Convenience

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered. - Gilbert K. Chesterton

Hey! While I really miss all of y’all, it feels like I’m settling in here and am doing really well! I think it’s amazing how quickly new habits can form and foreign things start to feel familiar. I’m not saying I could pull this off without the help of the 60 other missionaries or that I’m good at it by any means, but getting through a day in Togo is definitely in my wheelhouse.

So I’ve been here for about 3 weeks. That means that I still have very clear memories of what I was used to in the States. When I’m talking to my friends, a lot of our discussion is how much things are different here. DIFFERENT is the key word. Not better or worse. Different. Admittedly, a lot of things are much less convenient.  From the standpoint of living in the States, here is a list of some inconveniences or things I gave up to come here.

-The power goes off in my house frequently. Sometimes for 15 minutes, but sometimes it is for hours at a time.

-There is only one room in my house that has air conditioning. The hospital has no air conditioning.

-I have to use bottled water to brush my teeth cause the water in our house needs to be filtered before ingesting.

-All of the produce that we buy needs to be soaked in bleach water before eating.

-The produce options are basically limited to what can grow here. No berries.

-There are bugs everywhere, and I need to sleep under a mosquito net.

-I have to wear full length skirts everywhere.

-I don’t know the language.

-The hospital has limited resources and 1^st world healthcare is very far away.

-I gave up my nice job with good pay and hours.

-I left behind everything except for 71 pounds of luggage to last for 8 months.

Those are facts of my life, but here is another list of facts that carry more truth:

-I have power in my house. It’s a nice house. There is internet. I have my own room. The kitchen is stocked.  The toilet flushes. There is hot water for showers. In this town, that is rare. Even among the missionaries who live off compound, our internet has a better connection and is more reliable.

-I have access to air conditioning. And fans. If I had come last year, there wouldn’t have been air conditioning. There’s also a wonderful pool on the compound that is the absolute best on a hot day.

-I have access to a water filter. The water on the compound is all safe. If worse comes to worse, I can afford to buy bottled water. A new well was opened last Friday in a village not too far away. Some of the other nurses were there at the time and got to see a huge crowd of people come and celebrate a new water source. They were lining up for water and singing because they didn’t have to walk as far to get safe water.

-I can afford produce. I have a freezer and refrigerator to keep my food safe. If I don’t want to cook, I can eat a balanced meal at the Guesthouse any day of the week.

-I have so many options for food. People bring things from home. There’s a store 2 hours away that sells many American items. We have a garden that is growing green beans and tomatoes. I had a fresh butternut squash today. I tried a fresh guava for the first time and can’t wait for mango season.

-I have a mosquito net. And bugspray. I can’t speak for the general public, but there are patients and families who sleep on the ground outside the hospital and on the hospital floors on a simple mat with no bug protection.

-I have more than one skirt. And a washer. Also, the skirt thing is to be appropriate within the culture. However, even though I am a woman, I can speak with men, play sports, and have a job that is very respected.

-Why don’t I know more languages? I’m working on it. I can understand and read much more than I can currently communicate.

-I live a mile away from the best healthcare in the area. And if necessary, I have the means to get the necessary treatment.

-When I go home, I have a degree and enough experience that I am not worried about finding employment that will provide more than enough.

-I own more than I could ever need.

So yeah. That’s it for today. Love y’all!

-C-