Eggs and things

"It takes different strokes to rule the world" I believe Arnold once said!

It's amazing how small things make little difference to me but mean the world in a different culture.
Here are a few from here:

It's rude not to go around and greet everyone when you enter a room with a handshake and a curtsy.

It's rude if I don't greet absolutely everyone I see (even in the distance) as I walk around the village.

Some friends were doing games with some kids and did the 'egg and spoon race' game.  When the first egg broke the kids started to really cry cos it was food. (Note to self, food is never a game here).




I got invited to a wedding at 11am, people started arriving at 2pm, it got going around 2.30-3pm.
Wedding gifts should be wrapped in a t-towel and presented in a wave type movement.

Thighs are referred to as "uncooked meat", should be covered at all times as they are private areas and should only been seen by your husband/wife. Below the knee shorts/skirts are decent.  However, a lot of cleavage is fine.

Have you ever thought why we think like we do?

Living here is opening me more in how to love better.

I want to be a loving person.
Loving someone isn't about me,
it's not really about how I want to give and receive love.
It's all about finding out how people feel loved and doing that.

Love is patient, Love is kind, it doesn't envy, it doesn't boast, it's not proud, it isn't rude, it's not self seeking, it's not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love doesn't delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

6 months in Africa

On Friday I've been here 6 months - wow! That went quickly!
How do you sum that up?

Fun, challenging, spider, healings, Kids, laughter, no money, schools, stuck in mud, secret lakes, church in the bush, photos, blogs, friends, nshima, pig for Christmas, Zimbabwe holiday, crickets, star looking, More schools, unexpected gifts, curries, nandos, singing early in the morning, no tv, smelly feet, dodgy Internet, phone calls and Skype dates, many visits and short termers, dogs, chocolate, African quest drinks, Maka-Maka, icecream, coffee, reading, paperwork, theft, bank problems, Christmas hygge meals, new year fireworks, tears, power cuts, mustaches, maggots, snakes, ridiculous jokes and shared humor, Miranda, ssssss, Gilmore girls, village walks, bikes, swims, red skin, more kids, letters from home, container clothes, $1 business plans, haircut in 7 minutes, passports and work permits, police stations, hospital visits, neck scarves, data entry, push cars, shoes, boobs, handshakes, African rain, courgettes, drive thru tomato shacks, fun afternoons, adventures, the farm, Catherine, folded underwear, red earth, potholes, chapel, homemade bread, sausages, airplanes, Jesus, curtains, sunshine, wordless communication, the rat, misunderstandings, naps, eggs, bandanas, sofa, African markets, movie nights, biscuits and Chocolate cake, frikadeller, cabbage, turmeric, sun cream, boys, candles, ants, shared fruit trees, chicken!

Wow!


What a 6 months!

Overcoming fear

Please accept my apologies for the absence of blogets in the past few weeks.
The long and short was I got a bag stolen that had my laptop, camera, passport and other bits and bobs in it, so little access to such luxuries has made blogets challenging.

But I'm back thanks to a wonderful little iPad.

This week I flew to Lusaka to get all the relevant new paperwork sorted and realized in doing so had to confront a few fears that i have lived with for years and have been until now easy to disguise.

Although I have flown all over the world I get anxious and prefer to not do it alone. I like my own company but the thought of staying in a hotel/holiday place on my own was until now something I would avoid at all costs. My biggest fear by far in all of this was eating in a restaurant on my own, the thought of it brought a minefield of paranoia and anxiety.  Whilst in the uk I had tried to make steps out of this by purposely going to costa on my own with a book, both time I tried were frankly horrible.

So what do you do. . .
I have to go, I have to get this paperwork....

Flying went very well, small plane but smooth journey this time and I even enjoyed it.
Lusaka Backpackers is a warm and social setting, made a few friends last time I was there, few anxious moments but ..... I enjoyed it.

And then the big one.
I'm sat in my room, I'm hungry, I could stay hungry or just go for it....
Half an hour later and a Nandos chicken salad later, I eat and leave, but I have this sense of crossing a line.
The next evening is my last in the capital and I dream about what I would really like to eat.... Of course,  fillet steak with mushroom sauce fills my mind.  I figure the longer I think about it, the harder it will be. Can I recommend "spurs" if you are ever in southern Africa, it's gooooood food and I enjoyed the whole experience, I sat in peace, enjoyed the atmosphere and loved people watching as I waited for my,delicious by the way, dinner. I finished and just sat, breathing it all in.

I have lived with irritating fears my whole life, some of them related to memories but some just because.
I'm on a quest to not live with them anymore . 
They stop me enjoying every moment, they hinder my love of life and I wasn't born to be held by them.

Here's to increased freedom and being able to laugh at how stupid they were after walking through them and enjoying it.