Kristen here…
One of the things that the speaker said to us at orientation
was, “you are the same person when you get off the plane as when you got on the
plane.” We all laughed at the comment
because of how painfully obvious it was, but there was a lot of hidden truth in
this one statement. Just because you
move overseas doesn’t make you a super hero, you don’t suddenly become more
holy or a better person, you don’t have different needs or desires and your
personality stays the same. The point is
that living on a different continent doesn’t mean that you don’t still have to
do/want to do life. At the core you are the same person no matter what
continent you live on. The hospital
consumes a lot of our time, but there is still a need for sanity and the need
to “do life” outside of medicine. I
thought I would just give a glimpse into what “life,” aside from the hospital,
means here.
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Garden cleared and ready for planting |
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I helped! :-) |
Recently, we planted a garden in our backyard. This was a project that Dan dreamed up and
has been really fun! With the help of my
in-laws sending us some seeds to get things started we have been able to plant.
Things are now starting to grow and we are eagerly awaiting these much desired
vegetables from home that can be hard to get here. I have to confess that in residency I was
given a small pot with a bamboo plant in it.
I single handedly almost killed the plant completely until my roommate
took over caring for it. I have wanted
to learn how to garden for years, but knowing my epic failures with potted
plants in my own home - I was aware of my limits and never tested those
boundaries. I can’t really take much
credit for this garden either as Dan did everything. All I did was drop the appropriate seeds on
the ground where he told me to. It has
been really rewarding, though, to watch as the plants come up and to see
success in our endeavors.
This last weekend we decided we needed to do some
weeding. It was time to sort out what we
had intentionally planted versus the unwanted invaders. We were getting ready to head outside,
gardening gloves in hand, to tackle this chore when I had to admit that I
didn’t know how to weed. Actually, I
didn’t even know what tool to use or how to properly pull up the plants. The look on Dan’s face when I shared this
shortcoming was priceless – complete disbelief.
This was then followed by so much laughing that he had to leave the room
and wipe the tears from his eyes. Well,
there is a first time for everything and it was the first time this girl had
ever pulled up weeds!
Other “life” things that contribute to our lives here in
Kapsowar are learning how to make your own fun.
Back home you have a variety of things to choose from including going
out to eat, going to the movies, going to a sporting event, various weekly
church activities, spending time at the gym, etc. In Kapsowar, “life” is different in that
these types of run of the mill entertainment activities are non-existent. Nevertheless, the desire for them, the desire
for activities, for date nights remains the same. Now, we just have to get creative. A few
weekends ago Dan suggested that we have a date night – just the two of us. There
is nowhere to really go in Kapsowar at night so instead of going out for our
date we stayed in. We made dinner.
Filled the house with candles. Got
dressed up. We cleared the living room
of all of the furniture and recreated our first dance from our wedding. It was a priceless, special evening. It wasn’t fancy, it wasn’t extravagant, but
it was “life” and doing it together.
Date night fun |
We have also recently added to our family. We got a dog!
Moto is our newest member and has been really great. He makes for a great companion for me when I
am out hiking or running the trails in the mountains surrounding Kapsowar and a
great watch dog for our home. He is full
of energy and keeps us busy as well as entertained with his antics. He eats
vegetables and kills bugs. Perfect for
being overseas! He is so much fun.
Moto means fire in Swahili |
Though the hospital consumes most of our time here, I hope
this has given you a little glance into the everyday normalcy that is “life” on
the mission field. Sometimes you have to
be creative, but doing “life” is an important part of staying sane, keeping
perspective and being sustainable on the mission field.
Hi Kristen, Well I will have to apologize, for not teaching you how to weed, I thought it was a natural response to nature. love, dad
ReplyDeleteLove that you made a date night out of getting dressed up and spending some extra special quality time alone. What a wonderful idea you two :)
ReplyDeleteThe garden looks great! Love to read your updates. 😀
ReplyDelete