a different culture...

here are a few things that have been a culture shock or things that i had to get used to in the past 2 monthish...
1. literally NO room in the taxis. theres the driver in the front, and 2 passengers. the next row of seats holds 4. the next, another 4, and then the last row, another 4. then the guy who collects the money just stands and sort of lays or squishes beside someone...but seriously, there is absolutely no room between you and the people beside you. which leads to my next one...
2. the smells...especially the B.O. Body Odour...anyways, some people are worse than others, but it's an absolutely horrible smell!!! it's like potent onions and worse. and then when you get into a small, squishy bus taxi...it penetrates!! and if you hug someone, then the odour is left on you and then you reak like no one's business!!
3. STARES. never in my life have i gotten more stares! people stare from across the street, from behind, from in front, on the motos, on bicycles...it's a little scary sometimes, because they look like any moment they're going to crash! i don't really know how to feel about it. it's just intimidating...i feel like i can't do anything stupid or embarrassing, because im being watched...it's...different.
4. Boys and Boys holding hands. I'm used to girls holding hands, and sometimes my close guy friends, but not down the street. or with their arms around each other. but the guys here hold hands because they're friends. homosexuality is almost unheard of here. it's quite interesting. and it's nice to see any kind of friends holding hands... im starting to hold hands with people more. i never really did that, but me and carla especially link arms or hold hands etc. it's so nice :)
5. Absolutely no traffic rules. the lines on the road...don't mean anything. actually today in the bus, around the round-about it was insane. we were in this huge bus, and its maneuvering its way through traffic. motos going in and out and anywhere they please. whether its on the other side of the road to pass a car, zooming to the front of the traffic line to beat the rush of the lights, or 1/2 a foot from a 3 foot deep trench at the side of the road...yeah it's intense, but SO much fun!!! and today i almost got run over by one. it just came up onto the curb, and i almost screamed/peed/rampaged etc. but i kinda laughed and kept walking!
6. No Communication. especially here at DTS. nothing is really communicated about little outreaches etc. like last week we went to street kids, and we were just supposed to talk to the kids, which is fine, but then we were supposed to do a program for these soccer players, so we go behind this building, introduce ourselves and then erick did a little testimony and then deo preached, and then like 5 soccer players became Christians! it was so interesting, out of the blue and pretty Spirit led. it's so laid back and it's great. but a little frustrating at times. when we prepared for our first sunday outreach we had to plan an entire service...but then it was only for a few sunday school classes, the bible study at the beginning and a little testimony. it was frustrating for me and carla, because when we plan an entire service it usually takes or planning takes like a month!! but everything went well! but as for communication, laura, an american girl who did her dts last year told us that we had to pay for our own VISA...yeah wasnt informed...it just seems like they dont really know any information about things that they should. like for our outreach, they dont even know what its going to be like...ah well!! FLEXIBILITY!!!
7.Cleaning methods. since there are no carpets or any mats or anything, soapy water is just dumped on the floor and its squeegied (sp?) into these trenches that flow to this big water filter thing...its very interesting... when we clean the toilets, we dump soapy water on the entire thing, pour vim in the bowl, brush that, and then dump clean water over it. then we squeegie all the water out! its pretty great, and easy. and not very sanitary!! especially for dishes. just dump vim in a pot, scrub it and rinse it with water. water of course that cannot be drinkin...so i think God is protecting us a lot against any diseases or sickness...!!
8. Touch. the hand holding thing is enough to get used, but thats not an issue anymore...our dts class is very ticklish, so guys can come up to girls or vice versa and just tickle them in the side (ribs)!!! which is like only for flirty people or couples back home....its a little awkward, but they dont mean anything at all by it! sorry, but this one is for the ladies to relate to, guys if you read this, you might not want to read this next part!! so for ladies, everyone is very touchy ad physical. anyways, so one time we were doing this thing for big group where we just going aroud complimenting each other and Anto my leader, was like Umuhoza, I like your eyes. and these,--and she just grazed my boobs!! i was like ANTO!! and we burst out laughing! Noella, the married lady in our dts, constantly walks around with her top and bra off...seriously ALL THE TIME!!! and she like grabs mine and carlas boobs, and well it's just very interesting!! awkward and funny and weird! yeah, thats alll i have to say about that.
9. singing or bellowing or even wailing...one girl has intense vibrato, one wails, one sings very low, but they all SING SO LOUD!! they definately give it their all when they sing. no holding back at all!! they clap all the time, off beats, on beats, whenever they want, and it always sounds good. they are rarely off tune, and if they are, they dont really care!!!
10. This isn't really a culture shock, but I'm jsut going to tell you what ive been dealing with lately...so most of you probably know that i deal with self confidence...well if you didnt know, i did. and seeing as everyone stares, i just feel like im constantly stared at (which i am) and in return because they dont smile, i feel like theyre just judging me. its really annoying. ever since i took my hair out last week, i dont feel as pretty because i really dont like my short hair, and yeah. its just been a little difficult...so yeah, its getting better, but if you remember to pray for me, that would be fantastic!!

thanks so much for listening and your prayers. i love you all. blessings from africa.

kisses and hugs.

bethany jade.