My most embarrassing moment of the week (maybe of my life....)
Seble (she is essentially my boss) sent Rahel and I to town with our fearless driver to pick up school materials. Zewdu (driver) parallel parks our van like a mad man, Rahel and I exit the car. A note about Addis, there are no sidewalks just piles of rubble that the city expects you to somehow successfully walk on. I am in cute army green capris (specifically bought for this venture, because I thought they looked safari-ish) and my rainbow flip flops. Wearing flip flops while walking in rubble should have been a red flag but I confidently chose them to wear that morning and thought nothing of it. I have taken maybe 10 steps and I slip on a rock. The moment that you know you are falling is an awful one, your mind is sending you 10,000 warning messages-- none of them which you can process. I am down for the count. My first thought is "bleep. Ow. this really hurts. omg I just fell in Africa" Immediately I am surrounded by a crowd of African men asking if I am okay. I get up with the help of a stranger, shouting yep, I'm GOOD, thank YOU, I'm fine I try to look and sound fine but I look down and my beloved capris have a giant hole around my knee cap, and my knee is bleeding, not a trickle of blood, I was really bleeding. I keep walking with a crowd still behind me, my roommate is fighting back laughter because this is probably the funniest thing she's ever seen. I've taken three steps and I go to dust off my butt because every square inch of me was dusty (remember, rubble is what I fell into) and I feel skin. Skin?! Skin!!!!? I should be feeling fabric. Again, 10,000 warning messages come. This time I am able to process "Becca there is a hole in your pants, and your butt is showing and there are 27 people behind you." I look at Rahel, mortified, she notices what the fear in my eyes is referring to, she bursts into laughter. I grab her hand and we sprint back to the car. This story sounds like it was an hour long ordeal, but all of this happened in a matter of minutes, so while it all happened Zewdu was still in the car and had seen none of it. Rahel, through her laughter explains quickly what happened. Zewdu let's out a huge gust of laughter, turns on the car and we head home.
I considered keeping this story to myself, but I think it is too good not to share.
 |
| After cleaning my knee, and reflecting on the fall I thought it was necessary to document. |
This week was craziness around WAR. Tuesday and Wednesday was an all staff meeting. Thankfully, I had a translator! Thursday and Friday were interviews for a new group of women looking to be a part of the year long rehabilitation program. I had the option of sitting in on them, but instead I stayed back and worked at the children's care center (where I will be for the majority of my 8 months.) The after school program doesn't start for a couple of weeks, so until then my time will be spent preparing lesson plans and slipping on rubble. The weather here has been wild too, the last couple of days have been torrential monsoons. As I walk in 8 inches of thick mud I regret not bringing rain boots. I would have never guessed the hardest rain I would experience would be in Africa...
A friend of mine asked me this week, Is it different than what you expected? I hadn't even really thought about that and when I did I realized my expectations of Africa were completely different that what I was living. I thought I would be roughing it to the max, living in a step above a shack. I thought I would be going to church in some remote village, where everyone danced and shouted and wore tribal costumes. I thought I would be able to speak their language in a day. My life is almost opposite. I live in a house, I have a big comfy bed, a kitchen, an amazing roommate and a puppy. I go to a church that looks like it is straight out of Southern California, where the majority of the congregation speaks english. I only know how to say the bare minimum in Amharic, Rosetta stone CD's are currently en route to me, so I can learn faster. All of the what-if's that I was terrified about before coming never happened. I have people who care about me, and I am safe (I live in a double gated house, with a human guard, and a K-9 guard :). I am constantly reminded, through almost everything I do here of the Lord's devoted faithfulness to my needs.
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for Him" Lamentations 3:22-24
So much love,
Becca
No comments:
Post a Comment