Monday, February 21, 2011

Some lessons

I have been staying at Lexson’s sister-in-law Selina’s place. It is about a 500 square foot apartment where there is 2 kids, 2 adults, a grandma and now Lexson and I. We have been given a bunkbed which is pretty sweet. The mattresses are even memory foam. So much so that the bed still knows exactly where you slept from the night before :)

Anyways, life has been good but I have learned some important lessons. First of all, my stomach is small. There is this daily dilemma I face when I eat here at Selina’s. I wonder, do I just keep eating this ridiculous amount of not-all-that-appetizing type of food that keeps ending up in front of me and be polite but get sick, OR do I feel better about myself but feel like a jerk? Hmm. At first, I appeased. Now I have elected to try to explain that Canadian bellies like mine have much less appetites. This explanation seems to work alright at this point.

I also learned to be persistent when you think you are right. I went to the hospital on Friday because I was still sick. They took my info and said they would call me in. I waited. And waited. Until people after me were called in. So I went and asked:

Did you call me yet?

No, you will be called soon.

Oh okay great. I waited again. Until I decided I should check again. Nope, they said there were no rooms for me to go into. Okay, so I went back to the waiting room. (Luckily there were some sweet soccer highlights on the T.V. during this time for all you Collide soccer junkies that are reading this). Then I went back one more time and said:

Okay I think you forgot about me.

Wait, what number are you again?

861.

Oh, hmm, I wonder where you’re file went. Okay go in that room.

So you guessed it. They lost my file. Lexson laughed and said “This is Africa!”

Go figure, that is what Leonardo says in “Blood Diamond”. T.I.A. mate.

Anyways, that is all good. The other more beautiful thing that I find every time I enter a country is that kids are kids all over the world when given the chance. Yesterday I went to another relative’s of Lexson’s house. She has a bunch of kids and grandkids in a neighbourhood area. I got to play with a few of these kids. Mostly they were playing with a tire they found. But they decided that piggybacks from a Mazungu (sp?) are much better. So we played, ran, jumped, waddled, and giggled (well actually they giggled...grown manly men like myself would never giggle...right guys?) But it was sweet. My favourite moment here yet. At the end when I had to go, a little girl told me she wanted to come with me. Aw shucks, way to make that manly man melt and giggle there kiddo.

That’s it, we will be leaving for Juba probably on Wednesday by bus. We will go through Uganda and it should be about 24 hours long. Woot woot. But the good news is, it’s super cheap compared to flying and I hope to see some landscape and wildlife along the way. Oh and also my phone may or may not be able to receive your calls if you want. Still not sure how well it works from Kenya because it’s a Sudanese number but if you want to shout out then here it is: 011 249 955 701 807

5 comments:

  1. Fave naybur notices you referred to yourself not oncee, but twice as a manly man!!!!!!! Keep these blogs comin Adam - they're great. :)

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  2. wow bro. i was praying that you would remmeber why you went to Africa and then when you wrote about kids being kids when given a chance, i was like UH! well i didnt actually say that but i was stoked for you bro! live it up! love crazy too mate! peace!

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  3. Adam! So glad to read and feel (in a small way) that you were right here sitting in my office sharing this with me! My heart smiled when I read about your experiences with the kids (and also pictured you laughing (not giggling...;)) along with them!) Know that you are and will continue to be on our hearts and in our prayer!!

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  4. Adam - in many cultures it is considered impolite to not serve a person enough food. So if they finish their food, you must serve them more. So it is better to leave a little bit of food on your plate when you've had enough rather than finish it (which would mean, "I need you to give me some more").
    Just a tip... I could be wrong.
    Great to hear about your adventures!

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  5. Hey Ad. I also have "memory foam" in Zambia. Even if I try to sleep in a different spot, I just roll back to the deep crevasse created by my backside on the first night in this bed.
    The kids in Africa are amazing, I totally agree!

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