Translating cultural proverbs

Last night in the Eucharist, I realized that there was a formatting error in the prayer book, and that the students needed to be aware of it.  So before the recessional hymn, I stopped the service (much to the leader's horror), and explained the mistake, and then walked the congregation through what needs to happen.  

The leader then said, "Reverend, in my culture, we have a saying that the fly that follows you is the one that loves you.  So thank you for following us to correct us."  

I turned to the lecturer next to me and asked, "Did he just call me a fly?"

Hurray for popping ears!

Hurray for popping ears! It's Lent so I can't say Hallelujah, so hurray will just have to suffice.

My left (the infected) ear popped in the shower Friday morning-it's so delightful to be able to hear in stereo again! 

They still clog when I blow my ears, but this is progress. Now, whenever I get my proposal information from my supervisor, I'll be set!

Let the games begin!

Once again, I have the best peeps EVER.  I have finally successfully registered for my proposal, gained access to the Learning Management System (LMS), and forwarded my UNISA email to my gmail account (because 55527612@mylife.unisa.ac.za rolls off the tongue… and their mail system is worse than the LMS.  The trainer in me is in agony.).  I’ve downloaded the tutorial letter (which really didn’t say much), and contacted my supervisor as directed in my admissions letter.  Thanks so much for praying!

Let the games begin!

Words matter

Today in Psalms and Wisdom Literature, we began our last book, Song of SOngs.  The first group made their presentation, and towards the end, they wrote "God condones premarital sex."

I'm still not a hundred percent, so I looked up "condone" on my WordWeb app.  Yep - it still means what I think it means.  I wrote a large "WHAT?!" in the margin.

I asked the group to stay after class to ask a couple other questions, and asked them what they meant by the statement.  They all looked horrified… "Oh no, Reverend!  We meant 'condemns'!"

We had a good laugh about that one, though I did remind them that their words matter. 

The good and the bad, part two

I have the best peeps in the WORLD! The day after I asked people to pray that I was able to register for my doctorate at UNISA, I received a notification that I had been registered. Hallelujah!! Thank you for the prayers!! That's the good news.

The challenging news is that now, I can't get into the system that runs UNISA's world. It's entirely my fault - I wrote down the password, but accidentally left it at home. I decided that I absolutely HAD to handle this on Wednesday (when I was feeling horrible), so I opted to use the "forgot password" option, which assured me that they would get back to me in 48 hours. That time has elapsed and then some, so I'm going to explore other "help me" options. It's hard enough being an international student, but it's harder to be an online international student. Please pray that this gets resolved quickly, so that I can move on.

Despite all this, I'm rather excited about beginning this process, though it's going to be an interesting few years.    

The good and the bad, part one

This is Africa, so I feel like things have to be in pairs, and generally in opposition to each other.

Two weeks ago, I went to the clinic complaining of ear pain. The doctor determined that my ear was indeed inflamed, and prescribed five days of antibiotics (the usual course of treatment). It helped, but didn't solve things, so I returned to the clinic. The inflammation was still there, albeitreduced, so the (different) doctor gave me ear drops. I found this to be a woefully inadequate solution, so I went to the pharmacy, described my symptoms, and the pharmacist prescribed five days of (better) antibiotics. Yes, this is indeed how we roll. It's rather stunning what can be purchased at a pharmacy.

Yet in the meantime, I lost hearing in my infected ear, and developed a lovely buzzing, kind of like white noise. Sadly, I prefer to hear. So I used my ear drops (sporadically, I admit), and finally caved and agreed to go to an ENT. There are a couple in Kampala, but I couldn't find anyone who had contact information for them. One is associated with Mulago Hospital, the referral hospital, but hospital workers are now striking, so that's not a good plan. Please pray for those in the hospitals though - this is not a good thing for anyone.

Today my Canadian friend Arlene told me that she was going to Kampala to a dentist, and her husband, Karl, was going to The Surgery for something. The Surgery is a large private medical practice headed by a British doctor who has been here forever. They've recently moved, so I was grateful for the ride.

The good news is that the doctor thinks that the infection is gone. The bad news is that she cannot conclusively determine this, however, because my ears are completely blocked with wax. I suddenly felt like I was 6 or 8, when the doctor had to extract the wax from my ears with something that looked like a tube connected to an electric can opener, sounded just as loud, and was excruciating. She said that she could "syringe" the wax (is this the new word?), but didn't want to damage my eardrum. I concurred, so I have new ear drops that are supposed to handle everything.

The good news - no more infection. The bad news - to allow the wax to drain, I can't sleep with my earplugs. I desperately need those earplugs because Mukono is noisy. There are some Christians nearby who are fond of praying at all hours, and using loudspeakers to announce this. It's wretchedly hot, so my fan helps a bit, but not tremendously. The next few days will be rather interesting!

Different world views

Ever since the Great Office Shift on the first day of lectures this semester, our office has become the de facto vestry for our chapel services, especially since the wardrobe that holds the vestments remained in our office (which had been the Chaplaincy office).

Often, I come to my office to find my desk covered with detrius of various services and students.  The bookshelf next to my desk holds quite a few books and things I need for my job, but also holds a few things for our services as well.

Last night, I was looking for a book I had left in the office that I wanted to use at home.  It wasn't where I left it.  I reacted like an American:  "My book's been stolen!"  A student standing nearby quickly reacted like an African:  "It's been borrowed."  I pointed out that there's a fine line that separates the two.  And I found the book; I have no idea why anyone would have moved it, unless they looked at it then just returned it to a different place.

This reminded me of the different world views:  as an American, I'm very individual-centered, whereas the African is very community-centered.  I was thinking of me, and that the book I wanted was gone; the African view is that someone is using it, which benefits the community.

I can usually style up and take on the African view, except when I'm caught off-guard.  Then my American roots show, rather glaringly.