Random Thoughts

Everything is decorated for the holidays like you would expect. There are Christmas lights on every street light in town. Fake evergreen trees covered in shiny balls can be found in all the malls. Santa even made an appearance, though he didn’t seem quite the same as a skinny, black man. It’s interesting seeing so many “American” traditions find their way into a Namibian Christmas, but then I was reminded that Christmas is largely an “American” holiday. Africans never celebrated it until the whites brought it here. It makes me wonder how the native Africans might have celebrated the birth of the Savior of the world if it hadn’t become so westernized.

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Part of being here for a whole year is experiencing everyday life in a different culture, and part of that everyday life that I’ve enjoyed the most is family life. The Morsbachs have taken me in like another son, having me join them for family picnics by the dam, family meals in the evening followed by some competitive Skip-Bo (Richard has become quite an addict by the way). I think they’re acceptance has helped smooth my transition to African normalcy.

I’ve come to think it’s the subtle, ordinary things that make a place feel like home. Every time you move you have to get used to little things, like a new bathroom or kitchen, where to shop for particular things, a new view from lying in your bed at night. Things like washing clothes and grocery shopping happen everywhere, but perhaps just a little differently than what you’re used to. It’s those little things that become comfortable, then they become habits, and before long it’s normal life. Hmmm…I wonder if there’s any correlation between that idea and how we as Christians make a home of this world.

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I’ve discovered ESPN broadcasts three games a week. The Sunday night game is on at 3am, but then they rebroadcast games at 4pm on Monday and Tuesday. I’ll have to make friends with people who get satellite TV so I can go watch some games. There is a new satellite network that carries FOX Sports, but it’s so new that nobody knows anybody who has it. Because it was a 1:00pm game this week, I got to follow online as the Patriots went 14-0 (for only the second time in NFL history), but that’ll only last so long. I do miss being a part of all the conversations and hype building up to the playoffs, so I really hope I can find a place to watch.

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Keep praying hard for my visa. We got a call from home affairs today and they told us that since I was applying for a whole year I should apply for a work permit rather than a volunteer visa. That was what I was going to do originally so I do have all the paper work, but it just means going through the whole process all over again.