Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Back to the City I go

I apologize for not writing these past few days – it has been a whirlwind of activity, sickness, and exhaustion here, so I was trying to rest and recuperate when I wasn't getting oriented to the area. My supervisors and I left the village on Sunday and came back to the capitol. I have moved into my house here in the city and will be here at least until the end of May. I have two young American girls here who are my roommates and they are also here learning language (not the same as mine). By our standards, the house is fairly mediocre, but by their standards, it is extremely nice. If you can afford to do so, it is standard here to have a cook and/or housekeeper as well as a guard. At first I was appalled at the idea of paying someone to cook and clean for me and a guard (think more like a butler or concierge and less like a guard) just seemed a little extravagant, but since it is expected, I guess I will oblige :) It is certainly nice to have, but honestly it is still a little weird and I feel a little bit like a ridiculously spoiled American.

Now that I am in the city, I am sure that the blog posts will slow down some as things aren't quite as different here as they are out in the village. For now, I am settling into my house, taking care of all the logistical stuff (registering with the embassy, etc), and trying not to fry all of my electronics when I plug things into the outlets here! I officially start language learning next Monday and am excited/nervous about that. A girl from my people group will be working with me one on one teaching me the language. I will be one of 3-5 other Americans with our company that have ever learned this language and I am the first to be learning in the city, not the village (which is supposedly better because of access to resources and language helpers). The language is central to the “work” that will be done in the village. To them, their native language is everything, so to be able to communicate Truth to them in their native language is of extreme importance. Until now, most of the workers have been using the national language to communicate in the village, but only the town people know that language. The people in the rural areas and those involved in the goat project can only speak their native language, not the national language. The difference here between the village and the city would be equivalent to the difference between Ellenton (for those not from my hometown, just think of the most boondock town you know) and Atlanta – huge!

We were driving on Saturday and came across a shipment of camels. I took a picture of them transferring them from one truck to another for your enjoyment. Don't ask me any questions – I don't really understand what was happening, I just took a picture of it until a guy came running up to me and told me I couldn't do that....ooopsie :)

By the way, I am unable to actually see my blog due to slow internet, so please forgive me if something looks weird or pictures are too small – I am only able to post, not view!

1 comment:

  1. I am sorry, but I find myself questioning if these camels' legs are broken...

    And you could understand the man telling you not to take pics?! You must be one fast language learner!! ;)

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