First week in the village- where do I even start?! Firstly -I'm loving it :) But it was quite obvious on the first day that to survive- I definitely have to toughen up!
I swept the house with a hand broom and felt it in my lower back.I took my washing down to the water pump and I could feel the harsh soap drying out my hands as I scrubbed my skirts against the cement (knuckles!!).
I pumped several bucket fulls of water and was glad when someone else took over!
I managed to lift a 3/4 full bucket of water onto my head and carry it up the hill to my house and yup- I slopped it abit and got wet shoulders- not to mention the discomfort of a heavy, hard bucket on your head and people laughing cos it's not full...
Then trying to light a fire. ugh- SO not good at it. Blowing on the coals. smoke. coughing. asthma. stinging eyes...followed closely by burnt fingers as I absent-mindedly grabbed pot handles and lids during cooking forgetting that metal conducts heat. Squatting by the fire- not so comfy after half an hour.
Even bathing- the wash area is a pile of rubbled rocks and bricks that get slippery and muddy with sharp edges that gouge soft feet.
And that was just the morning's chores :-x needless to say I collapsed into bed and slept well that night!
I've been giving everything a go- and telling people that even though I'm obviously useless at doing (fill the blank) I really want to practise and learn... except for when I don't. I've been surprised at my own reaction at times. I'm in the village to learn the local language and the local way of living... then I find myself arguing with someone who is trying to explain what im meant to do. stupid huh? why do I do it?
The 'pot situation' is a good example. Day 2, G- the young lady from next door came over mid afternoon and commented on my pots drying on the 'kitchen' roof.
'you didn't wash your pots' she said.
'yes I did' I retorted.
'they're still dirty on the outside' she said
I stood adn looked at my blackened pots; 'but they're clean on the inside- and I only eat from the inside' said I
'you need to clean the outside' she said
'no- I'm not cleaning the outside because im just going to put it on the fire again in a few hours and it will get dirty again- so I'm just let it get black' said I
'you need to clean the outside' she patiently repeated
'why?!' said I
'so it's shiny. Don't you know how to clean pots?' she asked- surprised
'yes- i know how to clean a pot- but i choose to clean the inside only. I'm not cleaning the outside of all 3 pots everyday- Itss just not gonna happen' said I
'I'll clean the outside for you tomorrow' she offered
'no- it's ok- you don't have to clean my pots....'
She shrugged and wandered off.
Later in the afternoon M- a young boy who loves to sit and chat was sitting on my back step, observing my pottering when he said- pointing to my pots drying on the 'kitchen' roof
'your pots aren't clean- let me clean them for you'
'NO!' (oops- was that a bit harsh?) 'no really- its ok. I'm happy with them black on the outside. Do you wash pots for your mother?' said I? (hoping to distract him)
he nodded solemnly. 'It's important to have clean pots. Don't you know how to clean them properly?'
I ignored him.
The next morning, I had just finished cooking my porridge and washing up in a tub whilst chatting to another neighbour who had just embarked on chiding me for not washing my pots properly when I got ambushed.
They came with sand.
They didn't ask my permission.
They cleaned my pots.
Soap, sand, much rubbing with their bare hands, a rinse with water...and wala! i had clean pots.
i have to admit i was close to the giggles by this stage. It all just seemed so ludicrous- but who am i to judge what is and isn't important in their culture? I've asked them to teach me- and now I need to be willing to learn, even if it does mean getting rough, calloused hands from scrubbing the outside of my pots everyday with sand.... maybe I'll learn something. Wax on, wax off?
im sure there are much bigger sacrifices i could be making!
M- and G- cleaning my pots (that's my 'kitchen' inthe back ground)
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