rain just puts you in a writing mood

it rained today, which is somewhat surprising because it appeared as though dry season was here to stay and rainy season was over. i have always loved the rain. growing up in the dry desert of oklahoma, i remember when the governor would ask us to pray for rain, it would get that dry. i also remember looking out of the window and being so excited when it would rain that i would run outside with arms outstreched grateful for some relief from the heat.

beyond providing much needed nourishment, i can't figure out why i love the rain so much. most people after seeing the rain day after day would get tired of it, but i don't think i have. sure there have been days, but not really.

one thing about rain is that it has a calming factor. i know on a rainy day, i get to sleep easier. i think most of the times i'm quite spastic and although i've done better recently, i often need to be reminded to just calm down. i need to tell myself to stop talking and just listen. realise that silence isn't bad-just sometimes uncomfortable.

i think i look at how the rain just cleans the earth and how naturally beautiful it is. in the time i've spent in africa, natural beauty is one thing that has definitely stood out to me. everything here is naturally beautiful. in liberia, the people are even naturally beautiful. i know personally that i haven't worn make up for the past 5 months and i'm okay with that. not that make up is bad in anyway, but it does make me realise how much emphasis we ("we" going as far as meaning the western world) put on the made-up beauty of people and things instead of what naturally is.

so, rain, rain ...please don't go away. stay here and help me "process" as you always do.

a Liberian bush adventure

i feel compelled to write more about my time in Liberia-since this is where i currently am...whether by the help of a certain person named Bev or not.

So last week, I went to Bopolu to see how our distribution for the project that I started managing about a month ago was going. It was going alright but some parts were a little rough just logistically speaking. Oh, and I can't forget to mention that we are attempting to do a 5 month project in 2 months but details, details.

So, I went up to see my staff, give pep talks and then I decide that I want to go to see the people that will receive our supplies of wire, flashtape and zinc in order to increase the output of their farms. The community that we are distributing in, does not allow access for cars or motorbikes, so you have to walk the entire way. There are 14 communities total in this district and i decided that i wanted to walk to the 2nd one. In one day.

Every time I told any Liberian that I wanted to walk there in a day, they would just laugh and say "impossible! it is possible for us to do..but you". so that made me even more determined to do it.

problem was, we got a late start. we didn't get to the landing until 10:40 a.m. so, we leave and then i see what they mean by "non-accessible". this bush is knocking me in the face and you can barely see the trail to even walk! then it clears and gets a bit better and we make it to the first village-wayamah. there we find a boy who was just bitten by a cassava snake which is highly poisonous. since this village does not have any health care system and pretty much doesn't have anything these people are trying to treat him with herbs. so, since we really can't be useful we decide to leave and keep on going to gbangay-2nd second village.

so, total of 3 hours since we started and 2 hours past wayamah-we get to gbangay. i just plop down when we get to the town chief's house. am introduced and then this old man keeps telling me that he wants to marry me. i'm so tired that i just don't even talk (because i don't want to) and i'm just staring at this man that is obviously drunk AND is off his rocker. THEN, he tries to kiss me...oh yes, and he was NOT successful.

i use that opportunity to say that we're leaving and go to see the rice farms. we walk about another 30 minutes and get to a farm where some women are harvesting. "can i harvest too?" I ask. they were happy to oblige. and it was actually quite fun but a lot of work to get the final product of rice.

so, one of the women says that she will make us some rice if we will stay. so we end up staying for about another hour and i did end up taking a short nap because i was so sleepy. then we get word that the boy that was bitten by the cassava snake died. it was sad and we went to give our condolences on our way back.

i totally didn't think we were going to make it back up this hu-mon-go hill because it just doesn't end. by this time, i had gotten bit by a driver ant and i can feel the blisters on my feet forming. i had to stop about 5 times on the hill because it's just so never ending but then we finally make it and see that no truck is there. so we're in the dark, it starts raining...no joke, it was something straight out of a movie. turns out, they left about 5 minutes before we got there thinking that we weren't going to make it, but they had to come back for us anyway.

So, on the way back i was talking to the base manager about how no one ran up to me to greet me or anything and he said, "oh, yeah! that's because they don't see people who look different from them. You're the first non-Liberian woman (well, actually, he said white woman, but we won't go there) to go there since before the war started".

Wow. was all i could think. i was quite humbled. true there was no road, but these people are such a beautiful people. so, we're actually going back next week to do some water assessments and i'm so excited. it's going to be the best trip EVER!

~P

a political venting session

I despise election season. I hate talking about politics. Why is this you may ask when I have spent 6 years studying it and have an advanced degree in it? Is it because everyone makes you feel as though you are a horrible person if you do not vote a certain way? I think so. What beyond aggravates me is when people say, "if you don't vote this way, you aren't voting for the will of God" or other statements that are just as ridiculous. Are you telling me that if I do not vote your way that I do not love God? Who are you to say that?


I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I belive things on different sides. Is universal healthcare not Biblical?

I like debate. I like learning from other people. I DON'T like debating when people do not want to listen and have no earthly idea what they are talking about. Are you even aware how far both parties ideas have changed over the years or are you too busy voting straight ticket to notice?

For example, 20 years ago, Republicans wanted NOTHING to do with education. Now all of a sudden Republicans wnat EVERYTHING to do with no child left behind completely oblivious to the fact that they are now neo-cons.

What brings this blog to the surface you ask? People who have the GALL to tell me that just because I don't think McCain is the best thing since sliced bread, telling me that I'm not voting "in touch with God". As a Christian, I am upset with these people and those like them. Are you showing people the love of God? Let me answer that for you...that would be NO.

When I was working in D.C. at the Russell Senate Building, there was once a pro-life rally. I thought, okay it is as good of an idea as any other. I come back from work and there is their trash EVERYWHERE. I was so vexed because it makes all pro-lifers look bad and I attempted to pick up the trash but there was just too much. Is this being a good steward? Is this showing love?

All I ask, if you're a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or none of the above-is do you know WHY you vote the way you do? Do you even know WHY you believe it? This isn't a bashing session for either side because again I agree with things on either side. Just respect the opinions of other people. That...is all I ask.

I'm just asking for a clean race from US, the voters. Don't bash other people. Open your mind and realise that we all want the same thing...a better America.

We just have different ways to get there.

i...am ridiculous

Have you ever had those moments where all you can say about yourself is "i'm ridiculous?" I definitely had one of those moments today. This weekend I've been sicky mc-sick-ing-ton. It was one of those times where you WILL remember being this sick because it doesn't happen often. i woke up and started puking up what my roommate calls "gut juice"-yeah, that yellow stuff mixed with water that makes you just want to stop breathing? we were supposed to go to robertsport and i felt horrible. i made my roommates go without me and i just decided to lie on the couch and not move.

i was pretty bored all weekend since the roommates were gone for 2 days and i was NOT happy. i mean, i'm not having fun with my friends and all i could think of was that this fun weekend wasn't supposed to turn out this way. i was supposed to be at robertsport enjoying this last weekend with 2 of my roommates on the beach and all of a sudden this bug comes out of nowhere. i never have been one to deal well when things go differently than i have planned, but over the past 6 years, i've gotten better, since NOTHING in my life has gone according to plan-and i can't imagine my life if it would have gone according to "plan"...<--yep, there i go contradicting myself again (it's kind of a hobby)

a quote from one of my favourite books, the alchemist came to mind today, which says, "When each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day the sun rises". it wasn't as though i thought yesterday was the same as the day before but i didn't appreciate the day for what it was. i undermined the wonderful people who took time out of their schedule to visit me and to check up on me. i forgot that God gave me rest that i obviously needed and would not have gotten otherwise. i have found a renewed love for applesauce.

most of all, even though i strive to win the respect of intellectual people, i remembered that even when i fall short and am ridiculously ridiculous and prove to be everything that is inadequate... for some weird reason the God of the universe just laughs at my shortcomings and reminds me of what really is. He's given me good things in the beauty that exists, in the people that are around me and in everything that is-whether i remember to recognize it or not.

the universal language of...

Last week, I had the chance to visit a program that helps deaf students. We walk in the place and meet the woman in charge, whom I spoke with over the phone. She takes us into a room with the beginners class...all deaf children with a deaf teacher. I wave hello. I can't decide whether or not I should sign since I don't know that much. After looking at the beautiful faces of these children I decide that I at least need to try. So I look at this girl who was one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. "Your name?" I sign? Her face lit up. L-U-C-Y. "Lucy" I sign back. "Yes" she answered, "Your name?" "P-A-T-T-Y" I replied.

Oh, then the other kids started signing too! We leave and get to see the other deaf students who are integrated in classes with the students who can hear. I did get told that I was very beautiful by a 12th grade boy, but communicating (or should I say attempting) with these kids was such an experience. Here I am 9,000 miles away from where people understand what I am saying, talking to these students who cannot hear. In that moment, I felt like the world was so small...that we're all the same.

I know it may not make sense, probably because I'm not explaining it well, but it was definitely a life changing experience. The picture above is the deaf teacher named Norah, who is also deaf signing to me, "I love you" and me signing back. So, it's a universal language really....a universal language that breaks all accent barriers and color barriers and is just simply a language that shows love.

i'm glad..

so, i've been in Liberia for 3 1/2 months now. i'm pretty sure that you're supposed to make a blog before you leave or when you first hit the ground, but i never tend to do things the way i'm supposed to.

so, i thought for my first blog post, i'd get into why i picked the blog of i'm glad you're not ordinary. you can ask my housemates. this was definitely a difficult task in picking, but i decided on it because in all of my travels, i have realised this quote by c.s. lewis to be true. in his infamous quote he says how there are no ordinary people and how the people we talk to are not mere mortals. if you've ever been to Liberia, you will quickly find that these are not ordinary people either. the people you meet are the same ones that as recently as 5 years ago were running from rebels to save their lives. yet, if you only met the people, you would never know it. yep, these aren't ordinary people.

then, i see all the people that have crossed my path, both past and present. and i'm so glad that i'm surrounded by people who are not ordinary and who make sure that i don't settle for such either. i'm grateful that everyone i've met has had an impact on my life. i'm glad that different people continue to teach me different lessons everyday. and...i'm glad that you're not ordinary either.