First Times

I've had many first in my life. Some were exciting and I looked forward to, but others were things that I never wanted to experience. Last weekend was a weekend of firsts and a combination of things I've dreaded and things I've been looking forward to. But all the same, it was the best weekend I've had since we arrived at our new home!!

Friday night...no power for the 4th time that day (on for a little while, off for a longer while). I was trying to figure out what to cook in the dark when B came in and said "Hey we HAVE to go eat at our neighbor's house". Instead of putting up a fight (like I would have normally me being an introvert) I said "OK". So we went...ate in the light of the stars...and talked with our neighbors that we were just meeting for the first time. I still have no idea what I ate, but it was good! First number 1!


Saturday we went to G's adopted village (G is our night guard and another first). We left late morning and drove down one of the paved roads thinking that it was right off the road. Then G said "Turn here" and we said "Where? There's no road.". To which he replied "Right here. See that little path..that's the road." So we obeyed and turned down a goat path and drove on it for about 45 minutes. We had to put our car in 4 wheel drive for the first time to get through the sand and even came home with some pretty new scratches on all sides (including the top) of our truck!!


When we finally arrived at the village we were greeted by tons of kids, some smiling some scared of the white people, but all curious! So we got out, met the chief and the maribou (witch doctor/Muslim teacher) and sat around for a bit. Then I got my first spouse swapping offer. An old man told B that he could have his wife and that he would take me. HA! It was so funny and the old man was so cute! We went into our first hut and had attaya (tea) with the promise that we would learn how to make it soon. Then we went to sit under a HUGE mango tree and just chat with the people from the village using our limited language skills.

After a while I realized that I needed to use the restroom (a first I was dreading). So we asked where we could go and my wonderful husband went with me. Now I don't want to be too graphic, but I have NEVER used anything but an American toilet. Never a bush, a tree or a hole. So after finally finding the hole (we almost confused the place where they wash with the toilet) and looking down into it (just a bit of advice....Don't do this...trust me) and wondering if what was moving down there was going to fly up at me and my hubby telling me everything was fine, I can now say that I have experienced this and while I hope I don't have to do it a lot...I did it and it was fine!

After that wonderful experience it was time to eat lunch and rest for a bit more. The kids sang to us in Pulaar (after much coaxing) and then we sang to them in English. Back and forth until they were singing the whole time! Finally the chief took us on a tour of the village and held hands with B almost the entire time! It was too cute!!! The village has a ton of cashew trees and some Italians and Spaniards pay village for the cashew nut. The village keeps the fruit and sells it at the market. After we got back we noticed it was getting late and we needed to get back. So we loaded up our guard, the chief's son and his mother and took everyone back to our city. On the way home, the chief's son's mom kept telling us that we had made her very happy and that we now had a home in that village. That we were all family now and that we needed to come back soon. After driving down a different goat path (this one was better though) we finally made it back to our house. Then for a final first we tried making attaya with our guard. To make attaya, you boil the tea, but then you pour the tea back and forth so that you get this creamy foam on the top. Needless to say, we spilled more attaya than we ended up drinking, but it was fun!!

So that was my adventure last weekend. I'm sorry it took me a while to write about, but it was such a wonderful experience that putting it into words has been really hard. I talked to my parents the next day and my dad wrote me and said I had a sparkle in my eyes and a glow on my face talking about our trip. I love my neighbors here in our city, but more and more I feel lead to go out to these villages and share. This is where the Fulakunda people are and these are the people we were lead to. Please pray for us as we continue to build a relationship with this village and more to come. So that we can share God's saving grace with them.

This is my favorite picture!! Thanks C for the great equipment!!!

Oh did I mention that I drove here for the first time and didn't run over anyone, ate from a bowl with an entire cooked rooster in it (no joke the entire thing), saw my first dust tornado, let the neighborhood kids brush and braid my hair while I painted their fingernails and toenails, and that I wore my tika ALL DAY!!! I love it here!!