All in a Day

At church on Sunday, Seheno told me she was going to stop by ‘real quick’ to pick up a flashdrive at my house Monday morning. My idea of ‘real quick’ is just that, real quick. So after doing some wash and cleaning the house that morning, I settled down at my computer to finish translating a plan I had made up for Christian Youth in Action and wanted Haja to look it over for me when we studied in the afternoon. Sitting at my computer, I was anchored down by two kittens who were sitting on my lap when Seheno stopped by. We talked for about an hour and a half before she left. By this time, I had written off the idea of finishing translating the document for Haja to correct and instead got ready to drop the last of the kittens off at her new home on the way to study with Haja. I was thinking this would be a ‘real quick’ stop since I was studying in the afternoon. I stopped, and dropped off kitty, who by the way is one feisty kitten and was not happy in the least to be transported in a backpack or being relocated to a new home, my scratched up hands go to prove it. I was just happy they don’t live too far away. After introducing kitty to her new family, Tahiana and her mom brought out rice and laoka (veggies/meat) you put over the rice. I had already eaten and wasn’t planning on eating there, but they had quickly added chicken to the menu just for me, so I joined them for lunch. Arriving 20 minutes late to work with Haja on my Malagasy, I was thankful that being 20 minutes late isn’t a big deal here. On the way home from studying, I stopped at the market which I hadn’t had an opportunity to do earlier. The plan was a ‘real quick’ trip to the market because it had been a busy day and I was worn out. A little older lady, Jose, who has been running one of the veggie stands for her daughter, who just had a baby, has been cheerfully greeting me for the last few weeks. Today she begin asking me my name, all about my family, how long I had lived here and how long I would stay, and just about everything you could possibly want to know about someone you have just met. I returned her questions and she told me all about her two sons, the new baby granddaughter, and just about anything else you might want to know. Deciding to go the easy route for dinner and just make scrambled eggs, I stopped at a place by the market that has eggs and bought a few. I then walked up the hill to my street and stopped at one of the little shops by my house and went in to buy water and a few eggs for dinner. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I had bought eggs twice. I’m guessing that buying eggs twice is an indicator of the end of a great day.

What a joy to get to spend some one on one time with Seheno and hear about her morning, how she got involved with CEF, and things God has been teaching her lately. She is such a joy. And then having lunch with Tahiana and her mom was a great opportunity to get to know them more and let them get to know me. Our lunch today will be followed up with a shopping and lunch date on Saturday because they wanted me to come over so they could cook my favorite laoka. Of course studying with Haja is always fun and full of laughter. And to top it all off, I have a new friend, Jose, at the market. I cherish these kinds of days. Not because I get a lot accomplished work wise, but for the people, the conversations, and the relationships built. You can’t help but love the rhythm of life in Madagascar.