let's unite!

For a year, my sister & I traveled in faith around the world, and God gave us the opportunity to fellowship with all kinds of communities of Christian Faith (including Andries Louw's!). What an amazing & enlightening experience.

[Note: Before this journey of faith around the world, I did not have a relationship with Jesus, I was burnt by the Church, I had trouble with "God-language", and I was a hypocrite toward Christians... even though I had been raised in a wonderful & somewhat traditional Christian (pastor's) home.]

Through 100s of Divine appointments, Spirit-filled testimonies & diverse worship opportunities, God used this journey to more fully introduce Himself (and His Body) to me.

Although, as we lived, breathed & walked in faith, we also personally witnessed what many individuals in the Church wrestle with -- their identity, diversity AND unity as a Body of believers, as children of God & as a functional family of Faith, despite and/or including our differences.

God works, His Spirit moves & His Son emerges in mysterious ways, including through our varying degrees of worship. As long as we keep focused on Him AND truly love each other through the thick & thin (as He loves us), we'll be fine.

So how do we do that? What does that look like to "submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" Eph 5:21? How can we be the healthy, wholesome Bride we should be for our Bridegroom? How can we "negotiate" such a diverse identity?

How about rejoicing such a diverse identity?!

Let's unite under Him, listen with Christ-like hearts, dismantle our prejudices, and be willing to learn from one another... After all, since we were each made in the image of God, we've all got something to teach each other about Him.

Furthermore, let's be gracious & compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love... as much as humanly possible.

[I wrote this as a response to

"negotiating identity between orthodoxy and emergence"

(a blog by my South African friend, Andries Louw).]

a glimpse into Guatemala

These seven weeks flew by, and I feel like I barely got to “know” Guatemala. That’s part of the reason I haven’t written anything in a while. (The other part is that I haven’t had the time & space to sit down to write.) I tried to just take it all in – listening, learning, observing, and finding the words to describe it all. The longer I wait, though, the harder it is (especially now that I’m home finishing this post).

Nothing is what it seems. Corruption and exploitation have been so rampant, especially since the Spanish colonized and later the Americans pillaged Latin America, so there is really too much cultural and social psychology to unpack in just one sitting. The other challenge is how to describe the scene without any framework and/or biases from which to refer.

Guatemala is beautiful & culturally rich, but it's also hauntingly corrupt & desperately fearful. The people are as nice as can be, but there are few that aggressively take advantage of the submissive majority. My big take-aways: a deeper trust & intimacy with God (having traveling alone & w/o a plan... see the previous post), a deeper compassion for immigrants' journeys (to the States specifically), a deeper respect for the Mayan culture, a slight improvement in my Spanish, and a climb to the highest point in Central America – Volcano Tajamulco.

Within this diverse country, there are 23 people groups each with their own dialect, traditions and dress -- bright, rich colors in the beautiful, intricate weaves. The diversity makes it challenging for the government to educate, inform & empower the people, and often, it’s the uneducated & disempowered ones (1 out of 14 Guatemalans) that make the treacherous journey into the States for the “hope” of the “American Dream”... only to get shot down & trampled over there too. I heard many horrific stories of people who had made this journey.

As for the “ladino” (“mestizo” or mixed Spanish-Native population), again, nothing is what it seems. Without recalling every cultural difference (or similarity for that matter), I’ll share just a few...

Every formality is full of informality. Many Guatemalans have a deep respect for ceremonies, official procedures, customs, traditions, pomp and circumstance, but after boiling down the content of these formalities, there’s not a whole lot going on. For example, the social expectations of waiting and “being” with a family that is mourning the loss of a family member – the ceremonial side of these wakes seem formal, but once everyone is gathered, there are little to no formalities. Everyone just sits around & talks amongst themselves.

Infrastructure has its order but it seems neglected at first glance. Nevertheless, people are rather diligent about keeping what they have tidy – sweeping, mopping, and cleaning everything often enough to make up for the unfinished appearance of some places. Pot holes and speed bumps are common. Cinder block homes might be painted, and most of them at least have bars on the windows (in the major cities anyway). Wooden planks or tin sheets are used as walls &/or roofs in a lot of places. Most have a heavier metal door with a little window to check out visitors.

Security is a serious issue everywhere – for horridly valid reasons. Then again, there are formalities & informalities there too. I never saw anyone get searched or hassled, but I know it happens. I noticed private security guards at nearly every business, and the presence of the military is oddly haunting, rather than confidently secure, because you don’t know their motives or background... like if they were trained (by the US’s School of the Americas) to kill or oppress the people like they did for years and years there.

As for food? Black beans, delicious homemade corn tortillas (fresh every day from scratch) or corn tamales, an egg, fried or boiled plantains, and coffee make up the typical Guatemalan meal. A black bean soup with cream or tostadas (hard flat tortillas) with black bean paste, salsa or guacamole and an onion & cilantro relish are pretty common too. Pancakes, peanut butter, American fast food chains, and Supermarkets (including an equivalent of Costco) have emerged thanks to foreign interest/invasion. Nevertheless, everyone still finds some way to make a buck -- either managing a little convenience store out of their house (like my 2nd host family), making home-made food to vend near a local school or business (like my 3rd host family), selling small goods & trinkets on the street corner, amid traffic or on local buses, etc. Survival capitalism at it's finest.

¿Y el baño? Cold water showers (or bucket baths) are pretty much standard, but in the mountainous region, you'll find little heating elements attached to the shower head. Otherwise, there is no hot water in the house. Toilet paper doesn’t go down the toilet; it goes into a little trash can next to every toilet. (Being back in States, I found that was actually one of the hardest habits to break for a while.) As for trash in general, there is little to no infrastructure to deal with it, so most often it goes out the window, along the road, or into some sort of collective trash dump. There are a few foreigners deliberately trying to compost, recycle, minimize waste & educate others, but good waste management & a general respect for the environment is really hard to come by.

All this said, I found that Guatemala, like most anywhere else, is a complex and profoundly-complicated place -- teaming with life, a unique culture & beautiful people -- yet suppressed by fear, frustrated by the increasing crime, trying to keep up with the global market & pace of modernism, and still looking to a somewhat abusive sister nation to the north for help and "hope" in these desperate times.

the gravity of judgment

since our arrival in Indochina, there's one thought that continues to surface in my mind: our human tendency to place judgment on others -- whether good, bad or indifferent.

maybe this reoccurring thought comes from the fact that many people seem to "judge" us by our outward appearances (young backpacking women of european decent, just like all the other hordes of travelers) and take advantage of our innocence/ignorance (treating us as if we have lots of money, hungrily seeking us out to get more $ out of us, generally over-charging us for everything, under serving us what they'd normally give to locals for the same price, etc)... or maybe the "judgement" comes from the language barrier here that prevents us from seeking personal answers to our curious questions. maybe it comes from our assumptions about different people groups, their traditions & their socio-cultural behaviors... or maybe it comes from our own mix of observations, circumstances, personal encounters, habits, fears, layers of memory, philosophies, belief systems, and/or cultural context.

wherever these thoughts come from, the truth is that human beings have the tendency to judge one another... we're all guilty of it, whether we admit it or not... it's part of how we operate, perceive, relate to & understand the world around us. it defines the undefinable, provides guidelines, promotes awareness, controls knowledge, gives us comfort, keeps us safe, forms our traditions, tests our philosophies, supports our beliefs, and shapes our lives... however, the gravity of judgment can also lead to danger -- blinding us from the truth, unjustly drawing biased conclusions about others, destructing our confidence, unequally dispersing power, spreading fear & disgust, making us unnecessarily defensive/offensive, formulating hypocritical attitudes & exclusive behavior toward others, corrupting our potential, deceiving us from living purely positive lives, and preventing us from truly loving & accepting one another as fellow human beings.

therefore, in order to address this profoundly instinctive habit, we really need to cease from judging others all together. "For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged" (Matt 7:1-2, NLT).

this leads me to recall 4 surprising observations in which God reminded me that it's not my place to judge others.

(1) Buddhist monks & novices are everywhere here, and they are easily visible -- cloaked in bright, simple, modest saffron-colored robes. they are so respected & revered that they receive alms every morning from locals (in a very ceremonial sort of way), they receive donations from just about any business they want (including restaurants, Internet cafes & even elephant riding places), they have right of way on public transportation (next to the elderly & handicapped), and they aren't ever supposed to be touched by or be left alone with a woman (although a monk asked for my number once at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, and several younger monks sat next to me at the beach in Muang Ngoi so i got them to teach me a little Lao).

basically, they have special privileges, and people don't ever question their actions/behaviors. however, apparently, they can still have fun with their friends -- riding bikes, spinning Chinese tops in the yard of their wat, participating in the annual water-throwing fights during the Thai New Year in April... or hiding on the riverbank to smoke a cigarette?? well, maybe those novices weren't really novices. after all, some kids supposedly dress up as novices/monks in order to take advantage of the generous system with no questions asked (according to the warnings in our guidebook anyway). but what about the older monks that we've seen blatantly smoking cigarettes? aren't they breaking one of the main precepts (or at least one of the 250+ precepts) that Buddhist monks are supposed to follow?... my revered perception of monks was beginning to deteriorate.

the tradition is still very respectable, though... we've been told that nearly every Indochinese boy becomes a novice at some point in their lives (either to fulfill their socio-cultural obligation, to lessen the economic burden on their parents, to seek a free education, to learn & supposedly live out the religious precepts of their forefathers, or perhaps to do it because everyone else is doing it). however, not all of them actually enter into full monk hood. of those who become monks, a very small percentage remain committed for their entire lives. we met several monks that "quit" after several years because they wanted to "live life on the outside." we met one that became so disillusioned by the "business" of the religion (cleansing this house or that tree, casting out spirits, managing the coin-slot fortune telling machines, blessing this business or that Buddha statue). he also told us that the further up the ladder you go as a monk the more rules/precepts there were to follow -- making it nearly impossible to maintain them all as perfectly & tirelessly as you're supposed to in order to reach enlightenment. there was no promise in that way of living/being, he explained... but that is not what the majority wants to believe. they want to believe that if they do X, Y & Z (namely give alms, pray ritualistically, set up a spirit house out front, pay a monk to bless you, make a trip down to the local shrine or temple to make offerings or to add a gold leaf onto one of the Buddha statues), then they'll be safe for the time being or in their next life. tradition is what seems to give them hope, but how frail is that to place your hope in this "luck," these earthly practices, or this temporary state of being?... my understanding of Buddhism began to fall through the cracks of human imperfection, individualism, indifference, detachment, & desperation. Buddhism is a wonderfully positive philosophy, but that's all it is -- a philosophy & a way of being... not a spirituality with any hope or true promise of life or of reaching that final perfection. in fact, i'm sure Buddha wouldn't have wanted humans to gravitate to this false/superficial way of practicing his philosophy. (some Christians have the same problem following what Christ taught.)

so what about these monks & novices? what are their intentions? are they just living out a tradition? are they really practicing this philosophy? are they serving as pawns for the rest of the people who are hoping to buy their way into the next life? how many of them come for the free handouts? how many just want an education? how many are pressured by their families? how many of them last until monk hood? how many of them are truly able to maintain that perfect balance? and for how long?... these questions may never be answered, because no one can ask monks these sorts of questions. we can be curious, but there's no need to stop or judge the practice. that's not our job.

(2) it's common to see Western men marry Thai women, but not all of them marry for the same reasons. unfortunately, the strong social stigma around them presupposes that they come out of the sex industry or some mail-order-bride place, that they marry out of desperation, and/or that there's a sad story behind it all. while some of this might be true about some couples, it's definitely not true about all of them. they might be mutually helping each other out. they might have found love at first sight (something Thai men aren't accustomed to pursuing). they might have met under normal circumstances where sparks fly and romance fills the air. they might truly love each other... who knows, but it's not our place to judge them or exclude them from leading a happy life. at first though, i have to admit, i saw so many "bar girls" in Pattaya desperately calling out to western men and walking off with them arm in arm that my mind tended to jump to conclusions about all the other similarly mixed-race couples i saw... but then i met a few couples that didn't fit that stereotype, that didn't seem all that sleazy, that had a wonderfully mutual partnership, and that had so much love to share that it was contagious. these couples challenged my previous misconceptions and reminded me that we should never judge anything by its cover. only God knows our true intentions.

(3) speaking of people's intentions, throughout our travels heather & i have had to become a bit hardened to a world tainted by tourism. so many people try to take advantage of us (white American women) that we constantly feel on the defensive, fighting for a better price, and/or burnt by their dishonesty. in Africa & India, it wasn't so bad because we learned how to negotiate with them, but Indochina is different. as a foreigner, you have to expect that they'll start 3-5 times the asking price (or more), and they usually don't come down too much. also, in many cases, things are either non-negotiable or vendors seem offended by your negotiating.

so about a week ago we rented a motorbike for the day in Luang Namtha. we had a great day exploring the area, but at the very end, we took a very tiny spill on the bike, broke one of the side mirrors and damaged the plastic cover near the mirror. we instantly worried about how much the damage would cost, and we jumped to conclusions that the owners would try to take advantage of us... to make a long story short, they were totally fair & honest about the whole situation... we left it to God to sort it out, to help us humbly face the owners, and to keep them honest. it could have been worse -- they could have been deeply offended by the transaction, but everything went smooth and they didn't try to cheat us.

(4) in fact, the Indochinese (particularly Thai) get offended by the most random things sometimes. it's no surprise that there are different social & behavioral norms in every country 'round the world, but some things i just don't understand, so i try to just add them to my memory bank without placing any definitive judgment on them... like it's okay to pick your nose in public but never pick your teeth without covering your mouth with your other hand. also, a married couple can not show any affection publicly, which includes walking down the street hand in hand. finally, you should never ever step over someone or touch someone on the head or feet. in fact, you should also never sit on a pillow meant for the head either... actually, it's interesting to notice the unspoken respect people have for each other's personal space. it's no wonder Americans like Thailand so much.

finally, considering all the "dangers" of judgment, i realize i just need to be aware of the fine line that exists between leading an innocent life with eyes & hearts wide open and leading a prejudicial life with selfish fixed lenses of the world... let's call this fine line the "gray area" of our "free will." we use our judgment or our "free will" to choose between good & bad, right & wrong, happiness & despair, the safe & the unsafe, the holding on & the letting go... but it's not always that easy to choose or see the difference. life is not always defined by contrasts, so there's that gray area that makes it difficult for us to use our judgment... that's when we have to shake free the gravity of judgment and rely on our intuition, our nurtured learning, our abilities, our surroundings, and the One that ties it all together.

You're only human
Let's shake free this gravity of resentment
And fly high, and fly high
You're only human
Let's shake free this gravity of judgment
And fly high on the wings of forgiveness*

india: a culture too complex to capture

every state has its own culture, its own customs, its own food, its own landscape, and even its own language. only the dress, the family tradition, the cultural festivals and the age-old rituals unite them. in fact, even though Hindi is the national language (with English being a close runner-up), many people don't know more than their local language... this makes a sense of nationalism rather difficult, let alone possible for one administration to govern... as reflected by recent conflicts between the national government pushing industrialization & Progress (probably out of desperation due its debt to the World Bank) and the landless farm-workers & Marxist-led people marching on Delhi (or protesting in Kolkatta) in order to stand up for their rights, their freedom, their land and their heritage amidst encroaching globalization. (as one Indian told us, "where there isn't any running water or electricity, you'll still find coke, pepsi, cellphones and hints of a decaying family structure"... and, yes, walmart is on its way here too.)

yesterday, Heather and I visited a national monument/museum of India's Nobel Prize winner, Rabindranath Tagore (who inspired me to get back to my writing)... leading the country in its own Renaissance movement at the turn of the 20th century, he paved the way to creatively and peacefully take back & save their culture from being corrupted by western influences, which people had begun "following blindly"... we need more leaders like him today! because even though he (& his good friend Gandhi) left India with an incredible legacy of peaceful resistance and a stronger sense of heritage (in fact, one of his poems is now their national anthem), there is still an implicit extreme pressure and national sentiment to strive hard for success. (i'm not sure where it comes from exactly, but it's one of the biggest moral problems that Indians claim to have here... if you come home from school with an 88% on a test, and your parents will scold you for not doing better.)

unfortunately, many people throughout the underdeveloped and developing world are still following the example of the West -- blindly... reflecting on what the West is offering the world, i ask myself:

"Do we want the world to follow our poor example? What are we telling the world by disrespecting our elders, by neglecting our children, by supporting a wasteful & consuming society, by devoting so much importance to a media that demoralizes the human heart, by living up to the title 'fast food nation', by fearing the unknown, by playing the 'us' versus 'them' card all the time, by self-righteously fighting "terror" or by endorsing war in the 'name of God' (i.e. using a religious platform for a political agenda)? What example are we setting for the world?"

since everyone looks up to us, i am seriously worried about what this world is coming to... thank God that the world's salvation is not my burden to bare, and thank God i have the privilege & rational mind to understand that.

______________________________

so, we've been in India nearly 6 weeks now, and we've managed to survive, namely by:

• tuning-out the annoyances (like the obsessive horn-honking and the hovering, nearly-glaring, curious onlookers),
• being ever so patient with the differences (like endless interrupting questions & over-insistence to eat, buy, hire, give, sit, say something, stay, and not cleanup after yourself... hoping to leave you with a good enough impression to hurry back),
• admiring the cultural richness (like the religious diversity)
• and staying true to ourselves...

in fact, it's an interesting challenge to think about and seek to understand the complexity of it all without reacting to anything... constantly humbling myself, quietly observing, respectfully asking questions, non-judgementally listening, dissolving mental & emotional boundaries, and still expanding my comfort zone.

one very important part of this process (through every culture) requires that we suspend our opinionated logic long enough to carefully understand the differences in the logic here.

take the environment, for example. while you might find people habitually dropping their trash wherever (which accumulates everywhere fast), Indians are not at all wasteful. (seems ironic, doesn't it?) they limit their consumption, they recycle by creatively reusing, they use water instead of toilet paper (for the most part), they depend on public transportation or they use minimum-waste vehicles (trains, auto- or cycle-rickshaws, bicycles, buses, motorcycles), and there is a growing number of environmental & public health NGOs that are beginning to make a remarkable difference here.

next, take arranged marriages. from what i understand, the ideal arranged-marriage is one where families very carefully select life-partners for their children (through a series of "profile" exchanges, reference checks, personal interviews and then a vote by the groom-to-be), then the couple grows to love each other over time (establishing a committed partnership), and then the two wedded families are equally held accountable for the success of the marriage. if something goes wrong, they have their two families to support them. (supposedly in a love-marriage, they don't have that kind of support, because the families aren't to blame for the success of your relationship.) ... of course, this doesn't always happen this way. for example, some families still "marry off" their children for money -- illegally practicing the dowry system of arranged marriages whereby the bride's family "pays off" the groom's family to ensure good care of their daughter, who usually doesn't have any choice or say in the matter. (although, this is changing a little bit now in major cities.)

so what about the overt subordination, exploitation and submission of women? for example, the wife is expected not to eat with her family or husband at a meal but to serve them only. also, most women are often blatantly excluded from debates, discussion and decision-making... yeah, so, i'm still trying to figure that one out.

finally, take religious diversity & cultural sensitivity. one interesting common sentiment here is that everyone claims to have a religious tolerance of each other. while this theory is practiced in an initial, superficial, welcoming sort of way, it is definitely not always practiced on a deeper level between folks... even still, it permeates into the culture in the form of religious/cultural festivals, tourism, commercialism, and media. for example, as one woman recently reminded us, Hinduism is a more of a way of life than a religion: they get up early, do their yoga, light their candle & incense, say their prayers, work hard, respect others and stay faithful to "their god." (note, she did not say "gods" because she's a devotee to Krishna; however, she also said that she still believes in and prays to Jesus.) from what i understand, there is a sense of security in this type of pluralistic way of thinking, believing & living, so you'll find hints of it everywhere with every god or guru represented... the bottom line is that Hinduism is so much a part of the culture, the society, the tradition & the dress (even the bindis and the sarees) that anything else is not truly Indian. in fact, now you'll find all Indians (regardless of their religion of choice) practicing these age-old Hindu customs.

which brings me to another part of Indian logic that i still can't fully grasp: the culturally- and psychologically-ingrained Hindu legacy of the caste system (i.e. religious intolerance via social hierarchy)... at the very bottom of which you'll find Christians (below the "untouchables") and at the very top of which you'll find upper-eschelon Hindu priests... in fact, here's an interesting picture of what Christians face in this country:

... in India, becoming a Christian isn't just a case of crying 'hallelujah' and digging Jehovah instead of Siva and his henchmen, it's a case of voluntarily ostracising yourself from society. Hindus reject those of their faith who switch to another: after all, you are born a Hindu and will die a Hindu, and that's all there is to it.

i couldn't have said it better... except to add that Christians are the minority (only about 3% of the entire population), so their faith is that of a set of true & liberated survivors -- humbly & lovingly battling all odds against an overwhelming & oppressing society... and knowing that everyone is equal at the foot of the cross.

india: impressions

Two and a half weeks in India. Only four more to go. Adjustment* takes half the time, so hopefully Exploration will take the other half. Trouble is: we don't have enough time to venture very far from the major cities that we have contacts in (Mumbai, Kochi, Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi, and Kolkata). Hopefully, we'll still plan a day trip to Mysore, a few days up near Mussoorie & Dehradun, and a small getaway in West Bengal.

[* to the unique culture, the engulfing heat & humidity, the rushing hectic pace of the city, the nail-biting & horn-honking kamikaze traffic, the wonderfully spicy & distinctly flavorful food, the somewhat invasive inquisitiveness of seemingly impatient/distracted people (that don't always wait for you to fully answer their questions before they ask another one or try to finish your thought for you)... and so much more.]

Nevertheless, thanks to our incredible hosts and new friends in Kalyan (a Mumbai suburb), in Ernakulum (a commercial district adjacent to Kochi), in Vazhakulam (a "pineapple city" in rural Kerala), and now in Chennai, we've managed to survive gracefully, adjust rapidly, breathe a little more deeply, eat wholesomely, see a lot locally (especially by moto & on local transport), and learn more directly from the contemporary culture.

Therefore, even though this visit is only a short introduction to the second most-populous country in the world, I can still mention some notable impressions and interesting observations about this place...

First, I must say, India is everything "they" say it is and more... Hot, humid, hectic, holy, overly hospitable, and always in a hurry... Aromatic, savory, spicy and sanctified... Seemingly chaotic, crowded, colourful, confident, constantly moving, and consecrated by all those who “believe” in some higher power. In fact, I remember someone saying, “If you’re not religious, you’ll find religion in India.” Even if only referring to the faith that you absolutely must have to survive the traffic here, it seems like everyone depends on their faith in order to survive even their own world. Religiosity is nearly a requirement of the culture.

Now, some other random bits of India for you, before we move on from here and before I give up on updating this blog altogether:

• Indians are generally so warm, welcoming, friendly, helpful, and insistent that you stay and/or keep eating... unlike most Americans who are quick to judge and discriminate against them.
• (as mentioned) incessant curiosity & inquisitiveness; everyone wants to know everyone else's business or story or testimony, asking how you like it, what you think, how it's different, if you like the (spicy) food (assuming you don't or can't take it as a foreigner); they watch your every move (even how you eat); sharing information with each other about you... it's rather nerve-wracking sometimes.
• everyone is in a rush and programmatic -- they want to know your every move, every plan, hopes, visions, where you've been, where you're going... everything starts on time (mirroring their excellent train system). crowds push like mad to try to get on the train and fight to get off.
• like Madagascar, traffic flows organically, like a river or like a herd of cattle. autos, motos, bicyclists and pedestrians all squeeze through. drivers are all confident of not hitting each other. bus drivers are the craziest and most bold.
• safety is not an issue in most places. for example, no one wears seatbelts and motorcyclists don't wear helmets (even though it's now against the law, it's not generally enforced). in fact, many times families of four will all pile on one bike together: small child in front, then the father, and finally the mother riding side-saddle at the back with her smaller child in hand... no one wearing a helmet.
• bodily functions are quite open and excepted in public -- no shame, no embarrassment, no reservations, no pardons necessary. for example, folks without amenities relieve themselves wherever there's a spot to squat -- along the train tracks, off the coastline, in a field or an abandoned lot -- bucket of water in hand... burbs and farts are the same.
• grime and mold stream down patchworked buildings which are sealed to prevent leaks (along the Mumbai local train route).
• trash everywhere and no one seems to have a second thought about littering.
• "wild" domesticated animals freely roam the streets between traffic: hundreds of dogs (in Mumbai especially), monkeys of the side of the road on the way up to Pune, goats, roosters, an elephant and camels (probably for tourists), and hundreds of cows meandering on the roads or pulling carts alongside everyone else.
• shoes off before entering any home and/or sacred place.
• women wear sarees or shawls over their head during prayer time.
• spiritual leaders are roles reserved for men.
• ritualistic & seemingly monotonous prayer, mosques sound their time to pray, temples have schedules for non-Hindus, idols everywhere (Hindu & Catholic alike)
• the wobbly-head thing that everyone does in agreement with what you're saying (not to be confused with shaking their head in disagreement).
• never put your mouth directly on the opening of a bottled-drink (namely water) so you can hygienically share it with others; instead, pour it into your mouth a gulp at a time.
• everyone eats with their right hand and wipes with their left hand (using only a sprayer next to the toilet or a small bucket of water), even though you wash your hands before and after eating (most homes have a separate, common-use sink for such purposes); we decided that we preferred using toilet paper instead.
• all woman wear beautiful, colorful and sometimes rather ornate dresses or sarees (wraps); while many men can look quite shabby or simple, wearing lungis or dhothis (wrapped skirts, like sarongs), that look like diapers when they tuck the bottom edge to into the top when it's hot.

There is so much more, but I won't ever post this if I don't stop here.

if only, "mora mora" (slowly, slowly)

Eleven days is not nearly enough time to learn about, let alone adjust to a place, but I think it might just barely be enough time to get a small taste of the life, culture & incredible biodiversity here in Madagascar... Fortunately, we managed to have a somewhat diverse experience, given the short time and our limited funds, but unlike many foreigners who come here on holiday or on business, we did not spend all kinds of money to go on expensive tours, rent 4x4s, hire personal drivers, trample (too much) along the increasingly trodden tourist path between all the amazing national parks and pristine beaches, invest in the world's largest production of vanilla, or strip the land of its plethora of precious gems, metals and other natural resources... Instead, we stayed with 2 different families in the nation's capital (Antananarivo, or “Tana”), we met up with a few incredible Peace Corps volunteers, we packed into several very tight and deteriorating “taxi-brousses” (the public transportation much like the minivan-type buses of Mozambique, Malawi and South Africa, only they generally they board from the rear door), we took a short “vacation” in the glorious bungalows of Hotel Feon'ny Ala (or "song of the forest") outside of Andasibe (between Tana and the east coast), and we hiked through rain forests of Analamazaotra, Mitsinjo and Parc aux Orchidees (home to much more than the 6 lemur species, 3 gecko species, 5 bird species, 1 snake species, 2 spider species, 2 beetle species and 8 wild orchid species that we saw).

This quick pace and little time in each place is one of my biggest challenges in trying to keep up this blog. Aside from our rather limited access to cyberspace, I don't always know what to say and what not to say about a given place. As a cultural anthropologist at heart, I'm afraid of making any grandiose generalizations about a group of the people or painting such a minute picture of a particular landscape, especially since our experiences are so limited...

Unfortunately, though, that's the nature of this trip — we just don't have enough time to stay put... Nevertheless, I think we're still getting a good global perspective. Thanks to our hosts (e.g. missionaries, old friends, new friends, 2nd/3rd/4th degree friends, random other contacts), to the means by which we're introduced to them (e.g. Heather's call to do youth ministry, our online research, gracious passers-by, friends and family) and to our God-given ability to keep our eyes, ears and hearts open to the world around us.

Speaking of which, I suppose the only picture I can paint includes my first and lasting impressions of this place... even though I risk defining a place by the 2% I've seen:

• The Malagasy don't regard themselves as Africans, per se, but rather as "island people" -- both in culture and in attitude. They are extremely polite and kind-hearted, but they are somewhat reserved. "Politeness in general is very important[...], and impatience or pushy behaviour is regarded as shocking" (Lonely Planet 2004). We've noticed that men seem to help out a little more than in the other African nations we've visited, and the women are mostly seen as the dynamic force in the society.
• Extremely tight streets, alleyways, parking spaces and traffic "lanes" with virtually no fear of hitting something or being hit, and no city planning other than the feudal-like placement of the Queen's Palace overlooking all her town's people and their decreasingly scattered rice fields around Tana.
• Hints of a declining European culture and architecture (mostly French) like terraces, hanging plants, shudders, steep-shingled roofs, cobble stone streets, and excessive cigarette smoking... amid obvious elements of a severely underdeveloped nation (one of the poorest standards of living in Africa), like simple wooden shacks with tin roofs, some menial subsistence farming, a desperation to sell anything and everything on the street, a need to fit in the most you can pack in before going anywhere (otherwise you could wait hours to leave)... and so much more.
• Not a single functioning streetlight in the nation's capital -- all traffic (auto, bike, foot, rickshaw, ox cart, zebu and wheelbarrow) just flows, and everyone moves in cooperation with each other -- yielding, sneaking in and stopping occasionally (or when there's a rarely seen traffic cop).
• Everything "touristy" is 200x more expensive for non-natives, probably because their average income is only US$250 per year.
• All Malagasy adoptions are currently on hold because of a recently-uncovered scandal of people overseas trafficking children's organs on the blackmarket of medicine.
• Famadihana: a ceremonial exhumation and reburial of dead relatives every 2 to 7 years in the highlands region... the stone door of a family tomb is opened and one by one the corpses are brought out of the tomb, wrapped in straw mats and danced above the heads joyfully. The bodies are re-wrapped in pristine white burial scarves, sprayed with perfume and meticulously labelled by name with felt-tip pens... Joyous music and celebration is followed by solemn and quiet memorial before dancing around a bit more with the bound bodies and laying them to rest in the tomb again.

Well, there's so much more I could say, but I'm too tired to think anymore right now and I've got to get packed and ready to leave for India tomorrow.

on a lighter note…

some random findings:

in joburg in particular, shopping malls are used as geographical landmarks, entertainment sources and grocery outlets. people refer to their location in relation to the nearest mall. parking isn’t free at most of them. and there are always “parking attendants” to look after your car and to help you pull out of your parking space (for a small tip usually)…

if there is a TV (in a less affluent home), it’s almost always on in the background or your hosts will turn it on because they think you want to watch it…

traffic drives on the left, and you can’t turn left on red…

vegetables are not considered part of a balanced meal…

fruits & veggies (in bulk) must be weighed & priced before leaving the produce department of a grocery store. otherwise, the cashier will either send you back or ask the bagger to do it for you. so it’s easier to take the pre-packaged ones... also, plastic grocery bags aren’t free…

“bunni chow,” a well-known south-african-indian dish, is merely a half (or a quarter) loaf of bread hollowed out for a curried stew.

some “coloureds” (mulattos) in the western cape consider it beautiful to have their two front teeth pulled…

as whites, we were often mistaken as afrikaaners, but we just smiled and shrugged our shoulders…

no alcohol is legally sold after store hours, except for at bars and restaurants. if you want to buy some as “take away” (or “to go”), you go to a “she-been” (or unlicensed bar in someone’s house)…

since the law enforcement is so corrupt, cameras have been installed along the highways to automatically issue a ticket (sent in the mail with your photo) if you exceed the speed limit. in fact, in some cases, the cameras will average your speed between more than one location, and if you speed anywhere along the way, you’ll get a ticket for arriving at your destination sooner than you should have following the speed limit…

there are no safety standards for playgrounds or for a child’s car seat…

environmental consciousness is virtually non-existent, because there is little to no infrastructure in most areas to support it (like recycling, trash disposal, public trash cans or even private ones in many places). instead, people might pile it up and burn it… along the same lines, these fires (as well as slash & burn ones) are so common that they often turn wild—forming rings that light up the mountain sides and producing huge billows of smoke that fill the sky.

... there are so many more quirks in south africa, but we've moved on to madagascar now so i'm busy taking in its culture at the moment... the bottom line about south africa is that it's very much like the US, only it's in africa.

i stand corrected... it's out of respect

before too long, i learned to accept being excitedly called “azungu” everywhere we went by smiling and responding with “ntu” (people). i mean, i can’t deny or hide the fact that i’m white, and it’s crippling to let guilt keep me from being happy, so why not return the cheerful greeting, right?

at the same time, though, it wasn’t as easy to accept any special treatment that we seemed to receive, like when we went out to Selengo and later to Mponela (2 rural villages, each with a Ministry of Hope feeding center for the orphans and vulnerable children). on both occasions, we (the visiting guests) were asked to sit in chairs and eat inside the office, rather than being able to eat outside with the children. as you might imagine, heather and i preferred to sit among the people instead of eating off on our own somewhere, but we quickly learned that it’s a sign of respect that all guests (no matter their origin) should sit and eat indoors… so, out of respect for our hosts, we did what was expected of us even though this “special” treatment made us uncomfortable.

there are a few interesting and noteworthy signs of respect, however, that we noticed, used and felt good about sharing with others. for example:
· you always greet each & every person in a particular setting by saying hello and asking how each person is (no matter how many people ask those same people before you).
· as you extend your right hand to shake someone’s hand (that you respect), your left hand holds your right forearm just in front of the elbow.
· if you pass by an elder (typically an elder woman who might be carrying stuff on her head) while walking along a path out in “the bush” or even through a rural village, you softly & repeatedly claps your hands as you ask how she is, in passing.
· if you need to speak with someone, you approach quietly and wait at a distance (perhaps even kneeling down) until you’re noticed by the requested party.
· “washing” your hands before a meal (especially since everyone eats with their hands): one of the hosts (typically the woman) pours a pitcher of water over each person’s hands and into a small basin.

then there are some interesting cultural norms that you might not expect, like:
· helping yourself to whatever food you want without asking
· showing up unannounced
· sweeping & mopping everything once or twice a day but then dumping everything in an open-air landfill in the backyard
· event-oriented schedules instead of time-oriented ones
· no response to a sneeze
· being quick to translate (in a public speech) but not necessarily quick to understand (one-on-one)(makes you wonder how much of the message was really relayed)
· road blocks for no apparent reason
· “airtime” sold in units for cellphones as well as land-lines
· free-range goats (galore!)
· public wedding announcements at church and on TV (because everyone’s invited to everyone’s wedding here)…

the list could go on and on, but i can’t. i’ll leave the rest to your imagination.