Realizations

I frequently have little moments when I come to the realization "I am in Africa!" all over again.  Here's a few little things that have triggered this awareness recently.

• When buying bread today we examined the dark spots on it to decide if it was mold or dirt, since we decided it was dirt, we bought it.

•  Taxis are decked out... and seeing an American flag gives you extra warm fuzzies!

•  "Gross things" seem less and less disturbing and after trying multiple times to do something, you learn to allow them.  Especially when the parent is  right there and does nothing.

•  "Beef" have more skin than beef.

• Rodents get your packages before you do.

•  Carrying things in any way but on your head is improper.

• I come face to face with banana and palm trees every time I step outside.
• At prayer meeting a friend points out to the night sky and asks, "How did the day pass by?" (how was your day?).
• Another teacher at school asks how I am, I say good and you? and he replies also good... I smile and sit back feeling very accomplished, because (even though it was only about 2 sentences long, this "Conversation" just took place in French!). Then, when this same teacher comes back in later and asks me if I've eaten, once again in French, I knew what he was asking and responded!
• You can "go shopping" for anything from shoes, movies, dishes, hangers, TV remotes, and whatever else walks by while you're "eating out."
• We're eating at "restaurant" that has a menu, but only rice and beans are available... so we all order rice and beans but when half of the group has been served, the waiter comes to tell us that, "the rice is finished."
• The ladies in market ask me to marry their son.
• The equivalent to McDonald's is a lady beside the road who has a bowl of oil heating over a fire made in a tire rim to deep-fry her "Irish Potatoes" (French fries).
• The taxi I'm riding in dies on the way up-hill, so I get out and help turn it around and aim it downhill... the driver jumps in and pops the clutch to restart it, then as it's billowing black exhaust he picks me back up and we continue up the hill. 
• In the morning you're asked "how did you spend the night?" (instead of "did you sleep well?" or "did you get a good night's rest?"). 
• It's getting hotter and hotter! Happy December!