks like you’re putting dog poop on your head, but works amazingly! It’s the same color as the boxed dyes I buy at home. I recommend it.

When I ride my bike here, I practically make the morning news. I get lots of cheers and “bon soir”s. I can just hear them thinking, “hey, white girl on a bike!” Since the Peace Core left Cote d’Ivoire at the start of the war, there haven’t been many white kids riding around here on bikes. My favorite is when they yell, “bravo!” after I make it across a high traffic road.

Kadi likes to take me to the market with her, to buy the beef for the day, because the butcher gives her a good price (keep in mind that the butcher is literally a man at a wooden table, with the meat from ONE cow, and he cuts it with a machete). Last Saturday, I suddenly realized that all 15 women waiting for their cuts were smiling at me with expectant glances, because the butcher was making a marriage proposal to me. All in good humor, but if you know me, I tend to take things seriously a little too often. Needless to say, I’m learning to have more witty comebacks here - and in French at that! Last night, one of Bakary, my host dad’s, friends was proposing that we go back to the US together and get married. I told him he was too old and I wasn’t ready, because I wanted to be free like a bird! Again, all in good humor.

Last Wednesday, I was at one of the local orphanages, playing with the littlest ones, when the director walks in, puts a baby in my hands, and leads me to a car, with 3 other girls and babies. I always have to laugh at the situations when I only know half of what’s going on, sometimes none. We took the babies to get vaccinations at a local hospital. Then we go to the police station. Turns out, a baby had been abandoned at the hospital the day before, literally a birth and run. Can you imagine? I can’t. About half an hour later, I’m called over, and given a 3 day old baby, to carry back to the orphanage. She was tiny and yellow with jaundice. My heart broke.

The political situation here seems to be heating up.. Or perhaps it’s cooling off. It’s hard to tell. All banks are closed, public schools have been closed for months, countless people are laid off. Monday, 5 presidents flew in to attempt a peace treaty with Gbagbo (the president who’s holding on to his place). The hope is that he will leave and Ouattara can finally take office, though he’s already acknowledged as president by many, mostly everyone here in Bouake. It’s been 3 months since elections, everyone is beginning to tire of the waiting. Monday morning, we held our breath, to hear no news by the end of the day. We still wait (im)patiently for what Gbagbo will do. C’est la vie. Nothing here runs as you think it will. I’m amazed by the amount of patience people live with here.. Or maybe it’s more like quietly enduring. We are blessed with a lot of certainty in America that does not exist here.

To sum up life, I’m still figuring out how to best spend my time here. If you are able, please pray that God would give me wisdom in this area. Between work with the church, in local orphanages, Centre Providence, and relationship building with my family. We’re working on a schedule this week to talk to our pastor about on Sunday. I’ve been blessed in all areas, and encouraged by Philippians 4: 6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

It’s been a joy to build relationships with my family. Every night, we sit outside and laugh.. Sometimes it’s teaching Kolo kickboxing, or singing in different languages, or making paper airplanes.. Never a dull moment. I feel at home here, something that I thought would take a lot longer than 2.5 weeks.. Life is full of surprises!

To leave you with words from Amy Charmichael, a missionary to India, at the start of the 20^th century,

“He hath never failed thee yet, never will His love forget, O fret not thyself nor let thy heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” We have no one to fear but God himself.

As I finish writing this, it’s down pouring, basins, no, oceans of rain! It’s not even rainy season yet! I had planned to grab a taxi into town to post this blog online, but it looks like that’s not going to be possible today. C’est la vie! Again, nothing seems to run here as you plan for it too. Patience, patience, patience. Sometimes, I’m a little tired of learning more patience. The most amazing thing is, that in an hour, I’ll bet you 100 bucks that the sun will be out, and that things will be dry by night fall. Oh Africa, never a dull moment.

La vie avec une famille Ivorien.. so far.

"The life with an Ivorian family"

Pardon me, if my Anglais is bad… or if you find a French word or two. I haven’t spoken much English in the past week.

Daily surrender - that’s the name of the game here. When I wake up, I tell God, “you have to give me enough strength for today, because I don’t have enough on my own.”

My “parents”, Bakary and Kadi Kone, are super helpful and welcoming. They’re in their 30s, and have 2 little boys. Her little sister, Kolo, and one of His brother’s daughters, Christine, also live there. They care a lot for our well-being.. Sometimes too much. Bakary doesn’t want Jamie or I to take a moto-taxi, and he’s afraid for me to ride my bike. He has good reason, but my perception of safety is so different here. But I am a child, right? I think I know everything here already, but in actuality, I don’t. So Bakary introduced us to a man whom he knows who’s a moto-taxi driver, who he trusts. They only speak to us in French, though Bakary knows a good amount of English. Kadi’s mother has been here for the past few days, and she speaks only Djula, so I’m picking up some of that as well. She likes to talk to me.. And I either just sit and smile, spit out what Djula words I remember, or speak French, and ask Kadi or Kolo what she’s saying. Last night, she taught me how to dance to Senoufo music. She grabbed my hands and started doing the “Senoufo shuffle” as I like to call it. It was great.

I take bucket baths twice a day. My “mom”, Kadi, helps me heat up a pot of water over hot coals, and I mix that with cold water from the outside tap. After being here for a few days, my little sister, Kolo (13), asked why I didn’t use the whole bucket. You’re supposed to pour whatever is left over your head. So now when I finish washing, she asks, “toute l’eau?” (all the water?) She also likes to laugh at me, often. Not only does she laugh, but she falls on the floor while doing so. It’s teaching me humility, and I’m thankful I learned to laugh at myself a long time ago.

My little brothers have taken a quick likening to me. Emanuel is 8. I recently taught him how to draw stars, and now he draws them everywhere. He is really sweet kid. He’s also super intrigued by my skin. Sometimes he’ll pet my arm hair, or point out my freckles and try to wipe them off. He has yet to figure out that they’re permanent. David is 5 and he is what they call here, a “bundi”. He likes to get into everything. One of his favorite past times is ringing the bell on my bike. Alas, he keeps life interesting. Yesterday, he made their puppy, “Djik”, ride his little tricycle. He pushed it all around the courtyard. The dog didn’t seem to mind. I also gave him a bath a few nights ago, outside, in a basin, as they do with kids here.

This week has been a lot of just spending time with the family, building relationships. Usually, we get up around 6, and the morning is full of sweeping, washing, reading a bit, walking to the market, preparing the noon meal. Then a petite rest in the afternoon, and more preparing, reading, playing with the kids, conversations, learning French always, and LOTS of visiting. Before dinner, everyone washes again, and dinner is around 8, then more visiting, sitting, and talking, and bed around 9:30 - 10. In the coming weeks, my schedule will change a little, as I start spending more time in ministry, at the local orphanages and Centre Providence.

Like I said already, life is a daily surrender: of my time, my will, my idea of how life should be. Every other morning so far, we’ve had ignames for breakfast. They are like large, heavy potatoes, cooked in oil with a tiny bit of garnish. I much prefer the bread and coffee days. But I had to stop my thoughts and say, “steph, this is how it’s going to be, for the next several months, you just aren’t going to get yogurt and granola for breakfast.” A surrender. That’s just one of the many.

If you are able, please pray that I’ll be full of patience, humility, understanding, wisdom, and strength.. All of the fruits of the spirit, really. I have been reading Psalm 23 fairly often. I love when it says “he restores my soul”, and “my cup overflows”. I’m learning to lean on Him in ways I never have before.