What's Normal...

My normal in the States looked so different but this is what my new normal looks like…

            Seeing donkeys carrying a ridiculous amount of cargo.    

            Walking through a heard of cow.

            Eating chips (fries) with a fork but most other foods with my hands.  (I can’t even begin to explain it)

            Telling people my name is Sela because that is how they pronounce it anyway.   (I’m one step ahead in this game.)

            Goats jumping my gate to eat my compost and chickens racing towards me for the scraps. 

            Seeing toddlers roam on their own / Young children caring for and carrying even smaller children strapped to their back with a piece of cloth.  (Seriously, those baby carrier things that are outrageously expensive…Unnecessary.)

            Kids climbing under my compound gate to listen to music, dance, and play.

            Feeling like I’m in a parade everyday.

            Hearing this constantly…Give me…sweets, your shoes, clothes off your back, your bag, whatever you are holding in your hand pretty much.  Marry me.  Take me to America.    

            Being flogged by students wanting to touch my hair and skin.

            Living without a fridge (and not really even realizing the lack of one anymore.)

            Having 4 shillings in my bank account.

            Having money in my bank account but the ATM not working so I have to live on $ 1 . 50 for the rest of the week.

            Getting excited about the littlest things.  Seriously it doesn’t take much here.

            Having a meal at a neighbor’s house and eating 10 minutes past the time you were full only to have them tell you that you didn’t eat. 

            Seeing other mzungus (foreigners) and staring at them wondering what in the bejeezus are they doing here.

            Seeing an entire family and pets/dinner on a motorcycle.   No kidding I’ve seen a kid sitting in front holding the hand grips.  The father driving.  A child in between the father and mother holding a chicken and the mother holding a baby in back.   (In case you weren’t counting that’s 5 plus a chicken.)

            When out at an actual restaurant…seeing people leave half their drink or dessert and wanting to go grab the left overs, but the waiter swoops in before you swiped it.

            Awkward and outside the comfort zone = typical day.

            Tucking myself in my mosquito net only to realize I forgot something.

            Not being able to live without buckets and basins in my life.  (What did I ever do without them??? Oh that’s called a washing machine, sink, and shower!)

            Collecting soda caps, blueband (butter) containers, anything really because even though it is trash you can do something with it.  Need a bowl have a blueband container, need a jewelry holder have a blueband container, need a wine glass blueband. Making cinnamon sugar for your toast- blueband it.   (I’m worried I’m turning into a hoarder.)

            If a shirt/skirt has only been worn a couple times and isn’t completely orange from the dust then it’s still clean. 

            Turning around when I hear Nahula. (My village name.)

            Leaving spiders alone in my house to eat the bugs. (One Friday night was spent watching a battle between a spider and grasshopper.  The spider killed it. Literally.  Oh how my weekend activities have changed.)

            Riding in a 5-person vehicle with 12 people. Or in the trunk with a bag of dead fish.  (Done this more than I can count.) Or a 14 with 30.  If your lap is open there is still space.  I have stood in a moving vehicle leaning over other passengers.  I have sat on others and have had people sit on me.  It is a death trap every time.  (What is a seat belt?) 

            Carrying around toilet paper everywhere you go.   (If you are smart.)

            Always having a book in my backpack because it is inevitable that you will be waiting hours before your meeting will start.  Or your vehicle will break down and you have no idea how many godforsaken hours you will be on the side of the road waiting. 

            Having leftovers from the previous night for breakfast.  I would never do this in the states.  I mean I would rarely if ever eat leftovers that same day with refrigeration.  I will be a human garbage disposal when I get back to America and leftovers will always get eaten from here on out. 

           

I’m a little scared what this will all mean in a year and a half when I return to such a different world.  My Grandpa K. grew up during the great depression and I remember him disliking that we would throw away plastic cups and he would dig them out to wash them.  (But isn’t that the plastic cups purpose and the point in buying them?)  Will this now be me going through the trash and seeing so many possibilities other than garbage?  Am I destined to glares and stares because I grab plates of half eaten food from unoccupied tables?   How many places will I get kicked out of because I pop a squat because the line for the bathroom is too long? 

This is my life and this is normal.

Oh and I also do this…

NORMAL.