November

So one month into it and I am still going strong, ok well maybe not always going strong but still going at least. There are plenty of good times but also a few tough times. Life here is not exactly like it is back home, for one thing there is the cooking on a charcoal fire, not always being able to eat the bread as some morning there are too many bugs in it or it tastes too strongly of kerosene, the lizards getting inside and the frogs and...and... but to be honest I am still enjoying it here and learning many new skills. I think I just have to understand the culture a bit more, and the language.

I have had some interesting experiences with things being lost in translation, or not translated all. Like this YWAM lady was walking with me after a meeting and she was talking to me in French and all I got was “Me... home...” and she pointed to herself and then in the direction of her house. I assumed she was telling me she was going home but as we walked we were taking the road to my house, so I started thinking she was coming home with me and I was mentally preparing all the hospitality things I would need to do when we got there. But somehow it turned out I was supposed to go to her house. She was also talking about jam and I had heard that she sells jam so I thought she was taking me to her house to sell me some jam. And sure enough when I got there she pulled out this jar of jam, so I asked in French how much it was and I think she was a bit offended because she was giving it to me as a gift ... oops!

(Some of the villagers and me, i'm 3rd from the left in case you were having trouble spotting me :P)

In my last blog I said how the boys have taken to calling me ‘Bexie” or “Beckusie” but one time when I said it is “Bex or Rebecca” they started calling me Or-Rebecca, well that’s just great and I can’t get them to stop that either. And just to confuse things a little more the boys have given me a local name, I don’t know how to spell it but here it is phonetically: Eye-sha-ta

Here are some photos of a Fulani village I went to with some Norwegian missionaries on the weekend. They were having a hut building feast, but unfortunately (or not) we had to leave before they got to the eating part. The village is out in the bush (or a plain) and at night it is difficult to find your way out as there are no land marks, we did have an interesting moment or two until we found the main road.

(The main road ... i think)

(Traditional hut building)

(Pretty much the whole village)

Here are some p hotos of the village and some of the boys I work with... with Barbie. Oh and that reminds me, the when they were playing with the Barbie they said “Isn’t this Bexie” needless to say I was quite pleased with that :)