It’s an interesting time here in Catel (when is it ever
NOT?) The team here in Catel is in a
time of transition again as the YES team has left us, and we are expecting new
additions (a family!) to our team in August.
It’s not the first time that the mission team here has been in
transition; many people have come and gone already in the (almost) year’s time
that I’ve been here. It’s exciting and
sad at the same time, but I’ve found that I am more and more able to relate to
the locals through our team transitions.
They are used to having people come and go in their lives, and I am
learning too what it looks like to invest deeply, but be able to let go when
the time comes.
One of the most common questions I get asked is “What is a
‘normal’ day like for you?” My first
response is usually “What’s ‘normal’?
Everyday holds its surprises.”
That was one of the harder things for me at the beginning of my time
here in Guinea Bissau; there seemed to be no semblance of a routine. Now, I’ve come to expect it. If I were to define a typical day these days,
this is what it would look like:
Wake up 6:18 with roosters crowing, birds singing, and
crickets…. doing what they do
Warm up hot water (for instant coffee with a scoop of
powdered milk and a pinch of sugar) on the 2 burner gas stove and figure out
what I’m going to eat for breakfast.
It’ll either be couscous with natural pb (no sugar added – it’s
literally JUST ground peanuts) and fresh smoked honey (smoked because to
harvest honey, they burn the hive) or ½ of a French bread from yesterday with
said pb and said honey. If it’s a Thursday morning, I will be in the process of
making pancakes for our team meeting of pancakes over Bible Study, which starts
at 7am.
By the time I’m finished with breakfast, the rest of the
team is starting their day. If it’s a Tuesday
morning, the team will be gathering at the big mission house for our time of
prayer to kick start our prayer and fasting day. Otherwise, people will be
scrounging the kitchen to scare up something that volunteers itself for
breakfast (likely some bread from yesterday).
Before I start garden work, I help my friends get water from
our well here at the house. This
involves several full, heavy tubs on my head (one at a time, of course) and
some very skillful, careful walking.
When I get back, I sweep our veranda and dirt yard with a
local broom. Yes, I sweep our dirt –
everybody does here. It really does make
a difference – I promise.
Recently, I’ve been looking for grass to mulch my garden
with. I’m pretty excited to start
working in the soil again. I’ve planned
out what it will look like this season, and have some ideas about how to
involve the community in the demo plot.
My students from the agricultural seminar who live in Catel will start
work in the garden they made – that should be exciting as well! I’ve just recently made a trip to the capital
(Bissau) to pick out some corn and bean seeds.
Okra, cucumber, peanut, and a local green called “bajik” (bah-JEEK … it
looks like what English calls “sorrel” I think) seeds were graciously given to
me by some of my friends in the village (I didn’t even ask for them!). The remainder of the seeds that I would like
to plant will come from an organization called ECHO, a US based organization
established to help missionaries working in ag development (www.echonet.org).
If it gets too hot to be working outside or if I get
distracted by an interruption (it’s amazing the work that actually gets FINISHED
with how many people come to the house asking about stuff, looking for the
clinic, asking for water, etc), I usually end up either cleaning our house or
going over to my friend’s house to help them finish up their housework.
After cleaning or working outside, I come in and make lunch
for us – usually rice with some kind of bean sauce. Vegetables and fruits are pretty rare and
expensive during the rainy season, so we “make do” with what we have. There is a great leafy vegetable called
“chaya” that we often add to sauces to supplement nutrients (to learn about
chaya, click here http://www.echonet.org/content/100underutilized/717/chaya_cnidoscolus_aconitifolius_ssp_aconitifolius). Fish are super common around here because of
the tidal rivers very close to Catel, and most people eat fish every day.
Because the afternoons are much too hot to do intense manual
labor, afternoons are generally saved for more indoor activities such as
writing an occasional blog post or newsletter, planning gardening plots,
organizing agricultural development events, making lesson plans for the English
class I will start this rainy season, preparing for Bible study, doing pig
project visits, having quiet time, or hanging out with friends.
Everybody on the mission team comes together for supper at
7:30. If it was my turn to make supper,
I will have started preparations at 6:00ish for a rice dish. One of my favorite dishes to make, especially
when we are limited on the vegetables we have is a curry/tomato/peanut sauce
over rice.
Something I miss because of being in the rainy season is
baking. We do have a solar oven, that is
much like a child – one has to babysit it all day to make sure the sun beam is
still on it. Unfortunately, on cloudy
overcast days such as we have every day in the rainy season, banana bread,
baked fish, etc cannot bake very well, as one can imagine.
In the evenings, our house is usually bouncing with
activity. Many of our friends not only
frequent our house for supper, but many stay on later into the evening to hang
out. Some nights, our hang out times
just include talking or telling lively stories.
Other nights though, they include card games, checker games or watching
an occasional movie (if there had been enough sun that day to charge my
laptop). Sometimes my child (otherwise
known as my ukulele) wakes up from its slumber and joins the party.
The day ends with hand-drawing up water from the well in our
front yard and taking a cold bucket shower (which is often very refreshing
after a humid day in the 100’s). Lock the room, scramble into bed, pull down
the mosquito net and fan yourself until you fall asleep. You start to sweat just as soon as you leave
the shower, so you pray that sleep comes faster than the yucky, gross, sweaty
feeling.
The next morning will start a beautiful, new day with new life and new conversations and new things to learn here in Catel!
