The vast majority of people here do not have washing machines. Either they or their house girl wash the clothes by hand. Wayne and Barb and I have a HAU employee that does our laundry for us, as well as cleaning our apartments.
Usually a large rubber/plastic container is used, along with a 3 gallon pail. The container is about 5 inches deep and circular, about 15 inches in diameter. The soap (which is a blue powder), water and clothes are put in the container, and washed by hand one a a time. Then they are rinsed out with the clean water that is in the pail. Some people have clothesline strung behind their house, other lay the clothes on bushes that surround their property.
Here at HAU, behind the dorm is a large concrete sink with 2 long sinks in it. Each sink is about 4 feet long, and each sink has 2 faucets in in (only cold water). The students often put the container and pail in the sink, and fill both with water. We have extensive clothes lines next to the sink. Usually the students wash their clothes early in the morning. It is not uncommon to see several students out there at 6:00 a.m.
It is rainy season now, so one has to work around the rain, which often comes mid or late morning, and sometimes again during the late afternoon or early evening. Most days are sunny, or at least warm if it is overcast, so working around the rain isn’t usually too much of a problem.
Most people have outside sinks like the one described above. Most have indoor sinks as well. The indoor sinks only have one faucet, so water has to be heated. Many people use charcoal to cook with, but some have a propane tank as well. We each have a propane tank next to our stove so we can cook with gas.
I was at my colleague Linnet’s home last Saturday. They cook with charcoal and/or propane. The have a area next to their house where the have the charcoal stove. It is a small item, maybe a foot or 18 inches high (they are made in various sizes), and somewhat round. The charcoal is put on the inside, and the pan put on top to cook.
Is it extremely common to see burlap bags full of charcoal piled on the back of bicycles. We often see young men with them on the back of bicycles riding down the road from up country. The trip is downhill, and I imagine the charcoal is quite heavy. I admire their strength and courage in making these trips. To go back up country, men often ride their bikes behind a truck, one hand on the back of the truck somewhere, the other on the handle bar. I’ve seen this numerous times. See the photo on the blog for an example.
The Burundians frequently have a meal of beans, with various vegetables such a tomato, onion, sweet potato, and peas. It is sort of like a thick soup. Often this is put over over rice. One the side the often have a combination of peas and carrots.
Dessert often consists of a banana, or pieces of mango, pineapple or papaya.
Tea and coffee are ubiquitous here since both are grown up country. They are also fond of Fanta and Coca Cola. Fruito, a drink made from passion fruit is also very common.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
A Typical Weekday at HAU
Thought I would share a typical weekday for me at HAU.
Wake up around 6 a.m. (possibly due to the bullfrogs singing. )
6:15 – 6:35 After putting on my “walking skirt, tank top and tennis shoes, I leave the apartment for a walk on the road just outside campus. The earlier I go the better. Already by 6 a.m. there are people out walking, people of bicycles and mopeds, as well as various motor vehicles. If one waits until 6:30 there are quite a number of folks out. Plus, as it approaches 7 a.m., the temperature and humidity are already on the rise.
6:35 – 6:50 approx. run the stairs up and down to the apartment (we are on 3rd floor), do a few exercises in my extra bedroom (which has carpet, and no bed)
7:00 shower
7:15-7:35 make breakfast and do dishes. I like to eat Busoma. It is a ground power that looks something like Cocoa Wheats. A missionary doctor came up with the formula. It contains roasted soybeans, roasted maize, molasses and a few other things. It is cooked just like Cocoa Wheats. It was created to provide nutrition for malnourished children.
7:35 - 8:00 Sit on the back balcony (it is screened in) for devotions and breakfast
8:15 or so – Walk down the stairs and across the drive to the library
MWF – 10:30 to 11:30 is chapel. We walk down the road and to the church about 5 minutes or so. HAU has a chapel band. They are excellent. Songs may be in Kirundi, Swahili, French or English, or different verses of a song in a different language.
If it is Tuesday or Thursday, I teach the cataloging class from 10:30 to 12 noon.
12:15 to approx 2:15 – lunch and a nap. Here in Burundi people take a 2 hour lunch so they can have a catnap. I love it! It is so humid here, that one tires more easily, and the nap is a great refresher
2:15 – 5 or 6 p.m. (or somewhere in between) back to work.
After work:
If it is still light, I enjoy sitting on the balcony and watching the sunset and the sky. The balcony that is outside our apartment doors is on the north side of the building. If we look east, we see the mountains of Burunid – “up country” as it is called here. To the east we can see a small sliver or two of Lake Tangayika, and if it is very clearn, we can see the mountains of the Congo.
Often Wayne and Barb and I chat about our day and catch up on news.
Sometime between 6:30 and 8:00 I eat supper. The nationals eat the evening meal around 8 p.m.
7 p.m. to 9:15: some combination of the following: prepare for class, read, relax, check e-mail or write on the blog.
9:15 – 9:30 Shower (it is humid here – and two showers a day feels great; once in a while I have 3). If the electricity is on – the shower is quite warm.
9: 40 Head for bed. (Often serenaded by the bullfrogs, also sometimes stereo music or singing from campus. ) (sometimes the dogs next door sing along with the frogs… )
On Friday evenings, the 5 of us North Americans here on campus leave about 5:30 and join just a few other white missionaries as a local restaurant. It is fun to catch up on news and fellowship together.
Wake up around 6 a.m. (possibly due to the bullfrogs singing. )
6:15 – 6:35 After putting on my “walking skirt, tank top and tennis shoes, I leave the apartment for a walk on the road just outside campus. The earlier I go the better. Already by 6 a.m. there are people out walking, people of bicycles and mopeds, as well as various motor vehicles. If one waits until 6:30 there are quite a number of folks out. Plus, as it approaches 7 a.m., the temperature and humidity are already on the rise.
6:35 – 6:50 approx. run the stairs up and down to the apartment (we are on 3rd floor), do a few exercises in my extra bedroom (which has carpet, and no bed)
7:00 shower
7:15-7:35 make breakfast and do dishes. I like to eat Busoma. It is a ground power that looks something like Cocoa Wheats. A missionary doctor came up with the formula. It contains roasted soybeans, roasted maize, molasses and a few other things. It is cooked just like Cocoa Wheats. It was created to provide nutrition for malnourished children.
7:35 - 8:00 Sit on the back balcony (it is screened in) for devotions and breakfast
8:15 or so – Walk down the stairs and across the drive to the library
MWF – 10:30 to 11:30 is chapel. We walk down the road and to the church about 5 minutes or so. HAU has a chapel band. They are excellent. Songs may be in Kirundi, Swahili, French or English, or different verses of a song in a different language.
If it is Tuesday or Thursday, I teach the cataloging class from 10:30 to 12 noon.
12:15 to approx 2:15 – lunch and a nap. Here in Burundi people take a 2 hour lunch so they can have a catnap. I love it! It is so humid here, that one tires more easily, and the nap is a great refresher
2:15 – 5 or 6 p.m. (or somewhere in between) back to work.
After work:
If it is still light, I enjoy sitting on the balcony and watching the sunset and the sky. The balcony that is outside our apartment doors is on the north side of the building. If we look east, we see the mountains of Burunid – “up country” as it is called here. To the east we can see a small sliver or two of Lake Tangayika, and if it is very clearn, we can see the mountains of the Congo.
Often Wayne and Barb and I chat about our day and catch up on news.
Sometime between 6:30 and 8:00 I eat supper. The nationals eat the evening meal around 8 p.m.
7 p.m. to 9:15: some combination of the following: prepare for class, read, relax, check e-mail or write on the blog.
9:15 – 9:30 Shower (it is humid here – and two showers a day feels great; once in a while I have 3). If the electricity is on – the shower is quite warm.
9: 40 Head for bed. (Often serenaded by the bullfrogs, also sometimes stereo music or singing from campus. ) (sometimes the dogs next door sing along with the frogs… )
On Friday evenings, the 5 of us North Americans here on campus leave about 5:30 and join just a few other white missionaries as a local restaurant. It is fun to catch up on news and fellowship together.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
A Bug that Prays?
Well, it did look like it was praying! I had a bit of a fright, or maybe I should say surprise Friday during lunch hour. I had gone down to the ground floor shower room to get water. (We have a very good filter on one of the showers. We get water there and use it to fill the water coolers in our apartments.) As I came out of the shower room and was locking up, I looked up and a bit of a screech came out of my lips. A large praying mantis was hanging just a bit above eye level. At first glance I didn’t know it was a praying mantis, so it startled me. I was taking a good look when student I know was walking by, and he swatted it down, and I didn’t see it again.
A couple of things come to mind from this incident:
#1. Was it REALLY praying
In another culture, it is sometimes easy to assign inaccurate meaning to an event because we lack understanding. When living outside our own culture, a person is wise to take the stance of a learner, and not draw conclusions without digging deeper. One example, one can be very puzzled to see men holding hands while walking together. In Central and East Africa (maybe other places too) it is a sign of a good friendship when men hold hands. I think the same is true for women.
#2. The praying mantis LOOKED like it was praying.
Our actions do have an impact. People do notice what we do. But, more important than actions, are the heart and motives from which the actions spring. When living in another culture, it is all to easy to make mistakes. The mantis truly looked like it was praying! I thought Q so I did X . Oops….. But, if our heart and motives are noted, we will likely be forgiven. I heard a story a couple years ago from a veteran missionary. It went something like this: he was invited to a special meal. There were important nationals there. In one dish they were served, he found the meat to be extremely tough and about impossible to chew and swallow. It happened that there was a dog in the house. He carefully sneaked a few pieces of meat to the dog. Somehow he was found out. Then he found out it was an especially bad social mistep. Well, he got through it. And who of us haven’t made a social blunder. But, we manage to get through it (usually). Life doesn’t end - we dust ourselves off, laugh at ourselves, and carry on.
#3. Maybe it was praying … maybe it wasn’t
If we get an opportunity, we should examine things, ask questions, analyze, but do it with wisdom. It was ok to want to examine a praying mantis, but I didn’t get much of a chance. But it wouldn’t be wise to examine a live snake here. There are about 16 types of them that are poisonous. I don’t want to take any chances. Therefore, if possible, I try to ask a national for advice before I take action. Using this method, we can gradually learn to make wise choices in another culture.
Hmm, seems there is an eternal culture I am preparing to enter. I want to be involved in learning about that culture. How often do I seek out the Architect of that culture? How often do I read the Guidebook? Do I meet with other people on this journey to help me stay on the path?
A couple of things come to mind from this incident:
#1. Was it REALLY praying
In another culture, it is sometimes easy to assign inaccurate meaning to an event because we lack understanding. When living outside our own culture, a person is wise to take the stance of a learner, and not draw conclusions without digging deeper. One example, one can be very puzzled to see men holding hands while walking together. In Central and East Africa (maybe other places too) it is a sign of a good friendship when men hold hands. I think the same is true for women.
#2. The praying mantis LOOKED like it was praying.
Our actions do have an impact. People do notice what we do. But, more important than actions, are the heart and motives from which the actions spring. When living in another culture, it is all to easy to make mistakes. The mantis truly looked like it was praying! I thought Q so I did X . Oops….. But, if our heart and motives are noted, we will likely be forgiven. I heard a story a couple years ago from a veteran missionary. It went something like this: he was invited to a special meal. There were important nationals there. In one dish they were served, he found the meat to be extremely tough and about impossible to chew and swallow. It happened that there was a dog in the house. He carefully sneaked a few pieces of meat to the dog. Somehow he was found out. Then he found out it was an especially bad social mistep. Well, he got through it. And who of us haven’t made a social blunder. But, we manage to get through it (usually). Life doesn’t end - we dust ourselves off, laugh at ourselves, and carry on.
#3. Maybe it was praying … maybe it wasn’t
If we get an opportunity, we should examine things, ask questions, analyze, but do it with wisdom. It was ok to want to examine a praying mantis, but I didn’t get much of a chance. But it wouldn’t be wise to examine a live snake here. There are about 16 types of them that are poisonous. I don’t want to take any chances. Therefore, if possible, I try to ask a national for advice before I take action. Using this method, we can gradually learn to make wise choices in another culture.
Hmm, seems there is an eternal culture I am preparing to enter. I want to be involved in learning about that culture. How often do I seek out the Architect of that culture? How often do I read the Guidebook? Do I meet with other people on this journey to help me stay on the path?
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