Things That are Normal Now (That Probably Weren't Before)

Post by Lara

28 Oct 2013

Below is a fun list Kevin and I wrote last week when we were considering all of the ways in which "normal" has shifted, morphed, and flat out done a 180 in the last year and a half of our lives.  Some are funny, some kind of disturbing, but all are a part of life in Salone.

• Hearing roosters crow, from day break to sunset, all the time, everywhere.
• Not believing that people are telling me the truth (they often aren’t)
• Scraping poo off the bottom of my shoes (generally of the chicken variety)
• Enjoying striking terror in small children who have never seen a white person before (or who see me every day but are still terrified of me.  Both of those happen)

Pretty much one of my favorite pictures of all time.

• Itching.
• Strong smells, always, everywhere.
• Being identified as the “white person”
• Eating things with eyes (or at least eating the rice sitting right next to them)
• Anxiety
• Livestock in my classroom (most frequently chickens, but once it was a goat)
• Hand-washing laundry and sometimes having to wait days for it to dry because of the weather.

Seamus' toys often had to be cleaned.

• Ants.

These creatures have become my most hated in this country.

• 
  Waiting for the fire to warm up before being able to cook anything
• Having the same conversation 50+ times per day (most frequently, “Where is Abubakar?” “He is at school” “Oh, he is at school?” …)