Living in Two Worlds

I recently arrived back home in West Africa after some time in my country of origin, and I realize again how funny it is that these two worlds I live in are so very different.  The following two stories are two of my recent experiences.  Can you guess which one is from my country of origin and which one is from West Africa?  (I bet you can!)

1. I needed to get some groceries, so I stopped at the market on my way home from somewhere else.  Parking my motorcycle on the side of the road, I asked the lady selling peanuts and dried caterpillars if she’d watch it while I ran into the market.  She agreed.  But before I went into the market a guy who was near there came over with a baby – maybe 3 months old or so?  The baby wasn’t afraid of me, so I picked him up, and since he was still happy, I took him with me into the market.  I went and greeted my friend who sells things at the market, and when the baby started getting fussy I went and returned him to someone near his family, then finished my shopping.  

2. Wanting to have a fun outing, we went to a waterski show championship.  It was amazing to watch what people can do behind a boat on a pair of skis, a single ski, or no ski at all!  In one act I had never seen before, 8 people were skiing backwards behind a boat.  Then the boat came between a dock with 8 skiiers and a barge with 8 more skiiers.  As the boat went by, ropes were thrown to the boat from the skiiers on the dock and barge, and those 16 skiiers (skiing forwards) joined the 8 already skiing backwards.  Now the boat was pulling 24 skiiers!

Please pray for me as my brain has to adjust to this world again, and get used to what is “normal” (like giving your baby to a random stranger to carry around the market) and what is “unimaginable” (like a waterski show).  Thanks!