What now?

I have enjoyed watching spring unfold. White pear flowers turning into bright green leaves, cherry blossoms in full, green grass, small leaves appearing on other trees. A new season, outward appearances change, beauty, slow growth.  I feel this is a good description of how I feel. Entering a new season of life. Like the plants and trees, doing the chemical and biological aspects without being seen. Just as changes in amount of light and temperature trigger chemical and biological changes unseen to the naked eye in plants and trees, experiences in different cultures often trigger thought, value, and direction changes in people. This is often difficult to express in words to others.

How was your trip? How are you doing? How are you transitioning? All fair questions to ask when you have not seen someone for 6 months who has been abroad. Although they seem simple questions, the answers are not so simple. What aspect do you pick to tell them about? What is this particular person truly interested in hearing? How do you pick one highlight to share? Although I did travel before and after serving on the ship, the majority of my time was living there. It was not truly a trip.

Addressing the questions of how I am doing and transitioning, it is not as easy as other times I have been to another country. What is normal anyway? I have heard and like the saying, "Normal is just a setting on the dryer." Traveling abroad in several different countries, cultures, economic levels, modes of transportation, and food is one way to significantly blur your definition of normal. Which side of the road to drive on, how and where one purchases food, gets from one place to another, housing, electricity, water, how you pay for items, how you know the prices of items, number of choices/options of items, and ways of communicating are just some of the everyday things that differ.

Is one way better than another? The quick surface answer may appear to be yes. Upon further examination, however, I am not so sure. This is not a guilt trip, so please keep reading. I do like the consistency of being able to turn on a light switch or plug in something and having the light turn on or the item to charge. I like the same consistency of running water at any faucet and being able to drink it whenever I would like. I do like having options to chose what and when I want to eat or go somewhere. I like the ability to go to three grocery stores within a 5 mile radius of my house, drive across town (15 miles) to help a friend move, go out to dinner 10 miles in the opposite direction without blinking an eye. I am grateful for healthcare easy access (so to speak...another topic for another time).

I, however, do miss the exercise and fellowship that happened while walking 2-3 miles minimum to the market to get food, to go out to eat, to buy shoes, to go to church. I miss the simplicity of needing shampoo and having only one option on the shelf.  I miss the community of sitting down for a meal three times a day with others (old friends and new ones). I miss the ease of walking across the hall or up to another floor or across the compound to spend time with friends. I miss the local fresh tropical fruit. Simplicity and community are two things that I think other cultures may have better.

Sure they come at a cost, TIME. It takes time to walk to get water, to the market, to work. I have heard it said, "One either has an abundance of time or money, but rarely an abundance of both." I think there is truth to this saying.

So, how am I transitioning? I am fine. I am adjusting to the way life works here again. I have been overwhelmed as usual first time going to a store with the options of everything from canned tomatoes to tweezers to rock hard fruit shipped from Mexico. I am trying to make connections here again, but find talking with people from the ship who are now all over the world important as well.  I am waiting for the next step. I am in another hold pattern of sorts. I have applied for two jobs and do not want to open more doors until I have more information and clarity about these. I do not want to invest in finding a place to live, new friends, new hobbies until I have more direction. In the mean time I will keep smiling at others and enjoying the present time.

Indescribable

As I walked near, upstream, below, and both "sides" trying to think of how to tell people about it, the words of indescribable, incredible, unbelievable were all that came to mind. Not very helpful or descriptive.

Some of the aspects that make it spectacular are the beauty visually, the roaring sound that can be heard from far away, the rainbows at certain times of days, the power of the water falling over the cliffs, the volume of water, and the size of the waterfall.

Everyone who travels to see this wonder asks which side is better. I took advantage of the opportunity of being there and saw both sides. I saw Zimbabwe side first. This side enables one to see the largest section of the falls. The Zambia side allows one to get closer to the falls, walk further upstream and go to river level below the falls. My conclusion: if a tourist from the United States, get the Kaza Uni Visa which allows one to go to both countries multiple times in 30 days. In other words, see both sides if at all possible.

The mist from the falls could be seen from where I was staying in Victoria Falls. The roar of the falls could be heard from dark to about 6:30 AM. After 6:30 AM, the sound of helicopter rides usurped the sound of the falls at the rest camp. The rest camp/downtown was about a 15 minute walk from the falls.

One day I had crocodile on a fresh greens salad lunch at the Victoria Falls Hotel which is an expensive place to stay. The patio overlooks the spray of the falls. The yard and pathways lead to views of the river below at its first switchback. The salad was the first I had had in 6 months. It was delicious.

In Zambia, I stayed at Faulty Towers hostel. This was a great place to stay complete with a pool, living room and dining room separate from the bar and pool area. Travels literally from all over the world were staying there for times of one night to up to 5 weeks. Single travelers and families were there. This made for several great conversations about different countries and people's choices in life, working, traveling, living. The falls were about a 10 minute taxi ride from Livingstone.

After spending several hours at the falls and a couple weeks later, I do not have any more descriptive words for it.

White Water Rafting

Upon arriving, we found out there were five tourists. Japan, Belgium, currently living in Australia but from UK, currently living in Australia but from Ireland, and myself. Because it is low tourist season and high water season, we were blessed to be able to go. The owner of the company, a local,  and two other locals who are being trained as guides rafted with us to complete the necessary eight. 

The weather was cloudy and cool. Windjackets made for rafting were given out. These were also beneficial on the 20 minute ride in the open air vehicle to the top of the canyon at rapid #11. We all piled out of the vehicle and donned PFD (personal flotation devices), helmets that come in two sizes as the guide said (too small or too big) and walked to the overlook for our safety talk. While we were doing this, porters carried the raft down into the canyon and inflated it.

We began the hike down the steep canyon taking care not to slip. We had to negotiate two ladders and rocks.  Once all seated nicely in the raft and practiced paddling in all directions, the guide ordered us to jump out of the raft. We were all pulled back into the raft with the confidence that if we tipped or fell out of the raft in a rapid we would be able to get back in the raft.

Away we went paddling down the river. Having made it through the first rapid which was class 5, we all felt much better and began to truly enjoy the experience. After a few more rapids, we took a break to jump off cliffs 9 meter high into one of the deepest parts of the river. In between the rapids, we enjoyed the beautiful green canyon walls.

We were given the choice to go to the left and have 50 %  chance of falling out or the middle with a 98% chance of falling out. We let Japan make the decision. He voted middle. In we went. Before I knew it, I was indeed in the water. I had no idea what happened or where I was. With in seconds, I had surfaced and saw a fellow crew. We both reminded each other to get into the "swim" position to ride out the rest of the rapid. Once everyone was collected and safe in the raft, we could not stop laughing and replaying it.

We continued on through more rapids. We even had the opportunity to "swim" class 1 and 2 rapids.  It was a blast. After rafting to #28, we gathered our paddle and began the hike up. We stopped a couple times briefly to catch out breath. It was quite a steep hike. The locals, however, hiked right up without rest while carrying the raft or kayak.  At the top, we were rewarded with ice cold drinks, grilled chicken, sausages, homemade potato salad and green salad. The view was amazing overlooking the river.

After a leisure lunch, we all piled into the vehicle to drive back to Victoria Falls. The scenery was forest and small villages. A wonderful, fun, day. Oh yeah, it was cloudy so no one got sunburned.

Answered Prayers on the Road

Monday morning, Mike drove me to the international airport in Windhoek, Namibia. He said I only needed to be there an hour ahead of time. He was correct; it was plenty of time. Several arrived after I did. After an uneventful flight to Lusaka, I passed the ebola screen and arrived at customs. I asked for the Kaza-Uni Visa which is a special tourist visa for Zambia and Zimbabwe that allows one to cross between the two as many times as you want for 30 days. The customs agent looked at me like she had no idea what it was. Upon further prompting, she knew and went to get someone else to issue one. After about 15 minutes I had one. Answered prayer

I changed some money to Kwacha. While doing so, I asked bank teller what a fair price for a taxi to the bus station was. He stated between 200-250. I walked out of the bank and just about literally walked into a taxi driver. He was very polite and asked if I needed a taxi. I said I needed one to the bus station. I asked him how much it would cost. He quickly stated 200. Another answered prayer. I did not have to bargin and got a fair price comparable to online suggestions and the local suggestion.

The taxi driver told me some simple facts about the area on the way. He made sure I had the right amount of money for the bus ticket separated from the rest prior to arriving. He drove me right up to the ticket kiosk and warded off several people trying to shuttle people to certain bus companies. I made my way up to the crowded counter and asked if there were still any tickets for the 2:30 pm bus that day. Online it suggests buying a ticket 24 hours ahead of time. It is unlikely if you walk up that day to get a ticket. They responded "yes." Another prayer answered. After landing at the airport at 11:30 AM, I had a local money, the correct visa, and a bus ticket for the 2:30 bus by 1:10 PM. Answered Prayer.

My seat was next to a friendly local female from Livingstone who had come to Lusaka for the day to accomplish some business. As we got near Livingstone (1.5 hours longer than expected), I had asked her how much a taxi should be to Fawlty Towers Hostel. She told me no more than 20 Kwacha. Once there at 10:30 PM, she warded off several aggressive taxi drivers and negotiated one for me. She even rode with me to the hostel even though it was the opposite direction she wanted to go. She stayed with my large luggage while the driver and I went into the hostel. They did indeed have a room still available. Answered prayer.

I quickly checked my email before going to bed. I had received an email from the Shockwave rafting company stating that I needed to be ready to raft at 7:00AM the next day in Zimbabwe (A day before the schedule rafting day).  Sure enough, the next morning, I was picked up and driven to the Zambian border. Stamped out no problem. Driven to the Zimbabwe border, stamped in no problem with the KAZA Uni visa. I was whisked away quickly to go pick up two other rafters before arriving at the rafting company's office all before 8:00AM. Hooray for answered prayers and safe travels!

A Sober Guarantee

Saturday Mike and I attended a funeral. The funeral was held at a local church in the African language. This made for a long service. Apparently the family had already held three memorial services on different days spaced out over 10 days I think. The funeral is the last of the services. The funeral had many of the same components of one in the United States with songs, special music, slide show, procession, speeches. What was different was the 45 minute sermon in the middle.

After the service was complete, we drove to the cemetery. Apparently, people are only buried on Saturdays. There were 10 burials scheduled for that Saturday. The church service began at 8:00am to insure we were at the grave site by 10:30. When we arrived, one family was finishing. While we were there, another family began. Immediately after we finished, another one was beginning.

The grave side service had a brief sermon. After which, the family all grabbed a handful of dirt to throw in the grave with a flower. Next, several men worked together to maneuver and lower the cement blocks over the casket. Five shovels were then brought. Young and older men took turns shoveling the dirt and rocks one shovel full at a time. It was sobering to see the community working together to say see you later. The teamwork made quick work of filling the grave and shaping a round top. It was finished within about 20 minutes. While the men were working together, the rest of the community were singing songs. When the dirt was placed and shaped, a temporary marker and flower arrangements placed strategically decorating the grave.

A couple of thoughts: As I was at the grave site, I was struck with the reality of death. The depth of the grave, the casket, the cement box and meters of dirt on top. No life.

The teamwork of filling the grave themselves was a way of everyone saying their final goodbyes. A community effort and way of showing support.

Also this way, when you walk away everything is finished. In the United States, we walk away and the casket is still above ground.

Although, I only had a very brief glimpse into one aspect of the passing away traditions of one people group in Namibia, it was a privilege to be there. If you think of them, please pray for this family as they are on a new part of this journey in life.

Just Another Day in Namibia :)

Mike and I went for a walk through a nice neighborhood to the trail head to the mountains on the outskirts of the city. After walking about 5 minutes away from the houses, views of the city were available. Upon arrival of the first peak, one could see 365 degrees. Because it was a clear day, we could see the entire city including downtown, informal settlements, the dam, and where Mike lives. Walking on a jeep trail lead to the second peak. Well, after a little bushwacking.  It is always neat to be high and see out a long ways.

After lunch at home, Mike, two of the German girls, and I piled into the car to see some cheetahs and leopards. Mike and I had wanted to go to another reserve where you are able to walk with cheetahs. It did not work out, so at the suggestion of a coworker we went to Dustenbrook. We turned off the paved highway onto well maintained, level, gravel road. According to the signs we had 18km to travel on this road. Following the signs and opening/closing gates behind us, we made our way. We saw a sign that said “Turn right to avoid water obstacle.” Thinking it had not rained much lately, how much water could there be? We passed two families of warthogs and mongoose before coming to the water.

Another driver in a sedan got out of his car and threw rocks in strategic places to determine the water was indeed too deep to drive across with a car. After backtracking to the sign, Mike carefully navigated rough terrain including sand, rocks, gravel, up and down hills to bring us safely to the lodge in a sedan.

After waiting a little while, nine guests piled into the open air safari vehicle for our tour. We quickly arrived at an enclosure. Upon driving in, the leopard was seen walking through the tall dry grass towards the vehicle. The driver began throwing meat for the leopard to jump up and catch. The driver said that Rex, the leopard, was raised here from 3 months old. Although he was trained to put on a show, it was very neat to see one so close (5-10 meters away).

We left Rex to visit some of his neighbors, two female cheetahs. The driver had formed a relationship with these two as well. Although he respects they are still wild cats, the guide is able to pet one on the head. One even came into the front seat of the vehicle. Amazing to see them so close even though they are trained.

Things I learned: Cheetahs only hunt during the day because they cannot see well at night. Cheetahs only see in black and white

Cheetahs are skinny naturally.

Leopards are stately and elegant.

Leopard: Expect for their first year of life, leopards live solo. There cannot be two in the same territory.  

On the way home, we saw baboons, Oryx, kudu, warthogs, and several large birds. It was quite the adventure getting there and back with a fun tour in between.  

We quickly changed clothes in order to attend a party celebrating a missionary’s 20^th anniversary of being in Namibia. To my surprise, I knew quite a few people there. Some from SIM, some from the seminary NETs, and the German girls. There were some new people as well who are missionaries.

A full, but great day. 

After school on Tuesday, Mike showed me some of the tourist stops in Windhoek. There are two malls in which we did not spend much time. The major grocery stores are on the first levels of the malls. Outside one of the malls is a outdoor walkway where many local have booths/area to sell tourist souvenirs. What looks like an ordinary sculpture from afar is large collection of iron meteorites. They were apart of the largest known meteor shower on earth. (Sorry not photo)

As we walked through downtown, people in traditional dress were appearing frequently. As we walked up toward the landmark church, the roads were closed to cars. A police officer told us the roads were blocked for the memorial service of a politician in the gardens at the parliament building. He must have been a Herero.

I enjoyed the Christuskirche (Christ Church) built by the German Lutherans and consecrated in 1910.

I also became more educated regarding Namibian's history and battle for independence at the new history museum. Namibia gained its independence 21 March, 1990 after years of fighting.

We were able to enter the courtyard for the fort Alte Feste, see the Parliament building and gardens from a small distance, and drove by the President's house.

Yesterday, Mike, a friend of his, and I ate kapana for lunch. Kapana is a native food. It is fresh (slaughtered at 4:00AM) red meat cooked over a grill with fire. It is the experience that is cultural not just the meat. One aisle at the market is men cooking meat over the grills. The cow is literally right behind them being butchered just prior to being cooked. One walks down the aisle stopping to sample meat at as many vendors as you want. After finding one you like, you decide how much meat you want. N$10 or N$20 will get you ample meat. This is equivalent to about 1-2 USD. The meat slices you selected are cut in to bite size pieces and placed into newspaper for you to hold and eat. The flavor toppings are hot chili or red spice mix or salt. Some will eat the meat with a tomato and onion mix. If you want more meat, you begin the process again.  Yes, I did eat the red meat from the market, but I did not eat mopane worms. (sorry no photos)

Mopane worms are caterpillars that come out during rainy season. There are two types, green and black. They looked dried. If one wants to have the delicacy of the cow's liver or stomach, they are available as well  For dessert, fat cakes. These are a semisweet ball of dough that is fried.

I also have sat in on a seminary class, small group, chapel, and met many students at NETS.

It has been a great few days here seeing what life is like in Windehoek.