I, Erin, often forget just how
much we have adapted to life overseas. Many
aspects of our lives here are so different than how both John and I grew
up. A few examples are all the bread we
eat is homemade, we leave our front door and windows open all day, we don’t
wear shoes in the house, we take cold showers, our house doesn’t have a number,
nor our street a name, we ride scooters around town, we don’t drink the water
from the tap, we see banana and coconut trees out our windows, and to interact
with people, all we have to do is go outside our front door. Many of these aspects have become our new normal. We often feel we understand much of how life
operates here, until something unexpected comes along.
I grew up recycling everything
possible, so I have a hard time throwing away any glass, tin cans, plastic, or paper,
which we have a lot of with homeschooling.
Garbage is a problem here anyway, with most of our neighbors taking
their garbage to an empty lot two house away or 3 block to the sea. Thankfully, I have recently learned a man
will come by the house, without any consistent schedule, to buy glass bottles. And another comes for metal. Then there is a neighbor who collects plastic
which he re-sells. For our organic
matter, fruit and vegetable skins, and paper, I have been composting. This has really helped cut down on our
garbage and provides a great way to get rid of all our paper.
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| The beginnings of our end-of-the-school-year paper disposal. |
Upon our return to Barat this past
January, I began composting right away.
I had dreams of gardening around the foundation of our house and wanted
some compost to use. Last month, a
neighbor helped make us a short bamboo fence to place around the plots of
garden space. I was preparing to
plant. My compost bin was ¾ of the way
full, with at least a quarter broken down and ready to be used. Two weeks ago we took a weekend trip to the
provincial capital. When we returned
home, I found the compost bin upside down and completely empty. We had been using the same composting bin for
over a year with other little garbage cans spaced around the our house for
garbage. There are many kids and adults
that sit under our house to attend the reading program or just enjoy the
shade. We have spent many words teaching
them to throw their garbage away in the garbage cans, and even differentiating
for them the purpose of the one large bin with holes. After all this time I thought it was obvious,
but someone very kindly decided to empty ALL our containers, even the compost
bin.
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| Preparing to plant pineapples! |
I planted a garden anyway, just without compost.
It has been a fun activity to do with the
kids, Caedmon has been the most interested.
The neighborhood kids have thoroughly enjoyed watching for little sprouts
and learning what has been planted. We planted lemon grass (above left), chili peppers, tomatoes, basil, cauliflower, bell peppers, papaya, and pineapple (above right).
The other recent surprise came when
I attended a pre-wedding event last week
We have been to so weddings since living overseas, I’ve lost count. Last week, one of the reading program teachers
was to be married. We were invited to
the pre-wedding henna event. This
usually occurs the night before the wedding.
This time the family explained it would occur on a Thursday night,
though the wedding was on Sunday. Or so
we thought.
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| Part of the henna ceremony |
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| With the bride in her room |
I attended the henna event by
myself last Thursday night. I changed
into a collared shirt, but nothing fancy.
When I arrived everyone was decked out in their best party attire. After eating and watching what remained of
the henna ceremony, I followed the bride into her room. I politely informed her it was time for me to
go home, thinking all was finished. Surprised,
everyone in the room, a few cousins, the makeup artist, and an aunt, tried to
explain the actual wedding ceremony was to take place that night. The bride had entered her room to await the
arrival of the groom. I was so
confused. Upon further explanation, I
began to understand the family considered getting married on Sunday to bring
bad luck to the new marriage. Thursday
on the other hand would not. Accordingly,
the bride and groom were married that night, parted ways afterwards, and did
not see each other again until Sunday, when the big wedding event was held and repeated
much of the ceremony that took place on Thursday.
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| The arrival of the groom |
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| The legal wedding ceremony |
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| The groom entering the room to retrieve his wife |
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| The Married Couple |
Though we have learned a great deal in our seven years overseas, we are reminded there is still a great deal to learn!
