Lots of people ask me what a typical day here looks like, and I laugh since every day is so different. But let me introduce you to a day a few weeks ago. It is far from typical, but I think that it can help you see my life a bit.
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I wake up, get ready for the day, etc. Since there is no alphabet party today, I don’t need to wash the floors and get ready that way.
At 8:00 or so I start working. I reply to some e-mails about things coming up, remembering that I have to prepare more for those things, but those preparations will have to be another day.
Around 8:30 I start on my big morning task – discourse analysis. It’s what I’m trying to work on a lot these days, but it’s now Friday and I’ve had half and hour of concentrated time to work on it this week. Oh well, I have this morning.
So over the next 3 1/2 hours I work hard and enjoy having concentrated time on it. Today I’m looking at quotes and dialogues and such. Even though I’ve been looking at them on and off for the past few years, they are still weird in My Language. I make some noticeable forward progress, though I only get through about 1/4 of what I was hoping to get done. But now it’s off to the next activity, so I put my papers and computer away.
Around noon I stop for lunch, then head to a burial. There have been a lot of those among My People lately. This particular one is closely related to my host dad from the village, and he died after a tragic motorcycle accident in which all 3 people involved died. The other two passed away the same day as the accident, but Buba* was in a coma for over a week until he, too, passed away. (And during that time, I visited the hospital a handful of times. He had lots of family there that I got to visit, both people from here in town and those who came in from the village, like my host mom!)
I get there right after the men have left to go pray and then go bury the body. No, women don’t usually go with, so I sit in the courtyard with the women. There were easily 150+ of us there. (Yes, I was the only white person. No, the picture isn’t actually from that day. It’s from the next day, when there were so few people that it felt like there was no one there. 🙂 ) I end up being there about 6 hours that day, and get to chat with both some of my friends from the city and some who have come in from my courtyard in the village. What a treat to see so many familiar faces!
I come home around 7pm and am rather tired. I catch up on a few messages from the day, eat dinner, and then decide to read a book for a bit before I crash. The next day will be another long day, as I’ll head back to the funeral courtyard and help make fried cakes for the next part of the funeral, which will be that Sunday.
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Since Buba passed away less than two weeks ago, I’ve been over there around 32 hours. Some has been sad (it was a tragic death), some has been fun (getting to see people that I haven’t seen in years, and yet whom I love dearly!), some has been profitable (I sold a lot of books in My Language, and lots of other people sat around and read them or listened to “Storytime with Susie,” even if they didn’t buy them), and some has just felt so right, feeling like while I was in that courtyard I was almost back in my village. But now the first three parts of the funeral are done, and those from my village who have been here these almost two weeks are finally able to head home. I will miss them. And I will continue on with what I need to do to help get the gospel out to them before it’s too late for so many of those I love.
Yes, I am still making forward progress. But when you wonder why it’s so slow, part of it is because life here takes so long. Since Easter I’ve been at wedding festivities for one wedding for 5 days (and I’ve been to other weddings). I’ve been visiting one sick person for 5 days (and I’ve visited other sick people). And I’ve been to one funeral for 9 days (and I’ve been to other funerals). And been to a baby head shaving, a baptism party, a new house party, etc. All with My People, all in My City. These are the types of things that take a lot of time, but are SO APPRECIATED by My People – attending such things are one of the main things that make you a respectable and honored member of the society. In a lot of ways, the more you attend, the more you are considered a good person by My People.
Ok, I had better go and get some work done on discourse analysis before I get a call that someone else is sick or died or getting married or having a baby!
* Name changed for security reasons.
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