Crossing Things Off the Bucket List

I thought I might tell you of a couple of my “African firsts.”

Was on the radio

So after evading the invitation for several weeks I finally accepted to be a guest on the Sunday night radio show. Don’t worry, there is a whole other blog about this experience on its way.

Got a tan line

I usually just get freckles, but since I’m pretty maxed out on freckles as of late, I guess my skin decided that it was finally (after 18 years) ready to move on to a tan line. Well the story goes that I was scrubbing my feet to get rid of all the caked on dirt when I realized that a bit of it wasn't coming off. It is in the exact shape as the flip flops I wear every day. I even asked Maria and she said she could see where the skin changed color. So THERE! That’s for all of you (including myself) who made jokes about how my skin is so white that I glow in the dark.

Ate liver, intestines, and tongue

I went to a birthday party at the YWAM (Youth with a Mission) base. There was a goat roast. The WHOLE goat was cooked. Not wanted to pass up an experience, I accepted some intestines and liver. I had had liver a couple of weeks ago, so I knew I could stomach that, but the intestines were new. I tried to convince myself that they were just weird tasting noodles….unsuccessfully. The tongue was more than I bargained for. Didn’t know I was putting that in my mouth. However, after realizing that liver doesn’t have taste buds…well, you can get the picture. I got through about half the helping (which was a large helping thanks to the eager server) when I gave up and moved on to chocolate cake.

Had a conversation in Lugbara

It was a simple conversation, but I didn’t use a word of English. I greeted these girls walking home from school and asked them their names, ages, where they went to school, how school was going. Things like that. Then I responded to their questions: what was my name, where was I from, where was I going. Then we said good bye and that was that. It’s amazing how the simplest things (or conversations) can bring such excitement.

Cooked from scratch

In a land of no drive-thrus and no microwave dinners, I’ve picked up some cooking-from-scratch skills. Mind you, I have a long way to go before I can say, “Why yes, I can cook from scratch!” but I’ve had some fun trying Brownies and Pancakes without boxes of pre mixed things. Also, some meats have been fun but I have yet to actually kill the chicken (I’ve walked past a place where they were butchering a cow though).  

Felt an earthquake

It was a little after the exceptionally strange one in NWA (Northwest Arkansas). It was a strange feeling. I was sitting on my bed and it started shaking. Apparently they happen once a year or so here.

These are just a few of my MANY African firsts, and I’m sure you will hear about many more.