by Heather Plett | Feb 12, 2005 | Uncategorized
I wish I could record the sounds and smells of this place. It’s incredible. I was woken this morning by a cacophony of birds. During the night there were dogs howling their happy tune.
I slept reasonably well. I woke up a few times, but was always able to fall back to sleep fairly easily.
The Mennonite Guest House is amazing. The grounds are like a park. Just outside my window is a hibiscus tree with big pink flowers. I don’t know the names of most of the plants. Somebody mentioned bougainvillea and about 10 feet from me, there’s something that looks like “mother-in-law’s tongue”. I’m sitting at a patio table about 20 feet from our door. There’s a “monkey puzzle tree” just behind me. (Dan, of course, knows its official name, but I know it as a monkey puzzle tree.)
by Heather Plett | Feb 11, 2005 | Uncategorized
We’re at the guest house now. The Mennonite Guest House in Nairobi, Kenya. It’s quite beautiful. The rooms are rather like hostels in Europe (simple furnishings, nothing too extravagant), but the grounds seem quite amazing (at least what we can see at night).
I’m sharing a room with Kim and Rachel. Well, actually, I have my own room, but theirs is adjoining mine and I have to go through theirs to get to the bathroom.
The flight was rather long and I was stuck in the middle because I gave up my aisle seat for someone who wanted to sit with his partner. It was kinda cute. He leaned over to thank me and whispered “I’m a little scared, so I appreciate it.”
I was sitting beside one of 29 people on our flight who all wore matching red sweat shirts that said “Mt. Kilimanjaro”. They were part of a tour group from Norway on their way to attempt to climb Kilimanjaro. It’s a six day hike (there and back) and there’s no guarantee they’ll make it to the top.
The guy beside me introduced himself to me after drinking A LOT of alcohol – probably half a dozen red wine and then another half a dozen drambuie. His name is Eric. He’s been married 35 or 36 years (I can’t remember exactly) and says he’s still really in love with his wife. He says he’ll start missing her in a couple of days. He used to farm mink and salmon. He was taught by his dad who spent time in America where he learned about the industry. About a year and a half ago, Eric sold the business and is now wealthy enough to travel the world.
After that many drinks, he didn’t mind sharing his philosophies with me. He likes to travel, but mostly he likes English-speaking countries. He doesn’t like Arabs and thinks it’s a problem that so many are immigrating to Norway. He believes that children should be raised by their parents and not childcare. He thinks it’s unfortunate that so many in Norway are prejudiced against the U.S. because of Iraq.
On the other side were 2 women from the Okanagan. I think their names are Kathleen and Toni. They’re on their way to a safari in the Serengetti, and then a few days on the beach. I got the distinct feeling that they were life partners – perhaps they were even on their honeymoon. I tried to analyze why I thought that, and, besides the fact that one was rather butch looking, there was a subtlety to their communication that spoke more of lover than friend. Not that I wanted to ask them, but I wish they could have felt comfortable telling me if they WERE on a honeymoon.
Well, I’d better try to sleep now – though it’s only 3:00 in the afternoon at home. This bed is delightfully comfy, and the air is nice – not hot, but not cool either.
by Heather Plett | Feb 11, 2005 | Uncategorized
We started the morning off with the rest of our orientation session. This morning, Randy talked about the impact of culture shock and how the change continuum can impact us on a trip like this. He says people hit the low point just before the halfway point of the journey. It was worth considering, because I know there will be moments on this trip when everyone will get on my nerves. Hopefully, we’ll all get past those moments.
After Randy spoke, we had Joki from Kenya. She was fascinating. Her name means “from 2 places” and she says because of that she has never been able to settle in either home – Kenya or Canada.
She told us a lot about the culture and the people. One of the things that I remember is that you’re not supposed to step across someone’s legs, or you will curse them. If you cross them in this way, you have to uncross them.
We had lunch at Kelsey’s and then wrapped up our session and headed to the airport.
On the flight to Amsterdam, there was much less leg room than I expected on an international flight. It was hard to get comfortable. Plus, the woman beside me was fairly large and her elbow kept bumping me. I didn’t sleep much – only an hour or so. I watched the movie “The Notebook”. It was pleasant, but nothing too memorable. The entertainment units were quite impressive. You could choose between a fairly large selection of movies, television shows, documentaries, music, and even games. Each seat was equipped with its own remote which also served as a phone, and a game control set.
There was a nice moment during the movie. James Garner and Gena Rowlands were dancing near the end of the movie – two old people near the end of their lives swaying to life’s music. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a father holding his child in the aisle of the plane, swaying at much the same pace, trying to calm his child. It was a nice little vignette of the stages of love and life.
Now we’re in Amsterdam airport. We have a few hours to kill before our flight. I’m tired but happy. It’s nice to have something to look forward to. It’s nice to sit and watch people walking by – all on their way to somewhere else.
I had a little sad moment today. As I was going through the little photo album I’d brought, I realized I hadn’t included any pictures of Dad. I’d grabbed mostly recent pictures, taken after Dad died. It doesn’t feel like a complete picture of who I am if it doesn’t include Dad. So much of who I am is because of who he was. I feel like I’ve cheated him a little by leaving him out. Sorry Dad. I didn’t mean to. I don’t want time to separate me from the reality of him.
by Heather Plett | Feb 10, 2005 | Uncategorized
Our first day of orientation is over. Our facilitator is quite good. He has lots of good stories to tell. I liked his illustration of culture – he says it’s like an iceberg, with only 10% being visible and 90% being invisible to an observer. The 10% is what people DO – the 90% is what they think and how they feel.
One cool exercise was a card game where the group was split in half and each half had slightly different rules (which suite was trump, whether ace was high or low). The winner of each round switched to the other table. No one could speak, so when you got to the other table, you didn’t know the rules had changed and no one had the language to tell you, or the knowledge that the rules you had internalized were different. It was quite fascinating, feeling like and outsider, and wanting to assimilate, but not quite knowing how or what the new rules were.
It seems like a great group of people. So far, no evidence of grating personality traits. No know-it-alls or arrogant people. Most seem quite easy to communicate with. I probably represent the average age – some younger, some older.
There was a neat energy in the room when we all came together – an anticipation and expectation. There was excitement with just a hint of apprehension. I think we’ll build a fairly successful mini-community.
by Heather Plett | Feb 9, 2005 | Uncategorized
We arrived at the Delta Hotel in Toronto last night. The flight was uneventful. Micheline talked alot on the way here. She’s really sweet and she’s been through some really hard crap in her life. But through it all, she seems to have this child-like faith that’s really solid. In a way, I envy her the ability to trust like that. I think she’d get along great with Mom. They have the same way of believing.
We had supper together in the hotel restaurant, and then I came to my room and climbed into bed – hoping to get to sleep early. Unfortunately, I turned on the TV and got hooked on the Amazing Race. It was the finale, so I ended up watching until 11:00. I didn’t sleep well after that. I woke up several times and kept having really off-the-wall dreams. Russ and Sylvie were in one of my dreams. I think Sylvie had an affair.
This morning we start our orientation session. I hope the group is interesting and easy to get along with. I hope there aren’t any prima donnas who want too much attention. I hope there aren’t any whiners. I hope there aren’t too many “Praise the Lord” people. I hope there are some opportunities for new friendships.
God, if you’re out there, give me a spirit of openness today. Give me grace and compassion and help me see through the personality traits that get on my nerves to the heart that you love. Bless the group and help us build community.
Maybe if I keep praying, I’ll want to believe in him again.
